Another new year

3rd year class blogs are now listed to the right.

New year at CIT

This blog is now my central hub for all CIT related blogging activities. To the right is a link list of all class related blogs.

Portrait Finals

Contemporary portrait - The Gamer






















Multiple Exposure Portrait - The Slapshot

Social Commentary Finals

The final 6 images for my social commentary

Small Product Finals

OK here are the final 6 product shots

Ryobi Band Saw






















Ryobi Belt Sander






















Ryobi Circular Saw






















Ryobi Corner Sander






















Ryobi Drill Press






















Ryobi Planer

Portraits Self Assessment

Ok first up my contemporary portrait. For this portrait I sought to explore a certain hobby of mine, computer gaming. Most people think of hardcore gamers as social outcasts who spend all day couped up in a dark room playing pointless games. The online gaming community has a very distinct culture, which is not necessarily all that apparent when you look at or talk to a hardcore gamer.
My intention with this portrait was to show that while some stereotypes may often be right, they aren't always. I will leave it at that as I don't want to impose any ideas of stereotypical elements that I may posess ipso facto a more open interpretation for the viewer will be possible.

My multiple exposure concept was also based on another hobby with which i have a strong passion, Ice hockey. My intention was to show the flowing movement of a player performing a "slapshot" where the stick is brought down in a hard slapping motion against the puck - this is the most powerful type of shot made in the game (Some professional NHL players can hit pucks in excess of 160km/h)
While intially i wanted only 3 flashes, (to prevent overlapping) through discussion and experimentation i decided that overlapping actually made the photo stronger and had a better flow to the overall image.

Location Self Assessment

My original intent for my documentary series was to attend a training weekend with my Army Reserve unit and take photos throughout the weekend while being detached from the activity itself so i would have freedom to move around as i pleased. My intention was to show something the alot of people don't get to see, the kind of work, the kind of situations and the kind of people that make up our defence force.

As it turned out, while i had permission from higher up to take the photos, the OC (officer in charge) of my unit insisted that i participate in the activity and not be detached as i originally requested. At first i was concerned that i would not get the chance to take all the photos i wanted for the documentary, however as it turned out, what i got was far more interesting than i originally believed.

My series evolved into a single soldiers perspective of the weekend, everything from being low to the ground waiting, to patrolling, and attacking, camera in one hand, rifle in the other.

Product Self Assessment

After an initial struggle determining what I wanted to shoot, I finally settled on power tools as i believed they would present an interesting lighting challenge given the different shapes of all the different tools I knew I would use

After looking through some catalogues and pictures on the internet, I discovered not many photos had interesting backgrounds, however they did provide a useful source of lighting inspiration.

For my backgrounds, I decided the best approach would be to have the background seem as if it was a typical workshop that most people would have in their garage.

When shooting, my primary concerns were, in order, the lighting on the product (making sure the product seemed 3D and showed off their shape), the focus point for my lens being on the Ryobi logo on each product, and finally level of background light/detail.

Post production, I had very little to do besides some spot removal and colour management - to ensure all the products, which are of the same brand, had matching colour despite the various textures used in each product.

Presentation Methods Final Rationale

I chose to submit (after some tweaking) my interpretation of Dallas Bland's poem "Nemisis" from the Creative Writing class

I decided to present my picture in a way that would give it the appearance of a portrait you might see hanging in the hallway or study of a castle in a time long ago.

The nature of the portrait was one of evil. The king we see in the picture was not a very nice person, willing to start wars and even sacrifice his own family for his own greed. To this end I decided a dark, charcoal colour wood frame would suit the mood of evil, the materials available at the time (as in medieval times), and frame a black and white photo without detracting from it too much.

I chose to print the picture large for two main reasons. The first being I wanted people to come up a bit closer and be able to see the details in the picture, especially the figure present in the right hand side window. The second reason is that I would imagine this king had forced a poor artist into creating this picture for him, and with an ego the size of his castle would have demanded it be of a large size.

G-Wiz

Finally, posting my elected story, a short comic strip












Original comic strip by Kris Wilson

Creative Writing Assignment - Nemisis

Nemisis

Could you live another day
being knighted by the sword
tainted with my blood?

Has legacy forgotten its place?

I shall think that
you
would not cower
not quiver
at the taste of death that is today

but embrace all
save be nourished
by its bloody flavour

I shall die today
but not by your hand
Dear brother
My love

(Dallas Bland)

I was messing around with this for way too long so I figured I should just stop and upload it. Admittedly it was alot of fun though, Photoshop is cool :D

(Don't mention the wrongly spelt title, thats how it was written on the paper)

Group flash exercise

Having some fun with outdoor flash kits in Belindas location class

Macquarie Editions - Stephen Best

Stephen Best is a printer working out of Braidwood, he specialises in film scanning, exhibition prints, fine art reproductions and portfolio printing.

Contact details
(02) 4842 2976
0403 079 145

23 Elrington St, Braidwood NSW 2622

www.macquarieeditions.com.au

Bungendore and Braidwood

*Model release obtained for this photo

Fill Flash exercise

A quick exercise done during Belinda's location class one day learning how to utilise flash to fill in shadows on a persons face.
1st shot the flash was off, 2nd shot the flash exposure was set to -1EV of what the camera was shooting, and the 3rd equalled the cameras exposure.

Social Commentary Proposal

Although I'm still in the process of securing permisson (which does seem likely i will receive) my intention for my social commentary is to document an upcoming CATA (Combined Arms Training Activity) in which my unit Charlie Company 4/3 RNSWR will be accompanied by members of 5 Combat Engineer Regiment for a weekend of combined training.

I haven't fully ironed out how exactly I will tell a story with this idea, my most likely approach at the moment is to try to shoot from one soldiers perspective of the weekend, from initial admin to undertaking activities till final dismissal

The Second Coming

Queanbeyan

*Model release aquired for this photo

Garema Place

Heroes

One doesn't have to perform some daring act of bravery to be a hero.