Work of Professor Cyr

Being shown professional work by your professors is cool to see. It's also cool to hear how they got started out. Seeing that Professor Cyr got his start as an undergraduate, just like a lot of the people in the class, is interesting to know. Often we think that people have to start out before that to make anything of the profession that they want to pursue. It was interesting to see that his main profession was/is printing while still taking photos and doing his own personal work on the side. Until he told us about this being a job I had never thought of it as one within the field of photography.
I specifically liked his work that he did with the darkroom processing bins and all the different colors that the became over years of use. It was cool to see that he had ones from famous photographers as well. I also liked the photos of the different developing agents that made bubbles. Neither of these two projects had pictures that looked alike.

Photoshop

Since I've started taking photos and editing, I was never big on photoshop for editing, I'm still not. I'm used to Lightroom and applications like that. Recently, and recently learning to use it better, I've been using photoshop to add to my edits. Being able to take objects out of images flawlessly is very helpful so you don't have to worry about the object as much during the shooting, if you can help it that is. Sometimes you can't help it. Being in Digital Materials and Processes is teaching me a lot of new things and different ways to do things, such as moving a particular object from one part of the image to the other and making it look like it belongs there. Also learning a little bit of photo restoration is cool too. I don't have any work from that class to show examples though. Overall I'm starting to like it a little more, after learning a bit more about it.

My experience with Shooting cars.

I've been doing photos of cars for about 2 years now. Before that I just was kind of trying to find something that I really liked doing within photography. Now, generally speaking, automotive photography really isn't that difficult. The subject stays still and in place where you want them to be and they don't move unless you move them, unlike people. This is the niche that I found that I like and that I'm good at (at least I think so). A lot of people may think that there really isn't a market for this kid of photography but I would beg to differ. I'm not talking about your average, everyday stock Toyota Camry that I'm taking photos of. I do cars that are modified or personalized and try to get them in an environment that they stand out in. What I've recently started doing and want to continue to attempt to do is rolling shots of the cars. Sometimes this can be dangerous because it is going sometimes highway speeds and leaning out of the camera car's window.
Doing these photos has taught me some things and some tricks that I've picked up. One trick is that when doing the rolling shots, try to match your shutter speed to the speed of the vehicle. For instance, when doing these images you want both cars going the same speed, lets say 60 mph, for this you should set your camera to a 1/60 of a second. You want to do this so the background and the road are blurred enough and when doing so, if you look at the wheels, they become transparent and you can see the brakes on the inside but you can also sometimes see the shapes within the wheels. Other outcome is that they look completely solid. Another tip is to shoot with a CPL, also known as a polarizing filter. This becomes helpful with the sun and the reflections off the paint and the glass, as well as the transparency of the glass in the image. It allows you to control how much you see through it. Last tip that I would say is to use some sort of stabilization, whether it is within the camera or it is a gimbal. It helps when you are driving on the road and go over the small bumps that could cause shake at a low shutter speed.
Here are some examples of the photos that I've taken.
First 2 are Rolling Shots. The silver Camaro is the one done correct, the blue Toyota Supra below it isn't done as well as the first one, due to traffic.

 These 2 are to show the polarizing filter and how it effects the reflections of the glass and paint. First Image has a lot of reflections in the glass and paint while the second doesn't. Both controlled by a CPL.

 These last 3 are just others to show what I like to do. First is the front wheel of a 1995 Nissan Skyline from Japan. Below that is a 1995 Mazda Miata.

Learning the different fields

In class we did the career pyramid where we looked for most, if not all, of the different fields within photography. There were a lot more than I had thought and expected and a lot that I didn't know existed. Many of which were the other fields that didn't really involve the taking of the pictures that I didn't consider, such as a studio manager, a set designer, location scout and more. It was interesting to see how many things you can do that are still within the general field of photography. A lot of the smaller fields are usually what you'd do as an intern or an assistant such as lighting or helping set up the studio for a shoot.
There were a lot of different subfields that I didn't even realize could be within the field.

PhotoPlus Expo

Two weekends ago I went to the PhotoPlus expo at the Javits Center. It was the first time that I have ever been to it and I found it really cool and interesting. At the expo they had a lot of different types of booths, everything from film cameras to the newest digital cameras and all the equipment that you could need for a studio. A few things that sparked my interest were the mirrorless cameras because I have never used one myself, only heard about them. I got to use the Sony A7iii. It was a very nice camera and very user friendly. Another highlight of the expo for me was being able to see and use the new Hasselblad X1D. The quality of the camera was stunning. The person at the booth said it was something like 50mp and a sensor bigger than any digital camera on the market. All of the settings could be changed through the touch screen on the back and was very simple to use.
Another thing that I liked was seeing all the lenses that are available. From the lenses made by Nikon, that I use, to Zeiss lenses which the build quality and clarity were outstanding.
Overall being able to view and handle most of the products that are offered for photography was a fun and informative experience. I would recommend that anyone who is interested in anything photo related go to the expo.

Jim Lennon's Studio Visit

Visiting Jim Lennon's studio was a very informative experience. It gave me an idea of how a studio is laid out and how one of my own could be as well. I liked that he had basically three separate sections of the studio, being the front office area where you walk in, then the kitchen area and then the area with all the lighting and equipment. I also liked how he had, whether they were real or mock, offices along side the back area where it looked like he had them set up for work but also for photos. Seeing just how many lights, cameras, and backdrops, along with other equipment was really an eye opener to see how much it actually takes to function. I know for every place there will be something different but it felt like Jim had everything imaginable in his studio.
When he was telling us about the financial part of the business, from owning a studio to shoots, it was another eye opener as to what it really costs to own a place of business like that. All the equipment on top of paying for the space to work in really adds up and was a pretty overwhelming amount. The costs for the shoots what not a lot more than I expected but it was more than I thought. I didn't even know that there was a sub-field of "commercial photography" and didn't realize how much money it could be to do a photo shoot for a big company.
Overall though the experience was very nice and informative. I think that it was a good way to introduce students into what it may be like to own or work in a studio.

Out of My Comfort Zone

Digital one challenged me a bit more  than normal with bringing me out of my comfort zone. One thing that I am not too comfortable with, but like doing, is portraits. I am not used to shooting portraits and I don't think that I am very good at them, however, it is something that I would like to work on and something that I would like to think I am good at. I find that I like to take candid portraits more than I do with the subject looking directly at the camera. I also think the reason that I do not think I am too good at the post processing of the image. I am not used to editing portraits so I am not really too sure on what to do. Most of mine come out looking soft, which I like but if I make them look too rigid or rough, I don't feel as if they look right. Below are a few examples of the portraits that I had shot for Digital one. There is a repeat in there from my other post and they are really the only ones that I have. They are from a day that I was following around my girlfriend while she does her project so I can complete my assignment.