Arist Inspirations

"Green Rolling Hills"          Cera Hensley

Cera Hensley creates photos of beautiful landscape that look so realistic and majestic, but in actuality, she crafts out miniature models and uses portraits of people, then skilfully photoshops them into her photographs. Her pictures not only highlight beauty, but also much expression and mood.

"City Silhouettes"          James Jasper

James Jasper takes pictures of people, places, travel, and food, but what I found really unique when looking through his portfolio were his city silhouette portraits. In his projects, Jasper uses the technique of double exposure to capture both the city scape and the city dwellers. I find it amazing how he only changes the contrast and colours a bit, but there is no significant editing.

"Paris, a.k.a. The City of Lights"          Thomas Barbèy

Thomas Barbèy takes pictures of different places, people, and things while he continues to travel all over the world, then merges certain parts of pictures together in one single composition to convey main concepts and ideas. His surrealist photography is distinct in style, solely creating B&W and sepia pictures. His ideas are one-of-a-kind and never lack message, which I hope to display through photography.

"Chicago"          Satoki Nagata

Satoki Nagata is a street photographer in Chicago who takes deeply contrasted, B&W photographs with the lighting always behind his subject. Nagata perfectly captures the cold streets of Chicago and its people. Because he lengthens the shutter speed, his photographs give off a transparent and nostalgic look. His skillful control over elements, such as lighting, pushes me to continue learning about my camera's settings and mechanisms.

"Evacuee"          Bill Gekas

Bill Gekas from Australia takes portraits that have both a modern and vintage feel to them. His inspiration comes mainly from old classical and Renaissance paintings, and he transforms them into photographs that can be simple and incredibly detailed at the same time. His ability to control the main elements and details inspires me to focus on the entirety of a photograph, and not just individual parts.

Then and Now

"Embracing Old Friends"          Paula Medina          2013

I chose to recreate a picture of me with my old stuffed toys. I had to look through a lot of boxes and bags stored under my bed to find Sleepy Bear and Easter Bunny. Sadly, I couldn't find Mr. Ruffs, so I tried using my white stuffed toy cat. I find it pretty amazing that I was able to hold that many stuffed toys, 10 years ago.

Photo Walk - DoF

"Plants by the Water"          Paula Medina          2013

"Stillness"          Paula Medina          2013

"Rocks and Pebbles"          Paula Medina          2013

"Bird's Got Style"          Paula Medina          2013

"Water like Ink"          Paula Medina          2013

"So Close"          Paula Medina          2013

Today's photo walk was really interesting and enjoyable, taking pictures conveying "depth of field." I concentrated on a lot of the small details in Merrill Park. In some pictures, I wanted to focus on the main subject to make details look sharper and clearer. In others, I also focused on a close object to further intensify the distance and the object's surroundings. I made the fifth picture black and white in order to highlight and bolden the texture of the grass and water. I especially loved taking the picture of the hands reflecting on water. Today's lighting and blue sky was perfect enough for me to capture the reflection.

David Hockney Inspired Collage

"Portrait of My Mother"     Paula Medina         2013

I used my mother for my Portrait based on David Hockney's collage method. I took probably over 30 pictures of my mother and used about half of them to create this collage. I captured pictures of different angles, distances, and focus. I wanted to include the orchids and show her surroundings a bit. It was really fun and interesting to piece the pictures together like a puzzle. I emphasized the pictures' different contrasts, lighting, and color saturation. 

"Roosevelt Park Lake" Paula Medina 2013

I chose to take pictures of the lake in Roosevelt Park and it's little aspects to create a landscape collage. I took about 70 pictures and used half of them, focusing on the water, the sky, the straw plants, and trees. I also zoomed in on the carefree ducks. I rotated the pictures that were on the corners of the collage to emphasize not only the lake's shape, but also to show how the pictures were taken at closer distances. I especially loved using the pictures of water, which all had different contrasts, lighting, and saturation.

For both of these collages, I did not want them to look "perfect." Instead, David Hockney's work inspired me to appreciate the abstract and unique methods of creating "Joiners."

Reflection

"Reflection"          Paula Medina          2013

This picture was taken in Roosevelt Park. I love walking around the lake, and instead of taking a picture by a puddle, which was my original idea, I noticed that the reflection on the lake was much more eye-catching and natural. I wanted to show the ripples of water movement, so I tapped my foot on the surface before capturing the shot. This picture was taken at around 10 am, so the lighting was fairly well. I flipped the picture vertically so my reflection would have more emphasis.

1st Photo Walk

"Pine Cones Within a Crowd of Leaves"          Paula Medina          2013

"Same Scene, Different Focus"           Paula Medina            2013

"Sturdy Tree in the Cold"        Paula Medina         2013

Pine Cones, Leaves, and Trees

I had tons of fun on our first photo walk! It was cold, windy, and cloudy, and I can't wait until it gets warmer. But the experience overall was really nice. My favorite photos were the pictures I took of woody branches, pine cones, leaves, and tall trees.

Partner Portraiture

"Reaching Hands"          Paula Medina          2013

For this project, I copied and pasted different positions of my hand interacting with miniature people (Me, Claudine, Mashal). I found using the Magnetic Lasso Tool incredibly helpful when selecting what I wanted. I used the Burn Tool as well as the Drop Shadow effect and added shadows. The two hands on the left of this picture are the same, and I simply rotated one of them and positioned it above Claudine's hands. I adjusted the lighting and coloring of the hands and the models to make the overall picture look more balanced.
I wanted to make this picture look very playful and comical!

Where I'd Rather Be

"A Botanical Garden in India"          Paula Medina          2013

For this project, it was fairly easy to copy and paste myself onto this picture using the Magnetic Lasso Tool. In order to make every aspect look balanced, I made myself and the shadows darker since I'm underneath the tree's canopy of leaves. The colors were also made warmer, and the contrast was increased. I really wanted to make this picture more interesting, so I selected myself out of a photo where I was sitting and crouching on a chair, and copied myself onto the boat (do you see me?).
I really love botanical gardens, and I'd love to visit this one in India.

February Photo Challenge

"February Collage"          Paula Medina          2013

I had so much fun taking themed pictures for every day of February. Taking these picture kept me active in photography, and creating this collage only helped me learn more about myself and my life.

I realized that a lot of these pictures were taken indoors, since it's always so cold and windy during February. I played around with lighting and different angles and challenged myself to make them more visually interesting. I made sure to take pictures outside whenever there was enough lighting or when the sun was out. I took so many pictures of my birds and realized they are a big part of my life. I love my lovebirds! February has also been really hectic regarding school work, and I found myself taking pictures of my Biology book pillow and my painful Calculus homework. Moreover, taking these pictures made me appreciate the "little things" more, like the items in my pocket, the shoes that I own, the snowglobes that I collect, my little chair in the corner, the keyboard I type on every day, an outfit I wore, my ballerina friend, and the moments I share with my parents (can you see the picture of my mom and the thumb war I'm having with my dad?). At the top left of the picture, I chose to write the definition of "Discovery" for my handwritten picture. Through these pictures, I was able to explore many precious, simple parts of my life.