I Really Need a Digital Camera

But I really have no idea what to buy, when to buy, where to buy, etc…

I'll figure it out I guess.

Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, FL - June 2009

I took these a while back on a trip to St. Augustine. The Castillo de San Marcos was a fort built during the Spanish control of the region in the 1600s. Little piece of history for ya' there…

I visit St. Augustine a lot, since my sister lives there and my family has a vacation home there, but I have just now gotten around to taking some photos. "Old Town," or the tourist section of the city with all the historic buildings, has some really beautiful and interesting architecture, but I always forget to bring my camera. Anyway, I have some more of these Castillo shots, but these are the ones I liked best. Most weren't cropped well because I had to have the film sent out to be processed, but the negatives look much better than the prints.

The photos were taken throughout the fort, from the cannons on the roof to the chapel to the military barracks. You can't see it in most of these indoor shots, but the creepiest thing about the building are the carvings made by soldiers (and prisioners) in the walls, some practicing their English alphabet, and some writing names or messages, most of which are illegible, unless you speak 17th century Spanish.

Too bad there aren't an ghosts in these pictures :(

John Gutmann

John Gutmann was born in Breslau, Germany in 1905. In his photography, he was well known for the use of the "worm's eye view," or a view from a very low point on the ground. Throughout his career, Gutmann worked as a professor at San Francisco State University and is considered the founder of the school's photography and modern art programs.

The above photo was taken of Olympic diving champion Marjorie Gestring in 1936 and is entitled, "Class." One can only assume that Gutmann was using the title to comment on the class of Gestring, or perhaps her grace as an athlete which projects class. The overall composition of the piece emphasizes Gestring in every aspect. For instance, the massive amounts of negative space surrounding the diver draw the viewer's eye right into her. The darker gray of the background also presents a contrast between the sky, and the highlights on Gestring's body. Similarly, the empty space, as well as the angle of her body and the camera, and the exclusion of most of the diving board all add a surreal quality to the photo, emphasizing the actions of the subject. What is she doing? Is she floating? If the viewer did not know the history of the photo, it could be interpreted a different way. For example, the diving board may just look like the tip of an airplane wing, and Gestring perhaps flying beside it.

 

I've just finished this painting I've been working on for a few weeks now. I'm really happy to finally have finished a painting outside of schoolwork, so it's the first "original" in a while, I guess you could say.

Here's a close-up, and then a full view. It's done in acrylic on a oval canvas.

What Is… ?

GOOD? Beautiful. Interesting. Unique. Makes you think. Trying hard. Inspiring. Love. Effort. Appreciation.

ART? Anything. Painting. Music. Sculpture. Inspirational. Imagery. History. Documentation. Objective. Experimental. Evolving. Feeling.

PHOTO? Composition. Art. Imagery. Memory/momento. History. Personal. Objective. Variable. Experimental.

ME & PHOTO? New. Exploration. Education. Art. Difficult. Trying. Impatient.

CONSEQUENTIAL ASSIGNMENT: Look for high contrast, especially created through interesting natural light.

Snow!

I'm so happy we finally got real snow this winter.

Inconsistent

Yes, the walls are hot pink in real life. I'm totally failing this "post every day" thing.

Untitled

This was me attempting to do the "daily photo" assignment thing. However, my digital camera is clearly terrible. I edited this picture, and I'm still completely dissatisfied.

So, I took this second picture:

I edited them both quite a bit on the computer.