Playing with lights

Pretty colors & Nature: Week 7 Assignment

For this assignment, I went up to Wilbur Lake, drove around up there for a bit, then went back to the pond on campus

Interviewing an Artist: Week 6 Writing Assignment

I interviewed Ashton Popiel, who graduated from University of the Arts in Philadelphia this past spring. She's a friend of mine, but more importantly, she's an amazing photographer. 
http://www.ashtonpopiel.com/


What motivates you to make your artwork?
"For me and my music photography, it's the artistic expression and the challenge of capturing a moment that motivates me. When I'm photographing a band performing their art, I want to utilize my tools and use my art to show off their emotion in the best way that I can, which is through imagery. Music has been prominent throughout my entire life and when I'm in the press pit photographing a band, I feel like I'm giving back to a community that has given me so much for the past 24 years."

What are you trying to communicate through your artwork?
"What I try to communicate through my photographs is how passionate these musicians are when they're performing. When shooting, I tend to isolate the artist by themselves within the frame so all of the attention is on them and everything else is just background noise. The connection between a fan and a musician is incredibly important, and I try to carry that out of the venue and into a still moment in time with my images."

Shadows: week 6 assignment

Meet Katie: Week 5 Assignment

I decided to photograph my sister, Katie, for this week's assignment. My goal was to capture the various sides to her personality, and I feel I did that successfully.

Katie's "bitch, please" face

 Calm and normal

 Wild

 Model-esque

 Blue eyes

 Artsy-fartsy

 Crazy

Best cupcakes ever

If you find yourself wanting to make cake or cupcakes (from a box), replace the oil and eggs for 12 ounces of diet 7UP, Sprite, Sierra Mist, whatever. Seriously, they're perfect and delicious. Ignore the fact that my frosting is definitely not thick enough. However, it's also delicious.

Week 4: Writing Assignment

1.  What motivates you to make photographs?  When the motivation is internal, how do you benefit from your photography?  If the motivation is external, what results do you hope for?
I've loved taking photos since I was a kid. I like being able to create memories and remember things by photographs. I literally take pictures, or even just snapshots, of everything that interests me or makes me laugh, or anything that's cute, or anything that would make an interesting photograph. I've learned a lot over the years about photography and now I love going through my old "photography" from high school and recreating the photos I took to make them better, whether it's composition or lighting or perspective. Also, I use photography as a form of escape when I'm having a bad day or just need to get away. I'm also horrible at expressing how I feel in words (seriously, right now I'm struggling with this assignment) and that's one reason why I love art so much. It's my form of expression.

2.  What interests and inspires you as an artist in your broader life?  For you, what connections are there between what inspires you and your photography?
I love nature, and someday I will design my own house in the middle of nowhere, preferably on a peaceful lake with unobstructed views. A girl can dream, right? But anyway, that's really where my inspiration comes from. Anything fresh and natural and simple. I'm going to be lame and make a reference to The Notebook. I was always insanely jealous of Allie who, after Noah had restored the house for them, had her own room overlooking the lake so she could paint. In terms of photography (and any form of art for that matter), I love nature partially because it can be so simple but create a beautiful piece of art. Music is also a huge inspiration for me, as you all can see from the objects I used for this last assignment. I try to see my favorite bands/artists in concert as often as I can, and one thing that I love about concerts is capturing the energy of the crowd and whoever is on stage in a photograph.