Capturing Music for Our Eyes

Posted on March 29, 2010 by nesopblog

Max Gordon—First Year, Term 1 Work

Website: http://www.maxbgordon.com/

1. What was your motivation for this project/these images?

Being a newly enrolled student at NESOP, I am still testing the waters and learning in what subject matter I’m interested. Before this shoot, I had not shot any concert photography. I think that this is an area in which I’d like to be involved. I enjoy the musicians who perform and working to capture the atmosphere of the event.

2. Describe your technique for making these images. (film or digital, camera used, settings and ISO, tripod or none, alternative process(es), etc.)

To make these images, I used a digital SLR (Nikon D700) with both a 28-200mm lens and a fixed 50mm lens. Since it was indoors with low light and mixed light, and being tripod-less, I needed to use a high ISO (6400) in order to have a fast enough shutter speed to capture the event.

3. What is your intention behind this work/in making this work?

My intention is to recreate the event accurately so that the music and performance will not be lost in the air forever but be translated into and remembered through these images.

4. What response do you hope to get from your viewers?

I hope viewers are excited about and awed by the images. I like to experiment with new perspectives that will draw up memories of the event for the viewer who was at the concert and, for those who weren’t there, make images that will instill a desire to see a concert like this.

5. What other artists or art serve(s) as your inspiration?

I love watching musicians and DJ’s work, so many artists serve as my inspiration. For this particular shoot, the musician playing is Kieran Hebden (known as Four Tet). His music provides me with inspiration for my shoots, both when I’m at his concerts and when I’m not… Watching musicians and DJ’s work inspires me to try new ways to shoot and work photographically.

Filed under: Visual Journalism | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Hollywood Glamour

Posted on March 28, 2010 by nesopblog

Chandra Guthro—Second Year, Term 3 Work


1. What was your motivation for this project/these images?

I was motivated to shoot old Hollywood glamour just as a chance to experiment with something new. I love to shoot in the studio and really play with extensive light setups, and this project certainly allows that. I really wanted to stretch my abilities beyond standard portraits and try to make pictures that can tell a story without becoming too editorial.

2. Describe your technique for making these images. (film or digital, camera used, settings and ISO, tripod or none, alternative process(es), etc.)

My portraits are shot digitally with a Canon 5-D MarkII. I do eveything within the studio, most times using lots of props to recreate sets or specific scenes from certain inspirational pictures. The lighting set-ups are varied. I do use strobes, but I stick to softboxes, gridspots and strong hair-lights to get the desired effect. There is a little post process work in Photoshop. I usually play with adding a little bit of grain and soft lens blur which really adds to the pictures when they’re in print form.

3. What is your intention behind this work/in making this work?

My intention with these pictures is not to completely replicate older portraits but to embody the styling and lighting technique from older time periods. No matter how hard I may try, my own personal style is inevitably going to show through in my work…which I wouldn’t ever want to hide. These portraits not only look wonderful in the end, but the shoots are so much fun for myself and the models. I’ve been shooting this for ten weeks now and couldn’t be happier with the work I’ve gotten.

5. What other artists or art serve(s) as your inspiration?

As a Fine Art—Black & White major, this project certainly fits. My specific inspiration came from looking at photographers like George Hurrell, C.S. Bull, E.R. Richee, Frank Polowny. Not quite as closely related to what I’m doing, I also love the work of Arnold Newman, Sally Mann and Richard Avedon.

Filed under: Portraiture & Wedding | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Chasing the News

Posted on March 27, 2010 by nesopblog

Ryan McBride — First Year, Term 3 Work

Blog: http://mcbridephotography.wordpress.com/


1. What was your motivation for this project/these images?

These images are all self-assigned, published images that were intended to help me grow my portfolio and develop my skills as a photographer. My motivation comes from loving and wanting to produce visual journalism and news photography. These images represent a passion I’ve worked on outside of class/school, and I’ve had some success with publishing them—I think that is testament to the fact that loving what you do is a powerful motivator.

2. Describe your technique for making these images. (film or digital, camera used, settings and ISO, tripod or none, alternative process(es), etc.)

Visual journalism is extremely fast-paced. When I was younger, I was never any good at it and actually wanted nothing to do with photojournalism or anything news-related. The key is to really know what you need to do, and do it quickly—you can’t let your eye down from your camera. For the Obama and sports photos, I was looking for speed and freezing of action. During those events, I explored other visual avenues like subject movement, but they proved inappropriate. I kept my F/stops around 2.8- 5.6.. For both shots, I used an 80-200 for a close and isolated effect—to extend the moment these subjects are having and how they are relating to their environments. My ISOs are higher as well because I was shooting at night or in a gymnasium. For the shot of the Public Works employee, I’m at 12mm—as wide as I could get. I’m extremely close trying to fill the frame while composing an image that tells the story completely. I’m not too close, or it will look more like a portrait… I was looking for action, and I luckily found it. This one ran front page, above the fold in the Salem Observer.

3. What is your intention behind this work/in making this work?

My intention behind this work is to produce great news photos and create awareness. My intent was and is always to show action and reaction—they are very important, producing emotion and depth in a photograph, and that is what I was going for. I was definitely going for the moment with the Obama and football photos. For the shot of the Public Works employee, I was going for the overall story—an image that could supplement the story I wrote for the photographs.

4. What response do you hope to get from your viewers?

I hope they enjoy the photos. I hope they’re moved, inspired and interested in my work. I hope my work inspires them to stay aware and to keep looking at other work. Ultimately, I do what I do so that people are informed and educated; photographs tell a story and offer a truth that regular journalism cannot. I think that the images and the writing often go hand and hand—the more I can contribute and be a part of that, the better. Awareness is bliss for me.

5. What other artists or art serve(s) as your inspiration?

I gain huge inspiration from many artists/photographers. Among them: Joe McNally, Edward Burtynsky, Bill Franson, Ami Vitale, Lynsey Addario, Lucian Read, George Rizer, Robert Capa and Glen Cooper. I’m inspired to see and document what’s going on in the world by their work, personalities and abilities.

Filed under: Visual Journalism | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Afghanistan – A Day in the Life Of…

Posted on March 7, 2010 by nesopblog

Yusuke Suzuki — First Year, Term 1 Work

Blog: http://fotologue.jp/The-Minstrel-Boy

1. What was your motivation for this project/these images?

I wanted to know how the people in Afghanistan live.

2. Describe your technique for making these images. (film or digital, camera used, settings and ISO, tripod or none, alternative process(es), etc.)

I took this trip with my first dSLR Canon EOS 30D, no tripod.

Image 1: Manual, F5.6_1/800_ISO160

Image 2: Manual, F5.6_1/60_ISO125

Image 3: Manual, F5.6_1/250_ISO640

3. What is your intention behind this work/in making this work?

I am from Japan, and Japanese media didn’t pick up much on Afghanistan, yet our government had provided a great deal of money and resources to Afghanistan to help them rebuild their country. I was curious and wanted to find out the truth first-hand, document it and bring it to Japanese (and other) younger generations. I wanted to communicate that truth through pictures. While the situation in Afghanistan is terrible—even in war, there are ordinary days and people there live and are very much like us. Afghanistan is a beautiful country, and its people are very nice—I wanted my images to follow not only the war, but also their daily lives.

4. What response do you hope to get from your viewers?

I hope viewers find something new within these pictures and feel something new because of them. My goal is to help the viewer step outside his/her own life and become more interested in world issues—to see, appreciate and be informed by how others live in their countries and cultures.

5. What other artists or art serve(s) as your inspiration?

I like music, so I get a lot of inspiration from it. Listening to really good music helps me visualize the images I want to create, and it keeps me motivated.

Filed under: Documentary | Tagged: , , , | 4 Comments »

Art Delicious – Food Inspired Photography

Posted on March 7, 2010 by nesopblog

Morgan Yeager—Second Year, Term 2 Work

Blog: http://morganione.blogspot.com/

Website: http://morganionephotography.com/

1. What was your motivation for this project/these images?

My motivation is always images in food magazines that make me not only want to eat the food, but appreciate the beauty of it even in its natural or less-than-perfect state.

2. Describe your technique for making these images. (film or digital, camera used, settings and ISO, tripod or none, alternative process(es), etc.)

I shot all these with my Nikon D300 dSLR. I always use an ISO of 200 or lower when shooting with Pro-foto powerpacks. I generally use a tripod and shoot directly to the computer. Finding the best lighting to accentuate texture and color is important when shooting food.

3. What is your intention behind this work/in making this work?

My intention is to create images that portray food as an art form – both in its natural state as well as after it has been manipulated and combined with other ingredients.

4. What response do you hope to get from your viewers?

I want the viewers to find the food appetizing, get inspired to cook something themselves, appreciate that which the earth supplies and connect with what it is they are eating.

5. What other artists or art serve(s) as your inspiration?

Right now, I really enjoy looking at the work of Anna Williams, Andrew Hetherington and Jonny Valiant.

Filed under: Advertising & Commercial, Editorial & Corporate | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Exploring Characters & Their Spaces

Posted on March 7, 2010 by nesopblog

Dominic Casserly–First Year, Term 2 Work

Blog: http://photothon.blogspot.com/

Website: http://www.Domathon.com/

1. What was your motivation for this project/these images?

These images are all photo-sets I shot for assignment for Digital Capture Class. I love shooting portraits as well as spaces; I think the details that are involved in a portrait are just as important as the people in the photo.

2. Describe your technique for making these images. (film or digital, camera used, settings and ISO, tripod or none, alternative process(es), etc.)

I shoot only digital. I’d rather not spend the time or money making single prints at a time in a wet dark room. With digital, I can shoot and go through all of my workflow from the backseat of a car or in my tent. I’ve been able to shoot images, edit and get them uploaded to the Web all in the same day, while out in the field. I love that! As far as technique goes, I use anything I can to get the shot—a tripod, a low ISO, flash… And, you always have to connect with the model.

3. What is your intention behind this work/in making this work?

My intention for my portraits is to get people interested not only in the subject, but also in the world he/she inhabits. That’s why I use multiple images in the same photo. It allows me to more effectively tell a story—to offer a more complete understanding of the life of the subject than a single image could.

4. What response do you hope to get from your viewers?

I hope viewers see my work and want to know who these people are or perhaps share in their lifestyle(s).

5. What other artists or art serve(s) as your inspiration?

My inspiration comes from magazines, movies, catalogues and other photographers. If I had to pick just one, I would say I would like to shoot what Embry Rucker shoots.

Filed under: Editorial & Corporate, Portraiture & Wedding | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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