Anti-Steroid Campaign

Steroid use and abuse is a huge problem in all levels of athletics today. Physical risks include liver tumors and cancer, jaundice, high blood pressure and increases in cholesterol levels, kidney tumors, fluid retention, and severe acne. Emotional problems associated with steroid use include dramatic mood swings, depression, paranoid jealousy, extreme irritability, delusions, and impaired judgment. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that estimates people that are 18 and older who abuse steroids is hundreds of thousands every year. Not only do professional and collegiate level athletes get caught using steroids, but younger people as well. About 5% of all high school athletes have tried steroids in their high school career.

Andy Warhol Facts/Photoshop Edits

 

 Facts about the legend himself...

Andy Warhol

·         Real name is Andrew Warhola (8/6/28-2/22/87) (Became Warhol after a misprint)

o   Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Parents from Czechoslovakia (does not exist anymore)

o   Father worked in a coal mine

·         In High School, kicked out of art club because he was “too good”

·         Graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology (Bachelor of Fine Arts)

·         Graduated with degree for pictorial design & wanted to become a commercial illustrator

·         Designed advertisements for women’s shoes

·         Used Polaroid camera

·         Fear of hospitals and doctors, hypochondriac

·         Favorite print making technique was silk screening

·         Friends & family described him as a workaholic

·         His sexuality was speculated upon and how this influenced his relationship to art is “a major subject of scholarship on the artist”

·         First solo expedition in 1952

·         Coined the term “15 minutes of fame”

·         1960s: iconic American products (pop art)

·         Created The Factory, his NYC studio from 1962-1968

·         Celebrity portraits developed into one of the most important aspects of his career

·         Made films (first one called Sleep – 6 hours of a man sleeping) (1963)

·         1965 said he was retiring from painting

o   1972 returned to painting

·         Designed cover for the Rolling Stones’ album Sticky Fingers (cover made out of real jean material)

·         Produced Velvet Underground’s first album

·         Started a magazine called Interview, worked for Glamour Magazine, Vogue

·         Shot by Valerie Solanas 3 times for being abusive and “too controlling” (6/3/68)

o   Solanas authored the S.C.U.M. Manifesto, a separatist feminist document

o   "Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there – I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. People sometimes say that the way things happen in movies is unreal, but actually it's the way things happen in life that's unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it's like watching television – you don't feel anything. Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television. The channels switch, but it's all television."

·         Marilyn Monroe = favorite model (not painted until after death)

·         Wore silver wigs until he dyed his hair silver

·         Practicing Ruthenian Rite Catholic who described himself as a religious person

·         Died of a heart attack brought on by a gall bladder surgery and water intoxication

·         $100,000,000 for one of his paintings (highest amount paid) (“Eight Elvises”)

·         Referred to as the “Prince of Pop”

Photoshoped Image

For this assignment, we simply had to use some of the Photoshop techniques we have learned to alter any photo of our choosing. I went through several different shots and ideas while looking through some photos. I tried editing some shots I had taken from out previous animal assignment, but felt that these photos were getting boring and I wanted something different and new. I finally decided to use a picture of my friend Alicia Mussman from our formal this past winter. In this shot, she is looking down and smiling a little. I like this shot because I liked the original lighting and I think she looks really pretty.

I used a few different tools when altering this shot. I first used the magnetic lasso tool to cut Alicia out of the photo. Then I made the background black and white, while still keeping Alicia is color. I used a “crystallize” filter on the background which gave it a blurred looked. When I put Alicia back into the shot I liked the way the black and white blurred background put much more focus on the subject of the photo and also made the photo pop. After that I clicked on the separate layer that just had the cropped image of Alicia and I upped the saturation and darkened  her a bit. In the original shot the lighting was fine but after I made the background black and white, it seemed much darker which made Alicia seem unusually light. I also added a filter on that same layer. I tried a bunch of different filters, but I didn’t really like the effect they were giving to the shot. After a little while, I chose the “smudge stick” filter. I liked how this filter made the photo less look like an actual photo, but more like a painting.

I liked the opportunity to just play around with some of the things we have learned in Photoshop and alter some pictures. I am finally getting comfortable with the different aspects of Photoshop and the different tools it offers. 

Little Toy Assignment...

Blended Photoshop Image

Copy/Paste Photoshop Image

Landscape

Architecture Assignment

 Sir Francis Drake Hotel, San Francisco CA

Ceiling detail in Sir Francis Drake Hotel

Interior shot in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel

Detail of column at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco

Office Building, Brisbane CA

Photographer Bio: Ansel Adams

Ansel Easton Adams was born on February 20, 1902 in San Francisco, and died on April 22, 1984 in Monterey. He was best known for his black and white photographs of the Yosemite Valley. Adams received a Doctor of Arts at both Harvard and Yale Universities. His job in the Sierra Club as a  custodian greatly increased his success as a photographer. His photos were first used to protect the environment from destructive projects. In 1927, at the age of 25, Ansel Adams started work on his first portfolio called, "Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras". With generous sponsorship from a man named Albert Bender, his portfolio was successful.  In 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger conducted Adams in the California Hall of Fame.

Site: http://www.photographymuseum.com/adamslg.html

Site:

http://jeffbean.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/ansel_adams_mountains.jpg

Site:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KMqOPeCgoT0/TQPfloeUNLI/AAAAAAAAJog/bk-t97GNPoY/s400/Ansel%2BAdams.jpg

I think this is a cool Ansel Adams photograph. When I first saw it I almost thought it was a painting, in the way that it was much different than some of the other photographs I was looking through. Unlike many of his shots, this one much more close up and not a "grand landscape" or wide and big view shot. In this Ansel Adams photograph, the emphasis is on the rose and there is also rule of thirds present as well as strong value. I like the wood pattern in the background which is a good contrast compared to the softness of the rose.

Blog Notes 208-217

Camera Settings:
-photogrloubelcher.comaphy is characterized by max. depth of field, and the way to do this is to stop down a lens as far as it will go
-smaller f-stops=longer shutter speeds


Light:
-best times are right after sunrise and just before sunset
-shapes and textures are emphasized by side lighting
-chose days that reduce shadows and highlights


Film:
-black and white shots are still the look of choice
-B&W showcase value, line, shape, texture, and pattern
-sometimes color can overpower certain types of art


Lenses:
-wide angle lenses are preferred for really close and really far objects in the same shot
-telephoto lens let you capture things you aren't actually close to
-macro lenses are good for getting really up close and personal


Filters:
-filters are a big part of landscape shots
-yellow filters bring out clouds
-ultimate black skies and white clouds use a red filter with a polarizer


Camera Support:
-tripods can help with the support needed when trying to take sharp images


Grand Landscape:
-"big view" for pictures of the great outdoors
-parks are great places to explore landscape photography
-always include a large expanse of the scene and wide- angle lenses will give the wider view that you need
-have sky in your shots, and have clouds stand out


Landscape Details and Close-Ups:
-bright sunny days usually seem best, but can be challenging
-most photographers prefer cloudy or overcast days to shoot
-parks are a good source of subject matter
-rocks, water, trees


Abstract Elements:
-images composed od lines, shapes, values, and textures
-best way is to get really close and shoot only a small part of it
-get as much depth as possible
-use macro lens

Examples of Grand Landscape
Site: loubelcher.com

 Site: http://www.rosen-ducatimaging.com/v/vspfiles/photos/categories/2.gif

Blog Notes Pages 202-207

Landscape Photography:
-most of this genre's images focus on the natural world without the presence of humans
-tends to be more formal than other types of photography
-inspiration was first found in paintings and the land


Carleton E. Watkins:
-wanted to capture the grandeur of the American West
-began photographing the yosemite valley in 1861
-opened his own gallery in 1858 in SF


Tim O'Sullivan:
-principle photographer for Gardner's famous book, the Photographic Sketcbook of the War
-after the civil war, Tim was the lead photographer on the first U.S. govt. photographic survey of the lands west of the Mississippi
-his photos were straightforward shots of amazing landscapes


Thinking Artistically:
-viewpoint is the most important part of composition
-where you position the camera is very important
-value is an image's light and dark areas, especially important in black and white pics
-balance between unity and variety


Composition: placing all the objects within the frame or space of the image
Balance: refers to how those objects relate to one another in size, location, color, etc.
-one of the most important methods for composing images is rule of 3rds

Site: chloephotography.wordpress.com

Blog Notes Pages 194-197

Interior Views
-overall shots, or focus on small details
-concentration can be on the presence of the people who live in and use the rooms
-challenge is that the photographer is limited on where to place the camera
-as close as 4 feet or as far away as 20 feet
-living spaces define who we are


Berenice Abbott
-believed in the the value of being a self-taught artist
-work was characterized by exquisite lighting, interesting poses, and precise, formal compositions
-used large format cameras

Interview View

Site: http://deluxearch.com/modern-house-architectur-by-nico-van-der-meulen-architects

Blog Notes Pages 190-193

-view= wide angle, overall view, showing you whole buildings or objects, photographer goes far away
-perspective distortion=appears as strong converging lines in a building, looking a little different than reality
-farther you are from the building, the less distortion you see
-taking a shot from the side naturally creates a 3-d view
-detail shot=certain elements of a building's interior or exterior
-details become indirect portraits

detail shot...

Site: http://moblog.net/view/54763/architectural-detail-nyc-may-30-2004

Blog Notes Pages 184-189

More on architectural photography...
-as much image sharpness as possible
-smallest detail should be clear (try smaller f-stop)
-all visual art relies on value
-range of values=contrast
-value can be used to emphasize certain parts of an image

-texture=tactile or touchable quality of a surface
-color=emphasize color and setting
-black and white=value, shape, and texture

-lighting is very important for interior shots
-for big view or wide interior shots a wide-angle lense is best
-tripods give needed balance and portability
-when shooting in black and white, filters can improve images
-sky and clouds often merge to create uniform
-polarizer filters takes care of the bright reflections
-filters can also bring out textures in stone and concrete

Blog Notes Pages 179-183

Architecture and Urban Landscapes/Arichitectural Photography
=indirect portraits (when you take a pic of a building or home you create an "indirect portrait" of the people who live in them)
-architectural photography can be formal or informal, for example you can use a tri-pod and carefully set up the shots you want to take, or simply get capture any shot without planning
-big view= far away shot
-detail=similar to macro, or very close up
-interior=inside a building or home

-architecture has always been a popular subject for photographers
-buildings don't move, so easy subject
-Frederick H. Evans is one of the best architectural photograhers in history, his photos are filled with emotion and light, "record of emotion"
-visual recording of a buildings appearance
-emotions connected to that place, or details of a building, even an exploration of abstract images
-lots of different values and texture
-surroundings can make a shot much better
-patterns=repetitions of any element in art

Interior View, detail

Site: http://www.bodew.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/spiral-staircase.jpg

In Class Video Notes...

-Pictures in newspapers are used to attract attention
-New York Graphic was the most extreme and scandalous newspaper
-sometimes fantasy takes place of truth
-In 1920's photographs began replacing drawings, people believed photos to be 100% true and were skeptical of the honesty in drawings
-Basic things could be transformed into objects of desire
-Sports stars started to become superstars
-Babe Ruth made more money as a celebrity than a baseball player
-the planet pluto was first seen in a photograph
-naked eye sees only 60,000 stars, while a photograph can show millions
-photographs allow us to see things that the eye is unable to
-photography expands our 5 senses