Rhett Miller with Black Prairie at Club Cafe

Rhett Miller, one of my favorite musicians, came to Club Cafe last weekend. I've been lucky enough to attend several Old 97's and solo Rhett shows and almost every time I bring my camera. Club Cafe is always a bit of a challenge to photograph in though. The venue is small and really dark. Another challenge is that with only one performer and me being stuck in the same spot, there's not a lot of opportunity to get different compositions. I did get a few winners I think!

 

 

Black Prairie opened for Rhett and they were phenomenal as well. Here's a few of my favorites of them...

Studio Photography Final

           This project was inspired by fashion and in particular advertisements or editorial spreads in fashion magazines. I was also inspired by a light painting project I did last semester. I wanted to mix bright, colorful light painting with fashion. My favorite method of light painting is illuminating objects or scenes with a colored flashlight. I prefer actually “painting” the scene with light rather than writing with the lights.

The photos are a focus on the accessories and clothes rather than the person wearing them. I wanted to show off how one’s clothing and accessories they chose creates an overall look for that person. I did not want to show an entire face in order to make the focus precisely on the fashion elements. I chose diptychs because I wanted to get people shots as well as more detailed shots. The detail shots highlight the object or clothing item that the person is using.

            Parts of this project were painted with light, specifically the more detailed close-up shots. On the other half of the project I used my external flash with colored gels to illuminate the scene. I wanted to create bright, contrasty photographs that were fun and visually appealing through the use of color and light. Although I was focused on details and carefully set up the scenes, I did not want them to seem overly precise and perfect.

            Overall, this was more of a fun project for me that was out of my comfort zone. Fashion photography is not usually something I practice so I wanted to put my own interpretation on it. I got to experiment with light and colors and created what I believe are unique and fun fashion images. 

Intro to Photojournalism Portfolio

Below are some of my best photos from the semester taken in my intro to photojournalism class.

PPNS Assignment #2

I took these photos for a Point Park News Service article titled Pittsburgh: Capital of the undead! by Kimberly Smith. The article mentions House of the Dead, a zombie-themed store in Lawrenceville, and also interviewed one of the co-owners so I took my photos there. 

House of the Dead is located at 4110 Butler Street in Lawrenceville and sells a variety of zombie-themed items including t-shirts, toys, books, videos, and costumes. 

Chuck Cramer is co-owner of House of the Dead, a zombie-themed shop in Lawrenceville that sells t-shirts, books, toys, videos, and costumes. 

House of the Dead, located at 4110 Butler Street in Lawrenceville, sells a variety of zombie-themed goodies including zombie make-up and apparel. 

House of the Dead is located at 4110 Butler Street in Lawrenceville and sells a variety of zombie-themed items including t-shirts, toys, books, videos, posters and more. 

PPNS Assignment #1

I took these photos for a Point Park News Service story on shoe repair/cobblers in Pittsburgh. The story is by Gregg Harrington but has not been published yet. I took these photos at Ulrich Show Repair on Liberty Avenue.

Eric Blair of Larimer waxes the surface of a boot to restore texture at Ullrich Shoe Repair at 545 Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA on September 27, 2012. Before waxing it, Blair used Cadillac Cream to put moisture back in the leather. "Brush it off and it'll be brand new!” he said.

Paul Manno of the North Hills works at a sewing machine to repair the zipper on a boot at Ullrich Shoe Repair at 545 Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA on September 27, 2012. Manno was trained in Italy for shoe repair and has experience in zipper and purse repair.

Paul Manno of the North Hills works at a sewing machine to repair the zipper on a boot at Ullrich Shoe Repair at 545 Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA on September 27, 2012. Manno was trained in Italy for shoe repair and has experience in zipper and purse repair.

Rex Streno, owner of Ullrich Shoe Repair, has been working at his shop at 545 Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA for over 30 years.  Streno’s business provides a variety of repair services for shoes, purses, belts and zippers.  

Rex Streno, owner of Ullrich Shoe Repair, works on the sole of a shoe at his shop at 545 Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA on September 27, 2012. Streno’s business provides a variety of services including sole and heel repair, shoe stretching, waterproofing, zipper and purse repair, and shines. 

Light Painting

I've done light painting in the past and I've always enjoyed it so I was excited for this assignment in my studio class. I've light painted outside mostly in the past and did the classic random squiggles and such, so this time I moved indoors and wanted to try a few new things.

The first photo is of my polaroid camera. I was going for a crazy, fun lighting effect. I used a flash light covered in colored tissue paper to give the camera a red or orange cast, and then I moved around different colored glow sticks around the bottom to get the lines.

This next one is of a pinwheel and I used flashlights again with colored tissue paper and a green glow stick to cast the hints of green on the silver and on the wall behind. I also blew on the pinwheel to get the motion.

This last photo was supposed to be for my final project but it's now taken a different direction. In the photo below, I used my flash to fire a yellow cast on the picture, then light painted her coat orange with a flashlight, and light painted the leaf with a purple flashlight. Obviously it's not super sharp but I ended liking it anyway. My final project will be similar to this but indoors and hopefully a bit sharper.

Polaroid Pack Film Negative Process

All semester I've been working on a project with my professor regarding Polaroid pack film. Once you develop a peel apart Polaroid  you have a print on one side and the other side is well, the best way to describe it is goopy. But don't mistake this goop as trash! Save it because under all of that goop is a negative. Saving the goop side can be difficult because it needs time to dry. So when you're out in the field shooting, keep in mind that you'll need a place to store them. Drying time varies depending on the environment. Once the goopy side has dried, tear it away from the print side and you're ready to try this process! There are several methods for doing this process, but this is the way I've been doing it with consistent results. 

What else you need:

-          clean sheet of glass

-          bleach spray

-          painters or masking tape

-          foam brushes

-          paper towels

After you've detached the negative from the Polaroid print, peel off the excess paper around the outside. (I usually leave the white part attached so I can easily hang the negatives to dry.) Now take a look at each side of your negative. One side will be matte black like this:

The other side will have a border and you might be able to see outlines of your photo. It also might be a bit dusty like this one:

 See the differences? Now you’ll want to place the negative face down on the glass. This means the black matte side should be facing up.

Place tape only around the edges. Although you cannot see the edges on the black matte side, before you place the negative down, pay attention to where the edge is on the other side. Make sure the tape is firmly in place so the bleach cannot seep underneath and damage the other side. Every once in a while I would have liquid seep under the negative (usually this happened during the rinsing process so nothing happened to the other side). If you’re paranoid, try using clear packing tape (that stuff is really sticky!).

Spray the bleach product onto the negative so it’s covered well in liquid. It’s hard to tell you how much to use but usually 5 or so squirts of the bleach worked well.

Using the foam brush, wipe the bleach around the negative in brush strokes. You may want to use a wet paper towel to wipe off some of the excess black goop or use a fresh brush. Sometimes I would spray a little more bleach product on there to ensure all of the black goop dissolves. There’s not real time frame for this part, some negatives are quicker than others. 

You should be able to tell when you can see the negative come through. Generally it takes about 1 to 2 minutes, depending on how much you work the bleach with the brush. 

While the negative is still taped to the glass, rinse it under warm water. There may be some gooey parts left along the sides, but those can be gently wiped away. If you still see black parts on your negative, you can go back and wipe it away with the brush or sometimes I would spray on a little more bleach if it was being extra stubborn.

Once the bleach is all rinsed off of the negative, peel off the tape and rinse the other side. Now your negative can be hung up to dry. I used the film dryer at my college but with some twine and close pins, I was also able to hang them up at home in my laundry room.

Before repeating the process, be sure to clean the glass and brushes. Once your negatives are dry, they're ready to be scanned!