Connect

Flash Animation

Over the passed two weeks, I have been trying to come up with better animations and less scary looking cartoons to animate.  All of my attempts have been the most frustrating, difficult and almost impossible for me put from mind to computer.  I have spent hours and hours trying to understand flash and how to incorporate drawings created in illustrator or photoshop.  So many times I have given up trying to bring one to another and to try again in flash but frustration would get the better of me.  The lock fill on the bucket tool would never allow me to color my drawings properly--or if by chance they did, the drawings would then fall behind the background and no matter how many times I'd try to bring it forward or send the background back, It just would not work!  I have to say this project was by far the most challenging 1) Because I'm a terrible digital drawer (if only I had a tablet to free draw) and 2) The rules of this program just don't make sense to me.  One minute I've got the clips where I want it and the next a layer has disappeared or shows up lagged for a few seconds after the clip was supposed to end.  I have been trying and trying so please bare with how crude this animation looks.  The idea was to show how to "connect."

In the beginning of my animation I have a couple of people walking down a busy street in a city, walking together yet talking on their cell phones.  The next part is another couple of people walking down a sidewalk, again now connecting with each other but on their cell phones.  The final part shows a couple of people out in the woods around a campfire, connecting with each other finally.  The idea was to show the importance of taking technology out of the equation in the modern world we live in today.  Although, the problems I had came from random overlaps in layers--that I SWEAR I did not touch, yet somehow things are different when I alter a completely different layer.

Design Competition 2

I didn't realize that the competition had to be from the Graphic Competitions so I chose one that would be similar to the Adirondack Competition--The Hamdan International Photography Award.  I used Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom to edit these initial photos.  They follow both general and black and white guidelines.


The Hamdan International Photography Award’s journey continues as we now enter the third session. Four categories have been chosen which will inspire some of the world’s finest and most committed photographers. The Award encourages photographers to share their craft and demonstrate excellence in what is now one of the most coveted Awards in the world.

This session’s four categories are timeless and perfectly reflect the world we live in. They encourage photographers from all over the world to explore the art-form of photography and demonstrate skills and creativity at a level which will set benchmarks globally.

The four categories are:

• Creating the Future
• General
• Black and White
• Street Life


In addition, the magic of Black and White continues to be a popular category as it conveys intense beauty through its uniqueness and timeless elegance.

You can submit a maximum of 4 photos for all categories, 1 photo for each category. Photographs submitted must be of high quality and be suitable for publication. They must also be in JPEG format and no less than 2 MB in size. You cannot participate with a photo that has already won in a competition, or already used for commercial purposes.

Design Competition

Adirondack Life is a local magazine in the Adirondack area.  Being a native to this area I thought it might be interesting to submit some photography work for this contest.  The qualifications are the following:

http://www.adirondacklifemag.com/blogs/photo-contest/photo-contest-guidelines-2/
Submissions: Black-and-white and color prints (no larger than 8″x10″) and high-resolution digital images (300 dpi or higher) may be submitted. Digital images should be 8 bit (NOT 16 bit) saved on CD or uploaded on our website as tiff, jpeg or psd files. Please name each file with your name and a number from 1 to 5 (i.e., JohnSmith1.jpg). Images submitted by CD must include a color or black-and-white printout (full-size or thumbnails); physical printouts are not required for images submitted online.

Mounted or framed prints, slides, color negatives and photo books are not accepted.

All photos must be taken in the Adirondack Park. Each entrant may submit up to 5 photographs total. Categories may include People, Recreation, Landscape, Wildlife, Macro, Alternative Process and Black and White. Other creative categories are encouraged. There is no entry fee. THE BACK OF EACH PHOTO MUST BE LABELED WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME, ADDRESS AND IDENTIFICATION OF THE IMAGE. Unlabeled prints will not be accepted. Professional photographers’ submissions will not be considered.

Mailing: Entries will NOT be returned. Enclose an inventory list of numbered images—including locations where images were taken. SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT AN INVENTORY LIST WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Include a stamped, self-addressed postcard for acknowledging receipt of your material.

Judging: Entries will be judged according to the overall quality of the photograph, with special attention paid to composition, exposure, focus, color and general interest.

Deadline: All submissions must be sent to Adirondack Life Photography Contest, Box 410, Jay, NY 12941 and postmarked no later than December 1, 2013. Winners will be announced in Adirondack Life‘s April 2014 issue.

Prizes, Awards and Usage: A grand prize of free admission to the signature fall workshop sponsored by the Adirondack Photography Institute in 2014 will be awarded for the best image. First, second and third prizes will be awarded to traditional color entries, black-and-white and/or wildlife photos. The judges may also select images for honorable mention or special categories. Winners will receive a commemorative pottery bowl or mug. Winners agree to have images published in print and online. Winning images may be used with full credit for promotion of subsequent contests.

ADIRONDACK LIFE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY MATERIAL LOST, DAMAGED OR MISDIRECTED IN THE MAIL.

The concept of my submission is Photo manipulation.  The first photo I am submitting is something I tried earlier this week of a friend of mine.  I set up a tripod on a terribly windy day that we stopped by her camp on the Sacandaga Lake and I created a long exposure shot by leaving the shutter open on my camera.  I was looking for a blurred, misty result on the otherwise very wavy surf.  I think I might have had more success if I'd lived near an ocean but I really loved the color's in this photo.  To make this shot successful I actually took two shots and created a composite--one of my friend and the background entirely in focus and the other with a ten second long exposure.  The reason I used two shots was because I knew that my friend and even the tripod could not be trusted to remain still for those ten seconds because of the amount of wind that day.  For this shot I placed one shot directly on the other and gently erased the background until the parts of the image I wanted in focus--were and the others, weren't using the eraser tool in photoshop.  I took these shot's as the sun was setting in the opposite direction to achieve the soft, blue light that enveloped the sky.  My target audience I suppose, would be people interested in local life around lakes in the Adirondack Park.  If this were to be used in a magazine it would have to do personally with the person in the photo and what they are to this place and what this place means to them.  These photo's a guess are more artsy than documentary but they have to do with nature, people and art.  The beauty of this area is that you can be near a body of water to achieve the look of the first photos or honesty drive ten minutes in the other direction to find a cornfield for a completely different look.

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Flash Sketches-Unplugged

I have been having an extremely difficulty with this project...because I used to be really good at sketching, drawing and painting.  Somewhere along the last four years I seemed to have lost any and all ability to be creative and therefore anything I begin with becomes a crumbled piece of paper on the floor.  If I do happen to draw something that gets my point across, I then become overwhelmed with the massive amount of digital enhancement that is then able to transform my image.  I have been extremely frustrated and therefore have only a few sketches to show what I am trying to go for.  I want to express an "Unplugged," skit.  People connected to only material items who then change to connect with each other.

The first image shows a women surrounded by technology.  She's got a tv, cell phone, xbox, lap top and stereo system.  The second image shows (what should be) the same woman getting in touch with herself through Yoga with no distractions around her.  My other sketches depicted a man and woman simultaneously trying to connect to the internet while in each others presence before we see an alternative sketch where they are trying to connect with each other--unplugged.  Please--any and all tips or critique's are welcome.  My frustration is becoming the better part of me for this project.

Taking Time

I think a huge problem in our society is instant gratification.  The problem with First World societies has to do with the fact that everything we could want or need is so easily attainable or can ship between seven to eight business days.  People want convenience and brand names and something I worry about is our fluent with easy technologies-next generation.  Kids today are growing up with everything handed to them and communication skills that stop at the end of their IPhones.   I was a part time waitress at one point and can recall a scenario consisting of a table of eight that literally scared me.  There were three adults and five children—all of which were seated with eyes glued to their cell phones.  If one of the adults tried to get the attention of a particular child (all of whom were about twelve and under) they were met with bratty whining and disrespectful responses.  The adults would give up after a time, losing to the battle of a game on a cell phone, I’m betting not for the first time.  Five kids sat through that whole lunch, and did not interact with each other.  I was disgusted with the situation and saddened by the parents handling of it.  However, when I thought about it later I wondered if I could have done any better.  When you are raising a child in the day and age, how do you keep the latest popular technology from dictating their life?  And if you do figure out a way, are they going to be less adept to how their generation will one day run the world?  We are a spoiled, bratty society that I wish were more compassionate, social (and I do not mean social media)  and active.  I am guilty of all of these things as much as the next person.  Especially since photography is my niche—I spend hours upon hours a day dependent on computers and cell phones…but I sometimes wish I weren’t. 

For my Flash project, I think I’d like to do a short called “Taking Time.”  I’d like to somehow show people amidst this technology dependent society doing timeless things that we’ve been doing for years.  I think I’d like to actually see kids outside playing and interacting or baking cookies with a parent.  I remember a time when a neighbor a quarter mile away would walk to my house and knock to see if I was home and if I could come out and play.  I think people need to remember how to be simple.  I’d maybe show people sitting around a campfire or playing fetch with their dog—who is unleashed (because God forbid you let your dog of its leash in my town).  I’d like to show people taking the time from their busy lives and actually enjoying being alive and surrounded by all the things that down involve wasting minutes or hours staring at a screen.  Maybe one of these days I’ll even put down my camera and just enjoy, instead of “document,” which is what we’ve all learned how to do, relentlessly via blogs, twitter or facebook.  

Web Design Part Two

Web Design Part One

This is the beginning of my preliminary sketches for my website.  I'll continue to upload further pages as the week goes on but I just wanted a little feedback for what I've got so far.  I've always wanted my photography site to look personalized with handwriting like fonts and light pastel colors.  I've also always wanted my photos to do the talking by using a white background and allowing for my photos to be the main focus.  The photo here is one I shot of my good friend recently at her wedding.  Ideally for this layout I'd have used a horizontal photo or a vertical layout size.  Also I have to come up with the logos that I want to put in so the words will be far less distracting when I've replaced them with logos.  Please feel free to critique or comment. =]

Art Deco Cover/Spread2

I had a lot of trouble with this portion of the project.  I have been working on it all week and honestly, I'm finding it far more difficult than I expected because I am used to being fluent with programs.  To tell the truth, Indesign and Illustrator, though are speaking the same language are turning so foreign to me.  Therefore I can only post what I have as a work in progress because I feel so lost learning these two programs at once.  I am going to continue to work on this but the basis of my idea was to create a spread using primary colors and bold Art Deco font.  The photograph in the background is one I took and put together using photoshop and illustrator.  I wanted to really try and coincide with my original sketched idea but digital drawing is so strange to me.  The second photo in the spread portion was a photo I also took using steel wool, a whisk and a lighter.

Art Deco Cover/Spread

          For my ArtDeco themed cover and spread for Digital Arts, I spent an embarrassing amount of time researching and trying to properly draw using typical ArtDeco typography and fonts as well as geometric designs to accompany them.  I used AdobeIllustrator to help vector trace my preliminary drawings so that they would be noise free and black and white like the example used in the tutorials.  The first image which is my cover sheet, was not initially my cover sheet.  The first part of my spread was initially my cover and you can see if I didn't get carried away with the title that should have read "Digital Arts,"  I could have put "Arts," where the word "Design," is and used the space in between for a photograph and title placements for possible articles that would hypothetically be in this magazine.  Instead I decided to use it for a very graphic part one of the spread next to its more simplistic counterpart on the right.   To continue with the actual cover, I would like to make the word "Arts," much smaller and move it to the bottom of the page and fill the page with color so as to draw the eye of a potential viewer.  I also like the typography I drew for the spread as opposed to the cover, but decided to use a more cinematic font for the cover.  I have a few more drawings to add but just wanted to get this in here for peer review.  I also intend to add vibrant colors to all of these images to help better reflect the ArtDeco style.  I want to use bright primary colors because the ArtDeco style is a staple of the 1920's era and "Digital Arts," magazine should incorporate that.  The black and white will not be part of the finished product.

A Note

Photography to me, has been a means of remembrance.   I got into photography more in depth after my mother had a stroke, because she’d left behind a plastic tote of memories.  Rolls of film both developed and not, disorganized, forgotten and haphazardly placed.  A tote full of memories that could never be enough.

 I realized there would never be enough shots to capture who we all were, my family, my parents, myself…but from then on I could try.  I have spent a lot of time trying to create that feeling of wholeness that you can only know before a tragedy, but I’ve realized that those feelings only come when you remember.  And the best way to hold them is in a photograph.

I’ve come to learn that the most precious thing we can make in the time we have, is our memories.  My photography has been for me, a way to reflect on a single second, before the world inside the image could have a chance to change

In experiencing the joy photography has brought me over time, the desire to share with others has become a constant.  I want to give to others the same proof that I find necessary in my own life.  The things I just have to surround myself with as keepsakes that continuously show me what to be grateful for.  

I strive to create clean, light and classic images that can be held as tangible reminders of the beauty that exists around us in our own lives.  I want to capture evidence of the things that make you smile to be pulled out and unshelved on rainy days.  
I want to evoke from an image the way it feels to reminisce on quiet Sunday mornings over a hot cup of coffee or the content calmness that settles on your shoulders when you’re surrounded by the ones you love or the silliness that undoubtedly occurs when you are all together.   I want to decorate my walls with these reminders and be constantly surrounded by love and light.  I’d like to help others assemble their reminders as well.

The images that keep me sane are the ones I carry close to my heart.  They show the expression on my dads face and the softness there in the way he looked at my mom.  Or the coolness in the air when a group of gap-toothed kids fell into piles of crisp, dirty, Autumn leaves.  They show my friends when adventures were as a simple as a drive across the river and the look of their eyes when they’d seen much less.  My mom holding a mug of hot tea next to a November newspaper that read “Life: All aglow again.”  I will never forget these moments, because a photograph exists that refuses to let them become hazy.  I am so thankful for that.  Photography is a gift.  One I'd be excited to help share with others.  If you think for a moment, couldn't you use a few reminders?