Assingment #1 - Black and White Series

Alright! Here is my series, all about the railroad system in my hometown, Bruceton. Way back when, this town thrived on the railroad. Once they began building more highways and carrying things by plane, the railroad system sorta fell away, especially to the public. The buildings here are the old railroad station.  I desaturated the pictures, tried to get the levels so that each had a grayscale as close as possible without flattening it, did very little cloning, and some dodging and burning. I really liked how the bottom sign "popped".

"Come on, jump for me?"

One of the points of the students writing a blog is so that we can expland our knowledge of photographers in the world and do some research. I have chosen Phillipe Halsman. I chose this photographer because his "Dali Atomicus" caught my eye while I was searching for an artist. I spent at least 15 minutes looking at this photograph.

"How the Photograph was Made:

The photograph was made in the New York Studio of Philippe Halsman in 1948. The photograph was taken with Halsman's 4 x 5 format twin lens reflex camera. In order to make the photograph, the easel, two Dali paintings, and the step stool were suspended from the ceiling by strings. So these items were easy, since they were really held in the air by string. Halsman's wife held the chair in the air. Note that one leg of the chair is not in the picture. His wife is holding the leg of the chair that is out of the picture. So, all of these items while appearing to be part of the massive confusion and motion of the picture, are actually fixed in place.
The parts that are moving, and that required the precise timing are the cats, water and Dali himself. Yes, the cats are in fact flying through the air as they appear to be in the picture. The timing sequence was pretty simple. Halsman began to count, and on three his assistants threw the cats, and the water, and then on four Dali jumped in the air, and then Halsman would take the picture. Of course to get the perfect picture took not only careful timing but good luck as well. After taking a picture, Halsman would immediately go to the dark room and develop it. He would then come back and try again. It took a number of tries to get the perfect timing and perfect picture. Halsman wrote that it took six hours and twenty-eight throws to get the picture that we now know as Dali's atomicus. Halsman indicated that the cats were not harmed in the making of the photograph." -www.fantasyarts.net

I mean, one, it's Salvador Dali. He got to work with Salvador Dali. Let me repeat, Salvador Dali. How cool is that? Although, the circumstances under which they got to meet weren't so cool. According to wikipedia, (I haven't found anything disputing it yet) Halsman was forced to leave his home in Austria because he was accused of killing his father on a hike in the Alps. The feds got him and claimed he killed his father when the father died of traumatic head injuries. He was imprisioned for four years and was let out on the demand that he left Austria to never return. Soooo, he went to france from there.  When France was invaded, he got outta dodge and got a visa for America and hit the old dusty trial. That's where he met Dali. He began taking photographs here in the US and landed himself jobs at magazines and different advertisements.
 Then he did something really fascinating. And he was so darn charming that he got some really important people to help him out with this project, including the Ford family, Richard Nixon, Marilyn Monroe, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, etc. He got them to....Jump. he did a study on jumping.

 He wrote an entire book on it. The man is a genius. (Can't say I'd be the brave soul to try and catch the cat though. I suppose it's really good that they can land on their feet every time.) I am straight up amazed by the man at this point. He was named one of the top 10 greatest photographers in the world as well as winning awards and having numerous exhibitions. There's even a movie about him! It's called Jump! I think I'll go rent it. Or maybe even visit Amazon. Who knows. What I know is that this man was incredible at what he did, and it's not just me spreading the word.

First Assignment!

For the first blog assignment, we have been instructed to choose one of the 72 pictures we shot to edit into the best black and white image we could come up with using what we have been taught in the classroom thus far. So, for my photo, I chose one that I took of Campell Hall. I realize now that I could have taken a much better photo. I should have had the camera more level because the edges of the building do not line up with the edges of the photo. Second, I should have stepped waaaay back. I am too close to the building and the bottom of the building is obscured by the landscaping in front of it. Third, I should have got a shot without the vehicles. Just seems like the vehicles make it an everyday shot instead of something more special. With all that said, we have first image in color.

The second photo is desaturated of the color. Thats basicly all I did to that one.

The third photo, I played with the levels of the black, white, and gray until I liked it.

The fourth photo, I cropped it to try and get rid of the extra empty space around the building. I tried to burn some of the landscaping in front of the building as well.

This is the first attempt at editing photos in this way and any and all feedback is appreciated! Thanks!

Day One

My name is Tristen, most of my family calls me Tris. I am a college student at Bethel University and an majoring in Art, and minoring in English. Once I receive my B.A., I plan to go on to a school where I can work towards receiving my M.F.A ( Masters of Fine Arts). I've recently been looking at different programs in the area, but I think I will apply to Southern Illinois University as well as Purdue University, and maybe even Notre Dame. I'm super excited. If, for some strange awful reason, I can't get into an MFA program, I will go on to get my masters in teaching so that I can go on to teach at (at least) a High School. My hope is to go into areas where art is either limited or neglected and give people the chance to learn and participate. I grew up in a very small town rural area where football was the only thing people paid attention to. Don't get me wrong, I really like football too, but I was extremely interested in drawing and painting and graphic design, but no one in the school was qualified to teach such things nor did the school have funding for such a thing, I could have been as simple as teaching kids how to draw. All they would need are regular school supplies for simple drawing classes. So, in a small tangent, thats my purpose for going through college for this particular degree. Its something I really enjoy and would like to share with others. I REALLY want to get my MFA to teach more at the college level. Thats my real hope. This blog is for the photogrpahy class I am taking at Bethel and will be posting about the things we cover and different artisits and their work as well as our own.