Movie Week Extravaganza (sp?)

So, i did not attend the movies at the school - being very sick and then having a dentist appointment (where I found out that I had to get my wisdom teeth taken out, because at one point they were infected! SO FUN).. anyways...

I decided to see these three movies instead - Memento, Fur, and Barry Lyndon.

So first off,

Memento

Memento is about a guy, Leonard Shelby, that is looking for his wifes' killer and rapist. He himself was attacked, hit his head, and now suffers from short term memory loss. To help him with his "condition" ( as he likes to call it) he takes polaroid photographs of his belongings, people he has met, and stuff he does not want to forget.

The whole movie starts from the end and then at the end, you finally see the beginning (if that makes sense at all). Basically, you see the events backwards and they unfold to the start. It kind of makes you feel or gets you into the mindset of the main character, by keeping you guessing at what will happen next. Like him, we don't know what happened in the time that lead up to that point. There are also scenes in the movie where he is recalling the past. These parts are shown in black and white, instead of the colour you see throughout the parts in the movie that are happening now. I think he helps that they did that becuase when you first start watching the movie, it is kind of confussing until you figure out it is being told backwards. Having the black and white scenes breaks it up form past to present, so you are not lost.

The photographs play a major part in the movie, because without them leonard would basically be screwed. He would know no one, and remember nothing. The photos help him out a lot in the movie, but also screw him over in the end. Just because the photo is showing something, doesnt mean that you should always believe it, which was the case for Leonard.

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, is a movie exactly about what is said in the title. Diane Arbuss' life is imaginarily reproduced in this movie. It shows how she could have started her career in photography, and why she may have taken pictures of the people she did, such as "circus freaks." Diane Arbus, played by Nicole Kidman, is shown to have a romantic love affair with one of her new neighbours. During her afair with this man, he helps to bring out her artistic side and start her down the journey of her photographic career.

I quite enjoyed this imaginary story of how Diane Arbus started out. There were some very beautiful scenes, and the story line was quite interesting. I liked how they showed her as someone who was not afraid of people that were different from her, and that part I find to be true about her. She took beautiful pictures of "strange" people and was not afraid to do so. She was not afraid to do so in the movie, but also in real life. I was glad they showed that side of her. However, I think that they may have showed Diane Arbus in kind of a bad light also. They portrayed her as a cheater and a liar. I'm not sure if she did cheat or lie to start her career, but I wouldn't really like someone showing a side of me that was not true (or in this case MAY not have been true).

Barry Lyndon

Well I found this movie on the internet under the title "Ten Movies Every Photographer Should See" I figured it may be interesting - because of how it was shot - and decided to see it (also because I needed one more movie to see as part of my 3!)
Barry Lyndon is set in the 18th century and is about Irish guy, who leaves his home after he apparantly kills an officer. He ends up meeting a beautiful lady and marries her for her fortune.
Visually, it was a stunning movie. Some of the scenes are lit only with candle light (no artificial light at all!) and it held a very dreamy look to them. The lens that was used had to have had a very big aperature because some scenes were only lit by the candle light.
Besides that, I found myself kind of dozing off because it just was not that interesting to me.

IS3 - Fashion Photography

One genre of photography that I would really love to learn about it Fashion Photography.

In order to be a good Fashion Photographer you have to work really hard and have a very good imagination to make a unique photograph that clearly communicates a clients idea or what they want. You have to be a great portrait photographer as well (something I would also like to learn about). It is a hard market to break into which is why you should have an amazing portfolio to show clients. Another good key to becoming a fashion photographer is how you interact with your models. If they are bored, you photos will show that. But if you entertain them and direct them in an exciting nature your photos will also reflect that and will come out looking a lot better.

A little bit about the history of Fashion Photography and how it all started:

- In 1856, Braun published a book containing 288 photographs of Virgina Oldoini. This made her the very first fashion model.

- Fashion photography made its first appearance in French magazines such as La mode practique.

- In 1909 Conde Nast took over Vogue Magazine and contributed to the start of fashion photography.

- Between the 1920' and 1930's Vogue and Harper's Bazaar were leaders in the field of fashion photography.

Three photo's that are absolutely amazing and show what Fashion Photography is all about!

Photo #1
What I really love about this photo is the placement of the model and how it actually looks like she is falling, it gives a sense of motion to the photograph. It has such great composition to it. Just by turning the photo upside down makes people view it entirely differently than if it was actully posted how it was taken. It also has such wonderful colours in it as well. To me it is a really unique photo.

Photo #2
I love the contrast between the pink dress and the silver of the walls. It looks absolutely amazing and really makes the dress that she is wearing POP! I also really like the pose of this model and how she isn't looking into the camera.

Photo #3
My favorite thing about this photo is the angle in which the photographer took it. Her legs look extremely long in this photo and that draws your eyes up to the models face. The colours are really nice too.

these sites were most useful to me when looking up Fashion Photography:
http://www.goldprints.com/fashion.html
http://www.photographers.co.uk/html/fashion-photography.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_photography

Camera Porn?? It's all good... go take a look.

One site that I came across that I found really neat was http://www.cameraporn.net/. Don't worry, there is no actaully porn on it (unless its included in another link)!! I found this site to be interesting because they have everything from camera reviews to How To Tutorials and links to other great photography sites and photographers. Its also pretty easy to navigate around to find what you are looking for. So go check it out!

IS2Katryna

As everyone knows, this weeks assignment was lines. I found this assignment to be super fun! Everywhere you look there are lines, lines and even MORE lines. There were endless possibilities to this assignment. I didn't find this assignment very hard, the only thing that was that you had to find interesting ways to make the lines fun to look at. Narrowing down the pictures was probably the hard part because I had quite a few pictures that I really liked.
This assignment made you take something that could potentially be boring and turn it into something that was really fun!

DT1

well here it goes.. my second blog of the day....

Ok. So, lets get started with things.

Photography has always really interested me. I remember I got my first point and shoot camera when I was really young, and just really liked taking photos wherever I went. I guess it was so I could remember where I had been or to remember a really great day I had. However, I had never really thought of photography as a career for me, more as a hobby or for the memories. To be completely honest I thought I'd end up doing something with video. I've always been a complete art freak. I'd spend a lot of my lunch times in high school in the computer room trying to make an assignment just how I wanted it. So when I moved to Winnipeg last fall, I needed something to do to keep me occupied. So I search what was going on in the city for courses and what not. And guess what popped up? Photography classes right as PraireView. Now since I had always been interested (just never had any real access to learning all about photography) I decided, Hey why not? It will be fun. The course that I enrolled into was a darkroom class. Once we got into that room, I never wanted to leave it. I loved how your images just "appeared" right in front of you after having to wait so long to actaully be able to see them. Once that class ended, I knew I REALLY wanted to actually get into photography and try to make it a career.
I also eventually one day want people to be like "Hey, thats pretty awesome", just like I do to so many other peoples' work.

As far as what I want to learn this year, that answer is simple. EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING! It just feels so good to actually be able to get into the school, that whatever the teachers need to teach me to become a very skilled photographer I will take and use. I really want to learn how to take great portraits, and how to make lighting work in certain situations.

Now Okay, For the last question. Hmm... I decided to answer the secret question. Why? well because it is honestly probably the easiest one to answer. So hear it goes...and please people don't judge me, I am opening up and telling you a very deep secret that not very many people know....

I am scared of the Jurassic Park videos. There it is, its out. It feels so good to finally be able to get that out there. It's been haunting me WAY to long. :)

Well that is the end of the blog. Considering I absolutley hate blogging, I wrote quite a fair bit. I'm shocked with myself.

Have a good day everyone!

Hmmm.... What type of photography am I into?
Black and White photography is probably by favorite. To me it gets rid of distracting colours, and lets you focus on your subject. Right now I don't paticularly have one certain kind of thing to photography. I just photograph whatever, whenever. I would however love to know how to take better portraits. By the end of the year I am sure I will ACTUALLY be able to tell you what I really enjoy photographing, but right now I'll just say a little of everything?

Photo By: Duncan McNairnay