Oh, Mr. Sun.

Once again more images playing around with light and reflection...

I loved the light through the window, lightly touching the stairs. A little creepy maybe? I don't mind one bit.

Sun setting in downtown Worcester. I walked past the leaf and had to take a picture of it. The only thing that bugs me is the sun spot right over the top of it...but I loved the way the light is reflecting off of the street.

Just thought the reflection of sunlight off the window and back into my face was cool...

and again...

Shot from the hip

People. People. People.

So this was the week of Main South Celebrates....and I tried to focus on more people. However, I ran into a lot of problems with time of day and wanting to take pictures during the middle of the day when there was more going on. (Side Note: the blog dilutes the colors in some of these photos, and washes them out a bit). I noticed a theme for the week: eyes and the way they reflect light (once again with the light theme). I'm starting to grasp photoshop a little more and I'm becoming less frustrated. However, when I went back over my photos for the week I noticed that they were just all over the place. I was completely frazzled, and I felt like I was trying too hard to capture, rather than allowing the photo to come to me. I feel like because of this I missed out on a lot of opportunities for great pictures. My problem is that I just have way too many ideas and I sporadically move from one to other, without mastering one before I move on. This just allows for a bunch of mediocre photos...which isn't really what I'm going for. Oh well, I just need to slow down my pace and focus on one thing at a time.

I wasn't as interested in the quality of this photo than the story behind it. This man was talking to my friend and I on the bus (my first time ever riding), about life, and college, and when he was in war. I think that part that I was so drawn to was the way he seemed so isolated from everything. I sat on the steps of city hall and literally watched him walk by 5 or 6 times by himself, just going back and forth with his crutch to help him walk.

This photo is a little hard for me to look at. I don't want to give away personal information, but her story was moving. You can see the wear and tear of life if the wrinkles and lines on her face. Earlier in the day I had painted her face and she came back and she had cried, so the paint around her right eye had ran down her face a little.

I know that his face is a little cut off...but i loved the expression and his eye in this.

Not so pleased. If you look close enough you can see the girl painting her face and me taking a picture in the reflection of her eye.

Soft, gentle, reflective.

I am fascinated by the effect of natural light and the way it shapes an environment and what you are seeing. There's something so gentle and soft about the way that it touches it's subjects...I might even go as far to say that the dramatic effect that it casts is almost emotional. The way that the light reflects and bends through glass is beautiful. I didn't really edit these photos too much, but there something about people next to windows that I just love. Maybe its because I feel like people stare through windows when they are completely absorbed in thought. There's a purity in the way someone isolates themselves, literally creating an environment where their surroundings become invisible. Of course this isn't all occasions...but I love to capture the stillness and intimacy of that moment, step back from the craziness of life, and reflect.

ehh

This is the first week I really started playing around with the camera (actually it was my friends camera...before I got mine). However, I felt a little lost and frustrated. The camera wasn't mine...so it's hard to explain...but I didn't feel "settled" in some way, I felt like I couldn't really take off the way that I wanted to. Also, I'm in the film photography mindset...black and white, and so color is a whole new world for me. I kind of kept my distance from people this week. Just observed the little things around me and took a view close ups. I eventually want to delve into photographing more people, specifically portraits that stare right through you. I'm trying to start out small, and understand the basics of photoshop before I move on (which is not as easy as it seems). I'm never completely sure how far to go with the color.

the colors got a little messed up when I uploaded this one...

I loved the effect of the light through this underpass, and the shape of the shadows.

Ripped up newspaper in the middle of Red Square. I stood there for awhile trying to get the right picture of it. People kept walking by and staring at me, but hey, I guess thats just how it is when you're a photographer...sometimes you have to look a little ridiculous for the sake of a good photo.

Summer when I didn't know a thinngg.

So I am catching up on these postings....here are a few pictures I took this summer. I'm completely new to digital and photoshop so this is when I had absolutely no clue what I was doing...

Little brother. I love the light in this...and his expression.

Sister.

Sister and cousin. I'm not completely sure how to use photoshop so i think I might have overdone the next couple of photos...I never know when to stop. (Which I'm sure will come with time).

Harsh light=bad=white holes in my photo.

More darkroom...

I love this picture. I took another photo that is similar to this one on my last posting. The first is my brother looking out the window in our kitchen with my mother in the background, and this one is actually his best friend Brittany gazing out the window of her kitchen as well. I love the stillness of this photo, and the way she seems to be completely absorbed in thought. There's a softness and youthfulness to this that I can't quite put into worlds, even down to the way that one curl drapes gently over her shoulder. The sky was beautiful that day, and the sunlight filtering through the window had a dramatic effect that emphasized her facial features, adding a very concrete line between the light of the outside and the darkness inside the house.

The first photo I ever printed!

My sister Victoria (you'll notice she appears regularly in a vast majority of my photos...and she's wonderfully photogenic as well)

Who can resist this kind of begging?

Nothing more powerful than when someone's eyes pierce directly through the camera. Kinda feels like they're digging straight into you.

My cat Jazz, caught mid-meow.

Some older stuff...(Intro to darkroom photo)

The quality of the photos is not that amazing due to the inferior nature of a scanner...but here are some black and whites shot with a Canon Rebel 2000 35mm film camera. There's more to come, but they are hanging on my wall so it'll take a little more effort to get them online. haha.

Feeling the fire...

Hello World! (or Frank) since I'll most likely be writing this for myself...and a few others. I'm new to the blogger world, but I'm sure it will be a treat. I've decided that my goal for the year is to bring my camera everywhere I go (within reason of course). However, I can't wait to explore, and take photos, and connect with people, and get inspired by little things, and to observe, and capture! The possibilities are endless...and I'm beyond excited to dive into them.