Day 2: Roma

We had a truly exhausting day today walking around. We left the hotel around 10:30 this morning and returned home around 8:30 this evening. We walked everywhere... First we ventured to the Vatican which is located about a mile or so from our hotel across the river (Tibere) and we spent most of the day there until around 3ish. We ended up taking a tour from this terrific south african who took us to the Sistine Chapel, Basilica de San Pietro and etc around the Vatican. We sent a few postcards as the Vatican has its own postal service, which is very neat. Afterwards, we headed sort of towards home, but got a bit lost and went to the Pantheon, Piazza Navons, Palazzo Madama, Palazzo Venezia, Montumento a Vittoria Emanuele II, Piazza Barberini and the Spanish Steps. So quite a filling day of tourist things... it will be nice when we don't do as many touristy things and can just walk around and explore- that will probably happen when we leave Rome! We are hear for one more full day and then we leave Rome for the eastern coast- well hopefully, if we can somehow find a way to drive out of Rome!! (We've heard it's quite difficult, so wish us luck!) Here are a few images of our tour guide and a little from today, completely unedited as will be the case with all the images.

Roma: Day 1

Well, we have safely arrived in Rome… after a nice and almost too short flight because neither mom nor I could sleep very much. We did watch Ocean’s Thirteen and I listened to the In flight Italian twice, but not sure I have retained anything yet. So we were picked up by this guy holding mom’s name and whisked away into the city- mom and I were holding hands because we thought we might die in this one car ride. Apparently we have arrived in Rome in the middle of a Taxi strike, so there is a tremendous amount of traffic and apparently tomorrow (Friday) there is an all public transportation strike, which means we will be walking everywhere- which we were planning on doing anyways, except that the Vatican is somewhat far from where we are staying near the Spanish Steps. We made it to our hotel and decided to take a quick nap before we went out to explore, except we were so exhausted that we ended up sleeping for 4 hours! We still made it out though for a few hours in the afternoon to explore, see a few sights (like the Fontana de Trevi) and a few Piazza’s that we stumbled upon; mom lost her sense of direction, we recharged the cell phone and found a nice place to eat that was a bit pricey. Mom ordered a Coke Light (diet coke) for 5 Euro’s and I had tea for 6 Euro’s- holy crap… no more drinks for us! That was more expensive than a bottle of wine, so from now on, we will just be drinking alcohol! Our hotel is very cozy on a one way street that is quiet and nice. Here are some images from our travels so far:

Today's the Day...

My mom and I are about to leave the house to fly from jfk to rome this afternoon. Nothing like an 8 hour flight to kick off the trip. Because we are using miles to fly there, we have the luxury of flying business class- so we are both super excited about that... in fact probably equally as excited to fly business as we are to go to Italy! We are supposed to arrive at 7:30 in the morning Rome time and then will freshen up and explore Rome. Mom, of course, as everyone should know by now, has brought too much stuff and has a suitcase, a duffel, a rolly poley (sp?), a backpack and her purse, which is huge itself. I am traveling much lighter- with one suitcase and a rolly poley with all my camera gear in it. Go figure?!?! We have a "Learn Italian on the Plane" podcast that both mom and I will have to master by the time we get there. Wish us luck. And so the trip begins.

Italia here we come!!

For those of you who are interested, my mom and I are going on a trip to Italy starting on November 28th. When we have internet access, I will be updating this blog to the events and happenings of our trip. For a brief overview of our itinerary, here goes:

Arrive in Rome and stay for 3 nights.

Drive East to the adriatic coast line and drive down the coast for 3 nights.

Stay a bit inland on the heel of the boot for 5 nights.

Drive back West towards Amalfi and stay on the Amalfi coast for 4 nights.

Our last night will be in Naples.

I will try and update as much as possible, so feel free to follow along!

Defoor Centre Opening!

Kyle and I couldn't make it to this opening, so others went in our place and Steve made a great Rebecca and Lee made a great Kyle! Enjoy.

Art House Opening!

Final Project Shots

Here is a selection of images from my studio shoot for my final project. Most of the images taken were shot with the Canon 5D with an iso of 100, f-stop of 11 (bracketed from 9 to 13), and a shutter speed of 100-125th of a second. I used 2 strobe pro-photo lights: a small softbox and a grid light with 5 degrees. The last shot is of the studio setup.

More Final Project Ideas

Here are some more examples of miniatures for my final project. They do not include body's in these images, but i'm hoping to incorporate both into this. I have gone out an bought a few miniatures, but am still looking for more to help with my scenes. The lighting in this first image appears to be light from the right side by by a grid and from the left side by a small softbox. I will probably have a similar lighting setup for my shoot.

Project 5: Final Portraits

For this project, I produced a series of 3 portraits using short, broad and glamour lighting techniques. The settings for the shots were bracketed from f11 at 1/125 of a second using the Canon 5d with an iso of 100. The flash settings were A (lightbox) at 1/2, B (grid at 5 degrees) at 1/4; the bracket was at 1 stop and the flash was A+B. Here is the setup shot and the final other images- i can't decide which ones exactly to use, so i'll post them all here:

Allan deSouza Review

Allan deSouza has incorporated a variety of differing tools in his photography/mixed media. His lecture Rituals in Transfigured Time, presented at Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta on October 3, showcased many different series of his works. DeSouza described both the techniques he used as well as more in-depth interpretations that focused on the unwritten histories hidden in the images.

His series Threshold includes 24 images of airports, train and bus stations. The series focused on waiting areas and transitions between places in time where one has left behind the familiar, but has not yet arrived at the new venue. DeSouza mentioned that he wanted the viewers to imagine a first encounter with a new place and how they might emotionally engage with the physical space presented. The goal of the work is to demonstrate the promise of the West and this goal is achievable if we use Orientalism as the primary interpretation tool.

Orientalism can be loosely defined as the study of Far Eastern cultures by Westerners. Edward Said calls into question the very definition of Orientalism by pondering this fundamental assumption. “The interpreter’s mind actively makes a place in it for a foreign Other. And this creative making of a place for works that are otherwise alien and distant is the most important facet of the interpreter’s mission.” (Said, Orientalism, 25 Years Later, 2003) DeSouza’s artwork tries to show the relation between the East and West in his subtle imagery.

In his series In search of divine, deSouza searches for the hidden essence of a divine presence in the mundane components of ordinary existence. He relies on the viewer to ask, “What am I looking at?” and anticipates that the viewer will be capable of seeing beyond the ordinary and approach the divine essence present in the objects. In many of his photographs, deSouza’s own body provides the key elements - blood, hair, earwax, toenails and fingernails - and challenges the viewer to see behind the physical reality of these objects.

DeSouza uses these materials because they are organic and will eventually decompose, decay and disintegrate. He creates spaces that might look epic and immense, yet are really the opposite. He asks, “What does it mean to the viewer to be confronted with a landscape that is made out of blood?” The use of his shavings, his bodily fluids and discarded parts acts as a form of cleansing and purification for him, yet might be dirty and contaminating for another. Perhaps this technique enables him to focus on the differences in the perceptions and appearances of the body in the various geographic locales of his images. Our social space is marked by the way we move within it. DeSouza elaborates on the process of the movement.

Project 5 Ideas

Project 5 is a Studio Portrait/ People assignment. Here are some sample images of portraits that I would like to emulate in the studio. I am going to photograph Robert is a low light environment. One shot will be a sad pose of his face with him on the right side of the frame, another will be him with his blue guitar and the third will be a full body shot.

Project 4 Final

Project 4 went well today. I set up everything early and felt comfortable and organized by the time class started, we were well on our way to our final shot. We set up as a Tarot Card Reader's desk and had 2 lights- one softbox on the left front side (set at 1/4) and a grid light on the right rear side (set at 1/2). We first took test shots without the lite candles and then with the lite candles. We used f 22 at 1/2 a second. Our bracketing therefore was f22 at 0"5; f22 at 0"3; f22 at 0"8. Our lights were set at A<->B with the flash bracket at 2 stops. We also repeated the above exposures with the bracket at A+B just to see the difference. Here is the final shot, the setup shot and our contact sheets!Also, after having critique today, Judith suggested I try cropping the image, so here is the cropped and lightened image as well:

Cannonball Press Review

I figure since this is not only my studio blog, I should probably post some of the reviews i've been writing, so here is one that I wrote for the Cannonball Press Lecture at SCAD. It is posted on photoawesome.com and artrelish.com.


On a Thursday night with so many events to choose from in the Atlanta area, I chose to attend the Cannonball Press Lecture entitled, Woodcutology at the Savannah College of Art and Design Printmaking Workshop. I was greeted by a crowd of people eager to listen to a PowerPoint presentation by two men who had been extremely productive for the past week in the workshop. As Richard Gere, department chair of Printmaking, so eloquently stated, “these guys are here to create a stir of creativity.” Hopefully their creativity will provide the impetus for the students to be creative and productive.

These two fun-loving guys are in love with what they do and want to spread the word and inspire others. Martin Mazorra and Mike Houston are the two creators and owners of Cannonball Press, a small, well known press in Brooklyn, New York. In their small space, Martin and Mike, along with many other artists whom they represent, create magnificent woodcut prints. The prints are sold at reasonable prices that the average person can afford, without breaking the bank. The artists at Cannonball Press create work that is political, humorous, entertaining, religious and educational. Their “recipe” for success, appropriate for all artists is, “a down home dish that is tasty hot or cold.”
The lecture, overflowing with people, provided an insight into the philosophical practices of Mike and Martin. Their passion, beliefs, and values provided a solid ground for paving the road for a successful career. Their work and the work of the artists they represent is exciting and their craftsmanship is worth checking out. Also their prices are still a bargain and remarkable when compared to a market in which artwork can be sold for thousands to millions of dollars. They are trying to create a market where artwork is affordable for the commoner. Their works sell for as little as $25.00 and are worth much more than that.

You can find their website and more information at www.cannoballpress.com

Final Project Ideas

I know that we are supposed to be thinking about ideas for our final project. For a while now, I have wanted to take images of small people (toy statues of sorts) on body parts. So a close up, dark-ish color shot. For one of the shots, I will use someone's foot and have a small ladder and a guy on the ladder pretending to climb up the toe. For another shot, I will use a hand and will have a statue of someone fishing off the fingernails. So there are some of my ideas for the shoot- I have not decided yet whether to use real, small figures or use something like lego men for the people. Here are some examples of a photographer's work that I absolutely love:

Project 3 Final

Project 3 turned out great! I'm happy with the final result- I have scanned in the 4x5 chrome (iso 64) and adjusted the curves a bit. Here is the final shot:
The settings for the bracket were: Normal: f 8 1/3 at 1/2 a second; f 83/4 at 1/2 a second; f 6 3/4 at 1/2 a second and we also took a shot at f 8 1/3 at 1 second.

Ideas for project 4!

Project 4 is supposed to be a photographic illustration of a desk, with illumination. Beatriz and I have come up with the idea of a tarot card readers desk. We will have tarot cards, candles, feathers, and a tarot book all on a black background. Here are some examples: