Wednesday, December 2, 2009





heres my bottles. PS, I'm sorry Heidi, I just remembered we had class..at 9:30 pm. 

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Jana Coleman Lighting 463D
























































Atlanta Skyline


I grew up in Atlanta, so I've seen this photo hundreds of times. I've always loved how the city skyline stands out against the sky in this picture. It is interesting because the light is not only creating depth in the photo, but defining the buildings in it too. The natural light from the sun in this photo is especially interesting because it is a relatively soft light (because it is at sunset), but because of the angle it is shot from, it creates hard shadows on the building and gives them a solid outline. Had this been shot in the middle of the day, the buildings would have appeared to be flat against the sky because there would not be any defining shadows and the sky would have almost appeared white because the sun is so bright. I also really like how the car lights blend and streak on the highway. I'm not sure how exactly that effect is done, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the exposure time of the film. Either way, it looks really awesome. Although I love the city, Atlanta's skyline is not that fantastic, but the lighting in this photo took the relatively plain subject and made it interesting.


I came across this picture on the internet and found it to be very interesting and quite amazing. I love the way the hard light hits between the trees and creates such beautiful shadows. It reminds me of a warm summer day in which you are 0nly able to find shade behind and within trees. The right and left sides of the picture is drastistically different from the center as it is the beautiful hard light that defines it best. Jana Coleman

Monday, November 30, 2009

Mysterious!!!???

I thought this lighting was interesting. I found it online just browsing for something else. I love the way the hard light is hitting her face. The dark shadows formed from the use of hard light make the picture look very mysterious.
In addition to the hard light, the color of the light seems to be slightly different from tungesten or daylight, which adds to the unique lighting of this picture, but I don't exactly know what was being used to form this. Also, I like the eyelight demonstrated here. The eyelight makes her look innocent. This picture expresses a lot of meaning. I thought this was lighting was appealing and attention-grabbing.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Picture of mine...


This is a picture I took for a photography class. The reason I like it is because of the way it finally turned out. I did alter it in photoshop but the original picture looked like this without the color difference. The reason I like it from a lighting standpoint is because the way I had to set this picture up. I set the ring on the side of a lightbulb with a piece of sticky tack so it would not fall. I then used a flashlight that had bluer light and put that behind the bulb shining up inside of it. I used the blue light because the flash is very white/blue opposed to the tungsten orange in most flash lights. Then, in the front, I used an external Nikon flash to get the glitter of the diamond. I like how you can see the edges of the right glow because of the light coming through the light bulb. I really liked how this picture turned out.

Jennifer Thomerson


This is a picture I found on the internet. I like the lighting in this photograph because I think it's interesting how the moonlight coming in the window is lighting the whole scene. It is causing shadows of the window panes on the floor and shadows on the wall. It is shedding light on the stairs and wall and also highlighting the boards on the floor and leaning against the opposite wall. There is also light on the ceiling and a shadow caused by the framing of the hall.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Flower Picture- Artisa Ricks



I found this picture just surfing the internet and it immediately caught my eye. I love the natural lighting from the window and how it falls directly on the flowers and the table. The light eventually hits the floor and makes the floor more interesting. It is something about the orangey light that I really like. I also like how everything to the sides of the window like the walls are dark. It is like to sit in that seat makes you golden and thats automatically where you want to be. The focus of the picture is everything in front of that window and nothing else matters.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

NPR story about Roger Deakins

You should all watch this on NPR.org, and listen to the descriptions of the shots as you play them. Wonderful stuff.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114249616

I was lucky enough to work with Roger on The Hudsucker Proxy, and I find his work incredible. One of my biggest regrets in life was going back to grad school instead of taking some time off to work on The Shawshank Redemption, my favorite film.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009




This is a picture I took two Easters ago when I went home to celebrate the holiday. I shot this in my Grandmother's back yard with a simple Kodak still camera. I like this picture because for me it symbolizes the season of Spring. Obviously, all lighting was natural, with an afternoon sun filtered through tall pine and gum trees and coming from the upper left-hand corner of the photograph. The sun is harsher on the tips of the pink petals, which washes out the flowers a bit. However, I do not mind this because the focus is on the butterfly, with a softer light enhancing the yellow and black of its wings.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Okay friends, make us proud, and earn some extra credit!

The College Access Challenge is here! Now through February 27, 2010!
Right now, students all across South Carolina are sitting on their couches thinking about whether or not college is right for them. Guess what? It is!

The College Access Challenge is an online video contest for South Carolina college students. We’re inviting students across the state to make short videos (3 minutes or less) telling those folks thinking about college why they should go. These days, an education beyond high school is virtually required for almost every career in America! That means for our state to have an employable workforce, everyone has to consider the benefits of an education beyond high school.

C’mon! Convince them to get off the couch and go to college!

Visit www.collegeaccessch allenge.org and upload your video today.

The Prizes
Our grand prize winner will receive a shiny new 17-inch Apple MacBook Pro, complete with Apple’s professional video editing software suite: Final Cut Studio!

Our second place winner will receive a new 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro, pre-installed with Final Cut Express!

Our third place winner will receive a new 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro, pre-installed with Final Cut Express!

Our honorable mention award recipients will each receive an Apple iPod Touch!

Eligibility
The College Access Challenge is open to students enrolled at the time of the contest in a college or university in South Carolina. All participants in the contest must be at least 18 years of age at the time of their contest submission.

Questions or Comments
You can find out more about the College Access Challenge by visiting the Web Site at www.collegeaccessch allenge.org. You can also contact us by telephone at 1-800-277-3245 or via email at CACinfo@scetv. org

More to Come
The College Access Challenge is the first of many exciting efforts from the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education to begin engaging youth across the state. This collaboration brings together the Commission on Higher Education and South Carolina Educational Television to promote college awareness. The College Access Challenge unites college and high school students in a creative way for a clear and honest dialogue about why South Carolina’s students should go to college.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Original (Sunrise:the shadow becomes shorter)


After the sun basically reached its stoppin point!



The sun was still rising!




The sun was still rising but not as high up yet!




The beginning: when the sun was rising (at one of its low points)!





















The Sunrise Remake (Shadow becomes shorter)


The sun basically finished rising!



The sun hadn't quite finish rising!






The sun was rising, but still not quite there!




The sun was rising! (7:30am)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Camera workshop

A couple of months ago, there was a camera workshop headed by Dan Kneece, a guy that got his start in filmaking by mastering the Steadicam and working his way toward the top. He was in town for the short Civil, and with him he brought two awesome cameras. One was a Panavision and the other an Arri Flex.


The main purpose of the Arri Flex (I'm assuming) was for slow-mo, since it shoots at 120 fps. Camera A was the Panavison, and everybody wanted to crowd around. There aren't many times when you can get near, let alone touch and play with this camera since they are Hollywood-only. We all took turns with different roles on each camera: focus puller, camera operator, 2nd AC and the clapper. I enjoyed pulling focus, because I've always wondered how that worked on set. I also enjoyed operating the Panavision; the pan and tilt each had a knob with a rotating handle that you worked simultaneously to get the frame you wanted. They were counter-intuitive at first, but once you adjusted, the panning and tilting were very fluid. (Oh, we each took turn as the talent, walking in a straight line from mark A to mark B in case you are wondering what we filmed).


I also got hands on experience with loading film in a canister in a light proof bag (I don't know the lingo for these things). The actual clapper/loader for Civil didn't help me out at all, but a fellow workshop attendee guided me through it, and I must say, what a stressful job that would be (I'm up for the challenge, however).


This was an eye-opening experience, and I felt like an outsider at first around all the media arts types, but I brushed all that aside and jumped right in (I had to elbow a little bit) to learn as much as I could during the day. Thanks for telling me about the opportunity Heidi!

Midterm


The chiaroscuro of the latticed window in the puddle instantly caught my attention. The silhouetted dancers balance out this reflection and seem very grounded against the beam they are canvased upon. The gradient of midtones in the midground tie things together nicely.


The sun is low as the cyclists bike down the westward street. This picture's lighting gives a calming and casual air, and alludes to a place foreign to me. The light gives a direction for the people, and the ones lurking in the shadows just seem to be missing out. The mood this photograph gives off is hard to put into words, and that's why I like it.  


This is my favorite picture that I stumbled across for this assignment. I love the figures' balanced composition as well as the balance of darks and light. I also love the diagonal lines that connect the foreground figure to the midground one, and the midground figure to the background one. I love how each figure is looking in a different direction. I love how the illuminated figure is out of focus, and the silhouetted figures are more in focus. Even though the foreground figure is illuminated, her eyes are closed, thus tying her together with the other two unidentifiable figures. Each plane holds its own. The inverted triangle gives off a feeling of drama and instability. The seafoam background is an interesting color choice, but I have no objections to it. Wonderful.