Sunday, January 31, 2010

Paige

Yesterday I photographed my neighbor, Paige, in the studio.  The shoot was kinda thrown together at the last minute, because I thought my car was stuck in the snow and scratched my previous idea.  Fortunately, I was able to move my car and traverse through the snow to the studio.  I didn't really have a plan for the shoot except that I wanted some kind of fashion and needed to practice posing models. All in all it went rather well, except my lens was being weird and wouldn't focus right, but its all good!  Brooke and Zach assisted for me and they did a great job! I have some more images I might put up later, but the editing is still underway.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Sledding Extravaganza

I am on a strict time limit right now because my room mate is making me go to bed and get some sleep.  This is probably a good thing since I'm currently having trouble spelling right now.  So I have 10 minuted to post this.  Today, due to out wonderful 8+ inches of snow, a bunch of people went sledding.  It was Amazing!! I mean, I finally got to wear my super attractive snow pants that I got a few years ago. What can be better than that?  But seriously, it was super fun!!  Anyways, these are some portraits I took of my fellow sledders. At one point I wondered how a photo from a sledders perspective would look, and then I wondered what in the world I was thinking, because that would be a BAD idea! 


I love how the snow looks on his jeans.

All of these people have gorgeous eyes. And they happen to all be blue. But I love blue eyes!!!





















Later this evening I also did a shoot in the studio.  I wasn't going to due to the fact that there was a ton of snow and I couldn't even get my car into my parking lot.  However, I was very desperate and was able recruit my neighbor to model and get my car moving.  I will post a few as soon as they're edited!

The Storm Begins

If you haven't already figured out, North Carolina is in the middle of a snow storm.  Currently we have about 8 inches!!  Last time it snowed, I wanted to do a shoot in the snow but it didn't work out.  So this time, after being at work for a whopping 30 minutes, I had time to shoot.  My wonderful room mate Emily willingly agreed to stand in the snow, which was at this point about 2 inches, and let me photograph her.  We headed to the parking lot, so we didn't have to worry about driving anywhere. 


And my friend Jon came with us!



Thursday, January 28, 2010

Back To The Roots

I used to not be a huge fan of film for some reason.  However, after taking Large Format last semester, which I was a little wary about to begin with, I have fallen in love with film.  I love forgetting what I've shot and the anticipation of having to wait to see if the images turned out, rather then knowing instantly.  Due to recent technology we are used to doing things fast and having instant results.  I feel that shooting film is like going back to our roots and taking the time to really focus on what we're photographing, and truly appreciate the art of photography.

This Christmas I got a Canon-AE Program and was finally able to develop my first few rolls of film.  I wasn't sure how accurate the metering system in the camera was, so I went back and forth between guessing, following the meter, and freaking out because I thought I was doing it completely wrong.  To my delight, the film came out pretty nice! Most of the exposure was fairly accurate, but some were really underexposed as I assumed they would be when I shot them.  I'm posting only a few shots from the rolls.....one because I wasn't thinking and left a roll in the lab and two, I have some pics of my family and grandparents I haven't edited yet and want to post all together.  So more glorious film posts will be coming soon!

I don't know where this is.....but there is a possibility it might have been taken while I was driving. What's worse, txting and driving or photographing and driving?

Downtown hanging out with Jessi, Ian and Matt over break!!! I love them so much!!


Oh my gosh, he's smiling, yay!!


Thanks for looking and stay tuned for more upcoming shoots!!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Northern Uganda Meets Charleston, SC- Part 2

After we stayed up way too late talking with Mark, I only got about 5 hours of sleep.  That plus driving 5 hours back to Boone wasn't a good combination.  Thankfully, Zach drove the final leg and I was able to sleep for a bit.  After we got up at about and moving and Starbucks in our systems we went to a panel relating to the exhibition which was great.  There were presentations from Heather McClintock, Blue Earth Alliance, Aperture Magazine, and Tom Rankin from the Center for Documentary studies at Duke University.  The discussion was primarily about the functions of these organizations and the issues they face while dealing with controversial photography.  It was fascinating! I learned so much and have much more respect for those who push the boundaries of art and photography.

Following the panel was an Art-o-mat venture compliments of Mark, lunch, Urban Outfitters and the drive home.  If you dont know what Art-o-mat is check out the website, because its really cool!




Heather's mother is the sweetest, cutest lady ever!!!



Our favorite person!!



So many cameras/photographers!!!!



We were walking down King Street (how ironic for us Boone folks) in Charleston and I saw one of Heather's exhibition flyers in a window.  It was kind of exciting!

A side note concerning our trip home: South Carolina drivers are crazy and apparently have no regard for speed limits.  So I was driving on 26 through South Carolina at 85 mph (which was somewhat over the speed limit) and people were PASSING me!! It was insane, and a kind of scary and stressful experience!!  So if you ever have to drive through South Carolina, brace yourself!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Northern Uganda Meets Charleston, SC- Part 1

Last week I decided it would be extremely awesome to go see Heather McClintock's Northern Uganda exhibition in Charleston, SC.  So here we are, Layne, Robin, Nikki, Brooke, Zach, and I in lovely Charleston.  We left around 10:30 this morning after some minor complications and arrived around 4pm.  Thankfully it didn't rain at all during the drive and we were able to leave all of the nasty, icy Boone weather behind.  

Heather's work is amazing!! Her images are so stunning and powerful.  With each photograph was a quote or description pertaining to the photo.  Most of the images were self-explanatory and needed no explanation due to the impact of the image itself.  However, the descriptions made the image become even more alive and relatable because you could feel the person's pain or at least be able to understand on some small level what they were experiencing.  I can't imagine going through some of the things these people have experienced.  Even through it all they have hope and the joy of life and take their trials with stride and continue to move on with life.  One image that really stuck out to me was a photograph of the phrase "God is love, we need to feel in love" written on a cloth.  It really struck me because with all the torture, rape and hardship these people have endured, they still believe that God loves them and is there for them and is helping them survive.  Definitely check out Heather's website, it is well worth the time!!

During our first day in Charleston I took a bunch of photos, of course, around the gallery and our ventures around town.


Layne decided she wanted to borrow this guy's board and ride on it.....


This is Layne about the ride the board......and this is Layne after realizing that wouldn't be a good idea because the floors were greatly loved. haha. I love her so much!!


Robin being her gorgeous self!




Zach posing for me as we were walking around starving and partially lost.  But this is not new for me and my "amazing" sense of direction.....like the amazing sense of direction that actually does not exist.

More photos will be taken tomorrow and more from today will be posted soon, so stay tuned!!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Ice

Boone is currently in the middle of an ice storm. Oh joy.  So since there is a significant amount of ice on EVERYTHING I decided to venture out in the rain/sleet and take some photos.  I was kinda afraid for my camera because of the rain, but he was ok!






Luckily I'm going to Charleston, SC tomorrow to see Heather McClintock's Uganda exhibition at the Halsey Institute.  I'm so excited to escape Boone's wonderful ice and see some amazing photographs with some awesome people!!

Monday, January 18, 2010

I Could Have Slept In

This morning I went and shot with Zach at about 9am when I could have been sleeping in.  It was a worthwhile adventure though.  He had a model but she backed out, which was fine because we still had a great time!  After driving to the parkway and realizing it was closed, because they dont plow it so there's still a ton of snow which is now ice, we headed to Blowing Rock.  We stopped at Chetola on the way in and took a few shots then headed downtown.


I decided to try another pano with Zach. They're been turning out pretty well from what I can tell. This one consists of 6 images.
AND......


......this is my first HDR.  Well actually the second but the first time I tried it didn't turn out.  I think it went pretty well for my "first" try.  Not as dramatic as I thought it would be but I'm glad it actually worked this time! No
Now time to hang with Layne, yay!

Friday, January 15, 2010

A sunny, snowy day of photography!


Since yesterday evening I've been dying to shoot and finally got to today since I had no classes and had nothing else to do. Brooke and Zach tagged along too, so that made it even more fun! I did two shoots. One with my friends Justina and Kelly, and the other with my neighbor Paige. I must say that they were all great models!

For the shoot with Jutina and Kelly, I liked the nice shadows in this nook of trees because of the harsh lighting. I dont mind harsh lighting in some cases and I think it worked fairly well in these images.


I love the way the light is hitting their hair.




I love Justina's eyes in this photo, they are stunning! She is just so naturally gorgeous!



That is my boot in the lower right....I thought it was funny that Zach wanted to shoot exactly where I was standing. haha.



Paige was a great model, even after almost dying on the ice and having her feet freezing in her chucks after walking through the snow. And last by not least I decided to try another panoramic since Jon so kindly reminded me how wonderful they are.


This is comprised of 11 images that fist together perfectly the first try. I had to do a little cropping of course because it was shot handheld, but all in all I was very pleased.






Wednesday, January 13, 2010

End of the Hallway...

Yesterday I joined Jon Heller on a shoot he wanted to try out. He found this cool hallway and the lights had a nice effect. It was fun to just mess around with stuff and see what we could do. I took some 35mm too so I'm excited for the darkroom to open so I can develop it! All these are shot with natural lighting.

The photographer, aka, Jon, being Jon and doing what he does best.
My gorgeous room mate, Emily, who modeled for us.

This was my favorite shot! I love the warm tones, esp with her yellow sweater and the way the light it hitting her face. Her eyes are amazing with that gentle fierceness.


Monday, January 11, 2010

Christmas Break

Here are some photos I recently took over Christmas break in Greensboro, NC. I hope you enjoy!


My friend Ernie and I went downtown one evening and did some fun shooting with his new Canon 7D!


My best friend Claire is engaged, so this is one of my favorite shots from their engagement shoot.

A few of us photo kids from App got together for lunch and went downtown to shoot and hang out. I love this chair!


I have more photos from break with my new Canon AE but they are still not developed. When they are I shall post some, so keep a look out.

Random: I had this cool thought today to write down one awesome, funny or amusing sentence/quote each day for a year. I think it'd be an interesting project. Maybe I'll do it....hmmm.


So It Begins....

I have decided to redo my entire blog/photoblog, so welcome to my new and improved blogspot. My posts will consist mainly of my photography, photographic experiences and/or other interesting photographic related snippets I come across and remember to post. I also have a wordpress which will probably contain the same posts I have here, and a flickr which you should check out at well! Let the journey begin!

www.kaitlynsuter.wordpress.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaitlynsuter