Worth a 1,000 Words - Art & Photography

 Hi everyone! Sorry for my absence last week. Things got crazy at camp and I didn’t have a chance to write, but I’m back this week with a full review of the program I took and also some suggestions for other programs.

The program I took was three weeks at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City. The college is located on 23rd St. between 2nd and 3rd Aves. I spent the three weeks living in the dorms, where curfew is 10  on weeknights and 11 on weekends. Curfew gets tiring, but you learn to work around it. The dorms themselves are like small apartments. There are 4 and 6 person rooms. Both rooms have a small kitchen and bathroom. The 6 person rooms have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and the 4 person rooms have 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. The area around the school is packed with food, shops, and fun. A quick walk will lead you to the 6 or the NWR subway lines, and from there you can pretty much get anywhere in the city. I spent many of my nights at St. Mark’s Place which is only 2 stops on the 6. At St. Mark’s Place there’s tons of places to eat and shop or just walk around and hang with friends. I never had a problem finding something to do, so as far as the location of the program, I can’t complain one bit.

Classes meet Monday through Friday from 9-12 and 1-4 at one of the SVA buildings. Depending on what program you’re in determines how long of a walk you have. I was lucky to have a close building, but one of my roomates had a 15 minute walk each morning. The building where my class was, was clean and well air conditioned. The darkrooms that we used were filled with materials that worked well and I never had a problem with faulty equipment. The teacher I had was really cool and kept class exciting. Below is an outline of how I spent my 3 weeks in class.

Week One:
Monday- Photo Intro, Lunch, Pictures in Tompkins Sq. Park
Tuesday- Gallery Hopping in Chelsea, Lunch, Movie
Wednesday- How to Print, Lunch, Printing
Thursday- Studio Lighting, Lunch, Printing
Friday- Coney Island all Day

Week Two:
Monday- Printing, Lunch, Printing
Tuesday- Shooting nudes in the Studio, Lunch, Printing
Wednesday- Movie, Lunch, Printing
Thursday- Fashion Shoot Field Trip, Lunch, Printing
Friday- Staten Island Ferry

Week Three:
Monday- Printing, Lunch, Printing
Tuesday- Q&A with Adam Weiss, Lunch, Printing
Wednesday- Work on Zines, Lunch, Printing
Thursday- Printing, Lunch, Printing
Friday- Critique, Lunch, Hang Show

As you can see my weeks were jam packed with all kinds of things to do. On top of activities in class, the program offered fun things to do outside of class, like trips to museums and Broadway shows. Overall I had an amazing three weeks and I learned a ton.  Hopefully I’ll be able to take another class next year. If you’re looking for more information on the program go HERE. If the city really isn’t the place for you than check out similar programs at the Rhode Island School of Design, the Art Institute of Chicago, Parsons, Pratt, or the Art Institute of Boston.

Challenge of the Week: Look into a summer program for next year, it’s never too early to start planning.

Happy Photographing!
Cate


This is my dog Junior. Hes a little camera shy. Isn’t he a cutie?
Ok this one is a little slanted but that’s his brother Milo.
By the way, there Presa Canarios. They look like tuff dogs, which they are, but their real sweet. No dog is naturally vicious or mean. A dogs personality depends on who the owner is.

-I’m thinking about sending these photos in for the Teen Ink magazine.

Over the next three weeks I’ll be taking a class on color photography. The class covers studio shooting and making prints in the darkroom. Going into the class I had a background in digital and black and white photography. With this background knowledge I didn’t think I would have very much difficulty learning this new type of photography, but things never seem to work out the right way. Although these two backgrounds did help in some ways, color photography is a whole new creature in itself. Shooting, of course, is the same as digital except the fact that one doesn’t receive instant gratification by being able to view the image immediately. The real difference comes when making prints in the darkroom. The place where I’m taking the class does not have the materials for students to develop his or her film, but they do have photo developing equipment. This is where the real challenge begins.

I’ve spent many hours working in black and white darkrooms. I’m used to the process of dipping photos into different chemicals and watching as my image magically appears on the paper in front of me, but never have I worked in a color lab.

My first concern, pitch blackness. Working in black and white labs is made easier by the blowing amber or red lights that don’t affect the paper. Unlike black and white paper, color paper is EXTREMELY light sensitive, which means the darkroom is completely dark at all times. Sure it makes walking into walls, people, and enlargers very easy, but what are a few bruises? Once I made sense of where everything was and learned how to navigate to my station without injuring myself it was time to make my first contact sheet.

For the people who don’t know what a contact sheet is, it’s simply a proof sheet of  a roll of film to use as a guide when making prints. Sure make a contact sheet, no big deal, but you try aligning a piece of paper and a sheet of negatives in complete darkness, it’s no so easy. This was the second challenge I came across, making sure the paper was aligned right so that borders weren’t crooked and the picture was centered. Sure enough after about 20 prints I got the hang of paper placement. With my contact sheet completed it was time to make my first image.

When printing a black and white image the two main things you have to worry about are the light balance and the contrast. After these two things have been taken care of a decent print usually follows, but in color it’s all about color correction. Every picture consists of the colors red, magenta, yellow, green, cyan, and blue. Once an image is printed it takes multiple prints to correctly color the photo. These numerous prints take up hours and result in the discouragement of not even wanting to make the print at all. All that can be said is, “don’t give up.” Although the first few prints are a true challenge I have been assured that it can only go up from here, and I sure hope so!

Challenge of the Week: Check out classes from local colleges or community centers. You never know what kind of things you may learn from a photography class.

Happy Photographing!
Cate

Being a great photographer takes more than having a nice camera. You need to know different types of light, shutter speeds and depths of field, but even a person well versed in these topics needs first hand experience. For me this means taking my camera with me EVERYWHERE. Whether it be my Rebel XTi or PowerShot SD630, I make it a personal goal to always have a camera with me. For me it doesn’t matter if I even take any pictures, just knowing that I have it and knowing that if I wanted to take a picture I could, makes me feel at ease. I would love to get to the point where it doesn’t feel like carrying a camera around, but as if it’s just an extension of my arm. Some people complain about carrying his or her camera around, others are afraid of them getting damaged or stolen. In today’s day and age there are hundreds of bags, carrying cases, and even waterproof holders that one could buy to keep a camera safe and make it easy to carry.

Recently I traveled to Paris for the first time. When my mom first told me we were going I immediately thought of all the things I would have a chance to photograph. For the trip I brought a standard 18-55mm lens, and a 70-300mm zoom lens. I also have a Pentax ZM-X film camera that I debated on bringing but in the end decided not to bring. With everything I had packed I didn’t want to have to worry about keeping track of film roles. Instead of telling you all about Paris I figured I’d show you!

Day One- The Eiffel Tower, and Crepe of course!

Day Two- Sacré-Cœur, and the Artist’s District

Day Three- Chartes and New Year’s Eve

Day Four- Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Avenue Des Champs Elysees, and navigating the Metro

Day Five- The Madeleine Church, and Angelina’s Bakery

Day Six- Our Apartment!

By the end of the trip my shoulders were sore from carrying my backpack around with my camera and lenses in it, but I don’t regret it for a second. If I ever get the chance to go back I will definitely bring a film camera and a wide-angle lens to get better shots of the Eiffel Tower.

Challenge of the Week: Next time you go on a trip, even if it’s a day trip, try and tell a story of your adventure through a set of pictures. Give the set a name and post it as a comment to the blog. See if people give you any feedback on your work.

Happy Photographing!
Cate