Lesson 2 Assignment Entry

[Brandon]

I am not sure if this where I add this assignment, so if it is not the correct place I apologize in advance and please just let me know where I put this…Here is my assignment for
Lesson 2: Finding Inspiration from Photography Masters

“Who’s work I really enjoy is a very tough question to answer. I do not really study nor have studied other’s work, I can appreciate an amazing photograph when I see one (no matter the type of photograph it is), but I have never really studied enough photographs to have someone influence me nor gravitated to one artist or a handful of artists. I have now started to notice more specific types of photography and photographers since I have been taking pictures for some time now. I have gotten into photography simply because I love seeing amazing photographs and there is something about capturing a moment in time through a lens and the way I see it. The types of pictures I enjoy taking I have not seen regularly, maybe that is because I do not do a lot of studying of people’s work or hunt out work from photographers. I myself enjoy the darker side of life but I am a hopeful person, so I love night photography (dark) with artificial light (bright aka hopeful)…not to mention I really love the contrast between the dark and the light, this is what I tend to focus on when I take photos. With that said, one photographers work that I truly enjoy is Sean T. McHugh. Most of his work is done at night with a heavy influence of artificial light or fading light and is either has scenery or architecture in it, not much human subject in it and if there is they are part of the photo, not the photograph’s subject (they are usually passing through the photograph).
These reasons are what I really enjoy about seeing his work, another is he is also able to get some amazing color during night into his photographs which I really like with the contrast of night, and night being thought of as such a dark and bleak time, the color refutes that connotation. I enjoy all of his work it is all amazing and is truly beautiful. With that said, one piece that truly stands out to me is “Soft Darkness”, it is very dark, but the lights from the light poles are extremely prevalent and it still manages to capture the look of the location where the photo was taken (You can see tree branches, the path’s stones and the details of the bridge). This photo encapsulates what I like to take with my camera. However he has not necessarily inspired me, since I have come across his work after I started to take photographs and decided the direction I have wanted to take.
I am not sure that anyone has inspired me, maybe seeing photographs over the years have led me in the direction I would like to take my work, but no one specific person or set of photographs have inspired me, it all comes from me and how I see the world and what I think should be shown or shot. This is all through my eyes and not influenced or indicative of someone else’s work, well not on a conscience level. I really pride myself in what ever I do, I do differently but not so different that it is way out in left field and absolutely foreign. I feel that this is how I approach my photography I see stuff that I like and interpret it myself and maybe use a form of it in what I do. What I mean is I know there have been some amazing people to pave the way for photography, so it comes from predecessors, but not from one specific person or artist. I do think that I can take some inspiration from Sean’s work since he has such a great style with what he does and I truly enjoy looking at it more then other types of photos.”

[Duncan Rawlinson]

Very well said. The purpose of this assignment was to get you to raise questions about yourself such as “what your style is”. You can often learn more about your own style by analyzing the photographs of photographers you admire. So by saying that you like the “darker side of life” gives me a good indication that your photography portfolio should have the overall look to it. Night photography with vibrant colors is quite hard to achieve both technically and artistically. That being said, as you know, it can also be one of the most pleasant forms of photography to work with.

Based on the information in this essay, if it’s okay with you, I would like to see a strong slant towards the theme “dark side of life”, in your next assignments. It doesn’t have to be in them all, but it will help you gain experience shooting this type of photography.

I look forward to seeing your next assignment.

[Brandon]

@teacher wrote:

Very well said. The purpose of this assignment was to get you to raise questions about yourself such as “what your style is”. You can often learn more about your own style by analyzing the photographs of photographers you admire. So by saying that you like the “darker side of life” gives me a good indication that your photography portfolio should have the overall look to it. Night photography with vibrant colors is quite hard to achieve both technically and artistically. That being said, as you know, it can also be one of the most pleasant forms of photography to work with.

Based on the information in this essay, if it’s okay with you, I would like to see a strong slant towards the theme “dark side of life”, in your next assignments. It doesn’t have to be in them all, but it will help you gain experience shooting this type of photography.

I look forward to seeing your next assignment.

Glad to hear what I wrote is ok, I was a little worried about it.

Yeah, I know night photography with vibrant colors is a very difficult photograph to take properly. That I what I am hoping to take away from doing this, is to possible be able to learn how to take them…I love a challenge and am willing to do what it takes to learn this skill set.

I will totally work “the dark side of life” into my photography through out all of this, granted some lessons may not require that type of shooting. But I will try to incorporate it into my lessons. Thanks for the kind words…

[Author]

Posts