Fast times on planet Earth

         I always tend to wonder what the Earth must have seen in its 4 billion years as it goes about the cosmos. Then, of course, I think about  all of us on this planet and it just spirals out of control from there. Often, after going about that thought spiral - hours have passed and what I was doing has now changed, or grown cold from neglect. Eventually, trying to recollect lost time, I always depart this meandering of the mind with a lingering thought of my prior exploits.
        These panels basically embody that, with or without the sappy story. I was hoping to convey a larger time expanse than I ultimately ended up with. However, I thought about this at great length (and yes, even went off into day dreaming as aforementioned) and came to the conclusion that the sun setting, to the exposition of the stars was an apt metaphor. The first panel is the sun, being generally concomitant to productivity, setting and showing the departure from a functional task. The inner panels are the transition between the two states. The center panel actually contains the last remnants of a lens flare from the sun, but also the first hints of the night from the last panel. In the last panel, the Milky Way cloud can be seen. In a cheesy way, this is signifying what dreams are made of and the emergence of this iconic period of our days...and all that poetic jazz. In the beginning, I thought this was just a neat idea. In the end, it still is a neat idea...just a lot more metaphor attached to it post hoc.
       Now, the technical aspects. This image is a combination of over 30 images. The images of the valley were taken atop South Mountain at the end of Summit Rd from 5pm - 7pm. I set the tripod and used vertical orientation to shoot the panorama to minimize visual distortions. The last panel contains two separate images of space. One was taken at Needles Vista, at 1am, using an equatorial mount and drive to minimize motion blur from Earth's rotation. The second was taken from the Carlsbad Caverns, NM,  entrance at roughly 11pm. The two space images were then combined to create a composite of a close-to-actual view of the Milky Way seen above Phoenix...if one could see the Milky Way above Phoenix. In all, I collected over 450 images to create this piece.
       The first four panels are all HDR creations with 5 bracketed photos each using  f-stop 3.5, ISO 200 (Simulated), Focal 27mm/18mm, fastest shutter speed: 1/8000, slowest: 1". Once I had the five images for each panel, I constructed the HDR image using the same base numbers for each variable and then tweaked for time of day changes. The first panel contains no edits, and only minor color correction after the HDR process. The second panel contains color/light bleeding from the first panel. The third panel contains minor amounts of the same bleeding. The fourth panel contains light bleeding from the fifth panel, in nearly the same ratio as the second panel to the first. The fifth panel was comprised of an HDR image and the composite shot of space. I decided to edit this last panel to show what one could see if there was no smog, or light pollution. It gives a bit of fantasy to this image, but it doesn't depart from reality...just ignores a few finer points of our cities polluted reality.

15 Seconds of Bravery

It seems that football consumes my life anymore. I found it almost laughable when I found that I could use being the photographer for my brothers game to my advantage. Though, if I was already going to be there, with a camera, and I knew what I needed to do, I might as well! Plus, I was given access to the field this last game, making it all the better.
What I chose to do is take the images of a passing play to show what can happen in a matter of probably 10-15 seconds. I saw the play in front of me and just snapped the shutter as quickly as I could, moving the lens along with the play, careful to line up the horizon line each time to allow an easy progression of time within the mind.
Really, there's nothing fancy, just a fast shutter speed, 1/400, large aperture, f/5, simple alignment within Photoshop and brave boys who are passionate about football.

Ben Sheets Rater Proj

I chose to create an image that led you into unknown space. By having a bridge with no ending and keeping a lot of the blue sky in focus. These pictures were taken over about a week span which gives the buildings many different shades according to the time of day. I'm interested in traveling with no destination. Traveling just to travel, just for the adventure and I think I portrayed this through the raster project well.

Eatting Rabbit

After trying many different science for this project, my rabbit collage seemed the most successful.
I liked the red color of the couch in contrast to the white fur of the rabbit and the green kale she is eating.
I also liked the scale of the small rabbit in contrast to the big couch, which emphasize the rabbit and draw the viewer attention to the detail in the image.

To do this photomontage I tried to use David Hockney technique, of adding many photographs from the same perspective together to create a bigger pictures and to tell a larger story. The rabbit is seen as eating a kale pice, but also the unusual location and the atmosphere is depicted, which adds to the mystery

Brandi Blanco

For my project I decided to focus on time in relation to the painting process. Because a piece of artwork goes through many stages, (the primary sketch, inking, first coat of paint, second coat of paint, etc.) I was really curious to see what it would look like if you combined all of these stages into one, and here it is.

Haylee Schiavo final project

In attempt to capture the idea of time and space, I portrayed the same girl on the bike rack in multiple different places. Instead of portraying time differently by altering the space or perspective I shot it at, I decided to get the same idea across by altering the position and location of the girl there. The point is to show her different mood and personality as time moved on. It can also represent the idea of time simply because she is sitting on a bike, which is ironically unable to move. I did a lot of editing on this project. There was a bunch of white blocks/pillars on the brick wall in the background that I completely removed. I edited the color, while ensuring that each one of the characters were at the same shade/value/tone. In addition, I had to cut and paste my friend into the picture each time. I also added a slight vignette to the edges to draw the viewer's attention towards the middle.

Brandon Beren

I wanted to do a photo-montage self portrait over the course of 24 hours, one picture an hour. Unfortunately I had no 24-hour stretch in which I could do this. I only got 14 hours out of the day and was interrupted by work. I took one picture an hour from those hours and made up the most important parts or the self portrait (i.e. the eyes and other facial features. For the rest of the image I used fill material from the same pictures.

Lindsey Scofield

For this project, I ended up with two different outcomes. My first image is a scene of a friend of mine eating a burger. All the photos within it were taken at different points in the meal, and from different angles. The second image happened randomly because I hadn't planned to use this place for my project. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. Both of these images seem to tell a mini story, which is what I liked best about this project.

Haleigh Klandrud Raster Project

For the first image, I wanted to explore how I could transform a really small space with the use of multiple images. Even though the space is only a few feet and still doesn't look very large in the image I compiled, I think it does look larger than the space actually is.

In the second image, I wanted to explore time and space at the same time by having the subject move around while I was taking pictures of the vertical space. I wanted it to tell a story in a single image and for the viewer to get the feel that this subject wasn't stationary or that this image only captured one moment in time.

In both images, I tried to focus on different things in each of the pictures I took to make the overall appearance more interesting.

Ryan Evans Raster Project

With my project I tried to capture different angles of the same space and put them together into one image. I stood at the same spot and "spun" to take the images. They were taken with different lenses so they are actually not all the same "distance" away. Also, the images do not actually encompass the entire space, there is distance between the images which I tried to erase with my combination.

Alyssa Bouck Raster Project

For this project I took pictures of my boyfriend at the MU at night. In some of the photos, I left him ghosted, playing with the idea of time passing. Another way that I'm experimenting with time and space is the fact that he's in different places, and in almost every picture. I also placed myself in the bottom center picture. The pictures aren't supposed to line up completely, but just supposed to barely convey the fact that it's the same place.

Sanders Raster Project

I wanted to try a more playful side to my art, as I usually create darker images. I simply took 4 pictures of myself in different positions at a desk, and compiled them together. I had to work very hard in making them seamlessly blend together. Overall the trick was making me look like I belonged in each of my seats.

Matt Picon Raster Project

I first started with the background, combing multiple pictures taken with a wide angle lens. Once the background was created I used photographs of the bottom of shoes (that I altered to look like shoe prints) and placed them throughout the frame. I had to distort and change the perspective of each shoe print in order to match the distortion caused by the wide angle lens as well as the panoramic perspective. The final step was to change the opacity in order for the shoe prints to not stand out as pure black and blend into the background.

Raster Project - Morgan Sweazy

This is the laundry room at my dorm. I took pictures in the morning, afternoon and evening to show all the different colors of light coming into the room. I tried to show that even though the changed are slight, the laundry room does differ throughout the day, mainly with colors. Whenever I went in, there were clothes that were left behind, which also marks change. I only saw that one girl in the laundry room, but the clothes on the other machines and on the floor hint that people are always coming and going. Also, I tried to show how long the laundry room is by adding a fish-eye type look to the picture as a whole, and I added drop-shadow to each of the photos.

Tim Nelson Raster Exercise

Skate Sequence....

For this project I used a motion camera to capture the whole shot. In Imovie I took screenshots of (about) every tenth of a second and put them together in photoshop. Using multiple layers and the technique of masking and blending, I made the 14 pics to look like one. It's hard to tell but the camera pans to the left slightly distorting the background but having trees in the background made it easy to hide.

Raster Project

UNIT1: RASTER PROJECT. TOTAL POINTS: 150
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

TIME AND SPACE. DIGITAL PHOTOMONTAGE.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Due: September 14th at 1:40 PM, the beginning of class.

OBJECTIVES
Technical: To gain a basic understanding of raster based digital imaging software and the technology, terminology, and techniques associated with it.
Conceptual: To explore the concept of time and space using photomontage as a method of compressing time into one seemingly single moment.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _

Overview: How many ways can you visually represent the same thing? How can using multiple photographs represent something better than only one? How does the passage of time change a scene? How much time must pass before you can measure change? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days?

For this project your challenge will be to use digital photomontage to create a portrait of a scene over a period of time and space. The subject and the span of time are up to you, it could be ten hours or two days. Think about ways using multiple photographs can better represent something. Try different angles, from the ground, from above, get close, get far away, be creative!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Materials: digital camera with necessary cables. Computer with Adobe Photoshop. A tripod and cable release for your camera may be helpful.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Process:
1. Choose a subject that will change greatly over time (Day, Night, Weekend). Pick one that is interesting or important for you. Create 5 proposals of subjects and be prepared to share them.

2. Go to your location, spend some time exploring it. Make some decisions about how you want your final piece to look.Is it best photographed from one single point of view or from many? Do you want your final piece clear and seamless or jagged and distorted? Do you need a tripod? If you are working with found images, try to find the exact spot from where the original photo was taken.

3. Shot shot shot, take lots of pictures. It’s always better to have to many images than not enough. Shoot from a single location or from many locations. All the while keeping in mind how your “pieces” will fit together. Bring a notebook and make a sketch of your scene as you photograph.

4. Let some time pass, hours, days, return to your subject and shoot some more. When you return to your location, what has changed? Has the way the location is used changed with time? Has the color and the direction of light changed? Seek out and emphasize the changes you find.

5. Transfer your images to your external hard drive at home, or bring your camera, memory card, and transfer cables to class with you. If you have a memory card reader for your camera bring it too.

6. Working in Adobe Photoshop, create a blank document that is approximately 11x14 inches (vertical or horizontal) at 300 dpi. Use the RGB color mode and a bit depth of 8. FILE >>SAVE your new document to your external media storage device. You must work off of your own storage media (not the desktop of the lab computers).SAVE your work often!

7. Using layers, adjustment layers, and layer masks, combine your parts into one final piece. Depending on how well you photographed your scene, you may need to rotate or distort your individual photo to make things “fit”. In some cases things may never correctly “fit”. Remember you are not really constructing reality, but your interpretation of that reality.

8. When complete, drop your full resolution layered PSD file into the class folder, and keep it for your records in your own external storage. Name it like this: lastname_rasterproj.psd (the psd extension will be automatically added when you save the file in that particular format, you don’t have to type it).

9. Then size your image down to 800 pixels (in the widest direction) at 72 dpi (IMAGE>>IMAGE SIZE>> or use the crop tool). Use FILE>>SAVE FOR WEB AND DEVICES to save a copy of your image as jpeg. Name your exported file as: lastname_rasterexer.jpg.

10. Upload your resized file (jpeg) to the class blog. Write a paragraph explaining your piece.