What a life

Done!

2008-04-25T15:10:00.003-04:00

Well all. that is the end of THIS journey. I'm done school, and I'll be moving back to NB soon. I want to thank everyone who helped me, by posing, letting me shoot in their house/work/yard etc, or by supporting me with food, shelter, and any number of other ways that everyone has helped.
The last assignment I had to finish was my website. it is now up finally, and almost the way I want it to look. I plan to keep tweaking it over the next while, and then I'll keep adding to it, and making it bigger and better! :) check it out at:
www.wolfprints.ca
Thanks again everyone, and keep an eye out here for updates on the next stage of my life! :)

~Gabe

Ring gift box

2008-04-25T14:51:00.003-04:00

This was the last commercial assignment I had to do. We had to shoot a watch, or something that we showed to him, using back lighting and reflectors or other lights to fill in and create highlights. there was 3 lights for this one, and 2 or 3 silver and white reflectors.

Annual Report

2008-04-25T14:43:00.002-04:00

this is the cover to my annual report I had to make. there were seven more pages to the report, but I'm not going to put those up. :) I went to Philosophers Wool to take photos of the sheep, and the yarn, and the yarn shop. I went to a commercial spinning mill here in Mississauga, and got some factory shots. And I had Jenn pose for a CEO shot as well. it came together quite well I think!

Character portrait

2008-04-25T14:40:00.002-04:00

We are getting toward the end here now. This was a character portrait I had to do. I got my friend at school to dress up all gangstaish and pose for me. :) I like how the lighting worked out on this... coulda had some more separation though.. :P

Photographers portrait

2008-04-25T14:18:00.003-04:00

This is one of the photographers that I interned with. There were two others that helped me out as well. I'd like to thank all three of them for the experiences and for helping me get through my final semester.

model comp card

2008-04-25T13:58:00.003-04:00

This was a model comp card I had to design. A comp card is usually a double sided card (around 5x7) with 3+ photos of the model on it, and contact information and sizing stats sometimes too. This is my friend Joanne who was kind enough to pose for me. :)

Glasses

2008-04-25T13:26:00.002-04:00

plain and simple. I actually like it though! We just had to shoot the glasses using some certian kind of light, and make it look interestingish.. :)

Executive portrait

2008-04-25T13:23:00.002-04:00

Yes, it's not TOO executive like.. But I efel it met the main requirements of the assignment. Ie: it showed someone in control and in charge of their environment. besides it's a good photo of Dave.. :)

Celebrity shot

2008-04-25T12:46:00.005-04:00

Do you know who this is?
This was my submission for the celebrity shot we had to do for my location class. This is Stuart McLean from CBC radio. He agreed to meet me at Glen Gould studios for about 1/2 an hr for a shoot. My equipment failed at times, and I lacked an assistant, but I think the whole shoot went very well.

Model car?

2008-04-25T12:14:00.003-04:00

Yes it IS a model car. We had to shoot a model car in the studio, and composite the different shots that were made for lighting on different parts of the car. The wheels, the rims, the highlights on the chrome, the front of the car etc.. were all different shots.
Then we had to shoot a background to drop the car onto, to try and make it look real.

Back, done, and a... kitchen?

2008-04-24T21:23:00.006-04:00

Yes a kitchen.
This
was an residential interior shoot I had to do. I ended up using the
kitchen that the photographer I interned with had setup in his kitchen.
there was two lights bounced off theceiling, a softbox under the counter, and all the tungsten lighting turned on. (the one over the sink was goboed to prevent flare on the counter.)
On
another note, I have been CRAZY busy the last 2 months, but I am now
done! I will be moving back to NB shortly, and then figuring out what
to do with the rest of my life. I have 9 more assignments to put up
here, so bear with me.. :)

Promo Card

2008-02-20T20:15:00.002-05:00

this was a promo card I had to make up for entrepreneurship class. I had to show a variety of images that show what I do. I chose to focus on portraiture. I would do a second one if I was going to do commercial images.

food shot

2008-02-20T20:11:00.001-05:00

this was a food shot that we had to do, using natural lighting, or at least making it look like natural lighting. I baught all the salad items and built and styled the salad myself. :)Looks yummy eh?

Business Portrait

2008-02-20T20:06:00.003-05:00

this was a business portrait that I had to take on location.
I hauled out my lighting, and setup in his shop before he opened the doors to the public. I snapped this as he was getting the store ready.

Final exam

2008-01-07T20:55:00.000-05:00

This was the final exam for portraiture class. I had to redo my outdoor group shot, and these guys helped me out. I spent a few hrs in Photoshop creating the shadows that make it more of a portrait. this was actually taken with an on board flash.

Beer (or liquid) shoot

2008-01-07T20:48:00.000-05:00

THIS one was fun and very difficult to finish off right. there was a lot of Photoshopping afterward to make the bottle pop just right. and during the shoot there was 4 photos needed: one to light the props right, one to light the labels right, one to light the liquid right, and a mask so I could separate the bottle from the background. for me, lighting the liquid was the hardest, bcause I had to remove ALL the props (including the sand!) and keep the bottle in the same position, and then light the bottle from behind. I dropped a ocean shot in behind from this past summer in Alma.
(And yes I enjoyed it afterward as well! :) I had saved this schooner since Aug. just for this shoot!)

Low Key Portrait

2008-01-07T20:44:00.001-05:00

This one I thought turned out much better then the I was graded for, but ahh well. :) this was a low key portrait. it had to be darker colours on a black background. I used about 4 different lights to create the highlights needed to separate the subject from the background.

High key

2008-01-07T20:40:00.000-05:00

This wasn't my personal choice for the best photo of the shoot, but it was the one that matched the assignment the best. (I thought)
The assignment was for a high key portrait, that was full length. nothing in the photo could be darker than skin colour, and on top of the I had to light so that the floor was white as well, and there should be no shadows.

Electronics shot with movement

2008-01-07T20:36:00.000-05:00

This assignment was to shoot a piece of electronic equipment in such a way as to imply movement. We could do this in the camera if we wanted, by dragging the shutter and having a tungsten light source on the background. I however opted to create it in photoshop. it took a supprising amount of work to make this look like this.

indoor Family shoot

2008-01-07T20:30:00.000-05:00

This assignment was to shoot a family of 3 or more indoors using controlled lighting, but on location (not in the studios) and create a group/family portrait.

Time shoot

2008-01-07T20:25:00.001-05:00

this one was to shoot a timepiece in such a way as to have a sculpted soft highlight, with a harsher specular shadow.

Steamwhistle Brewery

2008-01-07T17:59:00.000-05:00

This was a location shoot we did at the Steamwhistle brewery in downtown Toronto. it was rather fun. you can see in the top left corner where they are in relation to the sky... uh.. Rogers center.

Restaurant shoot

2008-01-07T17:49:00.000-05:00

This one was fun. I had to go contact a restaurant to get them to let me shoot during a time when they were closed. I actually found a place called Gabriel's Place, which worked out wonderfully, and had this great interior!

Transformation

2008-01-07T17:45:00.000-05:00

This one is an example of some of the things I've been doing in photoshop class lately.. there is a lot more I have been doing, but I lack some of those examples.. :)

yes, I know...

2008-01-07T17:39:00.000-05:00

Well... yes it IS 2008... Maybe it IS time to update this blog eh? I suppose I should get all these photos up before I start into this last semester. :)

well I'll start out here with my editorial location shoot. this was taken at a local drive-in near Mississauga.

Markings

2007-10-28T00:29:00.000-04:00

Well this was a theory assignment. I had to create a Magazine cover, for "Markings" a body modification magazine. and then I had to print it off in RGB (Red/Green/Blue), then convert it to CMYK (Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/black) and print it, then convert it back to RGB and try and get the colours back.
the printing part I'm not sure if it worked out right... But I like how the cover turned out! :)

Cosmetic Shot

2007-10-28T00:19:00.000-04:00

This was a basic commercial shoot. with some fancy lighting. We had to use one main light to light everything. Then we had to light for each of the items in the shot: defused lighting for the shiny surfaces, specular highlights to show textures, etc etc.. I had 4 lights, and 2 reflectors for this.
Then we had to close crop the whole thing in Photoshop, and drop it on a made-up background.

The Family Shoot

2007-10-28T00:15:00.000-04:00

This was a fun assignment. I had to take a picture of a group of people, at least 3, and try different poses.
We tried some different classical poses first, but this is difficult to do with little children who have lots of energy! (especially if it is colder, ad outside..)
so we started into some different stuff.
This one was the best expressions from everyone! :)

Cyanotype Print

2007-10-28T00:05:00.000-04:00

... (Or otherwise known as a blueprint)
Hey there everyone! Just some quick updates. this is my cyanotype print I had to do for my history and design class. this was one of the first processes developed in the 1840's, and it has been in use up until the few years as the "blueprint".
along with being fairly old, and the most simple process, it's also one of the safest. (as long as you don't accidentally heat up the Potassium Ferricyanide over 300^F, or drop it in some form of strong acid, you are fine. it is used at room temperature and mixed with Ammonium Citrate. simple!)
this is the print I made from the digital negative mentioned earlier.

". . . when I'm 65."

2007-10-17T22:31:00.000-04:00

Hi!
well, I had a lot of fun with this one.
this here is me. I had to take a photo of myself, and a photo of my father, and try to make myself age at least 20 years.
In my case I didnt have any easily accessable photos of my Dad, I DID find a photo of my grandfather though.

Once I found this one, I tried to match the lighting as best as possible. the on camera flash was easy; however, the light from the window was a little trickier. I decided to do what I could with a second flash bouncing off of the drawn blinds. Once I got the photos, it took me probably 6 hr's of photoshoping to match, blend, blur, and clone in the necessary bits to create this!
this is me in about 40 years.. :)

Thanks go to a great grandfather, and good genes.. I couldnt look this good without them.

Fashion Shoot

2007-10-11T19:03:00.000-04:00

Well, this is all I have for now. This one was supposed to be a high fashion shoot, on location somewhere.
I had an immage for this one, but I had trouble getting a model (thanks to Jenn for filling in! :))and a location and time to get it done. so it ended up being a rush job. but I actually like how it turned out, and I got a few different shots that I really like. This one is one of the ones the teacher said she liked as well..

Child Shoot

2007-10-11T18:56:00.000-04:00

This cute little guy was my subject for my child shoot assignment.
I had to find a child under 5 and then do a portrait session with him, capturing who the child is (are they full of energy, shy, exhibitionists. Do they like books, toys, etc...) This was my final product.

Alternitave Processes

2007-10-11T18:42:00.001-04:00

for our History and Design class this year, we are actually learning various types of alternative processes. so far we have been shown the Van Dyke process, the Salted print, and the Cyanotype process. I have made some images using the Cyanotype process already, although I need to finish the project still.
almost all of these processes are contact prints. Which means that we have have a negative th same size as the print we want to make. This image is of a Digital negative I made for this project. I have to take a picture, change it to greyscale, change the colour range from B&W to white & kind of a peachy colour (Which blocks the specific wave lengths of colour that the processes are sensitive to). Then I had to print it on a sheet of special plastic with an emulsion on it that absorbs inkjet ink. then I had my negative!

Commercial Travel

2007-10-11T18:34:00.000-04:00

This one had to be a still life for a travel magazine or something. we had to put something together that would denote travel in some way. or a "wish you were here" theme or some thing like that.
I enjoyed this one more, because I got to book the new 2nd year studio that is available, and use the phase-back medium format that is there! :) (it's a 16 megapixle camera) and I didn't have to worry about people interrupting, or having to rush.. it was quite nice actually! I'm looking forward to getting to do some portraits in there sometime...

Couples Shoot

2007-10-11T18:29:00.000-04:00

The assignment for this one was to get a couple, and take pictures of them out doors, at sunset or sunrise, and capture them being cute, cuddly, romantic etc.. It had to be a nice soft romantic shoot.
I think they're cute enough! :) (I got %79 for it!)

Sports Commercial

2007-10-11T18:23:00.000-04:00

well, this one was for Commercial Advertising class. We had to do a still life layout of sports equipment. I went to Zellers bought the soccer ball and shin guards (returning them after the shoot!) and did this setup in the studio.

Location Architecture

2007-10-11T18:14:00.000-04:00

well, it's that time again. The time when I have just done a crazy couple of weeks worth of projects and assignments, and I'm procrastinating on the next batch. So, I'll catch you guys up on what I've been doing. :)
This one was for my Location lighting class.

We had to find a building and photograph it with the glow still in the sky. Then we had to wait until it was full dark, and take another exposure for the windows, and the lighting inside, so we could end up with a dark silhouete of a building, with warm glowing lights inside, and a nice evening sky behind it.
I, of course, chose a hard building, because it had outdoor lighting. So I had to make another exposure for the building and make the exterior dark, and then blend all three images together into one. :P

And so it Begins again...

2007-09-19T19:42:00.001-04:00

Here, jadies and lentelmen, we have a colour target. used for measuring how your printer is producing colours and tones. the numbers refer to Photoshop values, and the pictures should give a good tonal range to measure with. Some of the best ones have everything from fruit, to different light sources, to shiny spoons, to rugs to skin tones, to red velvet.
This was the first assignment we had, that I completed. Not to worry though, there are more on the way!

Back to school eh?

2007-09-13T00:11:00.000-04:00

*sighs* yes it IS another year (hard to believe eh!?) I spent the summer back east in my favoritest little town ever, Alma. I did some professional shooting (for money) and some more professional shooting (not for money). and tried to make enough to pay back my loans I had to take out for my equipment. :P
Now I am back to school again, and the assignments are starting to come in. this blog should be in full swing in another week or two. ('cause I'm sure everyone is all excited to see what wonderful new things I'm going to learn this year!) :P
anyway, I will post again soon, probably with some real pictures! :)

Yeah yeah...

2007-07-10T22:28:00.000-04:00

I know it's not the same.. but at least it's something! :D

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide
and

create your own personalized map of Canada
or check out ourVancouver travel guide

Kinda dicey..

2007-06-22T18:04:00.000-04:00

Hey all, just a quick note to drop a funny from a friend of mine, he put it on his blog, and well... here's mine! :)

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

"This survey is completely scientific. Despite the mind-boggling complexity of mankind, the billions of distinctly different personalities found on Earth can easily be divided into seven simple categories that correspond to the five Platonic solids, a pseudo polyhedron, and whatever the hell a d100 is. The results of this quiz should be considered not only meaningful but also infallible, and pertinent to your success as a fully realized individual. If you feel the results of this examination do not match your perceived personality, you should take whatever drastic measures are needed to cram your superego back into proper alignment, as described by the quiz results.

And if you believe that, we have some really great critical-hit insurance to sell you."

summer update

2007-05-25T21:03:00.000-04:00

Hi all, this is just a quickie, to sort of give a general idea of what's been going on.
I was looking for jobs in Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick. I ended up getting a decent paying job in Alma (again :)) and a cheap place to stay for the summer. so I've been in NB for 3 weeks now, and working for 1.
I have from 1-3 weddings to do this summer, and all the team photos for the soccer league in Sussex! so the summer will pass fairly fast I'm thinking...:)
anyway, keep checking in over the summer, I'll post some updates...
and don't forget to come back in the fall for the next series of photos, and assignments! :)
~Gabe

Commercial Exam

2007-04-25T23:28:00.000-04:00

and finally this was the practical exam I did today for commercial class. we were given a juice box to shoot as soon as we showed up, and told we had 2 hours to make a finished print. this was my final product.

Juice Shot

2007-04-25T23:21:00.000-04:00

And finally commercial class! this was the infamous liquid shot (originally the wine and cheese shot) and we had to use the dreaded SPEEDOTRONS! which are studio flash generators which are connected to flash heads by cables. VERY high voltages, (900v @ 500amps for those of you who know your electricity) the teacher had been scaring us for weeks about what not to do with these units so everyone was nervous. but it actually went rather well. we had to put some sort of background to the image so I threw something togther. I think it's kinda cute :)

Polerizing filter

2007-04-25T23:15:00.000-04:00

We were given this assignment to show us what a polerizing filter can do. (and because it is the only filter we cant replicate in photoshop.) On the leftis the picture taken with the polerizer on. and the right is with the polerizer off. it is used to cut reflections from glass, water, and shiny objects.

Selective Colouring

2007-04-25T23:12:00.000-04:00

These two were taken on a walk with Jenn a couple weeks ago. I decided to use it for a project for printing class. I had to take a picture and make selective changes to the colours to make it "better". I increased the sky, the leaves on the ground, and changed the colour of the leaves to the red as you see in the picture below.

Previsualization of Zones

2007-04-25T23:06:00.000-04:00

This was an interesting (and stressfull) project. we had to use, and show how we used (the red circles) the Zone system. so I had to take a meter reading of certian places, and then decide where I wanted those tones to be in the exposure, and how contrasty the picture needed to be. the first one here is the low key's everything should be from middle grey and darker. I metered the skin tones, and the blacks. the one bellow is the High key, and I metered the skin tones and the whites.

Digital Imaging Midterm

2007-04-25T23:03:00.000-04:00

This one was the midterm for Photoshop class. we had to take each image here, and put it all togther on this background. (in a hour) including all the shadows, hooks etc.

High Speed Flash

2007-04-25T22:58:00.000-04:00

This was a fun one to try. I had to freeze motion using a flash (rather then a fast shutter speed). I had to trigger the flash at just the moment that the spray was comming out of the bottle. I like how it turned out, however I had the lighting slightly wrong so my mark was deducted abit...

Hands

2007-04-25T22:55:00.000-04:00

This was the last assignment we had in Location lighting. We had to take a photo of hands showing some emotion using the self-contained flash units. I had to use the same flash units for the previous couples shoot as well. I liked how this one turned out.

Couples shoot

2007-04-25T22:51:00.000-04:00

This was another one of the funnest shoots I'm done. the lady is a friend from back in NB and moved to the area, so I got to reconnect with her, as well she is getting married! (congrats!) we spent 2-3 hours in different poses and places, and ended up with lots of good stuff. this shot was one of the best thechnically, but there were others I liked better.

Colour Shoot

2007-04-25T22:48:00.000-04:00

I ended up with two photo shoots for this assignment (which was to do a shoot based on colour, in the style of Annie leibovitz) I made 2 decent prints from each shoot and asked the teacher what he liked most. This one was the winner. unfortunately there wasnt quite enough colour. but what there is, works well together.

Karsh Shot

2007-04-25T22:40:00.000-04:00

This was one of the funnest shoots I've done so far. She was quite the character, and very expressive! unfortunately it wasn't teribly "karsh" like. but my teacher, upon reflection of the contact sheets, decided that this was who this person was, and decided he really liked it! I ended up with 100% for this!

Character Study

2007-04-25T22:36:00.000-04:00

well, this is going to be fast, because I have exams to (ahem) not procrastinate for! :)
This was back in early march, and was my Character Study for portrait class. we had to shoot a B&W image showing a character.

Portrait Enhancement

2007-04-07T19:04:00.000-04:00

Well this one is actually a photo I took during my mid-term practical exam. but the assignment was for photoshop, where we had to take an image and then use techniques we had been taught to enhance the photo. these are the before and after images.

Multi Flash

2007-04-06T16:48:00.000-04:00

This is the one Jenn was waiting for:

So this was a Location Lighting assignment. we had to "paint with flash" or something to that effect. Jenn came out with me at least twice, and helped me by posing, and driving me around, and just helping me out until all hours of the morning. In order to do this shot we had to setup the camera open the shutter, and then run around and set off the flash many times.
Oh, BTW, I cut my hair... ;)

Displacement maps II

2007-04-06T16:45:00.002-04:00

This was essentially the same as the dinosaur, except that we had
to provide the content, and decide how we were going to put it
together.
I started with a shot of my bed, and then I took a picture of pine needles and cones, and a picture of a cloudy sky, and overlayed (or displaced them) on top of my bed.

Colour print

2007-04-06T16:45:00.001-04:00

Isn't this lovely?
We had to take a colour shot, with colour as a significant part of the composition. then we had to go get it printed at a lab somewhere. I ran out of time and inspiration, and ended up with this. It might actually be ok, but I just had so much else to do. this and the next 4-5 were all due on the same day.

Off Model Fashion

2007-04-06T16:32:00.000-04:00

Commercial class had us do an off model shoot. we hd to pick a piece of clothing and then pin it (to a board) or hang it, and stuff it etc.. make it look good, and then light it, shoot it, and print it. this was my contribution. :)

The Multi-image group project

2007-04-06T16:21:00.000-04:00

This was quite a challenge. we were told last semester that photographers have a tendency
to not work very well in groups. well... they were right! half the
class (16 people) were assigned to work on this image. each person had
a number, and they had to add something to the image, and then pass it
on to the next person. This is what it looked like after my
contribution, even though I was only number 5. Mine was the cat in the trees, with lightening coming from her eyes. (Some people might recognize aslan!) we have yet to figre out what we got for a mark on this one.

The theme was Dreams and Nigtmares

The Electronics Shoot

2007-04-06T16:20:00.000-04:00

Well this one was just a straight forward shoot. we
had to setup something electronic, and take a picture of it, then make
a background behind it (either in photoshop or as shot, or a separate photo).

Sun Sync Flash

2007-04-06T16:07:00.000-04:00

So this one can be self explanitory; however, it might not be imediately obvious. this was an exercise in manipulating the flash to match ambient light, or to make the ambient light dominant, or to use it as a fill light. if you look closely, you can see that some of the pictures are slightly over powered with the flash, and some others are just filled in with the flash.

The Watch Shot

2007-04-03T22:11:00.000-04:00

*Sighs* yes, I AM still alive! but y'know, life is crazy.
I
went through my completed assignments, and I have at least 10 or so to
post here, but I doubt they'll all get up tonight. I'll settle for just
a couple so I can clean up my desktop abit..:)

So, this was for Commercial Catalog Class. we had to shoot a watch and then place it on a background, (either in Photoshop, like here, or in the shot) Thanks to Jenn for letting me use her watch. :)

Displacement maping

2007-02-23T23:00:00.000-05:00

ok, last one for now:
This one is from the photoshop course, I had to make a selection around the dinosaur, and then take the ground and place it behind him, and then we put the "map" over the skin of the dinosaur.

we copied the dinosaur from underneath, then we took the selection of the shadow and darkened that area of the new ground.

CD Cover

2007-02-23T22:55:00.000-05:00

this one was kindof interesting because we had to create a CD case. I ended up doing the cover, the inside (the first picture here) the back cover (second picture) and the cd itself. Jenn had the idea for the band name, and came up with the song names. it was fun using all the different aspects of photoshop that I've learned to get it done.

Minimalistic

2007-02-23T22:51:00.000-05:00

Hopefully I'll do better on this one then the last couple I've turned in. I've been either second guessing myself, or having a DEVIL of a time getting decent prints at school. But I do like this one the best, and I believe it matches all the criteria for the shoot. It had to be done with a deadpan face, and made to look like only one light. very "minimal".

Food Add

2007-02-23T22:47:00.000-05:00

Yes it is the same shot as the food shot I did earlier. We had to take that shot and insert text and images etc to make a believable advertisement out of it. This was taken from a friend of mine who had the idea for a Livingroom Cafe. So heres her add. :)

Back again!

2007-02-23T22:40:00.000-05:00

ahhh wonderful procrastination...
yes I have a pile of assignments to put up here. I've been either working hard trying to get things caught up, or putting it off so I wouldnt get too depressed. :)
Anyhoo, as a procrastination for my current work, I'll post all the other assignments I've been putting off. :)

Ok, so this was the last attempt to get this assignment done before it was due. I did 3 different shoots to try and get this done. and I still didn't get it exactly right. I was supposed to get everyone at full length. ahh well..

The Glamour Shoot

2007-02-10T20:12:00.000-05:00

this one was fun. A little bit stressful, but fun. We had to find a model, and then shoot them in the style of George Hurrell. (look him up online) he started what was known as "hollywood portraits" very glamorous, and dreamy. I like this one, I think it could have been better, but I was REALLY pressed for time. (I literally ran from the studio because it was closing!) :)

MMmmmm, fooood...

2007-02-10T20:09:00.000-05:00

MMmmm...
Well, this was our first assignment for comercial catalogue. we had to take a piece of food (recomended desert!) and make it look good enough to eat! :)
I think I did pretty good. now the next part will be to get a decent print out of it...

Business Portrait

2007-01-31T23:14:00.000-05:00

This is the last time we are allowed to use other members of the program in our shots (for this class). This time we had to make a business portrait. I found this one difficult in many ways, because it had to follow a certain format, but then we had to still be creative in that format. I did to sittings and I got some good pictures, but I'm still not perfectly comfortable with this style.

The Third Dimension

2007-01-31T23:10:00.000-05:00

So, on to stuff that I've actually DONE. :)

this is a compilation I had to make; using the white on white assignment, I had to create a scene using at least 3 images. here I used a photo of a bathroom, my body wash, and of some trees outside. Then I used various photoshop techniques to make it look all one picture.:)

Chiquita colour

2007-01-31T23:06:00.000-05:00

Well, in the same idea, but for colour, we have Chiquita colour balance chart. one of my teachers took this shot and spent some time making the colours technically perfect. so we now can use this to measure skin tones, gray scales, hues and tints, and all sorts of great references for colour adjustments. :)

The Gray Scale

2007-01-31T22:55:00.000-05:00

Well hi all! it has finally gotten busy enough to start turning out projects!..:) half of which are not all that interesting, however. a good many of them involve gray cards, or gray scales.

This is a gray scale. it is used to find an exact tone of gry, and from there, as a photographer, I can adjust exposures to make my subjects any tone I wish! (muahahahaaaa!) This system was invented my Ansel Adams as a way to systemize tone depth. so if someone said "this looks like zone 6" then we could know what he means. each zone is one stop of light difference in exposure. if zone 5 is 1 second of exposure, then zone 6 is 2 seconds, and zone 4 is 1/2 sec. and in an ideal world we would get tones similer to these shown here (also here, are the photoshop equivilant for each zone)
zone 5 is also used for what is known as a gray card. this tone is what all meters and light sensors try to make. which is why if you take a picture of something that is pure white, it ends up looking grey if you rely on whate your meter says.

Sharpening

2007-01-23T21:49:00.000-05:00

Yes, Sharpening. this is to illustrate how sharpening effects the picture. it is also a necessity in digital photography. EVERY digital photo taken needs to be sharpened. in most point & Shoot cameras this is done automatically, but with the RAW files I'm working with it needs to be done on the computer. I'm not sure you can see it here, maybe try clicking on the picture and opening it up bigger. Or at least trust me, that there is a difference. :)

White on white

2007-01-23T21:33:00.000-05:00

Hello all!
Ok, the first real project of the year! (well.. first one where I had to go and take a picture of something!) So this was in Commercial Catalogue class, we had to take a close croped shot of something white, on a white background. it was rather difficult, due to the fact that the entire class was there shooting at the same time. so people were getting in other peoples lights, or shooting sights, or whathave you... it was terribly difficult to work in. and for all that, I ended up with a slightly blurry picture! (shakes head) not the greatest work, but I plan to do better next time.

new stuff

2007-01-13T17:38:00.000-05:00

ok, well I made it through my first week of school of the second semester. I havent had any projects assigned yet, but I konw they're coming! so just wait! :)

aside from that I've started a couple other online project type things. there my face book.
there is my postings at photo4me.com . and then theres my new website! www.wolfprints.ca (of course theres nothing there just now, but I own the address! someday I'll find a host, and find some time to develope it as well!
Anyhoo! hope everyone is enjoying the new year! keep out of trouble, and keep in touch.
~G

Animal! :)

2007-01-09T12:46:00.000-05:00

yes, just another quick sideline. it has infected my life with it's catchy tune, and sensless meanderings. So, I figured I would share the love! :D Enjoy!

David Caruso

2007-01-03T17:31:00.000-05:00

Well, just a quick sideline... there is a show out there called CSI Miami, and the lead investigator from the show is played by David Caruso. However, he doesn't have any acting ability, so the writers have boosted the script by writing in one liners all over the show, and then having him put on, or take off his sunglasses. and
here is a video collection of a bunch of his clips.:) I fond it rather amusing...:)

Old Photo Repair

2007-01-02T15:38:00.000-05:00

So... this one was the old family portrait that I spent so much time one earlier in the semester. But I did get it done, and printed and gifted. this first one is a scan of the origional image. It had been stored for years rolled up in someone's corner. so when I flattened it to scan it, it cracked. plus it had the rip on the left, and some other marks in assorted places.

and THIS is what I did with it.

and for all of you who think this is easy, well lets just say if I was charging for this, it would have been somewhere around $800, for this work.

Shiny bits

2007-01-02T15:36:00.000-05:00

This one wasnt even a necessity, but if we completed the project, would could substitute the grade for a lower one we had gotten on an earlier project.

Comercial Exam

2007-01-02T15:33:00.000-05:00

So this was my second exam. we had 2.5 hr's to setup our lighting, shoot the item, go through photoshop and edit, and then print and submit. it wasnt terribly hard, but the teachers were watching us every step of the way, and seeing what we did, and how.

The New Year!

2007-01-02T14:23:00.000-05:00

Yes, well.... what can I say! :)
it's been a busy couple of weeks! finished my exams, drove to NB, stayed there for 10 days or so, traveling all over the provences visiting people, then my first plane trip back (Well first in MY memmory) then shopping, cleaning, and eating here in Mississauga. it's been kinda crazy, really! I have 6 days left before I have to go back to my second semester at school. I'm rather looking forward to it though.
I'll see if I can dig up the last few assignments that I had that never gopt posted, and hopefully get all set for posting through the coming new year.!
Merry xmas everyone! And a happy new year! (etc etc etc... ;))

Toronto @ Night

2006-12-03T18:27:00.000-05:00

And so this one was the bane of my Sunday! I didnt think it would be 2 hard to photoshop, just crop one picture, and put it behind the other one... Hoever there were holes in the sky, and then tonal changes that didnt want to work.. etc etc. so 4 hr's later, this is what I'm accepting as my final print. (unles I change it) it also involved 2 trips downtown of about 3 hr's each.. they're definately keeping me busy! :)

Comercial shooting

2006-12-03T18:19:00.000-05:00

so this one was fun. difficult in some ways, not so in others. basically we had to pick a comercial to imitate I chose this one:

so I then set up, shot it, and then I photoshoped it. and this is my final product:

not perfect. the fonts arent exactly the same, and obviously the carots aren't the same. but I think I did fairly well considering my subject. :)

Interior Architecture

2006-12-03T18:10:00.000-05:00

So, this is one of the rare chances for me to put up an image from my Large format shooting. this is a large assignment and it isnt done yet! but this is a copy of the print I'm going to use.
For this project we had to use a large format camera. (these are the old fashioned style cameras with the bellows between the lens and the film. also the film sheets are 4"x5"! so the whole thing takes along time to setup, and to use.) so we had to take this whole setup to somewhere off campus and do some interior shoots of the architecture. Then we have to scan one of the pictures (whichever is best) and photoshop it, and make a digital print. then we have to take the Negative and make an analog print in the dark room, THEN we have to mount them both and submit the Neg.'s the prints, and a contact sheet.!
this is a photo of the Mississauga City Center. the "Grand Staircase".

Rembrandt Lighting

2006-12-03T18:00:00.000-05:00

It just seems like they move a light a few inches and then they throw a name at it and call it something new! Ahh well, it does have different "feels" to each one. this one was called Rembrandt Lighting, and it was somewhere between the Loop lighting, and the split lighting. we were told to look for the triangle on the opposite cheek. (to the light) so, I managed to get all sorts of good shots without the triangle. but I did find a few that had something anyway, so hopefully they will suffice for the teacher. I feel like I'm starting to get the idea now, and am looking forward to learning more! (Just wait until we get to finish our projects in colour!)

Glass shot

2006-11-27T21:10:00.000-05:00

This one was fun! It isn't hard to make this stuff look really good! (It might be hard to make it look wonderfull, but thats another story!) so, there is 2 ways to shoot clear glass. on a black background, or on a white back ground, and with a white, or black out line (opposite to what the background is) there is ways of adding colour, but it's still the same setup. for the white outline, you just light the glass from behind, with the black back ground. However for the black outline (Like this one) you light the white background, and block as many reflections in the glass as you can.

Printer profiling

2006-11-27T21:02:00.000-05:00

Well, this one isnt terribly interesting, but it is something we have to do for Printing class. So this is a file you can download from any colour management company, and it has no "colour space" attached to it ( the computer doesnt adjust things) all the colours are known to be certain values. so I then print this out on a printer. Then I take the print and put it through a spectral analizer, which measures the colour values of each square. then the computer program that runs the analizer builds a file that adjusts the settings in the computer to make the printed colours fit what they are supposed to look like. it's a bit of a process, but when I'm done I should be able to just hit print and have very little colour correcting to do to make my prints look right.

The Storyboard

2006-11-27T19:24:00.000-05:00

Well, sorry it's taken so long to get this up, but things are just coming due this week and next week etc. so hopefully as I complete some stuff, I'll get it up here.
So this one was the second large format layout we had to do. except this time it was as a story board (we were to pretend we were presenting our photos to the editor of a magazine) So as a story board, it wasn't so much the layout that was important, as presenting the images in such a way as to sell them. I think it turned out ok. I had to go into an area of town, and talk with people to get them to pose for me, and to gain access to certain areas that I might not normally go.

many projects

2006-11-19T09:05:00.000-05:00

Allright, allright, so it has been a while.. well... I guess I've just been busy! :) they finally loaded us up with projects again, and I'm now hip deep in getting them done. so this post is a whole collection of all the stuff I've finished so far that has either been handed in, or will be handed in soon.

Well, this one is another complation similer to the bus stop add I did earlier, however there was much harder selections to make. the bird had to be selected and lightened, the grass in front had to be taken from another picture, and the stalk of grass was from another picture again. Thenwe had to lighten the bottom portion. and change the background to some sort of artistic filter...

This was a project to show changes in depth of field, (and perspective) when you change the aperture and the focal length. the labels are self explanitory. see if you can tell the difference. (the higher f-stop, creats a larger depth of field, which means you should have more of your subject in focus.)

My latest portrait shoot. we had to use split lighting (Or 90^ light) plus we had to pose our subject. and then we had to have 2 shots with the light on the short side (the side of the face away from the camera) and 2 shots on the broad side. Ashley was a great model (I think shes had some experience :P) but I guess we work well together, because she has some great shots of me too..! (christmas, people... christmas ;))

So this was an ongoing project in photoshop class. He showed us various ways to colourize a picture, and using those ways we had to take this picture here, and turn it into this picture here:

And then... For Printing class we had to colourize yet another B&W image, in yet another way... this one was fairly easy but I still have to print and mount this (yes we are starting to mount our images, so they are presentable.

"The Cookie"

2006-11-10T18:46:00.000-05:00

Mmmmmmm Cookies... well, you cant really eat this one. :) this assignment was to create a cookie. this is something you put in front of your lighting to create an effect using the shadows. so this took me about an hour to make and then another hr to get it all set up, but I kinda liked how it turned out. not perfect, but it'll do! :)
We have been rather slow lately on our projects, although they seem to be getting more indepth. I've got 3 or so on the go right now, so keep hanging on, they'll be good hopefully! :)

Mid terms

2006-11-02T00:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, just a quick note, I've just recieved my mid term marks. and they range from 72 to 96.. with an average of 82! :) So I'm rather happy with it so far...:)
Back to work now....

Short Lighting

2006-10-30T10:19:00.000-05:00

well, this one is very similar to the loop lighting (Partly because we still had to use loop lighting) but for this we needed the subject to have their face turned away from the camera, and we had to light the "Short" side of the face (The side that is away from the camera) and then fill light the "Broad" side of the face with a reflector. and we had to do so with different ratios, 1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:16. (those are measurments of how much light is hitting one side of the face versus the other side.) it was fun, Emma is a good model. I hate to think what her pictures look like though! :)

Photoshop Overview

2006-10-30T10:08:00.000-05:00

well, this one is fairly self explanitory. this project was just an overview of all the tools and tricks we've learned in photoshop so far. Maybe it is the midterm, he hasnt said as such though. ahh well, easy and fun though! :)

Tethered Texture

2006-10-30T09:55:00.000-05:00

Ahhh, I know some of you have been waiting for my next posts with baited breath, and keen aticipitation! (Or at least abit of interest and slight annoyance:)) But it has been mid-term week here, and I havent had many projects come due!... But I did manage to find a couple that I could put up, so here yu go:

This one was for Comercial Lighting class. we had to pick a product, and then arrange it and light it with the goal being to show it's texture. I ran out of ideas so I went to the Caff. and snagged some peanutbutter, and some melba toast! I think it actually worked out rather well...! :)

Black Creek Pioneer Village

2006-10-19T19:59:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, this was a fun one as well! I had to go on location and shoot a series of pictures of the Poineer Village. we needed pictures of the signs, people that work there, people that visit there, animals, the houses, etc... Then I had to convert and arrange them into a layout for a poster. This is My final product.

Silhouette? (Try spelling that!)

2006-10-19T19:01:00.000-04:00

This one was fun! We had to take a picture of a silhouette of a person, and some form of technology. the requirements of a silhouette was that the subject had to be totally back lit, and have no light spillage (well, as little as possible) I ended up choosing a hard one to do with no light spills: very close to a few round surfaces, with some bright light behnd. But I think it turned out pretty good.

Loop Lighting

2006-10-19T11:52:00.000-04:00

Well. This was an assignment in portrait lighting, to get us to use loop lighting. (notice the "loop" below the nose) and along with that we had to use different light size ratios. 1:1:1 is when you are framing your subject in your camera at about .5m and are about .5m away from your subject, and when you have a light aprox .5m Sq. 1:1:4 is with the light twice the distance. and 1:1:16 is with the light at lwice the distance again! and the 4:1:1 is with a light about 2m sq. and about .5m away, with a .5 framing. :)
So much fun eh? :) it helps give me an idea of how light works though...

Digital Imaging, (Otherwise known as "Photoshop")

2006-10-18T17:54:00.000-04:00

These are all images made in photoshop, from various other images, or photos from the samples folder.
This one we were supposed to "design" a bus shelter add, from 3 photos of medical professionals, and a rainbow, and some text. It got us working with layers, and selection tools.

This one was abit more complicated. We had to take this photo of a library and alter it to show what it would look like without power lines, but we also had to adjust the colouring, get rid of the rake, dumpster, garbage, fix the sidewalk, fix the brick, and change the sky.