Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Light painting


David Kanoa James
Time
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Light Painting
            How does one portray time with a camera? Easily. Every photo you take is a snapshot of that 125th of a second. Every photo you take is a documentation of a feeling, an experience or view. But how do we get past that? Is there anyway to depict time in a photo without relating to the then? I don’t think I have an answer to this problem, but during this experiment and assignment, I tried to take the focus away from the moment or time the photo was taken and redirect it to the actual photo.
            I decided that a great way to have fun and represent this was to do some light painting. Here the expression of time is still given because the shutter must be open for a specific amount of time to get the desired effect. The moment captured through this process is much longer than an instant; in fact, it can catch an entire event. With light painting I was able to be very creative with my friends to depict scenes from our imagination that would otherwise be impossible to recreate with the budget of a college student.
            However, it still relates back to the fact that at one moment in time we created these fantasies of ours on a camera. These photos will always represent the time that we spent to create these shots. These photos will always show a moment in time. Personally I don’t think that you can navigate away from that idea that a photo captures a moment of time. But at least I tried with my concept of light painting. 



















Annie Leibovitz


David Kanoa James
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
DVD response
Annie Leibovitz
            When I learn about success stories like this I become somewhat more motivated than I already am to become great at photography. Annie Leibovitz’ attention to detail and her gut is what got her to where she is today. She was the first woman on the scene to roll with the punches and be just one of the boys.
            She pushed people to take photos that they weren’t comfortable with. She was in control and confident and is still when she does her photo shoots. Demanding and firm she directs people gently into doing what she wants. Her visions keep getting bigger and so does her clientele. And when making over 100,000.00 dollars a shoot you know she has got to be doing something correctly.
            But the question arises; “Did she sell out?” to this I can say that the answer is a complete and absolute “No.” Annie Leibovitz never was considered an artist at what she does in the beginning of her career. She just followed where her camera took her. She documented as much as she created. In all reality she didn’t really start becoming more creative in her work until she changed from documentary photography to actual studio work.
            But it’s not her fine studio work and her big budget that gets the photos that she creates. It is her bold attitude and willingness to attempt things unheard of or over the top. This goes along with what I have always said about photography and what I try to remember every time I take a photo. “Its not the photographer with the sharpest lenses or the most expensive gear, it’s the photographer with the fastest finger and the biggest balls that succeeds at greatness.