TedsBlog

The Moving Box

tsmirnio — Wed, 12 May 2010 04:24:42 +0000

So here are the images I felt were the best out of the entire 8 weeks of shooting. The reason for picking these is mainly for the way they work in telling a story in a series. I probably should have started working on this moving box idea much sooner.. However the past few weeks have indeed prepared me in how i capture a photo and what my equipment is capable of doing. I intend to continue this project throughout the summer as well. I have made an new blog post tsmirniotopoulos.wordpress.com for those interested in what i will post. I made the new blog not only to post new work as it comes, but to have a place that future employers of a studio could look if interested in what I am capable as a photographer.

Here are the images Enjoy.

Awesome so thanks charlotte for being supportive and crazy!!!! Its been a fun year!

Final Week of Hunting

tsmirnio — Wed, 05 May 2010 05:22:48 +0000

So this last shoot i took a box down to Columbus state and threw a buddy of mine inside and told him to walk around when people came by. The results are hillarious and for me to really choose what were the best picture out of this shoot is a little hard. So I am just going to throw up the contact sheets. Certain area are weaker then other but you will be able to see a pattern where there are groups of shots that make a very nice series. I was using the 55-250 mm lens in order to keep a distance but still have close detail. I am starting to realize with this lens that I am having trouble figuring how how far i am able to be. It is a zoom telephoto lens but I am used to a standard zoom lens which is 18-55mm. I guess you can say the stand zoom is my weapon of choice. The real problem is I don’t have a lens that fill in the gap of the two lens i already own. In other words when the 18-55mm isn’t geting the job done i have to switch out the lens. this obviously take time and I end up when out in the world missing moments that would have been other words great to capture. doesn’t mean that more will not come, but it is a bit of a motivation killer. With that said I do feel this shoot went very well and the reaction is hillarious in some. Enjoy.

As to what i am going to do with all the photo’s i feel are the best out of the 8 weeks of shooting. I am really thinking that this last photo shoot was the most successful out of them all so i plan on probably choosing a couple moment that i feel stand out and print them. However i will also look back at the past weeks and see what else is strong and print them out as well. But there will be prints so thank you internet i don’t need you next week. It has been fun.

Hunting Week 7

tsmirnio — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 05:35:16 +0000

So some are with a storm trooper at dairy queen and some are with a guy in a box walking around. I am still focusing on how i am capturing my images. The storm trooper is the usual 18-55 mm lens. the one with the box however i took out the 55-250 lens and was setting it anywhere from 55mm to 135mm.

The storm trooper photos i feel are starting to fail. Maybe one or two were what i would say decent but i can improve. Probably need to find someone better at acting in the helmet.

The box though I am hoping not to get arrested when I take it accross to Columbus state and have the guy inside start following people. hehehehehehhehe. Art is fun!!

Trying to set a Trap

tsmirnio — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 05:58:38 +0000

Okay so no real great pictures this week why? I have a few ideas of what i could might want to attempt in the next 3 weeks. So that is why I need help figuring out what it is I should capture with this storm trooper helmet. so here are the idea’s. I really am open to anyting and if one feels that out of the 3 ideas one is horrible and should be thrown out then please say so I will not be offended

1. Storm trooper Dancing to disco.

Has it been done? yes. Has it been done to Stayin Alive? I would hope so but I wouldn’t mind putting my own spin on a dancing Stormtrooper.

2. Walk onto OSU Campus with a sigh that says “Death Star 3 coming soon! Donations NEEDED!”

Lets face it the Empire would not stop at 2 Death Stars they would be trying to make a third….. even with the Emperor dead.

3. Go door to door in a suburb and ask people to join the Empire as a new Recruit.

I have an idea of what to pitch so you never know.

These idea i want to do as photographs just to show that yes I am crazy enough to put someone in a helmet and say NOW DANCE!!!! I also might want to make a video kind of like a documetary but at the moment my concern is capture the moment what ever it may be with my camera. So as i said please vote. Which ones do you like. What do you hate. What ideas that will not get me in jail do you have and feel would be cool. How can these idea i already have be modified? I am at a loss.

And if you think i forgot about the photo well your wrong. Just the contact sheet. This is my frustration with figuring out what the hell to do. Enjoy

Hunting Week 4

tsmirnio — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 11:11:46 +0000

So working with the storm trooper helmet I took some photos that i feel are more sketches of what I am hoping to print. My method of getting these photos was just setting the helmet down and seeing what people would do. It then became a study of what the helmet does in a setting like the Lounge room or in a class room.

I know most of the pictures look different. why i say theses are more sketches then anything else is due to the fact I was trying to just experiment with ways of how to edit the photos.

Hunting Week 3

tsmirnio — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:33:47 +0000

SO like I said last week TEACHER BEWARE!!!! This week I had a the idea that getting into the faces of the teachers like I did with my photo’s the past week would be fun. So I did that and all ideas in Ted’s Awesome Idea Factory decided to stop because the factory exploded in a mass “well the hell do I do now?”. The photos I took became more of I see a object that is interesting or a moment I feel should be captured then get the camera out and capture it. Same setting as usual 18 to 55 mm lens set at 55 and the ISO is set at 200. I also attempted to get closer with these pictures and i thing that was a lot more successful this time around. I need to start using my other lens. Anyway Charlotte and Tom are my victims this week so enjoy.

Oh and heres a first…. brace your selfs people

CONTACT SHEET (OH SNAP!)

Hunting 2

tsmirnio — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:34:29 +0000

This set of images i focused on people faces as well as objects at a close range. I tried to capture the idea of one in deep though or concentration. The way i photographed these images was with a 18-55 mm lens zooms to 55. I would then get as close as i felt that would seem almost intruding to not just capture the facial expression but more the energy that I saw in the eyes. The backgrounds do vary, but I made a point to make sure that the subject was in focus and the background was more blurry and abstract. You can not tell what is is in the background for the most part but you know there is something. Enjoy.

These are once again what I felt were the best out of the group. Some I feel are more successful then other and the once that I don’t like are mainly because I feel i could have gotten closer. I felt that hardest part of this shoot was the process of invading a persons bubble. It is hard for me to get close with out getting a face of WHAT THE FUCK back at me. It is also challenging for me to get so close with all the crap around me limiting my ability to get a photo that isn’t blurry. This was a lot of fun and I wouldn’t mind doing it again this time maybe on the teachers of this school instead of friends and students.

HUNTING week 1

tsmirnio — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:36:38 +0000

So after talking to charlotte I have decided that over the next weeks i will take a series of photos every week using new criteria allowing me to understand what my style of. In other words I am a hunters and the world is my pray. I will document how I capture a photograph and what equipment was used in order to discover what works and doesn’t works as a photographer. Also it will help me see what in photography I am drawn to the most. Be it Documentary or portrait or just finding the right second to push down that shutter and capture a moment unrepeatable.

These past couple of weeks I have been doing a lot of night shots. Using my 55-250mm telephoto zoom lens and the 550 ex speed light on camera flash these are the best photos I have taken. This is in a park across from my apartment and is actually a very cool spin on one of my favorite pantings that was in Ferris Bueller’s day off entiteled “A Sunday Afternoon On the Island of Lagrande Jatte” By Georges Seurat.

Exploring week # 3

tsmirnio — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:33:52 +0000

So i remembered this movie I saw in high school that was loosely based on Richard Avedon early career in 1957. The film was called Funny Face and stared Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astair as the photographer Dick Avery.

The reason I pick to talk about the movie first is because I think it is pretty cool that a movie is based of Richard Avedon. The other reason is to talk about Richard Avedon. I have heard the name before but real could not recall any of his pieces of work. Avedon is another portrait photographer that if I am remembering correctly had an touring exhibition that stopped in the Columbus Museum of Art in the fall of 2006. The Title of this show was called The American West and is another example just like Diane Arbus a series of portraits that are meant to make one feel uneasy. The are not intended to be pretty they are meant to show a side of the US that is not seen very often. This is somewhat of a leap from his Fashion work that is mostly what Funny Face focuses on in reference to his career.

This last picture is a self portrait.

So why care? What makes these portrait so different and why give a damn about Avedon. Well I guess the best reason to care in my opinion is that if a movie is based on your career then that in itself is a pretty big message that you made an impact on the world. As for his work well I only saw the American West Show and as a viewer for someone to show me a side of this country that is getting in your face (the prints were huge) it makes an impact. If anything that is where the beauty of these images comes into play. You don’t forget them. I just didn’t have the name to connect to the pictures until just now..

Exploring

tsmirnio — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:23:11 +0000

So I found a photographer that I basically know nothing about and feel has a very strong body of work that is able to show documentary photography very well. The Photographers name is Robert Frank and if you haven’t heard of him before then I reccomend you check out his stuff. The Book I have of his work is called The Americans. He basically went around 48 different states and captured the US as it is naturally. Not how we see it on t.v. or in the movies or hear when we are told about the American dream. Some are a bit more questionable then others. The pictures Below are you I absolutely love and felt like sharing.

First: Political Rally – Chicago

Next: Nave Recruting Station, Post Office – Butte, Montana

Finally I saw this at easton and thought it was really cool looking. The chair cost about $1700.