Millennium Park in the Day

One of the many art pieces in Millennium Park.

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South McCormick Courtyard

The previous two posts were photos taken at the South McCormick Courtyard which is next to the Art Institute of Chicago. It is a breathtakingly beautiful space that was designed by Dan Kiley. The Fountain of the Great Lakes resides within the space and was designed by Lorado Taft between 1907 and 1913. The fountain displays five women with the water passing through them in the same fashion as it passes through the Great Lakes. The entire space was gorgeous and I took many photos during my three visits there, the preceding ones were some of my favourites.

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South McCormick Courtyard II

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South McCormick Courtyard I

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Motivation Monday - Ansel Adams

"Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment." - Ansel Adams Ansel Adams (1902-1984) is a very well known American photographer and environmentalist. He developed the zone system to determine the proper exposure and adjust for contrast in the final print. He also founded the Group f/64 (with other photographers) which created the Museum of Modern Art's department of Photography. He was most famous for his incredibly beautiful landscape photographs of Western America.
It is not only his skill that inspires me, but his unbelievable patience. Adams used large-format cameras which were difficult not only because of their size and weight but also because of the setup time required to operate them. I honestly don't know how many photographs I would be able to take with such equipment as I would get incredibly frustrated very quickly.
The above photograph is one of his more famous ones, or at least most publicized, but it also happens to be one of my favourites. The contrast and lines within the image, as well as the texture/pattern on the bottom dune is simply breathtaking. It draws you into the image and truly makes you feel like you have been to this place and would know what it was like there. Adams rarely had wildlife in his landscapes. Instead he relied not on technique or subject but vision - the vision of the photograph. He was a believer that to create a great photo, one had to visualize the scene as it would appear in the final print. This would be the only way you could portray not only the scene, but the feeling of that place accurately to the viewer.
The above photo, The Tetons and the Snake River, was one of 115 images recorded on the Voyager Golden Record aboard the Voyager spacecraft, a collection of images selected to convey information about humans and the earth in general. You can view his gallery and web page here. There is also a Ansel Adams Gallery blog on that site that is quite interesting.

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Beam Me Up

This is one of the large-scale art pieces within Millennium Park in Chicago and to me, it looks like something from Star Trek. Some random ship, or the opening of one at least - especially with the way it is lit at night.

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Assignment #1 - Submission

I submitted my first assignment in my Composition and Design course last night. As previously mentioned, the assignment was to shoot both an urban and a rural landscape at both night and day. I had plans of great shots, but time and previous plans got in the way. My rural photos are far from my favourite and I feel that my day rural shot is way below my normal standards. But I had almost no time to complete this component as I had to leave for Chicago the same weekend I was trying to get the shot. Anyway, these are my rural images:
They were taken at Mer Bleue here in Ottawa. It is a beautiful place and I had intended to go there for the shot, but not to this particular path. The one I wanted to go to was closed and I had to take what I could get.
My urban photos came out much better and I am actually really happy with them.
They were taken in Chicago near Millennium Park. There is this giant metal structure, which looked like it was made of mercury. When the lights when down, it was even more interesting to look at. There were of course tons of other people shooting it, but I did my best to get them out of my shots. The hardest part of the urban shots was that I was limited in my equipment. I was not able to take my Slik tripod to Chicago and was therefore using my new Gorillapod. It is really handy and portable, but resulted in me lying on the ground numerous times to get my camera stable enough to take long exposures. In the end, I had three or four different sets of urban shots and this one was by far my favourite.
I am hoping that I am able to get a good grade considering it is the first assignment. At the very least, it will leave more room for 'improvement' when it comes to the next assignments.

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Motivation Monday - Malak Karsh

Malak Karsh was born in March of 1915 in Mardin, Ottoman Empire. He emigrated to Canada in 1937 and began working with his brother Yousuf. As his brother became overwhelmingly famous, Malak left the Karsh from his signature to separate himself and his art. I personally don't feel like you can really compare the art of the two brothers as they photographed such different subjects and in such different ways, and feel that they are both absolutely amazing photographers from whom I could learn so much. I have also written about Malak before, but feel that he has inspired me so much, that I wanted to create another post about him.
Malak seemed to have fallen in love with Ottawa and the vast majority of his work centres around the City. In the words of Caroline Murray, "Malak Karsh's exquisite photos chronicled a city and a nation." He not only had a large collection of images from the Tulip Festival, which we all know I absolutely love, but he was also one of the founders of the festival and was the honourary president at the time of his death in November of 2001. According to Mayor Bob Chiarelli, "He helped put Ottawa on the map. Probably the biggest and best brand for Ottawa was his tulips." The City of Ottawa has an annual photography award in honour of Malak and his brother Yousuf which you can get more information about here.Malak's 1963 photograph entitled "Paper and Politics" was used on the 1969-1979 one dollar bill. The image is of floating logs on the Ottawa River with the Parliament Buildings in the background. It is one of those photographs that exemplifies that timing and being at the right place at the right time are crucial factors that go along with technique, skill and knowledge when it comes to capturing a great photo. Like his brother, Malak published several books of his collections. They are also a large part of the Tulip Festival publications. His work inspires me in a way that Yousuf and Steve McCurry's does not in that it is very similar to the style of photography I enjoy and am getting quite good at. They are of places and things that are around me on a daily basis. I am able to directly compare some of my works to his and see where I can improve and perhaps how.

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Gorillapod

I have once again bought new equipment - another tripod to be precise. I bought a Gorillapod SLR Zoom last night from Henry's for $60. Essentially it is a small, highly adaptable tripod. I have a small portable tripod already but it is not able to hold my (d)SLR camera and lens without toppling over and I am always worried it will damage my camera and/or equipment. As you can see from the above image this tripod is incredibly adjustable and can wrap virtually anything and still be sturdy enough to hold my dSLR camera and lens. It has an optional ball head (sold separately) but I didn't get it as I really just need it as a backup and/or travel tripod, you know basically for when I can't use my Slik tripod. I had been looking at this unit for quite some time but never found the need for one until now. Next week I am attending a conference in Chicago and will need to be shooting my latest assignment at the same time. Since it is half night photography, a tripod is essential and I can't exactly lug my Slik tripod all the way down to and around Chicago easily. I am hoping that this Gorillapod does the trick and will help me get some really great shots both while in Chicago and long after.
(image from Google)

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First Assignment

We have been given our first assignment in the Composition and Design course I am currently enrolled in at Algonquin College - Landscape Photography. We have to take two sets of photographs (night and day) in both a rural and urban setting. As I mentioned over on The Great Abyss, the assignment itself does not seem difficult but finding the right locations is proving to be quite troublesome. I have started a poll over on the right hand side for whether or not a cemetery landscape would constitute a rural landscape scene. Your opinion would be greatly appreciated. I intend on getting the shot anyway, as well as a backup shot, but feel that the cemetery one (depending on how it turns out) would be vastly different from what other students would shoot.

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Motivation Monday - Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry (born 1950) is another inspirational portrait photographer, and one I have posted about before. He is most famous for the below photo of the Afghan Girl taken in 1984, which was used by National Geographic on their June 1985 cover and was later named the most recognized photo in NG history. I saw this image in my high school library in grade 9 and my breath was taken away. I wanted so badly to be able to take a photograph like that. To this day, McCurry's images inspire me greatly to be better at what I love.
Steve McCurry is a master at creating a story with his photographs. Yes, they are well composed and taken with the best photographic technology available, and of course the man is truly amazing in his field, but it is something within the photo itself that makes you unable to take your eyes off of it. McCurry himself stated, “Some of the great pictures, you just look at them and you marvel at them, for the subject matter and somehow they struck a chord in you. But it’s rarely about the technique. It’s not about the lens, or the film, or the light necessarily. It’s really just some story in that picture. Some emotional element which you connect with.”McCurry has a blog over at wordpress that I think is worth a visit or two. He has some photos he has taken and tidbits of stories that occurred while taking them. It is pretty interesting to see what extremes he sometimes had to go to to capture that remarkable image.
He also offers workshops abroad in which you travel with him and take photos alongside him. He reviews your portfolio and I assume teaches along the way. I think it would be a once in a lifetime experience to go on one of these workshops, and who knows, maybe one day I will.

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Small Flash

Shortly after deciding to purchase my SB 600 Speedlight, I registered for yet another course at Algonquin. Well this isn't actually a course, but rather a workshop. The Small Flash Workshop. It goes for two days (Saturday and Sunday) and doesn't count towards the certificate program that I am working towards, but I think it will be essential in learning how to use my new flash unit effectively.

"This workship is for serious amateur, or the budding wedding or PR photographer, who wants to finesse the use of basic on camera's flashes. Subjects covered wil be: how to balance direct flash with ambient light, bounce flash, fill slash outdoors, flash as main light outdoors, removing flash off camera for directional lighting (e.g. in simple umbrella setup), use of secondary flashes with slave units and coloured gels, use of flash meter."

I am hoping that by taking this course I can knock a couple weeks off of my learning time when it comes to my new equipment, which will be really handy as I need to learn how to use my new flash in time for the later assignments in my composition course.

*Update* Tuesday, September 8 @ 11:21AM
I received a call from Algonquin today stating that this course had been cancelled. It was originally scheduled for this upcoming weekend and had a second offering in October. There is now no longer one for September or October, but rather one in November. I have switched into that course as I feel it will still be useful to take then, but will need to learn how to use my flash effectively on my own in order to do well on the assignments for the composition course.

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Motivation Monday - Yousuf Karsh

I know I have mentioned it before on my daily blog, and here as well, but I am again going to post about Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002). In my mind and those of many other fans, he was an absolute genius. He was able to capture the true personality of each of his subjects so effortlessly (or at least it seems that way). Karsh himself said, "within every man and woman a secret is hidden, and as a photographer it is my task to reveal it if I can. The revelation, if it comes at all, will come in a small fraction of a second with an unconscious gesture, a gleam of the eye, a brief lifting of the mask that all humans wear to conceal their innermost selves from the world. In that fleeting interval of opportunity the photographer must act or lose his prize". I believe he was able to become such a great photographer not only because he was truly talented, but because he loved what he did. "My chief joy is to photograph the great in heart, in mind, and in spirit, whether they be famous or humble." His portraits are truly inspirational to me as it is the main field I lack true skill in.He was a master of lighting, another area of photography of which I know little. He was able to get the lighting to match the personality of his subject. In the above photo of Grace Kelly, the lighting is soft and graceful (pun unintentional). It matches her skin, Hollywood starlet stature and, supposedly, her personality as well.Dave and I went to the Karsh exhibit at the Science and Tech museum here in Ottawa and were able to take a few Karsh-like photos which was fun. But what was even better, for me at least, was seeing his equipment and reading his own words about his works. Karsh published 15 books during his lifetime about his works and the sessions in which they were taken. I plan on trying to get my hands on as many of them as possible in an attempt to learn from someone I consider to be a true Photography Master.

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New Feature

I have decided to start a new feature here on Stephanie Beach Photography. This will be my first posting type feature and will be called Motivational Mondays. I will find a photo taken by someone other than myself and explain why I find it and/or the photographer so motivational when it comes to my photography. Today will be my first installment and will be posted later on. Hopefully it is well received.

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SB 600 Speedlight

I bought my first removable flash yesterday. I got the SB-600 Speedlight from Nikon. I was initially waiting to buy a flash like this one as I don't really know much about flashes, or lighting in general (other than ambient lighting). I wasn't going to buy anything until I had started the lighting course at Algonquin, but as my current instructor also happens to be the instructor for that course, I decided to stay after class on Monday and talk to him about my options. He mentioned the SB-400 but said that if I intend to go anywhere with my photography, the SB-600 would be of more use to me. It has many more options than the 400 but also happens to be a touch more expensive, but still not too pricey. I initially tried to get one from Henry's here in Ottawa, but as they had a giant flash sale a few weeks ago, they are still sold out. I placed an order for one but still went looking elsewhere. Dave and I ended up at Future Shop and I picked up an open box one for nearly $30 less than the Henry's price of $280, so I am pretty pleased with that. Another student in the composition course told me that he had not only the same flash unit, but also the same camera as me and he absolutely loves this flash and uses it all the time. I of course did some research of my own prior to my purchase and have learned that most people really like this unit. It is rather simple to use (as far as flash units go) and can do some pretty creative things. You can use it both on and off camera (in wireless mode) which enables you to really get creative with your lighting. It seems as if it is pretty tough as most people have dropped it at least once and say that even if a plastic bit falls off, it simply clicks back into place and the unit is as good as new. Now comes the task of learning how to use this new piece of equipment.

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PHOT5597 started

As previously mentioned, I enrolled in my fourth class for the Digital Photography certificate program at Algonquin College back in July. The class is called Composition and Design and I had the first class this past Monday evening and am really excited about it. As I am sure you are aware, I haven't been entirely pleased with the last two courses I have taken for this program (multimedia applications and photoshop for photographers). I learned things during these last two courses, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't happy with either the pace or the instructor and was therefore put off by them.

So far, this instructor seems pretty good. Sure he is a little into himself and his photography, but what professional photographer isn't? I mean, how are you supposed to teach without showing your own work, the stuff you understand the best? Anyway, I really hope I continue to enjoy this instructor because he teaches the lighting course that is mandatory for the certificate as well as two optional workshop courses, all of which I want/have to take.

The class has 6 assignments for which I am actually going to need a fair bit of help for as some of them are portrait assignments, but I will be speaking to my friends about this later. I believe we only have a week to complete each assignment as the class after it is assigned we critique each others work. I am both nervous and excited about the critiquing process. I am excited to finally get some third party opinions on my work at the level I feel is appropriate, but extremely nervous that my work won't make the grade and will fall short of everyone's expectations, including my own.

I will of course keep you all posted on my progress and will be posting my assignments here as I complete them. I have a few ideas for the assignments, some of which include the conference in Chicago I am attending later this month - hopefully they will turn out as well as I am picturing them in my head.

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