Internship.

So at the beginning of the school year Deborah offered me an opportunity to work as an intern for the magazine Steps which is the CSUSM alumni magazine. From this internship I have learned what is is like to be out on the field as a photographer. This has given me very important work experience because I often times have to introduce myself to people and ask their permission to be in the pictures. This has shown me what is like to take pictures for a living and help me build contacts with faculty including the CSUSM president. From this internship I have also gotten to attend many of the events on and around campus including the CSUSM Gala, the graduate forum, amongst many others. 

alexi lubomirski

Alexi Lubomirski is a fashion who has worked for companies such as GQ, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar amongst many other popular magazines. I first learned of him this year in GQ however it was not for his photography but rather for the way that he dresses. He was voted into the top ten best dressed americans as he is often times mistaken for a model rather than a photographer. 

After reading his article I began to look up some of his work, many of the photos I have seen in many issues of GQ. He has worked with many celebrities including Casey Affleck and Aaron Eckhart. If I were to describe his style it would be very clean and fresh with good use and attention with the light. On top of working for magazines he also exhibits his work showing that his work is not purely commercial. In his exhibits he goes for a more unclear look to the photos adding grain to highten the effect of his experimentation. Many of these shots are also seen as silohoutes or reflections which add to the mystery of the subject. 

Alexi has inspired me to stay with photography and use it as a way to reflect my own personality into the pictures. I would one day like to have a career similar to that of Alexi's.

battery park.

Battery Park/ Golden Gate Bridge

After a trip to New York, I was able to spend a few days in Lauren’s hometown of San Francisco. It was nice to be back in warm weather and take in some of the sights that Northern California has to offer. I was still in complete tourist mode and wanted to see all of the places I have never been such as Lombard Street, Castro, Chinatown and of course the Golden Gate Bridge. Surprisingly I had never even seen the bridge after all of the times I had been to San Franciso, so this was a main spot on the trip.

            After photographing the bridge we stopped at Battery Park, right next to the bridge, filled with plants many of which are Native Plants to California. We walked the trails and even off of the trails to get some great shots of the local plant life. I ended up so far in the I didn’t even know what type of plants I was surrounded by and when I got out I realized that a sign the read “Poison Oak Keep Out” Fortunately I didn’t get any of the oak on me and I was fine. One of the photo’s I took of a rose, was one of the pictures I ended up using as my Funes submission, just highly manipulated. The trail was long and windy and as we finished up I dreaded the walk back up the stairs to the car.

terry richardson

Terry Richardson is a fashion photographer I was first introduced to by reading GQ magazine. He is from California and now resides in New York City and has spanned a successful career working with companies that range from Gucci to Tommy Hilfiger. His work is very different in the fact that his pictures are not necessarily the most well polished photo's and they are often gritty and explicit in nature. They sort of look like polaroid snapshots which gives his work a unique feel. Some of his shots are just plain gross, such as a picture of Macalay Culkin spitting and others are completely unique and gives his subjects a new meaning.

funes.

      For the Funes competition I really wanted to submit something that was cohesive and showed a reflection of the style I often lean towards in my photography and sketches giving the work a sort of gritty, grunge type of effect. These photos were all taken on my trip to San Francisco over Spring Break. The first two were on a busy day in ChinaTown. I manipulated the colors and gave them both a unique lighting effect to draw the eyes in to certain areas of the pictures. By doing this it sort of shades the peoples so that they remain strangers to the viewer. 

     The last photo of the rose i created by trying to take something beautiful and give it a sort of darker appeal. By doing this the rose still looks beautiful and timeless, but has a sort of mystery to it.

      

balboa park. earth day.

EARTH DAY

On Sunday, May 19th Lauren and i took a trip down to Balboa Park to help volunteer our time at the Earth Day event. It was much more crowded than we had anticipated and it took nearly an hour and 20 minutes just to get into San Diego, and into the park. Thousands of people showed up for a day filled with people, food, and culture.

Of course, the heat was excruciating as it was nearly 100 degrees. As we made the long walk to our booth we took a few shots of the people and landmarks of the park. However the sun was so bright all of the pictures came out completely blown out and oversposed. The group we went to volunteer with is called "Plant with Purpose" who helps raise awareness about planting trees and plants in countries throughout the world to help farmers and bring in more money for the countries. We were outside passing out flyers and taking pictures for the organization. 

We wrapped up the day as the sun cooled by getting some good food from a hamburger stand and and ice cold water. Then we went to go check out some of the scenery that Balboa has to offer and the japananese tea garden.

moma.

Graduate Schools. Moma.

Over Spring Break, I finally got a chance to escape my overload schedule of 21 units, an internship, and 2 jobs to take a trip to New York City. Flying from San Francisco, Lauren and I were on a mission to see as much as I possibly could during my condensed trip of 4 days. The reason this trip was so important to me is so that I could see the future graduate schools that I am applying at next Spring. We visited Parsons and SVA both on the same day which I am hoping and praying that in the next few months I can construct a portfolio worthy of admittance for photography. The schools were really both amazing and gave me some great inspiration and goals to work towards in the next year!

            On a rainy day Lauren and I toured the city, visited Times Square and ended up on at the Museum of Modern Art! This museum was truly amazing. Five floors of artwork and tons of people packed the building. It was really cool to see so many people take such a passion for artwork. We were able to see work some of my favorite artists such as Dali and Lichtenstein, and admired great paintings, drawings, and of course photography. My favorite section was a magazine cover section with photography from the “    “ magazine. It had shots of some of the great celebrities and politicians of the past such as Mohammed Ali, John F. Kennedy, and Andy Warhol. What was really cool is it had a small section of the film stills that you could examine with a microscope to see each individual set up and shot with the people. You could also see the process of how photographers used to construct layers the old fashioned way(by littering cutting and pasting different layers onto the photo). It was interesting to see how much Photoshop has simplified our process but in a way limit our creativity on how to create an image.

            All in all it was a mind opening trip and I can’t wait to go back.

indian rock.

INDIAN ROCK

The Indian Rock field trip was the most different from all of the other feild trips because I did not no what to expect. It was not located on a reservation like the other field trips and was fairly close by. It was located in a residential area in Vista and would be missed by those who did not know what it was. Once you walked up a short path there was a giant rock there with traditional native american markings on it. Sadly covering up this was grafitti. 

After taking a look around and examing the rock, we were given a tour of the local plant life located around the rock. We found out a bit of information about how they were able to preserve the rock and the location. 

I was amazed by all of the lizards that lived near the rock and took a lot of pictures of them scruyying around. After we were finished with our short tour the community furnished us with some delicious sandwiches and fruit. It was really nice of them to give us food after a long day in the sun.