Week 4 EOC: Peering Into The Future

I still have 30 years until I'm 50 years old, but even now, I need to start preparing myself for my future. I'm currently going to the Art Institute of Las Vegas studying to be a better professional photographer who knows how to sell himself to the public. I'm working hard to be this professional, and I'm doing what I need to do to perfect my profession. I want to be ready to take on the world when I graduate in 2014. I want to know where to go, what to do, and how to do it in the best way possible, and then I want to do it. What I would love to do is get a good job that pays well, and on my time off, work on my stock photography. A person can make thousands a month working for stock photography websites, and who wouldn't want that? I love photography, I love stock photography, and yes, I love making money, so working for a stock photography website is clearly a great place for me to work with. When I'm 50, I will already be an expert in my profession and I see myself still doing what I love, and making money from it. I see myself living in my dream house (possibly a farm) with my soul-mate, at least one son, a big garden, and a some animals. But to get there, I am aware that I will have to be making big, and smart, decisions in life. So for now I will focus on school and getting better at what I do in order to live my life how I want it to be in the future.

Week 3 EOC

“Inner Peace” by Peter Lik

Peter Lik is one of the most respected photographers in the world and my first, and still one of my biggest, inspirations. He has won a heap of awards from professional contests and other professionals and is well known as a master photograph. His photographs can be found anywhere from airports to restaurants. The world loves Mr. Peter Lik. This is one of his many photographs which have won awards. “Inner Peace” is a sublime photograph of a Japanese maple tree beautifully lit by heavenly natural light. I love the peacefulness you get from the natural greens painting the photograph, and the calm body of water. It shows the viewer the true beauty of nature, and in a way it makes the viewer want to conserve it. This same photograph has had the honor to be exhibited at the Smithsonian:

“For the second consecutive year, Peter Lik has been honored by the Windland Smith Rice International Awards. Peter is the 2011 winner for “Inner Peace”, his masterwork of a summertime Japanese Maple. It will be featured in an exhibition of nature photography at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. from the end of April through September 2012. Peter Lik’s famed photograph, “Ghost”, was awarded and exhibited the previous year at both the Smithsonian and the Capitol Rotunda.”
From Peter Lik’s website: http://www.lik.com/news/newsarticle10/

It’s clear why Peter Lik is loved and celebrated by many. His photographs show what nature can truly be to many who unfortunately don’t get to see it, or choose not to spend time with mother earth’s peaceful paradises.

Week 2 Photo Assignment

I did my paparazzi shoot for week two’s photography assignment at the famous strip, Las Vegas. As I walked around the city’s most popular street, Las Vegas Blvd. also known as “the strip”, I saw many characters and interesting people all walking around this area surrounded by lights, casinos, night clubs, restaurants, and many other things a person can go to to have a most memorable and crazy night. After walking around for a few hours I was ready to leave, and as I was walking towards my destination I found this street musician; a very talented street musician as a matter of fact. As I watched this young man play his violin like an expert, showing his true talent to the world, I decided to take out my camera and take some shots of him and his friend. Most of my life revolves around music, and I have a great passion for music so it felt appropriate for me to be capturing a musician in action, doing what he loves to do and being appreciated for doing it. So while he played, I walked around him taking shots from different angles, some even of the people watching him and their expressions. He truly was a brilliant musician and I feel he deserves all the attention (and money) that he gets in the center of Las Vegas Blvd.

Week 2 EOC: La Dolce Vita

What I immediately loved about the 1960 Italian movie, Le Dulce Vida, was the scenery, or the “cinematography”. Every scene, and every second was a beautiful black and white photograph to my eyes. The director, Federico Fellini, and the people working with him did a wonderful job at choosing how the scenes would be shot, the lighting, and the locations.

I can relate to the paparazzi in the movie not only because I’m also a photographer, but because I know you need to be dedicated to your craft. In the movie, the paparazzi would stalk the actress and her friends and try to capture many moments of her life, every day. Most people understand why they do this. People are so obsessed with celebrities nowadays and people make lots of money from their fame. For example, TMZ, a big celebrity gossip show live off celebrities and have offices dedicated to what they do, which is share celebrity’s problems, drama, love interests, accidents, achievements and pretty much their whole lives with the rest of the world. Paparazzi make great money doing the same thing. The take photographs of celebrities doing things out of the ordinary, or just being their selves, and they sell the photos to big magazines or shows like TMZ and profit from it big time. If I want to make money, I also have to have dedication towards my photography and photography business and be willing to do things, like the paparazzi.

What I plan on doing for my weekly photo assignment is going out to the strip, the best place in Las Vegas for this assignment in my opinion, and snapping photos of people doing things out of the ordinary or just being fascinating. I might also shoot people dressed up as celebrities; there are so many of those on the strip.

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

I was worried about what I would want to do with my future when someone close to me mentioned to me that I was good at photography. I looked into the photography world, entered it, and never went back. When I became very interested and engaged in photography, and got in a photography class in school, I knew what I wanted my career to be. At first, I would like to capture nature’s beauty, or just take photos of things I found fascinating; master nature photographer, Peter Lik, was the only photographer who inspired me back then. I have been exploring more of the photography world, and I have found many other inspirations, like horror photographer Joshua Hoffine, one of my biggest inspirations at the moment. I no longer wish to be a nature photographer. I'm now working on becoming a professional, freelance conceptual photographer, and a professional stock photographer. I also have a passion for music and work to have great success in that field as well. Success to me is achieving my goals, and I'm not afraid to dream big and work towards big goals. Because I know with determination and dedication, they can be achieved.