Project 9

When Pugs Fly

 (11 layers)

Flying Pug 1 (to left) -

Date Taken: 11/27/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec.

F-Stop: f/4.8

ISO:64

Focal Length: 20.2mm

Tripod: no

Flying Pug 2 (to right) -

Date Taken: 11/27/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec.

F-Stop: f/8

ISO: 64

Focal Length: 10.4mm

Tripod: no

When we were first introduced with the “fantasy” project, my mind was blank. I had

absolutely no idea what I was going to do. Once I began thinking about it, I initially

found myself exploring very broad ideas. I then pulled the ideas in closer, I began

thinking on a more personal level. At the heart of my family is our two pugs, Tate and

Suri. While many people dislike the look of pugs, we cannot get enough of them. It was

this love that started me on my project. Ever since I was little I have heard the saying,

“when pigs fly”. People constantly tend to associate pugs with pigs. Perhaps it is the

single letter that separates them, or perhaps is their curly tail and smashed in face.

Regardless, I felt I could create a modified saying that incorporated my two pugs, calling

it “when pugs fly”. To do this, I took a picture of each of my pugs. With Suri, the female,

this was no problem to capture a picture that looked like she was flying. This is because

she is very energetic. Tate was an entirely different story. To compensate for his

“laziness” I had my brother hold him in the air as if he was flying. Through Photoshop, I

cloned out his hands. The sky background was found online at

www.customity.com/content/wallpaper/blue-sky-and-clouds-and-hills-wallpaper. Once I opened this up in Photoshop, I pasted the cut out images of the pugs onto it. I resized and rotated each image separately to give it a “realistic” effect against the background. I then found two pairs of wings online. Suri’s wings were found at www.pxleyes.com/photoshop-picture/4aef38dd29d52/When-pigs-fly-html. Tate’s wings were found at chaddypants.blogspot.com/2011/08/chicken-hawk-story.html. With each pug, the wings were resized and rotated to fit. Initially, this was all I was going to do, but I felt the picture needed more. I began to look at pictures of pugs online and found the two other images shown in the picture. The falling pug was found at www.imagekind.com/Sophie-the-flying-Pug-art?IMID=85fffbef-bce3-466d-88ba-941d9706df0f. The skydiving pug was found at www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2026921/Skydiving-dog-Otis-parachuting-pooch-loves-going-walkies-air.html. I placed the puppy falling from the sky and above it is the skydiving pug, flying to its rescue. Being as this was a modified version of the saying “when pigs fly”, I felt pigs should be incorporated. On the ground I placed two small pigs looking up into the sky at the flying pugs. These two images were found at kimsheridan.com/compassion_circle/links-resources/ and www.visualphotos.com/image/2x2687492/potbellied_pig_looking_up. I felt this added to the picture. Rather than them being the ones that fly, as they have always been shown, it is now the pugs that are flying. 

Project 8

Social Commentary: Life on the Reservation

Date Taken: 11/27/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec.

F-Stop: f/8

ISO: 64

Focal Length: 10.4mm

Tripod: no

I have lived on the Fort Peck Indian reservation for my entire life, excluding my

semesters spent here at Rocky. When I discuss life on a reservation with those whom are

not from one or who haven’t spent time on one, they envision people living in teepees,

dressing traditional, and riding around on horses. While these things do happen, they are

only for special occasions such as powwows or ceremonies. Unfortunately, the realities

of life on the reservation are far different. It is on the reservation where people are faced

with daily life struggles such as poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, along with physical and

sexual abuse. The photograph I submitted for my social commentary project illustrates

these harsh realities. The three people shown are not just those who had a “rough” night,

they instead are having a rough life. All are struggling with poverty and alcohol abuse.

They spend their days roaming around town looking for money. Rather than using this

money for food, they spend it on alcohol, pushing themselves deeper into the hole. The

only thing separating them from using drugs is the simple fact that they can’t afford it.

Being a psychology major, I have learned that 90% of homeless people are mentally ill.

This is largely because they cannot make it in the normal society, so are instead exiled

out of it into the streets. The man standing to the right of the photograph is schizophrenic.

While I do not expect this photograph to change the course of history, I wanted to expose

the harsh realities of life on the Fort Peck Indian reservation. If there is one thing I have

noticed growing up on the reservation, it is that the vast majority of the people living

there expect things to be given to them. As most of us know, things like this rarely

happen. As a result, when they are not handed things, they turn to more destructive paths,

as shown in my photograph.

Project 7

Portrait

Date Taken: 11/24/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/13 sec.

F-Stop: f/6.4

ISO: 6400

Focal Length: 5mm

Tripod: yes

My portrait project didn’t consist of myself, but rather my cousin Jeffrey. I spent a fair

amount of time thinking of whom I was going to do a portrait of. Should I do a child, an

elder, a veteran? The list went on and on. Since I can remember I have always been

fascinated with the human body. It amazes me the potential that it is able to reach if we

allow it to. My mother has always told me, “Your body is your temple.” If you treat it

well, meaning exercise and eat healthy (or be blessed with a fast metabolism), this will

show. My cousin is a walking example of this. This photograph was taken in the

basement of my aunt’s house. This was largely because I had this image envisioned in my

head that I wanted to bring to life. In this vision, he would be standing with his head

looking towards the ground with a black backdrop behind him. I wanted to room to be

completely dark with this only light being a small lamp that would not be shown, but

would be shinning on his torso. By doing this I wanted to capture two different aspects:

the definition of his body and the “light” that is ahead of him yet he refuses to see. My

cousin is one of those people that has an immense amount potential yet never strives for

success. He instead, settles for an easier route. If he would simply “lift” his head up, he

would see all of this in front of him. Unfortunately, I had some lighting issues. Looking

back, this is from the very source that caused me problems with my night project, high ISO

settings. I feel that if I had the correct settings, I would have achieved what I had

originally set out to achieve. 

Project 6

Candle Trail

Date Taken: 11/24/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec.

F-Stop: f/6.4

ISO:6400

Focal Length: 5mm
Tripod: no

Birthday Cake

Date Taken: 11/27/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/1250 sec.

F-Stop: f/8

ISO:6400

Focal Length: 10.4mm

Tripod: no

The first image shown is Candle Trail. With this I was attempting to capture the simple

elegance of candle light. One night, I took a few pictures of a single candle on the

cement, yet found myself dissatisfied with it. I then added many more candles with hopes

of achieving something better, still nothing. It wasn’t until I arranged the candles in a

wavy line that I felt I had something. I took several pictures, experimenting with the

settings on my camera, particularly the ISO. While I was happy with the composition of

my photograph, I was dissatisfied with the “graininess” and noise in the picture. I believe

this was particularly due to my cameras maximum ISO settings that were used. I would

have also like to have more of the cement exposed, to provide a sense of origin.

            The second image is called Birthday Cake. There is nothing about this picture that

was planned, it was purely coincidental. I was at my aunt’s house for her birthday and

was asked to bring my camera to take pictures of the family. A few hours into the visit,

this cake was brought out. What I found most appealing is the arrangement of the

candles. Most people will distribute them throughout the entire cake, however, these candles were placed in a very close proximity to each other, creating an even bigger flame. It was very dark in the house so the candle light seemed to intensify. I got in close and took the picture. It wasn’t until afterwards that I noticed the specks of light in the background from some string lights. I felt this help add to the picture. While I was happy with the moment I had captured, I was disappointed with the graininess of the picture. Yet again, this was due to my cameras maximum ISO settings. All in all, it was a lesson learned with night photography, something I will benefit from in the future.

Yellowstone National Park

Wildlife

Date Taken: 10/30/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec.

F-Stop: f/5.6

ISO:400

Focal Length: 75mm

Tripod: no

Atmospheric

Date Taken: 10/30/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/2000 sec.

F-Stop: f/9

ISO: 64

Focal Length: 14.6mm

Tripod: no

Landscape

Date Taken: 10/29/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec.

F-Stop: f/9

ISO: 64

Focal Length: 17.1mm

Tripod: no

Macro

Date Taken: 10/29/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec.

F-Stop: f/5.6

ISO: 200

Focal Length: 90mm

Tripod: no

Abstract

Date Taken: 10/30/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/640 sec.

F-Stop: f/9

ISO: 64

Focal Length: 14.6mm

Tripod: no

Rocky Classmates

Date Taken: 10/29/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec.

F-Stop: f/10

ISO: 64

Focal Length: 20.2mm

Tripod: no

Choice

Date Taken: 10/30/2011

Camera: FUJIFILM FinePix S2550HD

Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec.

F-Stop: f/5

ISO: 64

Focal Length: 23.6mm

Tripod: no