Project Two Essay...

I wanted to portray myself as is. Nature brings the peaceful feelings out in me. I wanted to take most of my self portraits alone by aiming the camera while I was emursed in a natural surrounding. That is where I see beauty and where I experience my creative side.

The photo where I'm sitting at the base of a huge cotton wood tree, represents that part of me where I have been around a long time standing strong within my life. I've faced a ton of adversities. The rugged bark is tough on that tree...that would be me.

The water photo  of my foot in the creek represents the continuous flow of life and I'm standing right in it. Water never stops. I want to capture the color, the sparkle and flow of the water and how it is a important part of me and everyone else.

I am also an artist. Whether I paint, draw or sculpt it is something that comes naturally. Currently, I paint part time with my sister. She has an interior painting business. I love working with her.  The photo where I'm painting the shed was snapped by my mom. The sun provided great backlighting. Currently I live with her. That is her shed I'm painting. I have been helping her get the house ready to sell. She is turning 73 this month and once we sell her house we both are moving on to a new chapter of our lives.

The photo of me in the rearview mirror was inspired by the photographer, Lee Friedlander. I loved his photos of a view beyond the car mirror plus whatever was in the reflection. I also love the lake where I live. The sunsets are always brilliant. It is different, however, that the reflection in the mirror was brilliant but the sunset was dull.

For my other portraits, I took them of people that were important in my life. My daughter is my passion. Her music is her passion. I love to see her doing what she loves because when I was her age life was dictated to me. It was a rigid upbringing that almost choked the life out of me. That is why I have so much enjoyment seeing her grow unrestricted doing her thing.

My friend Bob the fire fighter has been a steady, real friend through thick and thin. His passion is putting out those flames that often engulf peoples' homes and sometimes rage through grasslands. He put on his turnout gear so I could snap some photos. I took some typical posed portraits but the one I like the best was him walking through the firehall. I called his name and he looked back at me. It seemed like a more accurate natural photo of him. It was fun discovering the artist options in photoshop which I used to alter the portrait.

My friend Jordan is funny plus a whole lot more. He makes me laugh when I'm down. He's a true friend and I wish I could put him in my pocket and take him wherever I go. Theatre is his true passion. I think he was born to perform. I was in the theatre when I took the photos of him. The director turned the spotlight on Jordan but it washed out the colors in the photo. I should have turned off the flash but I worked with the hues, colors and brightness. I turned one to black and white for effect.

One portrait was of someone I didn't know. I kept feeling like it would be cool to take a photo of a stranger. When I was in the theatre, I saw this student carrying a basketball. He had a cool look and assumed one of his passions was right there in his hand. The wall had slats of wood he was standing by and I just altered it with the artist options in photoshop.

I really enjoyed this project. It's not too difficult to create a photo portraying someones personality. I found that it gives people the opportunity to show who they are and what they love. I also experimented with the different elements of photoshop. Now it doesn't seem too intimidating.