Life story.

So I made this blog specifically for my Fine Art Seminar class (as it was required), but have decided to keep it going. I kind of like having something to update and pour my thoughts into from time to time. It brings me back to the LIVEJOURNAL days, haha.

I am 2 classes away from graduating with my Associate's of Fine Art in Visual Art. It may not seem like much, especially for the (long) amount of time I have been in college, but it is a pretty big accomplishment for me and a huge steppingstone in my life. I have taken away so much from my degree, and I actually doubted many times that I would ever commit myself to finishing anything in school. College and making career decisions has been a rocky road for me since high school, but I have found my little niche in life and I am really excited to move forward and see what lies ahead in the future.

I have met some great people over the past year or so, I've branched out, I've opened myself up, and I have grown. It has all made me realize that I have allowed myself to settle into this mediocre comfort zone in my day-to-day life for so long. As much as I have hated change in the past, I am almost welcoming it now. I am ready to travel the country and see everything. I want nothing more than to jump in my car and drive through every state and see everything. Its something I'm planning to do in the next few years because I know if I don't do it soon, I will regret it later in life, My goal is to really plan my business over the next 5 years and quite possible open; I get excited just sitting and brainstorming different ideas.

I went so long not really knowing what was right for me in life, and now that I have found it I've found my happiness. Now I can just work hard, push forward, and know that everything will fall into place. I'm just going to let life happen as it happens and enjoy it while its here. It's a bittersweet feeling closing a chapter of your life, but I am ready to move on to the next one.

Yay for happy blogging :)

Artist Statement

Finally wrote my artist statement for Fine Art Seminar. Kept it short and sweet.

Growing up I was always a simple kid who appreciated the simplicities in life. Although I have grown now, and life too has grown more complex, I still retain those same childhood values.
As a photographer, my inspiration comes from those simple, overlooked, and sometimes mundane pieces of life that are often taken for granted. From the unique texture of old peeling paint, to a delicate raindrop jumping from a flower, or just a simple concept or idea, I seek to capture the essence that all of these things hold, yet go unnoticed.
Someone once told me, “You could be among a beautiful landscape, yet you would be bent over taking a photo of a rock or discarded cigarette butt on the ground.” I have always laughed at and held true to this statement because it bests describes me as an artist as well as a person; for the ordinary is extraordinary to me.

2 more...

I have managed to do 2 more of my diptychs this past week; one of which is my favorite and one that I am not so much a fan of...

Scromotaphobic: Fear of Going Blind

Really happy with this one. Making convincing looking blood was a pain in the ass. Don't know what gave me the idea to use chocolate syrup with red food coloring, but I think it worked pretty well.

Acrophobic: Fear of Heights

Not exactly excited with how this turned out. Like I have done with all of my images in this series so far, I am trying to make a connection between the subject matter, but also a visual connection between the color schemes in each shot in the pair. I would probably say this is my weakest one so far and I may try and rework it.

Procrastination..

Okay, so I am really milking this final portfolio for my photography class. I need at least 7 diptychs in 4 or 5 weeks.

Here is my second one...

Hypochondria: Fear of Disease

Photo Portfolio

So we are officially past mid-terms now. Kind of bittersweet knowing that I will be done with the whole college thing in May.

Now that the semester is coming to an end, I need to start pushing my final photography portfolio. The concept for this photo series is something that I have been throwing around for about a year now, but never actually did anything with. The title of this series is "Phobic" in which I will portray the fears and phobias of my friends in self portraits within diptychs.

So far I have finished the first diptych and figured I would share.

Atelophobia: Fear of Imperfection

"Copy Cat Project"

In my Digital Photo II class we have been working on our "Copy Cat" projects where we choose a photographer and mimick their body of work and technique. I chose David Burdeny as my photographer.
David Burdeny

After battling mild frostbite down near the ocean over the past few weeks I got all of my shots and got to play with my new NDx400 9-stop Neutral Density filter, which I love. Here are my final, processed images...

First blog

Okay, so this is my first blog ever and I am still trying to figure out how to use the thing. Its been a long time since my "livejournal" days.

I am making this mainly for my Art Seminar class, but I think it will also be a good tool to share and save thoughts, ideas, questions, and so forth.

I'll start with a concept photo project that I did this past month involving colors and food. It is a very simple, obvious idea, but I enjoy working with color and wanted to branch out from what I usually do. Conceptual photography has always been an interest of mine, but never something I pursued or tried myself. So here is my stab at it...

http://emilystamp.zenfolio.com/p263764534
^^Go there for full series

-Nikon D50
-Nikon 50mm f/1.8
-Nikon SB600 Flash / SC-28 TTL Flash Cord
-Food coloring (took quite a few tries to get the RIGHT color)
-Home-made Softbox (Cardboard box, white paper, white tissue paper)