Making the Image » You Can Sleep When You're Dead: Blog by Colleen Miniuk

Behind the Image: NAU Guest Blogger – Jubran Mohammed

May 102015

Photo copyright Jubran Mohammed

We have always parked our bikes and cars but today with the camera in hand I can see the parking space as a nice spot to click photographs. The parking space is full of clarity in the view. You can see the clear sky and it helps in generating enough light to take good photographs. A neat background with trees in the back also helps in bringing more life to the photographs.

I would like to place myself above an amateur and below a professional. I believe that learning is an ongoing process and thus it will take more time before I can stand amidst the truly professional lot. Photography needs experience and thus the more I keep gaining the more I will keep getting better. I would also like to mention that as I have moved a step closer to being a professional I see myself with immense information regarding the same and thus with time would keep updating my knowledge and reach a point where I can call myself a professional in the field of photography. Photography is a passion which for some holds a very close place in their life. Photography is a passion and an art which needs mastering and lessons of practicing will help me add more flavor to my own photography and will also make me feel a real performer in the field. I can add more lessons with gaining more experience in life and also by learning through my own mistakes in life. Photography is no magic which happens but is the magic which is created. The reason why it is an art is because it can be created and modified to an extend which are beyond ones thought.

To read more about the Northern Arizona University “Behind the Image: Guest Blogger” project on our blog, please read the introduction at http://youcansleepwhenyouredead.com/wordpress/3rd-annual-northern-arizona-university-behind-the-image-guest-blogger-project/. Please take a minute to leave your insights and constructive comments in the Comment section below – the student would love to hear from you!

Behind the Image: NAU Guest Blogger – Jordan Thompson

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May 102015

Photo copyright Jordan Thompson

Portraits to me, should capture the true essence of the person that is photographed. With portraits, I am not a big fan of photographs that look extremely posed and unnatural. This image of my friend Andy does just that. She is someone with a beautiful smile that sometimes is a bit camera shy and I truly wanted to grasp that smile in a natural, gracefully type of way. My friend and I went to Lake Mary during sunset to achieve the look I aimed for with this photoshoot. We decided to go at a time we were both available but would also give beautiful light, and since it happened to be cloudy on this day, I thought it was the perfect time. However, when we arrive at Lake Mary, there is not a cloud in sight and harsh sunlight lit the whole area. I have to adjust to the situation at hand, I ask my friend to try a variety of different poses and postures until I find one I really liked. Andy sat on a rock in the field and the backlight from the sun creates the most beautiful rim light around her as well as the illumination of the grass field behind her in such a gorgeous way. Her friend came along the shoot as well and told jokes and sang songs to help me achieve that natural smile you see in the finished photograph. To get this backlit photograph, I had my Canon 60D with a 50mm fixed lens at F1.8 to get that nice shallow depth of field, I was at 1/400 because it was getting dark outside, this is also the reason I chose to shoot at ISO 320. For post-processing, I use Lightroom to edit and make small changes to the picture. I added a radial filter to brighten up her face, this allowed me to maintain the background because of how beautiful and whimsical as it is. I continued to edit the image further with slight increases to the overall contrast, exposure, and clarity. I choose not to add filters to the photograph because the way it was lit was just too beautiful to adjust. In black and white, the image looked a little flat and unlively. In a cool tone, the image did not read as beautifully as it does currently. The warm tones really added to the photograph and gave Andy the nice radiant effect a lot of people look for.

About the Photographer:
My name is Jordan Thompson and I am currently a student at Northern Arizona University. I am majoring in photography and minoring in sociology. My main passion within the photography realm is portraits. I don’t have a specific area of interest within portraits because I love to photograph sports, senior portraits, weddings, engagements, newborns, and everything and anything in between. Capturing the true essence of a person is what I am so incredibly drawn to and what I make my mission as a photographer, whether they are running down the field with determination in their eyes or a couple gazing at each other with complete and genuine love.

Behind the Image: NAU Guest Blogger – Sunday Miller

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May 092015

“Cotton Candy Skies” photo copyright Sunday Miller

“Cotton Candy Skies”
I was inspired to create this image because I find sunsets and other natural beauties of the world are often forgotten. As adults we get lost in our busy routine and forget to stop and smell the roses. Watching the sun set or rise has always been a special experience for me and a reminder to enjoy the simple things in life. That is what I was trying to communicate with this photo, the idea of all the beautiful things this world has to offer and how a camera is one of the many tools that can capture that beauty.

When I took this image I was busy doing homework all day when I glanced over and saw the stunning oranges, pinks and blues in the sky. I quickly grabbed my camera and tripod and ran outside knowing I’d only have a few minutes left of this view. I knew I wanted a silhouette of the trees and buildings framing the sunset so I moved around until I found the perfect spot. Over the course of 20 minutes the sky changed from soft pinks to dark reds and it was amazing to watch as well as view my progression of photos afterward.

This is also the photo I decided to hang in the gallery for the Photo 285 show because I consider it one of my best pieces both technically and emotionally. After staring at it for a few minutes and letting my feelings for it take over, I came up with the title “Cotton Candy Skies.” Not only does that title reflect the combination of colors but also the childlike enjoyment people get out of watching the sunset after a long week or eating sweets at a theme park.

The technical information for this image is as follows. I used my Nikon DSLR 3200 and the kit lens to capture this photo. I took this photo in late January when the sunsets were most colorful. I was shooting at a speed of 1/60 of a second and my camera was stable on a tripod. My f-stop was 4.5 and my ISO stayed low at 100. I did not have to zoom out very much so this photo was taken at 22 mm. When I took this photo into Lightroom for editing, I did not have to make very many changes. The most difficult decision was choosing my favorite of the sunset images. However, when I saw this one I knew based off of the colors and silhouettes, this was my strongest of the batch. I simply cropped it in a little tighter both on the sides and bottom to remove some distracting elements and make the overall framing of the sunset more desirable.

About the Photographer:
My name is Sunday Miller and I am a student at NAU pursing a degree in Photojournalism. Growing up, my father was my biggest inspiration since he is also a photographer. He covered our house in beautiful framed works of art, both his own and of other artists he looked up to. I prefer to capture candid moments with my camera, ones that tell a story and could never be duplicated. Within the last two years I’ve obtained a minor in photography and am a part of the student newspaper on campus called “The Lumberjack.” As an artist I hope to travel the world and photograph its beauty along the way.

Behind the Image: NAU Guest Blogger – Ursula Woody

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May 092015

“Papa and Papa Veen” photo copyright Ursula Woody

“Papa and Papa Veen”
I love to create memories, passion, imaginations, horror, and fantasy in my portraits. What inspired me to create this photograph is because family means a lot to me. This photograph I took is my father and his first grandson, a couple of days after he was born. There are a lot of meaningful thoughts behind this image that I admire dearly. My family and I were in sadness last year on January 15^th. My brother and his girlfriend lost their first born that day. My parents had already planned a surprise baby shower, but never knew this would happen. I was in school when I heard my brother weeping on the phone. I felt heaviness in my heart. None of us knew weather the baby was a boy or girl. We wanted to be surprised. Now, we don’t want to ever know. This photograph gave me hope again, because a year later my brother became a father. My parents became grandparents. My little sister and I became aunties. I go home every weekend or every other weekend to visit, a six-hour drive doesn’t bother me. I am happy to see family smile and be together.

The visual message I like to share about this photograph is to ‘cherish every single moment that approaches.’

I used Photoshop mostly to create a dim saturation on the photograph because I wanted the effect of how this photograph draws you in a lot. I also lightened and darkened some areas. Cleaned up a few places on the photograph that looked distracting and added a sample of what my logo business might be.

I used my Canon Rebel XS and my lens is a 35mm. ISO is set to 400, Shutter speed is 250, aperture is at a 4.0, and my flash modifier is attached on top of my camera. I just had my camera and flash modifier to create this photograph. No poses were ideal. I took many different photo angles of poses that I visualized to be memorized. Most photographs came out the way I expected them too.

About the Photographer:
My name is Ursula Woody from Farmington, New Mexico. I am a transfer student at Northern Arizona University. Major is in Photography and my minor is in Japanese. To work with media equipment plays a high significant role for my background. I have worked with film, digital, and video cameras for years now. The subjects I find passion in is the genres of imagination, fantasy, horror, drama, suspense, artistic, and creative. Why? I love to be creative on how individuals build their own world to stay in. Techniques I use come from music, movies, stories, and history tales. Because once I visualize and create my art, I immediately write down and make a list of what I need. My work comes from my mind, which often wonders off into wonderland. My goal as an artist is to show what I do for my work and be recognized by them. Who and what inspired me is a mad man known as Tim Burton. Burton’s art is very odd and detailed. Tim Burton is my inspiration.

Behind the Image: NAU Guest Blogger – Hannah Petersen

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May 082015

“An Unforgettable Memory” photo copyright Hannah Petersen

“An Unforgettable Memory”
Above is an image that barely showcases the expansive view from the 10,418-foot summit of Mt. Kendrick, one of the highest lookouts in Flagstaff, and an unforgettable hike. For as long as I can remember I have always had an insatiable desire to take on the most physically and mentally taxing challenges and this hike had been no exception. A 9.2-mile round trip hike had nearly ended my hiking career for quite a few months and I would do it all again because not a thing can compare to the view of the world at the top of a mountain.

As I stood at the top of Mt. Kendrick, beaten by hail, drenched by rain and sweat I couldn’t resist taking out my Olympus PEN Mini EMP-2 with a 14mm lens and capturing the view before me. At the time I honestly had no idea what my camera was set at, I just knew I had to capture what drives me to be a photographer. Nature has and always will inspire and rejuvenate me.

To capture the view I specifically knew I wanted to take a panorama, which meant setting up the three and a half pound tripod I carried 4.6 miles. On top of that, the day couldn’t be more perfect, even though it had hailed and rained, it allowed for the perfect cloud cover, I couldn’t of been more pleased. However, the single complaint I did have was that I was too short to get the camera over the tops of the trees. I had always wanted to get that perfect panorama to make up for my past mistakes such as getting to the top of Mt. Humphrey’s without the adequate equipment to take the necessary picture that would capture all that was before me.

The time than arrived to get back down the mountain and it did not bode well for me. On the way down I took a miss step and ended up falling onto my left knee tearing it apart enough to get myself put into the ER and receive three stitches. The absolute worst time of my life, because if I have not mentioned, I hate needles with an insatiable passion and am not afraid to admit that I will start crying like a baby. Worst part of it all though, I still had to hike down over four miles of a mountain with a gruesome hole in my knee and I have to admit, I was more concerned about my camera and making it back down again than the repercussions my fall would have.

Injured and bedridden for the next few days, I had ample time to edit and work on getting the panorama put together. In post processing I learned that I took the images with F/3.5, a shutter speed of 1/3200 of a second and an ISO of 200. The F/3.5 allowed me to capture the wide variation of light that I quickly amplified and boosted up the contrast. One can see that I have a love for contrast and even though this image may not be the best, it has “An Unforgettable Memory” to go with it.

About the Photographer:
My name is Hannah Petersen and I cannot nor will I ever deny that I am not an avid hiker and I utilize photography to capture the wondrous things I see. It can be anything from a plant, an enchanting view, a random building and the occasional individual, if they spark my interest. I strive to capture what my eye sees; the lens of my world and my world has vivid colors, striking contrast, and a passion for the little details.

Behind the Image: NAU Guest Blogger – Morgan Louvier

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May 082015

Photo copyright Morgan Louvier

This picture just showed up in front of me. The two performers were simply standing there, and I saw the image in my mind through a lens. I wanted to show behind the scenes of a real circus. Rarely are they the classic big top nowadays, with the smiles and chaos. Contemporary circuses are much more influenced by modernity, hence the background of graffiti in this photo. I told the subjects not to move, not to change anything. Their facial expressions show a different side of the circus, even with the face paint. I changed the color balance to really make the colors stand out and pop, because I wanted the contrast between the graffiti and the subjects’ mostly black clothing. While you cannot tell what the subjects are thinking, I feel like the photo conveys a neutral mood, which contrasts with the subjects. We expect circus performers to be all smiles with lots of movement, but the subjects here are leaning against an old, graffitied wall. They look tired. One is looking off into the distance, thinking, while the other one seems to look straight at the viewers, as if daring us to do whatever it is he just performed. This photo is a little confrontational, because of the subjects; it shows reality, yet challenges our perception of circus performers.

I shot this photo with a Canon Rebel T3i, with a 15-35 mm lens. The ISO was set at 100, with an aperture of f5, and a shutter speed of 1/250 of a second. The focal length was 18 mm. The only editing I did in post was a tighter crop. I am very pleased with the way this turned out without editing it. I’m not a big fan of editing, I feel like editing makes it easy for people who aren’t very good at taking pictures to create a good image, and I also feel like it distorts the truth. I still edit, but sparingly.

About the Photographer:
My name is Morgan Louvier, and I’ve been taking pictures since I was young. My dad would take pictures of everything he saw, and that inspired me to take pictures of my own. When I got my first DSLR, I wanted to improve the quality of my photos, and taught myself the basics of manual shooting. I have fallen in love with photojournalism; my favorite subjects are people doing what they love. The more action, the more fun the scene is to shoot. I also love nature, and the outdoors, and want to show others the beauty and fun of getting outside. I have recently begun shooting rock climbers, and really enjoy being suspended up in the air while taking pictures. It’s just as much of an adventure as climbing the rocks. I’d love to travel taking pictures of mountaineers and climbers; being a climber myself, I have a huge respect for them.

Behind the Image: NAU Guest Blogger – Nikki Harcey

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May 072015

“Fragmented” photo copyright Nikki Harcey

“Fragmented”
I took this image for a class assignment with the topic of reflection. I knew I did not want to take a simple photo of an object reflected in a mirror; I wanted something a bit more interesting with a meaning. I had a lot of fun working on this project, from selecting a mirror in the store, to bringing it home, smashing it and hoping I would like the pattern left behind by the cracks, to actually taking the photograph.

When I first started shooting for this assignment, I was not aware of the level of difficulty behind shooting through a mirror. Problems I ran into right away were getting the right angle without putting myself in frame and focusing perfectly in the right areas. After about 10 minutes of shooting, I came to the conclusion that my original vision of shooting the model in focus would not work at this moment in time. I then gathered my thoughts and tried something different, focusing on the cracks. And to my surprise, I liked the looks of those images much more than the ones before.

One of my favorite things about this photograph is that I know what it means to me but the interpretation of it can change from each individual who views it. To me this image represents the different aspects of a personality. A person may act differently when in the presence of specific company or when told to act a certain way by society. I intended the focus to be on the cracks of the mirror rather than the person to add another layer of meaning along with creating visual interest. When we first look at someone, we see them as a whole, not their various experiences and quirks that make them who they are. The mirror itself represents that first glance, and the cracks represent the fragments that make up the individual.

I used a Canon 60D with my 50mm f/1.4 lens. With my focal length at 50mm and shutter speed at 1/125, I kept the aperture fairly wide at f/4.5 to allow for the correct amount of blur I was going for behind the cracks. I set the ISO to 500 to finish setting up the proper exposure. When I was post-processing, I upped the clarity to sharpen the cracks a bit more. I also brought the image into Photoshop and used the spot healing brush to clean up any distracting cracks or pieces of dust.

About the Photographer:
My name is Nikki Harcey. I am currently a sophomore at Northern Arizona University studying visual communications and photography. Art has always been an interest of mine and after many years of drawing and painting, I was craving a new form of art to bring into my life. I took my first photography class my freshman year of high school and knew instantly that I had found what I was craving. Over the course of these past six years, I have participated in contests, photographed a wedding, special events, and senior portraits. Through these experiences, I have found that I am extremely passionate about portrait photography. I love the possibility of the stories that be told through human expressions.

Behind the Image: NAU Guest Blogger – Emma Benanati

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May 072015

Photo copyright Emma Benanati

Landscape and natural patterns have always been my subjects of choice and passion with photography. However, my goal this semester was to learn new photo techniques and to see the value and beauty in different subjects. The goal of this photo was to paint or show movement with light. I love cycling so I chose my bicycle as the subject and hoped I could get it to somehow show movement while also staying close to my camera and in focus. It looks like patterns (although not quite natural) have prevailed again in this photo, but I do like the repeating cycle effect… kind of like a bicycle spinning down the road. If you squint your eyes while looking at the white lights in the photo, it almost looks like a person leaning forward and riding the bicycle.

This image was taken in my garage at night in order to give a dark background against the bicycle. I wrapped colored holiday lights around my wheels and white lights around the frame and handle bars. I tried moving the bike in various directions and patterns on different shutter speeds. Mostly everything turned out to be a colorful blur and I didn’t like the result. Then I tried different types of circles and the “painting with light” looked much better. Here is the final set up for my photo: The bike was positioned upright against my car in the garage. Setting my camera timer on 10 seconds gave me enough time to press the button and run over to my bike, pick it up, and begin moving it around in smooth circles. The shutter speed was set for 5 seconds so I made sure to keep the bike moving the entire time. ISO was 100 and aperture was 14 at a focal length of 22 mm. No filters or flash were used.

Even though it was completely dark in the garage, the holiday lights were bright enough to illuminate my face and car wheels. I wanted a completely black background so I cloned those out using the lasso tool and capturing pieces of the surrounding dark background to fill in my face and wheels. These were the only adjustments needed.

About the Photographer:
My name is Emma Benenati and I’m a biologist with Northern Arizona University. My graduate degrees are in geology and biology and I love combining both in photos and film. I’ve spent most of my life in science and “snapping photos” so I really enjoy these opportunities to work with my artistic side to take the time to “create” photos and improve my photography techniques. I seem to continually gravitate toward natural patterns and details, usually on a larger scale. However, I just attended a very enlightening macro photo workshop with Arizona Highways (Colleen Miniuk-Sperry and Paul Gill), and now I’ll experiment with macro and see what subjects attract me next.

Behind the Image: NAU Guest Blogger – Taylor Tracy

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May 062015

Photo copyright Taylor Tracy

My inspiration for this photo was a two photo series that showed how men and women view themselves. The photos had a fit women looking in the mirror, seeing herself as fat, and a skinny boy seeing himself as muscular. While one was sad, the other funny, it made me think of how people see themselves can be more than just physical. Mirrors can also hold memories of the past, feelings or even what you hope the future will hold.

With that in mind I took this photo. I wanted to show the mirror showing the past or missed emotions. I wanted the person in pan or upset about something he had lost, her. I wanted to show an image of the aftermath of losing someone you love. I didn’t show how she was lost, if it was a breakup or something more dark like death. I feel it’s an emotion everyone can relate to. Everyone has loved and lost, without that love they feel ‘gray.’ This is why I put the current world of his in black and white. Usually black and white signifies the past, but in this photo I’m using color, or lack there of, as a symbol of happiness, life, and feeling. To portray that with her was when he felt alive ad happy, without her he is lifeless and sad. With this picture I want people to feel his pain and sadness and then look in the mirror to see happiness, love and joy. So maybe they will understand the phrase “it’s better to have loved and lost rather than to not have loved at all.”

For this photo I used my Canon 70D camera, set up on a tripod with a wide-angle lens. ISO 250, f14 and 1.5 sec shutter. I needed the wide angle lens because where I was shooting was in a very small apartment with only the doorway to look through onto the mirror. To take the photo I had my model stand in front of the camera in different poses till I found one that conveyed the feeling I wanted. I then set the camera to go off with a trigger. I manually focused on the mirror so that it wouldn’t change focus with the trigger. I then went into the photo to position the two in the mirror so their reflection was in the shot but they were not. In post editing I went into Photoshop for the black and white portion of the photo. I selected everything of the photo other than the reflected part of the mirror. Once selected I copied that portion and pasted it right back onto the same photo, creating a layer on top of the background. I then copied the whole photo of the ‘happy’ scene and pasted it onto the ‘sad’ photo with two layers. Making that photo have another layer I move it between the two ‘sad’ layers. Then it was simple to size the photo perfectly into the mirror to be the reflection. With the use of the tripod the mirror photo easily fits into the layers with little editing. Making the top layer black and white perfectly fit the emotion I want for this photo. With just having the top layer selected it was simple to copy and paste it onto other ‘happy’ scenes to make the editing simple and fast to choose the appropriate photo, Which is how I created this photo showing the happiness love can have as well as the pain it can, and usually does, leave behind.

About the Photographer:
I am Taylor Ann Tracy. Photography was a small hobby that came to me when I started college. I had a friend that it was his goal to become a photographer. My friend passed away from cancer and I have tried to continue his dream for him. I volunteer at an animal shelter to take photos of the animals they have up for adoption. I’m a natural photographer. I use the world around me as it is to make good photos, I don’t do a lot of setting up or trying to make things look like they’re not. I try to capture the world as it is, beautiful.

Behind the Image: NAU Guest Blogger – Cory Walters

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May 052015

Photo copyright Cory Walters

With this image, my attempt was to capture the love that this couple shares. It was easy to tell how in love they were just by being around them, and I wanted to capture that. They made my job very easy, they didn’t have to act as if they loved each other and wanted to be there, because they truly did. They loved getting to stand in the garden, holding one another close, and capturing their love in one moment. I really wanted some sort of sun flare to be in the photo, just not on the subject themselves distracting the viewer. It was the perfect time of the day, and with all the flowers in the foreground and the house off to the right, it made for a beautiful setting.

For this image I was using a Canon 5D Mark III at this location. It was about 6:15 in the evening, with the sun quickly going down. I put the while balance on shade to give some warmth and colors to the things surrounding the couple. For this photo, I was using a 16-35 2.8 Canon lens with a shutter speed at around 1/320^th of a second with a very big aperture around 3.5 with an ISO of 160.

My editing technique did not consist of much post processing work. Whenever shooting, I always try to capture the image I want in camera, so I don’t have to edit the photo all that much. Once thing I always do is add some clarity and sharpness to my photos, to make them as clear as possible. I always add a little saturation and vibrancy to the picture as well, trying to bring out some of the natural colors. One of the last things I do is add just a hint of a vignette to the photo, making the viewer’s eye go directly to the subject.

I wanted the subject to love the photo, and think of their special day every time they see it. Even for a minute, to take them back to their fairytale-like day and to push everything aside.

About the Photographer:
My name is Cory Walters and I attend Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. I am very involved in the university’s photography department and currently a photographer for the schools newspaper. My love for photography has grown at an incredible rate in the past two years. I have such a passion for the art and have fallen in love with capturing the special moments. My favorite genres of photography include extreme sports such as motocross, outdoor portraits, and landscapes. Even though these three genres are completely different in approach, each can still tell a story with no words.

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