Compiling a Beginning
By N. Alice Yamada
Doing a photo essay is a virgin experience for me. For a couple of months, the Trinity Tripod looked like my weekly portfolio when I was the only photographer for the paper, but that's as far as I've ever gotten in exhibiting my work. "Exhibiting my work..." I'm trying to sound so professional and it's just not coming out too smoothly. Since I've never made a portfolio or anything like that before, this is more like a resume of me as a photographer than a photo essay. And none of this has been exposed to public opinion before, so I would greatly appreciate any comments, especially the nicer ones. Quick tips and ways to improve my photo skills would also be more than cherished and valued.
I started out as a sports photographer. I find sports photography a lot easier and more exciting than other photography, simply because what is being shot is so full of action. If there is enough light, the chances of screwing up are very low. Here are some pictures from the '94 Football Season.
It was only last year that I truly started to venture into the artistic sides of photography. In high school, I did a lot of drawing and painting, especially my freshman year. I only did some photography, simply because photo paper was so expensive. But the days of drawing definitely gave me a strong background when I ventured into more extensive photo art.
The last two shots are my idea of a long-distance relationship. I had one for a little too long and needless to say, phone bills were sky-rocketed by it. But the boy really helped me get my life together. Actually, it was in order to take pictures of him that I started to get back into photography. I felt things changing my senior year in high school, and I didn't know how to save and to capture the moment. So, I took pictures of him, but since he's not a big fan of being photographed, we made it into photo projects to break the discomfort. I'd put some pictures of him in right about now, but he wouldn't appreciate that too much. I've done him enough damage as it is...So instead, I'll put in some of me.
I took the one of the side of my belly, but Liza Passanisi took the back shot. I'd put in a front view, but I figured that'd be a little too much. Let's put it this way - if I were a knock-out beauty, I'd smile at the camera. (Nothing wrong with insecurity once in a while.)
Speaking of which, insecurity ties in quite well with my idea of kids in our generation. Maybe every generation deals with it, but the way I see it, we've got a lot more than anyone else. Have you ever heard the song, "Summer of Drugs"? It's a Victoria Williams tune that Soul Asylum played for their tribute album for her, Sweet Relief. When I heard that song, it just spelled out pictures in my mind and this was it:
These pictures were as artsy as I got until I became actively involved with the Trincoll Journal. All biases taken out, Pete and Paul are great photographers. I was inspired by the photos in Paul's room, broke the mundane limits I had imposed on myself, and tried something new. Color Double exposures...
Before joining the Journal staff, I was a pretty boring photographer now that I think about it. I'd done only black and white photography and pretty much just sports or random theme shots. Not only did the Journal staff enlighten my picture-taking skills, but they also introduced me to a world beyond the darkroom in the photography field-- Adobe Photoshop. It's incredible what we can do on the computer these days and these are just some examples:
Not only can I add color, but I can also add more of a twist to a pretty basic and straight picture:
What takes numerous hours to perfect can be done in a matter of seconds, such as the solarization technique...
Hopefully, I will be able to keep on adding onto this quick rundown of my photo collections. I'm still a developing youngster, and I'm quite ambitious about my future in this field. I have three and a half more years to work on catching up to the levels of Pete and Paul, both as photographers and as computer jocks. I'm looking ahead...
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