Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Thursday September 18


Today was a grand day, spent some time in the park and listened to the "laughing" ducks at the duck pond with my friend Whitney. Same set up as last shoot. High megapixel camera, light kit, and the set was in the garage. What was so great about shooting my friend Whitney, was that once she was put into the jacket, the oppression kicked in. She really got into the character and gave me amazing shots. She actually cried on her own, and with the heavy makeup, we got some dramatic runs of makeup down her face. I really liked it alot. OH! on the light kit, there is a dimmer which was really helpful, I could adjust the light to my liking. Here are some shots of my friend Whitney.

Tuesday September 16

Tonight was exciting. I took some photos of my friends Grace and Zane. For this shoot I decided to use some equipment from school now that it was available. I checked out a high megapixel camera as well as a light kit. The light kit couldn't compare to my makeshift one. The kit allowed for really awesome shadows. The shoots go like the previous ones, I set a backdrop up in the garage and have my friends hop to it. I decided that I like my white backdrop more than the black one so I feel I will leave it at that. Grace and Zane did a great job. I dont really give too much direction just because I want to see what kind of emotions they can come up with on their own, rather than me trying to tell them how to feel. My aim with the book is to get other people feeling what its like to be constricted or different. If I gave too much direction, it would kind of defeat the purpose. I let them do whatever they want, and I let Grace do her hair and makeup however she wanted. I asked her though to plan it accordingly to the idea of the shoot. My friends know what the book is about, so I dont have to tell them much about it for them to get into character. Heres a couple of pictures.

Monday, September 8, 2008

August 31, 2008



This time I shot my friend Jen. She came over with really great ideas about her appearance and I kind of let her go as she wished with that, and I'm glad that I did because it ended up looking amazing. We rigged up the set in my garage and this time brought in some lights to help us out.

I really like the white background, so we played around with that one alot. Here is one of the pictures that I really liked.

August 29, 2008


Today I was at work and all I was thinking about was how nice the sunlight was outside, and how I wanted to shoot against the white backdrop that I had. I rushed home from work, and immediately set up and had my mom begin to shoot me. What I enjoyed most about this set up was the direct light, and the white on white was really nice. When I edited the photos over exposing them looked really awesome. This is one of my favorites from August 29, the tear wasn't intended but I think however that it does add alot.

August 28, 2008





Today was the day that my jacket came in the mail, I was so eager to get started that I had my mom shoot me that night. I figured it would be good to play around with the backdrops and lighting to see what I liked and what I didn't like. My mom has never taking photographs of this nature before, where angles and different type of shots were of importance, so it was a bit hard trying to teach her while restrained in the jacket. After about an hour of shooting we came to a stopping point and I looked over many many pictures, and overall was very pleased with what my mom had taken. I edited them that night to make them even more dramatic.

...opening statement.... (subject to change)

Imagine a life where not only your physical being was constrained but your mental and emotional capacity were halted. Being gay and looking for acceptance is like living in confinement, where being different is most times looked down up. Being different, today, is not welcomed with open arms, and can feel like living in a straightjacket. This is my way as an artist to compare the lives of homosexuals and heterosexuals. By putting close friends and family in an uncomfortable state, they too can feel with it is like living a life where one feels "Constricted."