Separated from Society's Sight

Artist Statement

            I am expressing the strength and independence of women in contrast to society's distorted view. Society, in general, views women as lesser than men; women are not seen as capable. From grade eight through Junior year of high school my mother took care of the family. My dad was going through many surgeries, and those had their side effects. When the family business started to fall it was my mother that took care of everything, and she did not feel as she was doing enough. She constantly felt down and out, but she tried to maintain positivity. My mother, in that time, was trying to break free of societal suppression; she was becoming more independent than the she thought she could. The dancers are breaking free from society’s view and becoming more independent and confident. The dancers represent the small part of women who truly feel independent, and the broken environment shows how shattered society’s view of women is. 

Peter McKinnon's Photography

The first person that really caught my eye once I got into photography was Peter McKinnon. I was, and still am, drawn to the way he edits his photos. The edits of his landscape/cityscape photography appear so subtle as to just bring the darks a little darker and the brights a little lighter. The photos really have a glow and a depth that, I feel, other photographers lack. His portraits are every bit as impressive. If there is water you feel like it will drip from the page, and if there is dust you feel as if it is beginning to fill the room. He really captures the essence of the scene while creating this feeling of being present at that moment the picture was taken. Below are a few of my favorites.

Assignment 4

I chose this sports image, because it worked well with the idea I had of drawing all of one's focus to the ball.

Starry Night.

Death is not as easy to cope with as everyone says. 

There is a beauty in the hidden heart.

The arts are not as barren as society thinks.

The camera is our paintbrush, it is our pencil, it is our way to express.

Floridian Sunset.

Game Day - Assignment 3

In this series of pictures I want to show how different sports athletes prepare for games in different ways. Even athletes within the same sports prepare different for games. I used three guys from the hockey team and three girls from the volleyball team to exhibit my theme. Each player is identified by team apparel. I used Jill Greenberg lighting on each subject except Brooke, because I feel it gives a more intense look of the subjects' faces while exhibiting detail.  

Curtis

Daisy

Noah

Jessy

Matt

Brooke

Rosie's Contrary Personalities

Here are two photos I took in class within the past week or so that I believe show Rosie's personality. The first picture colder and a bit darker. The hair light draw focus to Rosie's face. The cold dark mood in this pictures, I believe, shows her more reserved side. The second picture uses natural light at her back that acts as a strong key light from the back left and doubles as a hair light. I had someone hold a grey/gold card to reflect the light onto the front of her face which acts as a fill light. To me this shows Rosie's bubbly laughing side that you encounter when she gets in front of the lens rather than behind it.

In Class Portraits

On this picture of Rosie I ever so slightly enhanced a some color, and I sharpened the picture a little too. The original photo was pretty good, so I did not want to mess with its integrity.

On this picture of me I really played with the contrast of the background. I tried to push the boundaries of the highlights and shadow of my face without losing too much detail.

Peter McKinnon

My brother, Gavin, showed me a YouTube video a few weeks ago that he thought I would like. It was a tutorial for PhotoShop,  but even more than that it was about a guy who immersed himself in photography and cinematography. Peter McKinnon vlogs on his YouTube channel, and he gives advice to artists. His photography captures what we have been recently learning in class about color. He brings in color to add emphasis on certain areas in his work. In some of his videos he talks about the importance of cool tones versus warm tones. Peter McKinnon shows how cool tones or warm tones can completely change the feel of a photo or video. Below is one of his pictures I like that is posted on his website.

Assignment 2 (DOF and Motion)

Depth Of Field

 

Here I captured Chili (Ryan Chilton) in mid stride while he was on the back check. I succeeded in bringing out the deep purple in his jersey.

 

While in Chicago a few weeks ago I took this photo putting the supporting beams of a handrail out of focus. My goal with this photo was to show how cold it was this day, and bring out the dark shadows of the buildings.

 

"The Bean" gives a magnificent warping to the cityscape in its reflection. The cold cloudy day accents well. 

 

Here your eye is drawn to the bright pink jacket in the bottom left while the bike rack and handlebars of the attached bikes lead your eye to Gavin.

Motion 

 

Justin Shimizu is caught mid stride as he cuts across the rink to pick up the puck.

 

Gavin (left) and Noah (Right) are both breaking out the play towards the opponent. Gavin is the focus of this photograph while Noah streams up the rink as a supporting player.

 

Cody Bryant is blitzing up rink to support the play. The dark background outside of the rink puts the focus on him.

 

One of our players, Noah, is partially blurred while skating around before the game. Our D3 team plus or athletic trainer and head coach are watching the closing minutes of the game before theirs. The focus is on the player adjusting his gear as well as the goalie.

Greta Tu

I found one of my new favorite artists today, so I thought I would share him with you all. I have been, to my surprise, on Pinterest looking for some ideas on portrait photos, and photo shoots of people. I stumbled across Greta Tu, whose portraits inspire me, and he specializes in "travel photography and portraiture." He has some edits of black and white photos. Some of these photos extenuate the high contrast of black versus white that we have been experimenting with in class. He shows depth within the black and white photos which can easily get lost. Here is one of his pictures from his website.

Assignment 1

 This is my original photo. I took this photo of Gavin under the gazebo, and there was a huge puddle of water making a great reflection.    

I really manipulated the contrast here and added a sepia tone. This is my perfect picture; this gave a dark mystical mood to the picture.

 

Here I did a cool tone to give a cold feeling. Gavin is wearing a jacket here, so I capitalized on this feature.

 

I found the "Invert" effect which gives a night vision sort of look. This turned out better than I expected. I like how it looks deep into the night, and it looks like Gavin is being watched.

 

Here, also, gives a cold feeling but in a different sense. It almost feels a bit warmer than my cool tone picture.

 

I really played around with the contrast here to get a hazy fog atmosphere. 

Black and White

Before The Storm

This picture was taken right as a storm was rolling towards my house. A car was coming up the street, so I hastily put on a timer, and I changed the shutter speed along with the fstop. This allowed the car's headlights to look like a beam of light across the photo. The darkness of the sky, the lonesome big tree, and the way the lights hit the grass all make this photo balanced. Where there is light at the bottom, there is darkness at the top; this brings a light versus dark atmosphere to the photo.

Pretty Lights is one of my favorite music artists. His pictures he posts, some his and some of other photographers, heavily showcase the kinds of photos I want to learn to take.

About Me

My name is Adrian Bullard, and I have been playing hockey for 15 years. I am a car enthusiast, but not specific to one era. I am intrigued by all eras, makes and models of cars. I will some day build many different kinds of cars with my own unique style.This website shows many styles of cars I enjoy. Everyone says they want to travel, but rarely take the time or opportunity to do so; I am making traveling a priority.

My major at Bethel University is business management. With this major I plan to, after graduating, help my dad run his tool and die machinery business.