Author: elikelso

Eli Kelso Final

The past 6 months have been nothing short of a cliff dive off the peak of the alps. I suffered a severe mental health episode in December. The struggle continued throughout spring break and once I was stuck in a place I couldn’t leave it only got worse. There wasn’t a lot that could genuinely even invoke a reaction from me. But collectively taking a hobby and adding purpose and context to it to allow me to better understand it has helped me in ways I can’t even begin to describe. Art is expression. Expression is therapeutic and it has been transcendent in growing to become a more rounded person. With the world going crazy and my own mother contracting the virus, for the first time in my life what was on the news was in my everyday life. My images that I have chosen speak to the time spent in isolation that has changed the world that we are currently living in.

Assignment 3

I was inspired by wildlife photographer Andrew Sproule. I love nature and being able to sit in it and capture wildlife interactions as they happen. His work is very soft yet while being clear and vibrant. I recently visited my favorite place since we are stuck in our hometowns and took some decent shots despite less than favorable light.

I feel like these turned out grainy and I’m always disappointed in that result. However i do think the elements I was trying to capture were fully visible in all of these. I do miss taking pictures of my friends. This quarantine is whack.

Assignment 2

The Inspiration

I chose the American sports photographer Charles M. Conlon. To be honest I struggled to find a sense of what i wanted to shoot for this project. I cannot stand a posed picture because 95% of the time it looks posed. I like candid and natural photos as I shy my camera work away from people. The biggest reasoning is I don’t want to have to direct the subjects of my photos. So action shots allow me to capture a moment as opposed to fabricating one.

I found it hard to balance the soft look with enough focus. But after playing with the lighting in post, as well as the colors I got the look I had in my head.

The light wasn’t ideal, but the contrast of the street signs, and lights made the evening shot worth it. I had trouble finding the right shutter speed and ISO as both me and my subjects were both moving. However after some fine tuning, I’m really happy with how they turned out. The depth was achieved with a relatively high aperture. In hindsight, I should’ve used and exposure that was higher for a brighter, clearer shot, however I wouldn’t have gotten the same effects from the lights.

Photo Assignment 1

The Inspiration

I favor nature photography, so I chose Ansel Adams for my inspiration. Adams was know for soft yet expressive nature stills. The photo I chose to imitate was “Oak Tree, Snowstorm” from his Yosemite collection.

The Imitation

My imitation lacked snow, so I sought to make the composition of the photo true to the inspiration. Adam’s photos are known for expressing the contrast between tones in nature with a soft overall focus. I went to the arboretum, and simply took some pictures that I thought really fit myself. I then searched Adams work for a similar photo and after a quick play with the highlights and the saturation I have my final product. I used a high aperture to try and get a fully focused shot. I got the softness by feathering the contrast along the light and dark edges. I like the similarities to Adams work, but I honestly love the aspects that make it mine the most.