Change of Heart

For the past two years I have been taking photography classes at UNLV which  focuses on the fine art aspect. This semester a commercial photo class has been offered by Sergio Checko to help the students at UNLV get a wider range of education and practice.  I have completely fallen head over heels for this type of photography.  We have had three assignments so far and I have felt very strongly about the outcome of each one. The first was just a play with lighting, shadows and shapes, the second was food, and the third was headshots of our classmates.  All done with hot lights and reflectors!  I have always been more prone to documentary photography and attracted to landscape and wildlife photography, but was never able to act upon it because the classes I was taking required me to search my mind for fine art.  I have no problem with what I have been taught so far; in fact, I am glad that I was pushed to explore fine art before jumping right into commercial, it made me appreciate what other people can do. However, now that it has been introduced to me,  I am very excited to say that I have found my niche.  I will always shoot in documentary form and somewhat in fine art, since my eye has been trained to view things in this way, but my focus will be to shoot commercially for local people and hopefully a magazine.

I would love to work for National Geographic some day. I do think that with more experince I will be able to do so.   I decided to take four more classes in different fields of commercial photography after I graduate in December 2009.  I will be attending CSN to further my knowledge in the field of my future career.  When I open my own freelance photography business, it will be called Nativelea Photo. Keep an eye out and hopefully I’ll see ya soon!

Dawning of a New View

It has been a while since I have last written, but I feel it necessary to give the world an update on my new perspective on photography.

There have been many life changing events this summer for me, and they have all impacted me in an emotional and artistic way.  In my Intermediate Black & White photography class, I used a lot of control in my work and not a lot of feeling.  Don’t get me wrong I like the work I have done; each photo shows a little bit more of my learning experience.  This semester I am enrolled in Advanced Black & White Photography with Catherine Angel and I have already used a new method for my shooting.  I plan to incorporate my feelings into the photo; therefor, creating a more emotional experience for my viewer.

Now that I am living on my own, with no roommates and only the person on the phone as my company, I have had more time to myself to analyze what I would like to convey in my art.  I have always told people that the whole reason I photograph so many things is because I like to share the feeling I felt at that moment with someone else.  Then I realized I was not putting my heart into my work, I was simply doing the assignments.  Which may get me a grade, but it won’t make me proud of my work. Although I have recently gained a new feeling of confidence and appreciation for my time in Las Vegas, Nevada, my heart lies in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and I miss it dearly.  So why shouldn’t I show that in my work?  I should that is the point.

As soon as I get a moment to digitally photgraphy my new print style I will pot some pictures and hopefully get some feedback; positive or negative, I appreciate both.

Exposure 4

So, UNLV is putting on an exhibition of art work from the advanced and intermediate black and white photography classes. Three of my pieces have been selected as a maybe, but it is possible that one of them goes into the yes pile. I am hopeful. It would be nice to put on a resume. Anyways, if anyone would like to go and see the exhibition. Here are the details:

Exposure 4

Showing April 14-25

Opening Reception: Thursday April 17th, 6-9 p.m.

In the Grant Hall Gallery.

Very exciting. I hope some of you can come.

Marine Cruelty and Public Expression

I never understood why people would harm an animal; they are defenseless and vulnerable. Not that I want people to see the event, but this video is vital to the seriousness of this act. One marine has clearly shown the world how he has chosen to represent himself as a person of the U.S. military. What kind of sick person kills something so innocent, and not only that, he videotaped it! I am glad the act was witnessed, so he does not go unpunished. But it is sad to me that now the marines are going to be stereotyped more so than before. This one marine, if we shall even call him that, has tainted the views of many Americans with this act of cruelness. I do not know what sort of punishment is in hold for this man, but I hope it is enough to alter any future decisions of animal cruelty made by military personnel.

The public deserves the right to express themselves about this horrific incident. If anyone should like to contact the Marines Public Affairs, his name is Major General Robert E. Milstead, Jr, director of public affairs, and this is his email address: robert.milstead@usmc.mil. These specifics were derived from a blog written by the ASPCA.

Black and White

I recently started my courses for the spring semester at UNLV. I also recently started my job at Chili’s as a hostess; hopefully a soon-to-be server. I am taking intermediate black and white photography, oil painting, kick boxing, second level voice class, and a survey of art history. So with just work and school on my plate, I am an extremely busy lady. To add onto that, I have a boyfriend of three and a half years to see once in a while. Through all this stress, I have come to love my black and white photo class. Even thought it is very demanding I have already learned so much from my teacher; Catherine Angel. I hope I can manage my time well enough to sleep and eat on a regular basis this semester. Wish me luck!

Photography Internship of 2008

Just to let my readers know, here is an example of the kind of photography I wish to do when I start my career. I applied for a National Geographic Internship that starts this upcoming summer. I will know by the end of March if I am awarded this internship or not. I will keep you posted.

The internship is held in Washington D.C., and pays about $500 a week. It is fully photography, and they send the interns on assignments, all travel expenses are paid for. The one thing I will have to pay for if I go, is the living costs; that is what loans are for! There are two total internships available and one of them is automatically offered to the winner of the College Photographer of the Year contest; a list of the winners is presented here. I hope I get this internship, it would be the opportunity of a life time. If not, I guess there is always next year! Cross your fingers for me!

Joe the Bulldog

My grandfather, or Papa , Joseph Plumer passed away on December 9, 2007. He was a very sweet and encouraging grandpa. He got a kick out of me calling him Papa. He would sign his holiday cards as Papa especially for me! Him and I shared a passion for English Bulldogs. I would buy a Zelda Wisdom Calendar for him every Christmas. He always wanted to own an English Bulldog, but never had the chance. When I was last with my Papa, I told him that I would own an English Bulldog some day and I would share it with him. Now that I can not share my bulldog with beloved Papa, I made an ode that I would name my first English Bulldog Joe. It saddens me to know that he is gone. I cry from time to time knowing that I can not call and hear his laugh on the other end. He was already cremated and his service is over; however, the burial of his urn must wait until the ground has thawed in New Hampshire. When my family buries his urn, I will place a Zelda Wisdom book and a copy of the sonnet I wrote for his service in with it. I miss and love him a lot. Someday my bulldog Joe and I will go and visit my Papa at his resting place. Until then, Rest in Peace.

My Papa Joe and I

Photo Taken by Jessica Plumer.

Pondering about Noah’s Wish

With Christmas break approaching, I have been thinking about what I will do with my extra time. I will be working full time to save up as much money as possible, but I need something else to keep my busy. Since I can not donate to the ASPCA anymore, I was thinking maybe I will try to get involved with a volunteer animal foundation of some sort.

When the Southern California fires were still ablaze, one of my classes assigned a project to blog about something related to the fires. I wanted to do the animal aspect, then a classmate informed me of a foundation called Noah’s Wish. I interviewed a woman who worked there, and she told me a lot about the organization. Originally, I was interested about an event that Noah’s Wish organized with Station Casinos to collect items for the animals rescued from the fires. It turned into an interview about Noah’s Wish itself.

The interview covered what they do, how they do it and, using the California Fires as an example, how they deal with disasters. Anyone may listen to the interview by clicking here and pressing the play button in the gray box to the right.

Photo from Noah’s Wish Website.

The interview made me interested in volunteering for them, so I read about their volunteer program on the website. I found that they conduct their own training sessions for those who volunteer. They give you a complete list of dates, places, and times of when they will do their next in-field training.

I am seriously considering this option. I am going to try to get in touch with them some time next. If you are interested in volunteering, check out their website! I would think that they will take all the help they can get.I will keep you posted about what happens!

Audio, Step-By-Step to Your Blog

In order to upload audio to a WordPress blog you need to do a few things.

 

Step One: Upload the audio from whatever device you used into your computer. Make sure you know where your audio files have been sent.

 

Step Two: Convert the audio file to an mp3 file. To do this, you may use Switch. Switch is a free program that can be downloaded here.

 

Step Three: Edit your audio in audacity, which can be downloaded for free here. Once you audio is ready for the public, save it, and remember where you put it.

 

Step Four: Ourmedia.com is a website that allows people to upload there own media and publish it. Once you create a username and password, you need to click on the upload tab at the top of the page. Also, to be able to complete the next step, you need to create a membership here. Once you have created a membership, you may proceed to the next step.

 

Step Five: Download and create and account with spinXpress here. Once the download is complete, open spinXpress and click on Publish in the left-hand column. This will set you up with step-by-step instructions to get your audio hosted by ourmedia.com.

 

Step Six: When the Ourmedia Publisher window is finished uploading your audio, it will prompt you to click Next. Once you click Next, another screen opens that contains two URL’s, both of which your audio can be reached on the internet. However, the first link that starts with http://www.ourmedia… is more confusing than the second link, which starts with http://www.archive…. Select the second link for easier access to the audio.

 

Step Seven: Locate the audio box on the website that spinXpress has relocated you to. Press the triangle to hear your audio. It should play!

Step Eight: Write your blog as you would normally, and when it comes to linking someone to your audio, highlight the word that will lead people to your audio, insert the URL link that contains your audio box and voila audio link to your blog!

It may seem difficult, but if I can do it, anyone can!

iChat Lasica

Monday night, Charlotte Anne Lucas and her digital storytelling class at UNLV spoke with, social media icon, JD Lasica through ichat. He spoke with us about the benefits of our class and how awesome it is that Charlotte Ann Lucas is willing to teach us. The things our class covers are very modern, involving blogs and incorporating audio/video into them and most teachers that Lasica has come across want to steer clear of these things.

Lasica is a co-founder of ourmedia.com; this website allows people to upload and publish their own videos, photos, audio and text. He told us about some of his upcoming projects. There is going to be a website called bid-for-bid, and it will allow people to create job listings as well as apply for them. Each applicant will bid for the job and the most qualified “bidder” will be offered the position. This website should be open within a week or so.

Lasica also informed us of a new section of ourmedia.com that will be unfolding soon. It entails users being able to create their own portfolio with the media that they have created using ourmedia.com.

He gave us some pointers on what will be important to know and what type of journalism will be useful in the near future

Lasica also wrote about our discussion on his blog. Thank you JD!