Reflected Light

 
In the first class of the spring semester, IPC Visual Lab instructor CW Griffin challenged us to manipulate natural light before we started thinking about picking up strobes. For our first homework assignment, we had to find a surface that would reflect light, then use that surface to create a portrait in which the subjects were lit by light through a window and backlit by light through a window. 
 

The kids' easel in my brother's home had one side that was plain white, and standing next to a window, it reflected light even on a cloudy, rainy day. I had my brother sit with the window lighting the left side of his face, then I had him sit as close to the easel as possible so that the white surface lit up the right side of his face. I also had the children stand facing the easel, with their backs to the window, so that the white surface illuminated their little faces. The results   were softly lit portraits of people I love.

I found another reflective surface - one of my brother's computer screens. In a darkened room, from less than 2 feet away, the screen lit up my brother's face as much as a strobe. The result was a dramatically lit headshot that uniquely utilizes the tools my brother and I use the most - a computer and a camera.

Editor's Note:  Ms. Jennifer Kay is finding light in unusual places by utilizing reflective materials and
unorthodox light sources.  Hence, she creates a natural feel and ambiance when she takes advantage of all the light that is available without over powering her subjects.

The Purple Court

Photo by JKay at the Sony Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne.

I was sitting high up in the stands with the zoom maxed out on my point-and-shoot camera. Since I wasn't going to get great detailed shots of the players during points, I tried to focus on some of the tournament's more quiet details. When the new crew of ball boys and ball girls started their lap around the court during a changeover, I knew they would line up with the alley and that their uniforms would contrast nicely with the tournament's unique color scheme.

IPC VISUAL LAB SPRING SEMESTER

This 10-week photography program is a total immersion experience designed to provide instruction and hands-on training in the art of digital photography. Students are encouraged to be creative, but are also taught to think of each project as a concise statement of artistic, documentary, and/or journalistic intent. You will learn concepts that range in scope from beginner theory on the technical control of your camera settings to advanced topics in post- production & composition. Personalized attention and review is provided by award winning photojournalists Carl Juste and C.W. Griffin, whose teaching approach is refreshing, fun and very engaging.

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.  You can email us at ipcvisuallab@gmail.com.

Catching the Sun

IPC Visual Lab student Tomas Hauff is fascinated by the sun as it slowly ascends into the the morning sky.  For past few months, Hauff has transformed his morning cycling escapades into a subject of visual enterprise.  "No two sunrises are the same" proclaims Hauff as he documents the ordinary into spectacular collective images of sunrises.  Hauff makes the sun his primary subject hoping to catch the visual promise of a better day.  




Hauff quickly learned of the upcoming hybrid eclipse and knew that the capturing of this eclipse would require research and technical improvisation. So began the great experiment of placing sheets of wielding glass together and mounting them in front his zoom lenses. Though Hauff had preferred to have long glass, the experiment yield still an amazing image of the special hybrid eclipse of 2013.






The Greek poet, Homer, understood the power and beauty of the sun and wrote about its travels as the Greek god, Helios, who gives light both to gods and men: he rises in the east from Oceanus, though not from the river, but from some lake or bog (limnê) formed by Oceanus, rises up into heaven, where he reaches the highest point at noon time, and then he descends, arriving in the evening in the darkness of the west, and in Oceanus. (Il. vii. 422, Od. iii. 1, &c., 335, iv. 400, x. 191, xi. 18, xii. 380.) Source: http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Helios.html

On Sunday, November 3, 2013 at 6:48am Hauff captured the hybrid eclipse of 2013 from Matheson Hammock just as the sun and the moon emerged from behind the low hanging thick clouds that was covering the horizon. It was a partial solar eclipse, one of only two this year. It started in Africa, crossing the Atlantic. In the US it could only be seen from the East Coast as this was the end of the eclipse's path.  The hybrid eclipse of 2013 was visible from only within a thin corridor, which traverses the North Atlantic and equatorial Africa. It was seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes eastern North America, northern South America, southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa according to NASA official website.

Beach Ballot 2

Vote in the comments - which one of these images would you include in an installation highlighting the color and character of South Beach in the early mornings?

 

Jennifer Kay has embarked on this multimedia project exploring her neighborhood in video and still images. She started this project to share the South Beach she experiences every day, focusing on the elements of light and space in the early mornings. 

 

In preparation for an exhibition, we are asking the public to assist in the selection of final still images to accompany the video "Sunrise Beach." In this second installment, which of these three images from Ocean Drive would you select for an exhibition? Before making your selection, please view the video that inspired this project: http://vimeo.com/74517861

Beach Ballot 1

Jennifer Kay has embarked on this multimedia project exploring her neighborhood in video and still images. She started this project to share the South Beach she experiences every day, focusing on the elements of light and space in the early mornings. 

In preparation for an exhibition, we are asking the public to assist in the selection of final still images to accompany the video "Sunrise Beach." In this first installment, which of these three images from South Pointe Park would you select for an exhibition? Before making your selection, please view the video that inspired this project: http://vimeo.com/74517861

Vote in the comments!

Young Teacher

What does a 4-year old knows?  More than you think.

Miles a curious, self determined, and precocious 4-year old tagged along for a 90-minute
photography class at the Little Haiti Cultural Center.  At first, like most children, Miles bounced
around peering, pulling, and pushing objects but not being too disruptive as the instructors conducted class.  To our amusement, Miles often echoed phrases and words he heard during instruction.

After the tutorial period, each student was given an specific color to photograph and was released out to the neighborhood in search of their subjects.  I thought maybe it would be interesting to hand over my precious Lumix camera to Miles in order to give him an activity to occupy his time and his endless source of energy.

Miles quickly grabbed the camera and started pressing the buttons while gazing at the Lumix as if it was a puzzle.  Little fingers all over the front glass, Miles looked up and smiled.  I wondered what are
his expectations?  What would he capture and would there be anything worth viewing?

The teacher was transformed to student, as I followed this visual curious young person and started relearning the importance to photograph with curiosity.  He pointed to the left, right, up, down, through, and over objects.  Never saying much but just watching and probing.

Not once did I see any frustration or disappointment.  Miles just kept on being the curious boy and I became more fascinated about the outcome of his endeavors.

Later, I presented some of the images shot by this young visual story teller to the class and was astonished by his honesty, perspective, and curiosity.   Judge for yourself!  Let us know your thoughts?

Class dismissed!