For this assignment we had to create an image in just over an hour that could be used for the front page of the local section. The photo had to be something that didn't need to have a story to go with it, just a short caption.
Cosmo De Amor, plays his fiddle in the Fairhaven District on Tuesday afternoon, filling the cold air with warm Southern sounds.
A City of Bellingham employee helps shovels dirt beneath the tires of a car that was struck by another and became stuck. The days after the first snowfall are filled with car accidents, said Mark Browrigg, another city employee helping at the scene.
"These are pretty treacherous conditions," Brownrigg said. "The ice is what really gets people, not necessarily the snow."
For this week's project we were directed to either capture a stand alone photo or create a photo illustration. I chose to pursue the photo illustration to be able to demonstrate multiple skills in photography and graphic design.
It's a love - hate relationship.
Photo manipulation has been around almost since the beginning of photography, said an article from graphicssoft.about.com. With continuous advances in photo technology it is almost effortless to create an image demonstrating an event that hasn’t actually happened.
Stacie Rennert, 22, helped to demonstrate the ease that programs such as Photoshop bring to photographers, graphic designers, advertising agency and so forth with this image displaying her multiple personalities by acting out her “dark” and her “peaceful” personalities.
“Photoshop is a wonderful tool for creative modeling shots,” Rennert said. “It is me acting out my own characters without being the actual me, its fun.”
These tools are helpful for art and modeling based photos but these same tools have been used to manipulate photos used by very reputable organizations including National Geographic and multiple news organizations. One very famous instance is the cover of National Geographic displaying the pyramids on the cover of the magazine in a way that is impossible to actually photograph.
What one sees may not be the truth, but rather an inaccurate representation or a completely false occurrence. One must be wary of what they are looking at to be sure they are not being misled by a journalist or editor trying to sway a person to believe one thing over another.
In this assignment we had to capture motion, either completely still or by showing the movement.
Travis Petrie, 23, does a backside smith grind.
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Several people were trespassing near the fish hatchery Sunday at an abandoned building foundation to skateboard and build objects for skateboarding on.
Travis Petrie, 23, was among the crowd of six skateboarders who had scaled a fence with multiple no trespassing signs to access the building foundation where they wanted to perform their skateboard maneuvers.
“Skateboarding is something I believe in,” Petrie said. “That includes the progression of the legality of it. If that means risking harassment, tickets or getting arrested, that’s what has to happen.”
The skateboarders were grinding a ledge that had been built by skaters who had previously visited the vacant location. They were also doing flip tricks over a gap in the concrete.
Travis Petrie, 23, performs a 360 flip over a gap.
“Skateboarding is an art form,” Petrie said, “It never gets boring. I skate for the same reason I eat, I have to.”
Travis Petrie does a kick-flip backside tail-slide.
In this assignment we had to capture honest emotion.
Bellingham, Wash. -- As part of the City of Bellingham’s Ten in ’10 Initiative the city is offerings tax credits and cash rewards of various levels to businesses that offer ride share programs or purchase bus passes for employees as well as apartment complex owners who provide the bus passes for tenants of their buildings.
City of Bellingham transportation planner Chris Comeau, 45, responds to questions after a presentation Tuesday evening at Sustainable Connections about parking and transportation incentives that are being offered. The goal of the program is to reduce traffic with the help of local businesses.
“If someone is part of car-share program they will actually drive less.” Comeau pressed when speaking on the importance of these programs to help reduce vehicle trips and traffic.
The presentation was given to an audience of about 20 people including, city workers, local developers and residents of Bellingham. This was the first presentation given on the transportation incentives and will be continually revised based on feedback from the public until an agreed upon version is complete.
In this assignment we were directed to create an enviornmental portrait of a subject. We were to use the person and their surroundings to show who they are and what they are like and do like. I met this man, Carl Capua-Breeden and formed this photograph.
I went with some friends on Saturday to go do some skateboarding photography in Everett, Wash., and one of my buddies brought this man, Carl Capua-Breeden, 24, who films and edits skateboard videos.
After a day of skateboarding, a small group of us returned to Capua-Breeden’s house to review footage from that afternoon. What got him into being a skateboard videographer? Simple, he grew up with skateboarding and watching skate videos and simply wanted to produce his own.
“Skateboarders see the world differently than your average Joe,” Capua-Breeden said. “To try and materialize that is pretty rad, and challenging,” he said.
It is taking something that is already liked and expanding on it, he said. To make it your art and your vision is rewarding, Capua-Breeden said.
In this assignment we were instructed to meet people on the streets or anywhere we could find them and ask them the question "If money wasn't an object, what would be your dream job?" I decided to find people at work and ask them this, to give a little context to their reaction. In most cases these people perform jobs in which there was much training or certification. Let's see what they had to say!
Steve Hate – Tattoo artist
As a skilled tattoo artist 33-year-old Steve Hate said he loves his job, on Wednesday he said that if there was anything else he could do it would be a pilot, but not just any pilot.
“I would be a World War II pilot, something more hands on then fighter pilots of today,” Hate said. “You get to fly and shoot guns, and you get to do it for a cause.”
Ian Krause - Red Berry Ice Cream
I like what I do now. If money wasn’t an object then I wouldn’t care, I just like to work with people,” said Ian Krause, 20.
When explained the question, that he could do anything he wants and he wouldn’t have to worry about money he said he understood, “I just love working with people and I get to do that here.”
Diana P. – Bartender
Diana, 28, is one to look at the glass half empty, and then fill it up for you. As a bartender she is constantly engaged with customers and filling orders. On Wednesday, when asked what her dream job would be she responded without hesitation.
“I would be a photographer for National Geographic, she said. “I feel like I would never stop learning.”
Daniel Devenport -Street magician
With views on the general public regarding the deterioration of society, street magician Daniel Devenport, 29, of Reno, NEV. put on a show for a small crowd in downtown Bellingham on Wednesday before explaining that magic can help fix society.
“I am pursuing my dream job, I want to be a successful magician,” Devenport said. “I would build people. Magic makes people think, handle themselves in a new way, the old way isn’t working and its time to start a new one and move away from money.”
With all the quarters he pulls out of people’s ears, it is possible that Devenport could be pulling his version of a good society together, one trick at a time.
Summer Huntington, - Yoga instructor
You don’t always have to switch careers to work your dream job; sometimes a change in where and how will suffice. On a lunch break 26-year-old Summer Huntington demonstrated a few moves, Wednesday outside the Yoga studio where she is an instructor in Bellingham. So what is her dream job? Yoga instructor.
“I want to work at a commune as a yoga leader, “ Huntington said. “Somewhere where people live off the land and are self-sufficient.”
Huntington is moving to New York City next month in pursuit of a better career within the field. She said she hopes to produce he own Yoga DVDs in the near future while working toward her ultimate goal.
Lisa DeAnnuntis –Parking Enforcement
Lisa DeAnnuntis, a parking enforcement officer with the Bellingham Police Department wanted her old job back when asked the question: “If money wasn’t an object, what would your dream job be?”
“I would like to go back to being a flight attendant,” she said. “I love to travel and you get to work with all kinds of great people.”
She switched careers to be with her four children more often, even though “you only have to work 15 to 17 days a month in the air.”
Amongst the students at Western Washington University is Joshua Osterhaus, 34, a self-proclaimed “Christian freak” who wants to hear your thoughts on religion, no bars held. In short unannounced filmed interviews Osterhaus aims to find out what the Western population knows about religion.
"I am not challenging people about what religion they believe in, just what they already believe in," Osterhaus said . "It doesn't bother me if you are religious or not, hypocrisy is what bothers me."
He said he just wants people to know that there are rules to being Christian and he says that you can't follow some and not others. Osterhaus runs a YouTube channel, which showcases the conversations he films with random subjects that focus on all topics of religion. He isn't out to change who you are, he says, he just wants to see what you know about your own beliefs. If you say no thanks to his interview, he won't have hard feelings.
With a simple inquiry to draw conversation, such as “Do you have any questions about religion?” Osterhaus will try and talk with anybody who will give him the opportunity. He said he likes to hear from people of all beliefs and that he likes to learn as much as he likes to teach.
