Artificial Light
An antique Prince of Wales mirror hangs from a wall inside a home on Beverly drive, reflecting the image of a debutante portrait and a family heirloom in Dallas, Texas on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. (Arden Eiland/SMU)
Diffuse Light
Keepsakes line the wall from a daughters floral artworks to a fathers profile in watercolor as a young boy to Le Club 55 table reservations from a summer abroad on display inside of a house in Dallas, Texas on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. (Arden Eiland/SMU)
Direct Light
Facing straight into the sun, Allison Wagner and Lucy Tilden stand next to each other in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 12, 2020. (Arden Eiland/SMU)
I really struggled with this project. I didn't know what I wanted to cover or communicate through my pictures or what I wanted them to be of. I had the hardest time with the Direct Light image. It was not super sunny any day recently and I struggled with finding a direct light to capture that wouldn't be from an artificial light. I had my other pictures done it is this one that was toehold up on me submitting this assignment. I think I overthought the whole assignment, which I tend to do. I also now realize that not every single picture I take has to/will portray my fashion magazine style pictures accurately. Not every picture has to follow that aesthetic. I think I was a little intimidated by the examples given as well. I delayed my start of this for a bit which ultimately set me off track. I could break my mind away from thinking I needed my pictures to be like those of the examples. I am happy with the images I did capture and I think I successfully attempted this assignment.
For my artificial light image, I played around with the idea of having people in my image. Ultimately I veered away from that because, in most cases, my models for my images are people I know and they don't particularly know how to act natural infant of a camera -nor want to. I captured the chandelier in my parents dining room of which is from my grandparents home in Snyder, Texas. This picture captures the wallpaper my parents dining room is covered in, of which has followed us to every house we have lived in since I can remember. I wanted to capture this antique mirror my mom found that is a Prince of Wales mirror. She estimates it to be from the 1800s. I love how it looks because it actually reminds me a lot of the mirrors used in photoshoots and stores of LoveShackFancy, a company that is the tip top of my dream jobs list of photographing. You can also see in this image my own debutante portrait. It's funny how a lot of this ties in together. You can tell my dress is blue, which just so happens to be because of my great grandmother, Alice, whom I referred to in Assignment 1: Self Portrait. In Alices house in Snyder, Texas which is where my family is from and why I included cowgirl boots in the last assignment, the master bedroom had these long blue curtains. Ever since middle school I had said I wanted to use the fabric from the curtains to make my senior year prom dress. It was the most beautiful blue satin it wasn't sky blue but it wasn't azure. It was a grayish blue. Anyways, I didn't end up using it for my prom dress and for my debutante dress we get to design them completely on our own. Personally, I think I could have hightened the ISO to make it brighter. I still really like what I conveyed and how I framed the image.
I had a rough weekend emotionally, it was my birthday. Usually my birthday is a very happy and positive day, I used to love my birthday. However, the end to my birthday last year has had detrimental effect on me ever since. It's been a whole year now. Emotions were of high highs and low lows. I spent a lot of time with my parents -a perk to not having gone far from home for college. I think the diffused light image was inspired by all the time I have been spending at home. To feel safe and surrounded by what I know. This wall is located in the kitchen of my parents house. On it you will see two artworks of mine from High School: one watercolor and one colored pencil. Two watercolors of places in Italy my mom found while abroad that she liked. A photograph of my great grandmother, Alice, whom I referred to previously. A table reservation card stating my last name and the time of our reservation from Le Club 55, a beach club in Saint-Tropez that my mom got framed. Next to it is a profile watercolor my dad had made when he was younger. It was when he was seven years old at the Fort Worth Stock Show having come all the way from his small town of Snyder, Texas in West Texas. Directly below that is a mask my mom picked up when she went on a trip to Europe alone November of 2021. It is a handmade paper-mache mask from Venice. I think it's funny what my mom has decided to collect and display on this wall. She has much more collected items she wishes to add but she is still deciding how she wants to place them. I think I illustrated the diffused image successfully in that there is not any harsh shadows but kind of shading like you feel like its your own eyes. Since it is imperfect as one might lighten or edit the image to be more planned. I didn't want to exhibit that I wanted it to feel natural. Something I think I did well in was incorperating elements that hold significance to me while still sucessfully expressing the assignment.
Direct Light. Ugh. This was by far the hardest part of this project for me. Like I mentioned I feel like there wasn't as much direct light recently from the sun. It has been pretty gloomy. I tried countless of different options for this part and none of my images encapsulated directional light. I am using a picture I took probably in 2020 of my friends because I know it exhibits directional light and I know you would not have approved of the pictures I took intending for this because of how bad they turned out. I also would not want to share those because they are so bland and nothing. I hope I don't get in trouble for using a picture from a while ago but it is my picture so I am hoping it is ok. I really do like this picture. I love the way I captured direct light and the way I framed my image. This picture is of my two high school best friends and I had my camera and was at the time taking pictures for our high school yearbook, The Highlander. I loved how crisp the shot was and the lighting, I never touched the image. It is definitely one of my favorites I've taken. I think I made it very interesting. I think next time I want to capture direct light I just must be prepared on a sunny day to have my camera.
