15 November 2012

Accumulation of the Last Six Months!

Fair Warning: This post may end up being super long. If you don't have time to read, then scroll down to see the pictures of work I have been doing throughout this quarter of school. Thanks <3

Well now, It has been that long, hasn't it. So, I suppose I should tell you much has changed in the last six months. The biggest change, is getting back into school. I sold my car ( :-( ) and used some of that money to pay for this quarter at the Art Institute. The second biggest change, and possible a dumb one, is I quit my job at McLeod Construction and ended up getting a job at The Home Depot. My motivation to get hired at THD was mainly because I thought they had an employee discount. Why not work at the place you will be buying all the material to fix your house up with, huh? Well, turns out, they have no such incentive. I've been there for the past two months, and literally, there is NO incentive to work for this company other then to have a job. Oh well, I am grateful that I have a job. Now that I don't have a car, I don't think I can work for McLeod even if I wanted to.

On to a much more happier subject. I am not miserable, just poor. For now. But what student isn't? I am thoroughly enjoying my classes this quarter. I was disappointed to learn one of my favorite teachers from my last quarter here was let go. I wish him luck in his future. He was an amazing teacher and I'm glad that I still have all the notes from his class. They certainly will come in handy in the years to come. This quarter I am in Photojournalism, Advanced Lighting, History of Photography and Nutritional Science. So far, everything is going great and they can only get better. At least three out of my four classes are pushing me in ways that I don't normally go. Which ways are that, you might be wondering? Well, I am not one to stand up and speak in front of a class, for one. Two, I don't normally go up to random people and ask, "Hey! Can I take your picture? It's for one of my classes". I used to think I was out going, until I actually had to do stuff like this. Fortunately for me, I am doing it and the more I do it, the easier it is getting.

So on to the juicy stuff! I am going to put some images up from my photo-jo class as well as my lighting. Just to let you know ahead of time, though some of these photos may look good to you (i.e., my lighting ones) I am going to let you in on a secret. I had to reshoot EVERY single one of them. *sigh* It's a good thing I no longer have a car and have to get up with Jared. I end up having to spend my entire day here in Seattle! So, on with the pictures!

This is from my Black on Black shoot. Requirements: Photoshop RGB values MUST read 0,0,0.  Successful after the 3rd ReShoot!

This is from my Watch shoot. Requirements: Watch face must be completely lit with no signs of the camera or light box. Successful after the 2nd shoot. A little side note, when I printed this picture my teacher gave me lots of praise :-D

This is from my Flatware shoot. Requirements: The face of the fork must be completely lit, with no black areas on fork or tines. Also, the set up MUST fit a layout EXACTLY. Success has not been achieved yet as I have not had a reshoot for this assignment yet.

The Main building for the Guided Tour through Chateau St. Michelle.
This series was taken for my photojournalism class.

It's Christmas time at Chateau St. Michelle!

Me, holding my wine to the light to inspect it's clarity.
Gram, you would thoroughly enjoy this one.  

A fellow tourist, posing for me for my assignment.
Thank you, Lady. I wish I had gotten your name.

This is the Riesling and an unsuspecting tourist. This image was selected to be in my class magazine, "This Week Magazine"

Again, another unsuspecting tourist. Although, he did look at me. My teacher liked this shot, but my editors did not.

These three ladies were on the tour with Jared, Jade and I. The little ol' lady was super sweet. We chatted for a little while and her companions and I exchanged quick words before they wondered away.

THIS is a new release. Unfortunately, at the end of our tour, they were closing down. Fortunately enough for me though, as a tasting of this particular wine cost $20! A bottle, if I remember correctly, cost over $100.

Design shot. I moved the sign so I could get a better shot. 

I asked these gentlemen if I could photograph them as they walked around the display. They agreed, but I was expecting more action. Ah well.

This was our tour guide. Crazy enough, this woman grew up in Welsley, MA!

Two slaves from oak barrels. The one on the left is American Oak, a barrel runs for $500. The stave on the right is French Oak and runs for $1,000.  

This is where we found out that at Chateau St. Michelle, the only wine they produce is their Chardonnay. 


Here she is telling us where the grapes are grown, and at which wineries Chateau St. Michelle's wines come from.

Time to taste the rewards!

Air-ration: the process of swirling the wine to let the oxygen back into it. This will allow you to smell the pungency of the wine. 

So, there you have it. I will probably post a little later because two of my photos could not be uploaded since they were too big. Right now, I must get going. It's studio time! Hopefully I will be able to post more often, since I will be spending a substantial amount of "free" time at school. We no longer have internet at the house, so I will be relying solely on the AIS connection to the outside world. Although, If I take my computer to Starbucks and buy a coffee, I could syphon off their free wi-fi as well. Either way, I am going to make a seriously hard effort to start posting more often. At least, I will try not to let six months pass before I post again.

For now, take care of each other! I love you all!
-Bean