Week 4 Tales of the Twitter

Last week there was this really cool event (if you're a nerd like me that is.) that was being hosted locally, so I decided to check it out. The series of events that lead up to this specific event, like all fun stories (and apparently now some of our foreign policy) began with some Twitter bickering. Two of the main voice actors for a a long running show that I grew up with called Dragon Ball Z, got into an argument about whose respective character was better. Naturally like two grown men in their 50's would do, they challenged each other to settle things in a video game of their own series that was luckily being released in a few weeks. So news of the promotional event spread, and it became a gigantic thing, that would be hosted here in Santa Ana and live streamed to hundreds of thousands of people. The event itself was densely packed with people, with the venue being lit with blues and some reds as well. I noticed that while those two colors were used to light a majority of the place, white light was only ever used if it was something that needed the focused pulled to it with the stage being the most obvious thing to focus in on. But some other things that were lit with white as well were things like exits, and restroom locations, which looking back on was an intentional decision to make these things easy to locate, something I wouldn't have noticed before. I definitely had a lot of fun seeing two great voice actors get involved with their fans by putting on a really fun amazing free event. There was also a themed bar, and a bunch of free things that were giving out, so definitely a plus there as well.

Week #4 Big River

This photo was taken on the highway running through Mendocino County as we drove over Big River. The contrast in dark browns and greens of the land with the bright whites and gloomy grays in the sky gave me the feeling of two worlds. The ground full of tangibility and life, but the sky had a feeling of forever-ness.

Week 4 - Gritty Night

So, as usual, I was up late not being able to sleep. I posted if anyone wanted to go on a late night photo shoot. Sonya responded and we went out on our journey. We stopped near the construction over in the Humanities department. Immediately, I was drawn to the overly cool lights that illuminated the scaffold covered ramp. The light gleamed bright in the dark of night. When posing Sonya, I noticed a beautiful backlight silhouette it was giving her. I loved the picture but had to add one little touch. I took out my LED panel and gently shined a red light on her. The mix of the stone cold backlight and the red fill light created not only a gritty look, but a look of mystery. The hard bluefish color with a soft red. When lighting, a lot of people immediately turn to red as it overpowers the image, but I wanted a viewer to be able to be drawn to both the kinds of lighting in this picture. Together, the contrast of blue(ish) vs. red, harsh vs. soft, created this beautiful image that can be interpreted in several ways, depending on the viewer.

Week 4: The Lights of Disney

Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Walt Disney World in Florida. It was one of the better trips I've taken as of late. So the first park we went to was Epcot (first picture) and it was beautiful. I had only been to Disney World once and we had only gone to one of the parks then, so the 2nd time around was extremely better. As soon as we were leaving the park, I absolutely had to get a picture of the giant, spherical symbol of Epcot. The way that they light it is brilliant. It looks like the light is coming from the inside of it, but I'm pretty sure they light it from the outside; I just have no idea how. (It might just be lit from the inside. idk.) I know that warmer light is supposed to draw our attention first, but when I look at this, my eyes go directly to the blue light on top. It almost looks like UV light, rather than just plain blue light. It's so bright and attention-grabbing. The other colors just seem to blend into each other for me.
The last two pictures are from one of the rides in I forget which park, but I just thought this was brilliant. These are light fixtures on the ceiling that mimic fireworks. Fricking genius! Seeing all of the different ways the imagineers light up the attractions in the parks and considering the time it took to make it all happen makes me appreciate the power of light more. You could literally do anything with light if you know how.

Week #4: Bright Lights in White Space

While settling in for the night, I began to turn off all the lights of the living room. Fortunately, I forgot to turn off the star lights sitting on the white shelf next to the tv. It caught my eye and immediately caused me to stop. I really began to notice the detail of the twine and the way the light shown through the shape of the jar. What also caught my attention was the transparency of the jar and the pattern the lights made. Even though there were only a couple lights, it was very intense. The pattern it made on the wall behind it also struck me. It was subtle but definitely gave off a certain feeling within the small space it was enclosed in.

Week #4 - Everyday rainbow

My mother owns here own business and is my absolute hero. She scarifies so much for her family and has built her career out of love and pure dedication. This weekend I was helping her around her office, which is an old historical house in my hometown. and as I was walking around I spotted these light pools on the floor coming in from this antique door. The pools were these round shapes that all seemed different but what they shared this rainbow coloring. I never noticed (or appreciated rather) that this door that could appear so mundane possessed the power to make something so beautiful.

The door was full of glass that acted like a prism. I became slightly obsessed with this light. It was a clear example of the visible color spectrum that we saw and discussed I class but more than that it was so comforting that this extraordinary display of light is the world my extraordinary mother lives in. 

Week #4 - Homesick

I took this photo last weekend on Sunday. I took the drive down to my hometown in San Diego, spent some time with my family and girlfriend, and had to drive right back. As I was unpacking my car, I came back outside and saw this lovely color in the sky. I loved the blending of three layers in the sky - we have the light blue at the top, the smoky navy in the middle, and the lovely pink at the bottom. And while that background  is nice and all, I also find it intriguing how there is the man-made lighting on the right side of the photo, with both the warm golds and the cool electric blues fighting for their space amongst the green foliage. I love this photo because it brings out feelings of quiet melancholy - I can almost remember how cool the air felt on my skin, and how life almost came to a stand still when I took that photo. One of my faves!