Week 10- Good Ol' Get Together

This picture of my friend Karen was taken during at a board game night at my friend Daniels house. I chose this image because I saw great examples of color temperature in  a natural setting in this specific picture. I love how the lighting from the lamp we were using created this very warm tone while also giving a very dynamic composition on her face. There's a nice shadow on one side of her face, and she isn't completely washed out by the light as well. Meanwhile, in the background, you actually have a very cold kelvin temperature coming out fro ma different light source, I think it might be the overhead florescent lighting, or maybe even lighting from the fish tank that is creating it. Overall I just love how the colors meshed in this photo, as well as the color from Karen's shirt really popping out from that cold background. It really got me thinking more about how great cold and warm can mix in a really organic way, rather than in an artificial forced way that I first presumed it would be.

Week 10: Lighting a Legacy

I took the above photo at Newport Beach (sorry it’s out of focus).In the picture is the Ben Carlson memorial, a memorial honoring a lifeguard who’s life was cut short when he went to rescue a beachgoer from the tide and was swept under a wave. When looking at the statue, my eyes turned to the lights illuminating the memorial from below. Obviously, when creating a memorial for a deceased individual and attempting to honor their legacy, how the memorial is lit should be meticulously planned. I believe this lighting was. The way that the lights shine on Ben’s figure create a sort of angelic and glowing aura from before. Lighting the memorial from above or lighting it entirely would likely provide a more flat, less effective look, not to mention it would be much less convenient in terms of physical construction. Also, when I first thought about the lighting choice, the idea of the water that Ben worked in and lived came to my mind. He actually attended my high school and played water polo and was on the swim team, so although I don’t know him, I know he must’ve loved the water and life guarding, so the lighting can also be a sort of homage to that. Overall, I appreciate the lighting on this statue and believe that it helps to reinforce a very important and emotionally heavy subject.

Week 10-simple but not simple lighting

This photo is of my dashboard in my car at night. At first I was looking for something really cool and innovative to take a picture of. However, I hadn’t been on the lookout as much for just the little things I had thought something big will come to me and I’ll take a picture of it. So then as I waited for that big thing and nothing came I started to look around me and I saw my dashboard of my car. When I took the picture I noticed how beautiful and vibrant the colors looked at night. The way the purple surrounded the lights and looked reminded me of lights we used in class. I noticed how the purple looks peaceful yet striking and it made me think of how this could be used in theatrical lighting. I think that it is representative of power, but a fair power. I can see this lighting be used for a ruler that is in charge but also fair. Over the course of this class and looking at lighting so closely I have realized how influential color can be to create a feeling. The tone of the color especially makes a difference in how the audience will perceive it even if it in not a conscience realization. This more blue tone of purple in my picture means something completely different than a more warm toned purple. It was also interesting to see how the other colors such as the green and red stood out because of the tone of the purple in my picture. The red especially because it is more warm it contrasted the blueish purple and made it more apparent. This would be a good way to have something stand out on stage as well to have it be a completely different color tone. Overall, this picture, although simple, helped me see a lot about color and how it influences lighting.

Week 10: At A Stand Still

It has been raining a lot in SoCal and I have been loving it! Earlier in the week, on my commute home, the traffic was at a stand still. With everything out of my control, the only I could think to do was look at the sky. It had been raining that morning and continued sporadically throughout the day. Gentle rain started to come down and the sky began to open up. The sun peaked through but the darkness of the evening still remained. I had never seen something turn so beautifully within a span of a couple seconds. When doing my lighting project, I thought about this instance and how it related to fade times. If I hadn't seen this picture with its exact timing, I may not have felt the same way about it. The beautiful colors of the picture strike me every time I look at it on my phone.

Week 6: California Streaming

There is nothing I find more therapeutic than a nice hike with friends. This was a couple months ago in Monrovia Canyon Park. It was a grey day but I remember it more livelier than this picture may appear. There was a soft sunlight that creeped through trees and the sound of kids and dogs playing could be heard. The cool air made for an awesome hike for someone like me that tends to be warm. The green foliage is rich and full of life, the narrow stream adds another dimension of movement and I feel connected to the earth when I stand in the middle of it all.

Week 10: East Coast Cozy

I took this picture on my trip to New York last summer. It does not fully capture the moment I had at Top of The Rock at Rockefeller Center but it takes me back to the lovely views and perfect weather. It was noon and the sun shined bright, theres was a cool breeze and I decided to take a seat in the empty lounge. My feet were tired from all the walking and exploring and sitting felt like heaven. I remember feeling so peaceful and cozy I could have taken a nap on that bench.

Week 10: Look Again

This photo does not do the sunset justice but I promise it was breathtaking. So breathtaking that I spent a good forty-five minutes in a parking lot looking at it completely hypnotized. I just couldn’t stop staring at it. Look at those colors! I love how drawn I was to the pink and red, which I suppose are the warmest and smallest parts of the image but they was so vibrant that I couldn’t help it. I guess I do see warm colors first! Then when I stepped back, I was really amazed by the contrast between that bright center on the peeking horizon and the deep dark blues and purples that framed it. They seemed like two very opposing forces that shouldn’t be in the same image and yet here they were sucking me into another dimension (at least that’s how it felt). Then there is the soft yellow behind the clouds that links them beautifully. My absolute favorite part about this sunset — which is unfortunately not as obvious in the picture — is the small line of pink that outlines some of the clouds. On a first glance they are just purple and seem purely cold to me but when I look closer, there is this very warm, very thin frame that changes my perception of them. There is warmth beneath the cold, nothing is just one thing, everything has layers. My thoughts then wandered to reminding me to always give everything (situations, people etc.) more than one look because they are not always what they seem at a first glance.