Ed Vatza Nature and Graffiti

Ed Vatza is a nature photographer.  I ran across this photographer and his images while investigating another photographer, Tony Sweet.  When I think of a nature photographer, I imagine flowers, trees and bodies of water.  Ed Vatza does plenty of that... 

... but the image that initially caught my eye doesn't fall into that kind of category.   The image below is from a section titled "Graffiti Underground" called "Ghostly Apparition."  He took this as part of Tony Sweet's photography workshop.  I thoroughly enjoyed the images of graffiti.  This one makes me want to learn more about superimposing photographs.    

I find it oddly beautiful how this journey Kate is taking us on to broaden our horizons and find what inspires us has so many possible twists and turns.  I hope that I keep finding treasure like these with every fork in the road.

My progress

So, just to keep a timeline on my progress... I'm not sure if I'm any better as a photographer, but I do think I am more educated on how it works.  It's much more than snapping pictures on "automatic."  I sincerely hope that I continue to improve over the next couple of months.  I'm a little frustrated with myself because I can't seem to pick up on this as fast as others have.  It's not Kate's fault, that's for sure.  She is a great instructor and really knows her stuff.  I hate wasting her time to ask her to repeat stuff over and over again when she has so much she needs to teach us in class.  Everything just seems to fly out of my head so fast!  Guess that's why I've avoided going back to school since graduating High School.    

I'm in class 100% of the time and come to lab a lot in between so I can keep up on things... and also to keep practicing things so I can try and keep it fresh.  I have ups and then I have downs.  The most recent downer was when I came for lab last Saturday.  I wanted to print some of the Light & Form photos I took and I had to leave without doing them because I couldn't remember how to print :( But I was happy that I managed to get them imported!  Hey, I have to pat myself on the back for any successful moments, no matter how small.  Practice makes perfect and I don't want to give up.  I know I'll get better at this eventually.

  

Half the Sky

I watched Half the Sky over the weekend.  It is unfathomable that things like this are happening. I plan to share this story with as many people as I can.  Perhaps if we all share this with one or two friends, the ripple effect will help increase awareness.    http://www.halftheskymovement.org/pages/film

Alan Babbitt - Light and Motion

I really enjoy seeing light and motion captured in a photo!  The work below are images from Alan Babbitt, another artist that I'm now in love with.  In addition to other health issues, he suffers from Parkinson's.  When he was first diagnosed he wasn't sure he'd be able to continue to work as a photographer.  Rather than let the hand tremors beat him, he chose to make them an integral part of his work.  You can see some of his work and read more about him here...  http://www.abproductions.com

Devyn Brown

I am posting these images because they are some of my most favorite drawings and/or photoshop work done by up and coming tattoo artist, Devyn Brown.  She's not famous (yet) but these images inspire and intrigue me.   http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/devyn%20brown

Fear of Insanity

Fear of Spiders (or not)

Role Reversal (photo shop)

Self Portrait (ink and watercolor)

Carol Guzy

I am so glad my previous post on Carol Guzy worked :)  I have been doing a lot of searching for artists and/or photographers since class first started.  I've compiled a list of about 20 that I am interested in learning more about.  I just hadn't blogged about any of them yet because I wasn't sure I could figure this stuff out.  Now that I know I can create links and post images I can get on with the job of blogging about them! As I may have mentioned, the first artist that really hit me on a gut level was Carol Guzy.  I can very much relate to her as an artist.  When I take a photo, I'm usually asking myself what story I'm trying to tell.  She inspires me to become even more aware of my surroundings, and the people in them.      

Carol Guzy #1

In searching for the weekly artists to feature on the class blog, I found Carol Guzy.  She was described as a photographer who is known for capturing 'feelings' in her images.  When  I started viewing some of her work, I was awestruck.  "It's important to remember," Carol Guzy says, "that they (pictures) are only tools. It's the people in the pictures and those who view them that are important."  This will be my first attempting at creating links, so I hope it works!

https://people.creighton.edu/~sbo05090/bookreport.html