Damon Clarke

Damon Clarke is a macro nature photographer. He's known internationally for his work. 

He says, "I try to capture poignancy and gesture in my subjects. I want to connect people to the small world that is all around us and remind them of the smaller beauty that is so often missed. I try to bring happiness, awe or quiet contemplation into peoples lives."

His work has been featured in magazines, school textbooks, advertising, etc. He has been nominated for International Color Award's Photography Master's Cup for Wildlife Photographer Of The Year. 

Here's a link to his website: http://macrophotography.com

Mark Gray

Mark Gray is considered to be Australia's new leading landscape photographer. After seeing his work, I can definitely see why they'd say that! 

He's a self-taught photographer who uses fine art photography to create such amazing panoramic landscapes. 

He says, "For me, my camera is simply a tool which allows me to capture the breathtaking artwork of the mater painter - so that all can see beyond any doubt that heaven exists…" 

Mark uses a medium format panoramic film camera to make his photographs which allows him to capture so much detail in his work. His work can be printed up to five meters long while still showing all of the detail. 

Often Overlooked

After working hard the past few months, I finally uploaded my book to Blurb last night! 

Going into this project, I thought it would be a lot harder than it was. The more I shot, the more I loved my idea and didn't want to stop shooting. 

Here are some of my favorites from the book:

Here's a link to my bookstore: http://www.blurb.com/b/5699552-often-overlooked

I can't wait to see it in person!!

Elizabeth Carmel

Elizabeth Carmel is a fine art photographer who specializes in landscapes and waterscapes. Her work features vivid colors and unique perspectives of nature and landscapes. Her work has been displayed at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. as well as multiple other locations.

I love the way she uses the rule of thirds for this photo above. I think it's interesting how she has the mountains in the upper third rather than at the bottom. I like how the sky reflects more on the water. 

Di Fruscia

Di Fruscia is a fine art nature and landscape photographer. He was raised in the Canadian countryside. His father was a professional photographer and his mother had gifted artistic talents.

I feel like a lot of his work features water and the way the sky and other objects reflect off of it. In this photo above, the water is almost an unrealistic color. 

I really love the ripples in the water in this photo above. I love the way the light reflects off of it in just a perfect way to give the waves of the water a rounder feel. The way Di Fruscia composed this photo is interesting because the water starts at the bottom right corner and leads you throughout the left side of it and into the background. My eyes weren't fixated to just one part of the image, but were guided throughout it thanks to the water. 

I think the most interesting thing about this photo is how he used the rule of thirds to compose it. The big rock is centered in the very middle of the photo both vertically and horizontally. The water, the clouds, and the landscape in the background are all showing parallelism horizontally throughout the photo. I really love how he showed the moon in this one too. 

In this last photo, I love the texture in the sky and how the colors reflect off of both the clouds and the water throughout the photo. My eyes are drawn to the yellows and oranges and expand outward across the photos towards the blues and purples like rays. 

See more of his work at: http://www.difrusciaphotography.com/index.php

Charlie Waite

Charlie Waite is one of the world's most popular landscape photographers. His work has been known to be very calm with a serenity feel. Charlie Waite's work has been shared world-wide.

An article in Royal West of England Academy Art Magazine noted that "Waite's landscapes are rare perfections of light, color and composition, and offer the viewer a luxuriant portrait of a planet at peace."

I really love these top three photos because of the way they have a focal point in the middle. The trees are all parallel and leading towards the central point. 

 

For the four photos above, I love the way the skies all look. They are so dreamy and interesting with color, form, and texture from the clouds. Each of the photos have something eye catching in the foreground or middle ground such as the boat, the rocks, or the trees. They also have a fine horizon line  in the distant background. 

See more of his work at: http://www.charliewaite.com/home

Child Prodigy - Kieron Williamson

Kieron Williamson is twelve years old and his work can be compared to that of Claude Monet - an impressionist painter. He has had his work shown in many exhibits, and he is a millionaire at age 12.

His family has moved multiple times due to the fact that people of his community keep wanting to watch him work, and his family does not want that.

Kieron's father is a former art dealer. Now he buys and sells Kieron's artwork for him. Kieron is 12 years old, and his artwork is the main support for his family. He pays his parents a portion of what he makes off each painting for helping him to create and sell it.

Painted by Williamson

 

Painted by Claude Monet

 

As stated before, Kieron's work appears to resemble Monet's work very much. Both artists use short, thick brush strokes to create paintings of landscapes and nature.

Child Prodigy - Autumn de Forest

For whatever reason, I have always found prodigies so interesting. I guess it's because they have these unique talents that come naturally to them when it could take years, maybe even a life time, for others to master.

Autumn de Forest is a child art prodigy. She is nearly thirteen years old and has sold enough work to earn $1 million. She is a painter whose style can be compared to that of many famous abstract painters such as Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and Pablo Picasso.

I think that one of the most interesting things about Autumn de Forest (besides her young age) is that she is a part of many art associations and speaks about the importance of keeping art in education. Not only that, but she has donated a lot of her work (and some of the money she's earned) to charitable organizations such as Habitat for Humanity.

Painted at Age 5

 

These next few pieces are from when she was only 7 years old. These three pieces were all done separately but look like they could be shown together.

 

  

 

 

Painted at Age 10

 

Painted at Age 10

 

See her in her studio painting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcpiGCUgrsI&list=UUbbya21blLI_JoruCN3brrQ

 

 

See her in an interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=UUbbya21blLI_JoruCN3brrQ&v=VNV-q445Mrc

From the city to the country

 

I've been doing photography on the side for quite some time now. I absolutely love doing senior sessions because it allows me to portray each individual's personality. So let me tell you all about my shoot from this past weekend!

 

Saturday was a perfect day for photos!

 

This girl is a HUGE Cardinals fan (who isn't?) so we met at Busch Stadium, of course. I'm clearly such a great driver and managed to take the scenic route over the bridge and into Illinois since I missed my exit off Hwy 40.... whoops! At least I was still on time!

 

After our time in the city, we stopped by this area I found recently that has multiple barns so we could show off her country side! Barns, hay, leaves, and cowgirl boots. Perfect!

 

   I am soooo glad she was willing to get a little dirty and throw around some hay because I love the shot above!!

 

 

Overall, it was a fun experience, and I am glad she and her mom liked her preview so far!!

 

Uncommon Places by Stephen Shore

Stephen Shore's book called "Uncommon Places" is filled with such spontaneous photos.







They are all so different and unique, but yet the same in the sense that they are of places and experiences that not every one may be seeing at that exact time or place, but that they have seen before at one point or another.

http://aperture.org/shop/uncommon-places

Robert Capa

We did our artist presentations today in class. Our group did Sally Mann while the other group did Robert Capa. I was not familiar with Robert Capa prior to this presentation, and it was really interesting to learn about this photographer that was new to me.

Robert Capa was a famous war photographer who shot in black and white film. He actually died while taking photos of a war in 1954.

This was one of the main photographs talked about in the presentation. Robert Capa captured this picture of a man falling after being shot in war. It's such a unique photograph because, unlike with other photos, you cannot redo this image. You either get it or you don't. 

This photo wasn't in the presentation, but I really liked it when I was researching Robert Capa myself. Everyone is dressed the same in such thick and heavy material while running through water which would be awful to do because everything would weigh you down. Robert Capa did a great job capturing this photograph of the soldiers. 

Sally Mann

Sally Mann is a very interesting photographer. A lot of her work done in the early years of her career seem to have been influenced by her father's work. Her father, a doctor, used to photograph her in the nude. Sally Mann also spent a lot of time photographing her own children.

In her book titled "Immediate Family," Sally writes that “many of these pictures are intimate, but most are of ordinary things every mother has seen. I take pictures when they are bloodied or sick or naked or angry.” This made me feel like she was photographing them in their most vulnerable moments. Kids are so pure and honest, and I think that her photographs of her own children in that specific book definitely portray their innocence.

National Geographic

For whatever reason, I have always loved the pictures National Geographic posts. Maybe it's because I love photography, or because I love traveling, or maybe it's because they are just down right amazing a lot of the time. I think it would be amazing to not only be able to see all of the unique places they go to but to be able to photograph and share those experiences with those who may not be able to do so themselves.

Here are just a few of the photos I've seen that were great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View more incredible photos at: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/