The Eye and I

Moved blog to amykimpix.com

2011-05-16T07:38:00.003-05:00

Dear friends and visitors:

My blog (including past entries) has now been moved to my website amykimpix.com. I will keep this blog open for a little while until I see the traffic redirect.

Hope to see you at my new home!

Amy

todays findings

2011-05-09T21:12:00.000-05:00

bolton oil: f/4, 1/100, iso 800, 105 mm

directional light at starbucks: f/4, iso 1000, 1/160, 105mm

I watched a video tutorial by a wedding photographer named Cliff Mauer, and it's has totally changed my view on wedding photography or just photography in general.

First Friday Art Trail

2011-05-09T13:30:00.000-05:00

Jay Maisel said:

Don't shoot if it ain't fun.
Don't shoot if you've seen it before.
Don't shoot if it doesn't excite you.

I got these two pictures at the First Friday Art Trail. My favorite event in Lubbock.

Gestures at J & B coffee

2011-05-05T20:27:00.002-05:00


f/4, 1/640, iso100, 105mm

f/4, 1/640, iso100, 105mm

Hung around at J & B coffee. I recommend their Italian soda almond flavor.

Shaving

2011-05-03T22:51:00.001-05:00

pre-banquet shave: f/4, 1/160, iso 400, 105 mm

f/4, 1/160, iso 400 , 84mm

First, if you are sick and tired of seeing too much of Norman here I'm sorry. He's my only steadily available model. But, I really like this shaving picture. I think I finally got a natural looking shot of Norman. As I'm getting out of my slump, I'm trying to take photos every single day, and I think I want to make some pictures of immediate & familiar surroundings.

Swing shot

2011-05-02T22:27:00.001-05:00

f/5.6, 1/125, iso 100

I took this picture of my friend's (Cathy Morton) grandson playing on the swing. I can't remember the boy's name. I was doing my solitary walk around the hood again, and they happened to be out on the swings. I think it's been about 2 weeks since I took my photo hiatus, and boy, did I feel like I forgot how to use my camera. By the way, swings are a good setting to practice motion shots, I learned.
This is the best shot I got. Back to practice.

Uncle Norm's Interview!!

2011-04-30T11:53:00.000-05:00

I worked on this interview all week long. The editing format from this interview is motivated by Screen Tests videos of the New York Times. I first edited the clips in chronological order and showed it to uncle Norm himself. Norman suggested that I try shuffling the clips in more random order, and we both think it's so much more better. Much more rhythm and energy. I made the title page with After Effects. It's not as sophisticated as I'd like it to be, but, hey, that's all I know how to do so far. As far as the shoot, it was a simple three point lighting set up with my new ghetto video lights.

This week especially, I've been focusing on focusing and enhancing creativity. Creativity is a weird thing because the way it manifests seems totally random. I think I've been an artistic minded person all my life, but it's this week that I am becoming somewhat obsessed with creating a environment where creativity can thrive.

To me this means clearing away a lot of life clutter; Internet, stupid tv, clothes on floor...
and instead increasing my ability to focus like when I was in junior high or high school. Hope to post more on creativity as I work.

Interview with the Uncle Norm: A Teaser

2011-04-27T20:37:00.002-05:00

This is a kind of test interview I did with playwright Norman Bert using my new video lights. I think it came out nicely but I see a lot of image quality loss when uploading to You Tube. The full version is going to be released in a couple more days, I'm working on the bells and whistles in After Effects.

This interview is about 7 minutes long and this clip is just a teaser. I tried to include stuff about Norman that people might want to know about (but then again, they might not).

stay tuned for more!

Focus

2011-04-22T17:50:00.000-05:00

my clean desktop. doesn't is look nice?

My pictures would be better if ----

Chase Jarvis thew this idea on the table. My answer to the blank is " if I had more focus."
Focus has been a huge problem for me since I got my great imac. It's so wonderful and fast to use, I'm here all the time. Back in the day when I knew no Internet, I always read actual books all the time.
Norman has great focusing abilities. Maybe because he's not a product of the Internet generation ??

I see myself as a geranium that hasn't been deadheaded for a long time. If a geranium isn't deadheaded properly, all the energy leaks out to the various stems and makes it hard for the plant to blossom well.
Since all my energy goes to compulsively checking updates on facebook, yahoo mail, and NYT style section, I feel like I have hardly any energy left to be creative.

So I'm going on an information cleanse. I'll try to check my emails and facebook only 4 times a day.10:00, 2:00, 5:00, 9:00. I'm also going to clean out my work area and hard disc real good. I cleaned off my desktop today. Doesn't it look peaceful?

Then I'm going to focus in intervals; my plan is to do 40 minutes focus/ 20 min rest. I think I can do that.

Did I come up with all these great ideas on my own? No. You can down load a free pdf. at Zen Habits.net called Focus. It had exactly the tips I needed.

a little springy

2011-04-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

I started two new things since my last post. I started reading a blog called Zen Habits and I started to take 30 minute walks in the morning.

According to this blog, solitude is a key ingredient to creativity. I think I'm quite a loner myself, but still decided to walk around the hood for 30 minutes. The goal for me is not for calorie burn or even health, but just to free the mind and get away from distractions.

During my walk, I came across this little bundle of flowers growing out of a crack right in the middle of some one's driveway. It seemed hopeful and inspirational. Isn't it cute?

Aside from creativity, I like these walks because it just feels good.

I guess I'll find out if it helps with creativity or not.

Stuck

2011-04-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

So, I think I'm in a creative rut; All my pending projects are out the way. While I finally got accepted as a istockphoto contributor, my latest submission got rejected. I'm still waiting for my video lights to get here. I discovered that using an off-camera flash is much more complicated than I thought and will require at least the same amount of time and effort it took for me to get camera basics. Feels overwhelming. I also need wireless triggers to use my flash and they cost over $300. I'm also tired of always figuring out everything by myself.

More importantly...

I ran out of ideas. Don't know what to shoot, be it still or motion.

I could whip-up another photoshoot, but I wanted to do something that is perhaps a bit more thought out.

I think I ought to do a light project. Maybe follow a theme?

Hopefully my rut will be an opportunity to try something new.

Flash 101 with LP 160

2011-04-16T18:35:00.002-05:00


test shot with lp 160:can't say I know how to use it yet. at least the flash provided illumination in this windowless bathroom. f/6.3, iso 160, 1/160, my subject was very enthusiastic about posing.

I got an off camera flash about a week ago. Holy cow, I didn't realize flash photography is a whole new animal. The flash I got is the Lumo Pro 160 recommended by the Storbist blog. For those who aren't familiar, Stobist is an online community devoted to learning lighting with small off camera flashes. I got this flash because it was much cheaper than Canon and because it was recommended by the Strobist himself. I got my unit assembled yesterday per instructions on the Stobist blog and not surprisingly ran into some obstacles. To start, I didn't realize that the LP 160 is a manual flash that works somewhat differently from the high-end flashes made by Canon or Nikon. I'm writing out these hiccups for myself and for others who are having similar confusions.

Obstacle 1: Jargons.

While reading my manuals and books, I kept encountering words like slave, ttl, first and second curtain. It began to drive me crazy so I'm outlining short definitions here. Note that I am no flash expert and these are my own definitions in my own words so that I could grasp the idea easily. Probably not worth quoting if you are writing a paper or some other publication.

Names:
Flash is also called a Speedlite and also called a strobe.

What is a slave flash?
A slave flash is a external flash unit that is dependent on a master flash unit. Usually, the master flash unit is the camera's built in flash. The master and slave flash unit communicate information through sensors. There are several different ways (and tools to use) for sensors to communicate, but I won't get into that because that information is pretty easy to find.

What is a TTL system?
TTL is for Through The Lens flash technology and it is a method that enables the camera to automatically calculate exposure when using flash. It was developed by Nikon in the '80s.
I found a really good explanation of this system here:
http://www.moosepeterson.com/techtips/flash.html

and here
http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/FZ-10/Ext-Flash/Basic-Functions.html

What is 2nd Curtain Sync:
(still investigating)

Obstacle 2: Lumo Pro 160 is manual flash.

I didn't realize this at the moment of purchasing. I'm not 100% sure what this means, but I do know that LP 160 does not have a TTL system. So now my question is how to measure exposure when using this flash. This article had some solutions http://tiberius47.deviantart.com/art/How-to-use-Manual-Flash-83756240.
I posted a question about this issue on a flickr discussion board and it looks like I just adjust exposure by shooting and adjusting and winging.
Here's the flickr thread, people wrote some good advice:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157626387435581/#comment72157626517282308

.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

A day of stories

2011-04-12T22:37:00.001-05:00

The Road Less Travelled By event at LHUCA. We were told Lubbock is the biggest turn out in term of crowd.

I went to two community gatherings. One was a meeting with Women in Communication Lubbock and the other was a unique gathering with the GLBT community in Lubbock. Both were camera related.
At the Women in Communication luncheon, professional photographer Jerod Foster did a presentation on telling stories through pictures. I get a little nervous when people talk about telling a story because, really, the expression is so overused. On the other hand, true, it is story that people relate to. This time, I really liked Jerod Foster's presentation, and thought his pictures were very engaging and interesting. He seemed like a really nice guy too. His website is www.jerodfoster.com. I even went up and visited with him a little.Going to this meeting was something that I though I ought to do but never actually got around doing it up until now. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming and there were already a couple people I knew.

In the evening, there was a town hall style meeting at the Charles Adams gallery at LHUCA. There's a team of film students who are doing a walkumentary about gay rights. What a commitment! Tonight, they happen to be in Lubbock. Many poeple in the GLBT community were present and it felt good to be a participate in this rare event. Their website is http://www.roadlesstravell
edfilm.com/.

I feel like I did good today. I went out and pursured expanding my network a little and shared my presence.

I think Vermeer would have been a camera guy (upstairs/downstairs)

2011-04-11T22:44:00.001-05:00

Upstairs/ Downstairs: currnetly on PBS (highly recommend)

Vermeer Paintings

Quite by accident yesterday, I began to watch a mini-series on PBS called Upstairs / Downstairs.
Anyone familiar with this show? My google research told me it's a classic Brit drama remade.
Anyways, I was completely mesmerized with the cinematography, and especially with the treatment of the lighting on this tv series. All I could tell that it was classic Vermeer style; clean white light spilling in from a side angle or milky white light pouring in from a window that looks just like this one above. I would say the downstairs scenes looked even more Vermeer. The leading ladies looked oh so beautiful.
Marvelous skin. I don't know who's behind this geniusness but someone studied the paintings pretty seriously.Credits for the show only cite the art director. Maybe he's the guy.

I first became familiar with Vermeer in while I spent a year in France when I was in college, oh so long ago. My dad sent me an essay about European art written by a Korean artist who travelled Europe. I liked Vermeer's work immediately. I can't remember if I actually saw the paintings in a museum.

Then, when I briefly studied theatre set and lighting design, Vermeer came up often amongst designers. Now that I am a student of my camera and lighting, I am feeling that his work will be a obsession all over again. This is a guy who was obsessed with light. Wonder what he could have done with a camera...

On an end note- let's support public television!

Finding Authenticity

2011-04-07T16:02:00.001-05:00

f/4, 1/60, iso 400, 24-105@105

f/4, 1/160, iso 100, 24-105@45

Yesterday, I watched a online live show on chasejarvis.com. He's kind of celebrity photographer.
Anyways, one of his guests was a creative director from REI and they talked about what they expect in
a photographer. The most repeated phrase was anchored in authenticity and finding a vision.
A hard one, this is as I am still figuring out which button on my camera to push when. That being said,
I see many camera people falling in love with the iphone camera due to its simplicity and finding vision there.
Some photographers such as Chuck Close or David Hill have very distinct styles. Others don't have such a trademark style, but nevertheless do have their own style. Norman says I don't have to worry too much about finding a style because that's something that develops naturally as I keep working. I am curious what this Amy Kim style will look like.

More Shots with Cici

2011-04-05T10:45:00.000-05:00

f/5, 1/160. iso 100, 24-105@67

f/4, 1/60. iso 200, 24-105@105

Here are some more shots with Cici. It's beginning to sink into me that I must use a higher shutter speed to get sharper images especially for portraits. That means I almost always need additional sources of light. I bought a LumoPro off camera flash and a couple of reflectors yesterday . That should help in the future.
This week is red time (as opposed to green time); I will plan to plan, get junk off my computer, and dumdidum clean out the garage. I am hopeful that this off time will help me come up with some refreshing ideas for my next video (whatever it may be).

Photoshoot with Cici

2011-04-03T20:57:00.000-05:00

f/4, iso 200, 1/160, 24-105@88

I did my photo shoot with my Chinese friend Cici yesterday. I must say, Cici is a natural model. She offered so many wonderful poses, it made my shooting experience very enjoyable. She looks like a doll, but she is also very smart doing her post-doc at TTU biology dept.
I love this picture, probably one of my best shots. Tack sharp and nicely composed. I used window light, an LED mini light, and a reflector in my humble bedroom.
I also love the style concept here; modern Asian with a vintage twist. The camera here is Norman's dad's
8mm Bolex.
I submitted this one to istockphoto and they snapped it up right away. They got back to me in 2 hours and told me that I qualify as a contributor. Hahaha! I'm going to treat myself with buying new reflectors.
Anyways, there are more to come.

What's next?

2011-03-30T21:06:00.001-05:00

I'm getting things wrapped up with the senior photo shoot. My client Sally asked me for some business cards and that made me very happy but I only have my old cards. And the reason for that is I want to put my website (not blog) url on the card, and my website isn't ready yet. So, those are two things I want to do next. Also today I got an email from Texas Tech Univ. about another possible video job making an instructional tutorial. At this point, it is just a possiblity so I'll just have to wait and see.

This weekend, I planned a fun photoshoot with my Chinese friend Cici. I still don't have a clear concept at this time and it is sort of getting on my nerves. After Cici's shoot, I think I'll I'm going to stop and think, before I schedule another shoot. What are my long term plans? What kind of life and career do I want to create for myself? How can I include others into my journey?

More Senior Pix

2011-03-28T16:31:00.003-05:00

Since the shoot, I've been in photoshop land. I've noticed that while I love editing video footage, I don't care too much about photoshop. Too many tools, too many functions...... But how can I complain, it goes with having a camera.
I've seen some senior pictures with the scratchy background and I sort of liked it. After some research, I was able to figure out how it was achieved!

Okay, this one looks pretty bad and I just did it for fun. An homage to Twilight with a pear. Does Jackson look like Robert Pattinson?

Senior shoot with Jackson & Sally

2011-03-26T23:06:00.001-05:00

Handsome Jackson

Jackson on Tree

What a day!
Our crew was me, Jackson, Sally (Jackson's mom), and my friend / day helper Tammy and we trooped all over town. I was pretty nervous about my first client shoot, but I think I got some decent pictures. On the other hand, I took over 500 pics and there were a lot more busts than keepers. More improvement is needed.

So here we have two very different styles. The top one is the more traditional senior style, and the bottom pic is a bit more experimental (Jackson said he likes climbing trees). I did some vignetting on the top one and put a crispy touch on the bottom one. I want to do some research on different background effects that are popular among senior portraits so we can have some variety and keep with the trend.

Thanks Sally and Jackson for spending half a day posing, and Tammy for holding the reflector in the strong wind and never just standing around!

My thoughts on Senior Portraits

2011-03-25T20:34:00.004-05:00

From TinyWater Photography (tinywaterblog.com)

My friend Sally Kennedy took a huge leap in faith, and commissioned me to take senior portraits of her son Jackson. I'm really pumped and a little nervous about it. We shoot tomorrow.
So all week long, I've been doing location hunts, watching how to videos, and looking at thousands of
senior portraits.

In Korea where I grew up, there's no senior portraits. Just a photographer who came to shoot yearbook pictures. So, this idea of a senior portrait is sort of new to me.

Honestly, I think there are some pretty corny senior portraits out there. The ones that I don't care for, I found, are the ones in which the subjects don't look like themselves. Some girls just look ultra tarty. I'm not one who's against looking sexy by baring some skin and loading 5 coats of mascara, but you can sure do it with some class!

Since my research, I'm also discovering many photographers describing themselves as a master photographer. Is this funny or what? I think if you're a real master, you wont have to tell everyone that you are one.

Finding the Self of a person through the camera is a skill and talent. I found this image on google image search. I like the over exposed look and I like how natural this girl looks. I think this shoot involved strobes. Among the Lubbock senior portraits, I like this place the best. http://captivatedimages.com/seniors/. See for yourselves.

Will I be able to do a good job? Stay tuned for Jackson's pictures tomorrow.

Master Photographer Amy

I signed up for Kelby Training

2011-03-23T21:32:00.003-05:00

I signed up for Kelby Training today. $ 179/year. It's an online photography learning site. I became familiar with Scott Kelby when I first got my Canon 60 D a couple months ago. David du Chemin, a photographer that I am following recommended one of his books for beginners The Digital Photography Book 1. I really liked the book. It's easy to read, funny and informative. Then, I got his photoshop book for CS5. It was also easy to read, funny, and informative. Along the way, I subscribed to his blog and ordered The Digital Photography Book 2 & 3. Now, I signed up for his online training course and I already picked up a couple tricks that I can use for our upcoming senior shoot.
From what I can tell, Kelby training is a mini empire of photography. Scott seems to know everyone. He is also the head of Photoshop User Magazine. He also seems like a very personable guy and very sharp business person. Every Wed. his blog features a guest blog. Maybe I can be that guest one day!

I'm getting more and more hooked on photography than video even though video is why I bought my camera. I think I like the small crew environment and the instant gratification that comes with each shot.

Btw- my friend Orada is getting one of her plays professionally produced into a dance in Milwaukee. Congratulations Orada! I'm actually a little jealous.

On Direction

2011-03-22T21:59:00.001-05:00

Gas Station Postcard?: f/22. 1/30, iso 100, 24-105@45mm

I've been on a mini-hiatus since returning from Colorado. It seems to me that I need a little more direction in what I want to do next. I have two more photoshoots lined up and a couple more possibilites but nothing long term at this point.

Thesedays, my life is comfortable; Phisically, emotionally, and to some extent financially I am comfortable. It's probably the most comfortable that I've ever been ever. So, although I haven't accomplished fame and success, I've been thinking that I should stop and think about some of my values.

While in Colorado, I've sort of made up my mind that I want to be somewhat more activist on some social issues in general, but particularly in environmental issues. I really think public will around the globe is too weak for politicians to care much about ecological problems. I really think we need more stringent eco regulations and policies. I'd like to do a theme for that.

Another theme that's been lingering in my head is that of building a community. I'm sort of a privite kind of gal, but I think this notions is community is very important not only for networking and success, but for mental health and well being. I am even thinking that that's why humanity exists. I have no idea how to build a community. I usually follow those that are already built. For instance, I want to have a team of creatives that can do stuff together. However, I am a memebr of some very fine communites; my Sunday school, and and theology book club. Maybe I can learn how to build a community too but I don't want to read another how-to book.

I took this one somewhere along I-70 on the way to Denver. Does this look like a gas station postcard or what? Actually, there's a 7/ll and Subway right outside this frame.

At the U.S. Airforce Academy: Lines and Lights

2011-03-20T21:41:00.001-05:00

Spires: f/4, 1/1250, iso 100, 24mm

Chapel Inside 1: f/2.8, 1/40, iso 800, 16mm

Chapel with tourists (grumble): f/2.8, 1/40, iso 800, 16mm

This place was a good practice in photographing architecture. Notice all the lines, and how geometric this whole building looks. It was a challenge to find an interesting angle.

I thought this building looked pretty cool from the outside and spent over half an hour trying this and that angle. The one I posted is my favorite. In a perfect world, there would be a jet flying by. It was again freezing, so I went inside. Holy Cow. I had no idea that it would so marvelous like this. Among all the numerous historic churches I've visited, this place is definitely the most interesting. Don't the lights look like a bar or club??

In fact, all the building at the academy looked very austere like this. The light in the chapel was amazing and it the colors changed constantly as the light moved. I was in this sanctuary for a couple hours, because Norman was meeting his publisher in Colorado Springs. This would be a cool place to try time lapse. I even talked a little with the manager guy, who was super nice and let me inside the roped areas of the church.

This building houses four religions. The protestant chapel occupies most of the structure. I thought it was funny that the Academy put the rest of the "miscellaneous" religions ( Buddhism, Judaism, Catholic, and generic worship area) in the basement.

Notice also the use of the f/2.8 wide angle lens!! I couldn't have got any of the interior shots with my f/4 lens. It was just perfect for this place!

I was sure this place was shot to death by many. I tried to put a little bit of my own spin on it.

Sadly, I didn't encounter any hot cadets.

Anyways, Norman and I are back on the flat now. I was sad to return to the brownery.

Amy's best CO pics (so far)

2011-03-17T23:51:00.000-05:00

toy village of Silverton, CO: f/16, 1/40, 55mm (applied miniature effect in canon 60d), iso 100

Opposite Ralph Lauren's Ranch near Telluride: f/18, 1/100, 11-16@ 16mm, iso 100

Aspen woods near Telluride: f/13, 1/100., 11-16@16, iso 100

I haven't been bloggin this week because it felt like too much work during vacation. Today, Norman and I are in Denver taking it a bit easy. Here are my favorite pictures from the trip so far. Actually, there are a couple more favorites. hehe.
I took the top picture in Silverton nestled deep in the mountains. It's a summer town, I learned, so most of the town was hibernating. The town looked like mr. Rodger's neighborhood. I tried applying the miniature effect from my camera to enhance the toy feeling. Sort of cute. Me thinks.
The second picture is from a famous scenic spot in the Telluride area. The B&B owner guy said that it's opposite Ralph Lauren's ranch and in the fall photographers are all over the road with their tripods to get pictures there. I used my wide angle ( rental ) lens for this shot. This is really nothing compared to the real vista; in real life, the mountains look a lot more closer and go around almost 360 degree!! It was truly breathtaking.
Aspen woods was also near Ralph's ranch. I also used a wide angle lens for this. These trees are so beautiful.
The scenery here is so wonderful. I love traveling America.