Thursday, April 30, 2009

Friday, April 24, 2009

Andy Warhol

1. When Andy Warhol was in third grade, he became ill with St. Vitus' disease and stayed in bed. While he was in bed, he loved to draw and collect pictures of movie stars. Warhol attended college at Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh and studied commercial art. Later, he moved to New York City and began illustrating for magazines and other advertisements (such as shoe ads). RCA Records hired Warhol to design album artwork and promo materials for artists/bands. He started his first one-man gallery exhibition in 1962 at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. This was his debut of pop art to the public. Ever since then, he painted and shot many pictures and photos of famous people and objects found around the house (such as Cambpells Soup). Unfortunately, he died in his sleep in 1987 from a cardiac arrhythmia. His artwork will always be remembered and exhibited around the world.

2. Some of the many famous people/things Andy Warhol has photographed are Campbells Soup Cans, Marilyn Diptych, Coke Bottles, Dollar Bills, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon, and Mick Jagger.

3. My favorite Andy Warhol picture is his painting of Mick Jagger:




Nine of Me

Monday, April 20, 2009

Annie Leibovitz


Annie Leibovitz began taking pictures in the Philippines when her whole family was stationed there due to her father's Air Force assignments. As years went by, she stayed consistent with photography in her free time. Leibovitz returned to the United States in 1970 and started working for Rolling Stone magazine as a chief photographer until 1983. Later on, in 1975, Leibovitz was hired as a concert tour photographer for The Rolling Stones' Tour of the Americas. Annie Leibovitz was the last person to professionally photograph John Lennon before his death, and she took one of the most famous John Lennon pictures which was the cover of Rolling Stone magazine for an issue. Leibovitz has also taken pictures of Linda Rodstandt, Demi Moore, Brooke Shields, The Blues Brothers, Bruce Springsteen, and many other celebrities. My favorite Leibovitz picture is the one above of Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Black and White Photography

*The three basic elements of a camera are the optical element (lens), the chemical element (film), and the mechanical element (camera itself).

*An SLR camera is a single-lens-reflex camera (does not need electricity, photographer sees same image exposed to film-adjust everything by turning dials and clicking buttons).

*The purpose of a camera's aperture is to determine the amount of light that reaches the camera's sensor.

*Shutter speed also controls light entering the camera (curtain closed at first so film won't be exposed to light--then opens when picture is taken)

*Film speed, aperture size, and shutter speed must be balanced to get the right exposure for a picture

*One would use a low film speed (such as 100 ISO) for taking a picture in bright sunlight (need less energy to capture light).

*Four steps for developing black and white film are placing film in reducing agent, rinsing film with water (or use "stop" bath), placing in fixing bath, and washing film once more and drying it (to remove all processing chemicals).

*Need drying cabinets, tongs, stop bath, developers, exposed photographic print papers, fixer, developer trays, and washes for making black and white prints.

*Final image is actually developed silver.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009