Advanced Digital Photography

So I was going to do a constructed art piece for this class, but I then decided to give forced perspective a try. It was indeed a LOT harder than I imagined, but I have been having a LOT of fun shooting this portfolio!   This class has been my nemesis, and to be nice I will not say why. Anyways, let me know what ya think! I hope you & yours all have a blessed Thanksgiving Holiday! Cheers!

My Artist Statement

Cynthia Marks, ACADEMIC ABANDONMENT

The old and abandoned buildings which can be found in most major urban centers hold a particular fascination for me.  Abandonments large and small inspire the imagination and tell us things about the past in an unsophisticated way.  With anything beautiful there is a gloomy, more mysterious side to it. Where there is good, there is also evil, dark balances light. The city is a tremendous source of beauty, but there is another side of the city altogether.

These tastefully grungy images have an appeal that is almost haunting.  An eerie characteristic that seems to radiate from within. To many people urban decay is unattractive, but I am fascinated by it, and it is one of my favorite things to photograph.  I find the visible impression left from this schools rich history, completely charming and inspiring creatively.  This buildings story is not told by its stick on accouterments, or fine furniture, but by the scars of the past and the accumulation of trash, graffiti, and vandalism.

The forgotten space I met on my urban exploration, inspired my work which concentrates on the beauty of desolation, demonstrated with the delicate use of light, and beautiful colors found inside. When people view my work, I'd like for them to also see the beauty found within resulting from the layers of history and the severe toll time has taken on this once lavish school house.  My poetry, my passion is expressed through my photography.  

~ D O N E ~

OK I finally have my portfolio finalized! YAY!! I ended up with 11 images, 9 - 8x10, and 2 - 11x14. All I have left to do is order my matte board, and get them mounted! I feel so accomplished, at the beginning of the semester it seemed like I was never going to get 10. Now I ended up with 11, and a LOT of extra miles on my car, but I am very pleased that I put the extra effort into what I really wanted to shoot! Annie Lytal is again up for demolition due to falling pray to vandals, graffiti artists, and the homeless. Not to mention that the fire destroyed a large part of the building, and it will most likely be cheaper to demolish the once lavish school and start over than to try to restore it. It is a real shame, but I am very happy I got to explore, and document the building, it really is an amazing place. Here is my finalized portfolio, now I must get to work on my artist statement for the reception. Have a great day, Cyndy

~1 & 7 will be enlarged to 11X14~

~academic abandonment~

Color Emotion

My advanced digital photography teacher had us randomly choose a color card in a sealed envelope last week, and the assignment was to shoot a triptych with that color as the subject. The color I chose was Sour Lime. If I had it to do over again, I think I would photograph my Son sucking a lime in the center photo with a sour face, maybe a Sour Patch Kid on one side, and some lime jello,or a sour lime lollipop on the other. Another idea I had was a corona & lime, some guacamole, and some people dancing, maybe a mariachi band, but I had no luck there, I was over ruled and my family wanted to eat on the water. I came up with a lot of ideas but ended up shooting at Squid Lips in Melbourne. This restaurant has amazing atmosphere, it's right on the water, and they have some great sour lime margaritas! So I decided to go with that as a theme, and hope I could find some more subjects that were sour lime in color that would fit well together. This is what I came up with, I hope it works, it makes sense to me. Have a great week, Cyndy

Autumn in Jamestown, NC

Well we are back from our trip, and my heart is very heavy. It was all I could do to make myself come back home, and leave Ashley behind again. I have things to do here still and can't move there until May, so till then I have to make the best of things, but we did have a great visit! We got to meet the caterer for the wedding, and we ate till we were sick lol I just can't wait! Here are some of my favorite pic's from up there, I didn't really have time to get to creative, when I am there full time I have so many ideas. Enjoy!

My Daughter Ashley & her Fiancee Eddie

They are so cute!

The Castle McColloch, where they are getting married.

Brandon & Heather, both are in the wedding party.

Brandon & Heather, they are so cute together!

My Daughter & future Son in law, I really do love that kid!

Me & my Daughter Ashley, photo by Eddie he he!  

Will you be my Bridesmaid?? She said yes!

Autumn is so beautiful, oh how I have missed it! 

 Just beautiful!

My Daughter & her Brother having lunch together :) 

Oh yes I did try to get in here, but the 7000 volt electric fence said otherwise! Boooo! 

 Natures beauty

 My Son & his cool firefighter chic buddy!

 My Son & his future BFF Axton.

 Castle McColloch Hillside Terrace, ceremony will be here

They are so in love.

I think this is my favorite :)

This is the panoramic I shot for class. 

Good times! I miss you already Ashface. Love Mommy

More from school #4

Wanted to share some more of my photos from Annie Lytal School in Jacksonville, I am not planning on using all of these for my project, just thought I would share them anyways, have a great weekend!

My first photo meetup

I thought I would blog a little about going to my first photo meetup.  At first I was pretty excited about going,  everything was being handled for me, models, location, etc.  These are all things that really do require quite a bit of work to come together properly, and I'll admit, not having to do it myself this time was worth the 20 bucks it cost me, so I thought. The models and people who arranged this meetup were very professional, and talented, so this post is in no way meant to be directed towards them in any way. This is my blog, and I will post what my experience was with this type of event, if it offends you in any way, that was not my intention. Anyways..... 

Although I am sure that every person that attended this meetup walked away with some amazing images, they all had the same look and feel to them. I don't know about you, but when I take photographs, I prefer that they be unique in some way, different from everyone else's, dare I say uncommon.  Even though I am sure that each photograph was in some small way different, one single subtle difference, is not going to set you apart from the rest of the world. Each photograph taken at the meetup was just a reproduction of the persons work, that clicked the shutter prior. I suppose what I am trying to say is the only thing that I learned from this meetup, was that I am not like everyone else, nor do I wish to be. Being a carbon copy of every other photographer, in  a world full of billions of people, all striving to achieve success, I just don't feel like this type of event works for me in my life, and my photography. Needless to say, this was my first, and last meetup with this group. I am not afraid to step out of the box and try to be a reflection of my true self and work a little harder to achieve the kind of images that not everyone else on the planet already has! 

Photography is a very big part of my life. Being original, or bringing something more personal to my work, is why I enjoy it so much. I am the only me there will ever be, and I intend to take advantage of being unique, and stay true to who I really am! If I walk in the footprints of others, I will never have any of my own. I have my own voice, and I am lucky enough to realize, being different is not always a bad thing. Don't be afraid to spread your wings and fly! Have a great week everyone, Cyndy