© 2009 Scott Sturges

This first photo really turned out the best. I admit, it was used in the competition this week… but I liked it the best of all of my Avedon Photos. I have gone in and edited it a little more. I reduced the Unsharp Mask on the photo, as I was a little annoyed at how sharp it was. Then I found a border that was similar to Avedon’s Hasselblad’s frame.

This photo was taken in the school’s photo studio. I forced Brandon to be a model, and started taking some photos of him. He really wasn’t cooperating very well, Emily started throwing National Geographic magazines at him. His reaction was perfect. I feel that I accurately captured his emotions toward being abused in such a way – he was quite shocked to have magazines thrown at him… I would too after all.

This photo was probably the best of all of the photos taken that day, it was the only one that displayed his reaction, stopped motion, and was sharp. There are a few others available below for your viewing pleasure.

EXIF:

• Shutter: 1/160^th
• Aperture: f/7
• ISO: 100
• Camera: Canon 50D
• Lens: Canon 50mm f/1.8

© 2009 Scott Sturges

This second photo is of Emily Custer. We needed to do some Avedon-style photography… so we took photos of each other. This one was also taken in the studio, under the same circumstances.

I really didn’t do too much editing to this one. Simply a RAW conversion, De-saturation, Unsharp Mask, and added a border.

This photo – I feel – really shows who Emily is. No, it doesn’t show shooting deer, but it seems to show emotion and personality. This was just one shot of many, but this one really seemed to show who she is. Maybe I’m just over-analyzing the photo though.

Finally, there are some more of her below with the ones of Brandon and the contact sheet.

EXIF:

• Shutter: 1/200^th
• Aperture: f/7.1
• ISO: 100

Out-takes:

At one point, she was a little bit peeved at the photo shoot, so Emily flipped me the bird. While editing, she saw the image and liked it and said that it reminded her of the Johnny Cash photo of him flipping the bird. So… I edited it and came out with the result below. It turned out decent, especially for a first time doing something of the sort. The image below is hidden for the sake of censorship. The original is included below next to the contact sheet and the one of Mr. Cash is side by side once you click the “hidden” image below. No… it’s not exactly the same, but it’s good in it’s own light.

Oh, and if it wasn’t incredibly obvious, my inspiration was none other than the great…Richard Avedon.

Photo © Joel Sartore

Joel Sartore’s stories throughout the movie were both informing and inspiring. He described, in detail, many of the ordeals he went through while working for National Geographic. Some of his stories involved pain and suffering due to injuries and other disease. However, it also showed how many countries Sartore has traveled to in his life time, how many places he has photographed. For me, being a photographer for National Geographic would be the ultimate job regardless of the disadvantages. Traveling to foreign lands, capturing images that could change people’s entire perspective on a nation.

Photo © Joel Sartore

Sartore goes to great lengths to capture amazing images. To the right, there is a photo of him capturing a photo of, what looks to me like, a Caiman. Caiman are dangerous animals, and could have easily taken offense to Sartore taking his picture. But Sartore was willing to take the risk. Luckily for him, Mr. Caiman felt that he shouldn’t eat Mr. Sartore.

To experience everything Sartore would quite possibly be the ultimate thing one could do in their life.

Photo © Joel Sartore

Sartore captured everything from images of animals, to portraits of people, to landscapes. To the right is a photo of a wildlife crossing. This photo interested me, not only because it a good photo, but also because of the subject matter. It is a wildlife crossing in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. This image demonstrates that it is not only a good photo because of composition and exposure, it is also the subject matter. Sartore seems to have amazing subject matter, as all of his photos cause one to have a desire to find out more about what is in the photograph.

When one travels the world like Sartore, they see many different amazing things. I can say that if I could take a year off from school, work, and everything else, I would want to do what Sartore does… maybe not work for National Geographic, but travel the world and document it with photographs.