Eco Boho is
Living a EcoBoho conscious green lifestyle first starts with your state of mind. Let the sustainable Eco Bohoist of the world unite to lessen our carbon footprint and create the change we wish to see. Blog: www.ecoboho.org.
a Multimedia project for school. A big thanks to Bekah for allowing me to follow, film, and photograph her for weeks.
Creative Process
John Paul Caponigro is an amazing photographer with an artist’s eye. As part of the ACP (Atlanta Celebrates Photography) lecture series, Caponigro shared his knowledge of the Creative Process on October 4, 2012 at the Creative Circus.
Growing up Caponigro was always surrounded by photographers and artists; creativity practically flows through his veins. His father is “Paul” Caponigro a famous landscape photographer who taught at Ansel Adam’s Workshop. And, his mother is a graphic artist/painter who worked as an editor; she edited Elliot Porter’s work as well as her husband’s work. As a kid, Caponigro even met Ansel Adams and his dog Tripod. Caponigro’s parents always encouraged him to paint and draw. Though Caponigro went to school for painting, he learned photography from his father.
“The creative process begins when you reconnect with being child like, see with new eyes, give yourself permission to draw, to write, to be creative in your photography” believes Caponigro. He devotes his entire website to “Illuminating Creativity.” The website, www.johnpaulcaponigro.com, is a wealth of photographic resources for storytelling, technical information, drawing, writing, etc. Featured under the Creativity tab are: Exercises, Meditations, Writing, Storytelling, Video, Audio, Photographers, and Business. All this information gets you motivated and deeply involved with sharing your story/images.
Writing plays a big role in the creative process according to Caponigro. The power of 
writing brings magic to your life. Caponigro suggests making lists or writing out free associations; whatever comes to mind, just keep writing out words and concepts. Then you can look over the list and find that patterns begin to emerge and ideas begin to flourish. His version of a flowchart is spiral; you start in the middle and add words from the middle out similar to the cross section of a sea shell.
Along with writing, Caponigro suggests that people draw out concepts, even trace them in the air. One needn’t to be a fabulous artist you can use stick figures, simple lines, and squiggles to make your concept known. This is part of the pre-visualization process. The more work you can do before you create your image the easier to capture it. Oft times one internalizes these drawings or thumbnail sketches and months later you will capture the exact image reflected in the drawing.
When exploring the creative process, Caponigro recommends that you take one of your ideas and see how you can change it; deepen it. Then, see if you can make a variation of that idea or image. He encourages you to photograph your image from all angles not just from above or below, but, from 360 degrees; walk all the way around your subject if possible. “Change your perspective frequently,” he advises; “see what is possible in a situation.” He believes one should learn the rules as they are useful guidelines, then, break them; give yourself permission to be creative.
Caponigro states that “Images come out of the richness of your life.” When asked how long it takes for him to make an image, his answer is 15 minutes to 6 months. However, he said that,” it’s more like 47 years and counting. Your whole life is a part of your image; it’s what makes it authentic.” Ever big on quotes, Caponigro quoted The Talmud: “We do not see the world as it is. We see the world as we are.”
Inspiration
Liz Von Hoene graciously delivered an ultra inspiring lecture at the King Plow Arts Center on October 24, 2012. It was part of the ACP (Atlanta Celebrates Photography) lecture series; she chronicled her journey of becoming a successful Fashion Photographer in Atlanta, Georgia. Her lecture was filled with nuggets of wisdom as well as practical knowledge about fashion photography.
To begin, Von Hoene discussed her humble beginnings. Early in her career, she photographed catalogs for Neiman Marcus, the upscale retailer. Though this was just catalog work, Von Hoene took the approach of photographing the clothes in such a stylized way that catalog looked more like a high fashion magazine. She used clean, simple lines, fluid design, a captured moment, a hint of whimsy, and a spark of humor. These “plug” words were like a Mantra throughout the entire lecture. It is her signature style: simple lines, design, shape, light, a whimsical moment, a blow of the skirt, and an “Oh!” exclaimed by the model. This formula paved Von Hoene’s path to success. It led to other catalog jobs with Atlanta based retailers Macy’s and Target.
Von Hoene’s success formula was tweaked depending on the client. For Neiman Marcus, her images were more sophisticated and high fashion. The catalog work for Macy’s was a little bit more “Lifestyle”: simple sets, simple lighting, and simple props. In fact, she used a 10 x 10 set and on Octobank (lighting). Von Hoene stated that one should find a formula that sells well, and then you can interchange the subjects with furniture, bras and panties, or feminine hygiene products instead of the clothes.
One nugget of wisdom that Von Hoene imparted was to “Stay true to oneself.” When Von Hoene began her career photographing clothes for retail catalogs, she received an enormous amount of criticism from Art directors and fellow photographers. They all said that to get editorial work, Von Hoene would have to move to New York; at the time she had two young children to raise. Von Hoene made the decision to stay in Atlanta, work really hard, and to photograph her catalog assignments like they were high fashion. Her strategy worked; she made a lifelong client of Neiman Marcus, the retailer with whom she began shooting catalog work. Von Hoene’s client list includes: Macy’s, Target, Kohler Fixtures, Velux Skylights, Crystal Light, Dove Soap, as well as fashion magazines like Marie Claire. Though Von Hoene stayed in Atlanta, New York clients and editorial opportunities came her way. Happy she didn’t listen to the naysayers, Von Hoene says she is “Laughing all the way to the Bank!” Through consistency, branding her style, and hard work, she created a profitable photography business right here in Atlanta on catalog work.
Other nuggets of wisdom, “Don’t burn your bridges” and “Work hard to develop consistency in your style of photography” helped Von Hoene tremendously to boost her photography business. Many people, some nice and some not so nice, from her humble beginnings ended up becoming Art directors, and, they all called on Von Hoene to photograph catalogs and print ads for their companies. These Art directors remembered Von Hoene’s work ethic, pleasant demeanor, and consistent style of photography. “You’ve really made it big when Art directors’ are using your name as an adjective!” Von Hoene exclaimed.
Equal time was spent discussing the practical side of Von Hoene’s photography business. She described her work atmosphere: an open room studio with music, good energy, nice people, and having a nice time; “you won’t lose any clients” she stated. Her policy is to always be pleasant, positive, happy, and grateful when selling a concept to a client. If a client wants to see a smiling version of one of her images, Von Hoene will happily send a giant contact sheet of smiling expressions from her previous work to help sway the client. She creates mood boards or “Treatments” as they are called in the industry. These treatments consist of images from her prior shoots, sketches of props, a storyline, and more. Von Hoene stated the importance of archiving your images so that you can easily create story boards using your own images. She added that the first photographer to fulfill a potential clients request for images of smiles will most likely get the job; so responding quickly is valuable. And, Von Hoene’s last bit of advice was to “Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot!”
For our Multimedia II class I had to interview one of my classmates, record the audio and provide B-roll to accompany the interview footage. The B-roll adds spice to your interview; it gives you an intimate view of the person’s life.
For our Multimedia II class, we had to film a Montage. According to the Free Dictionary online, the definition of montage is:
“mon·tage (m
n-täzh
, mô
-)n. 1. a. A single pictorial composition made by juxtaposing or superimposing many pictures or designs.b. The art or process of making such a composition. 2. a. A relatively rapid succession of different shots in a movie. b. The juxtaposition of such successive shots as a cinematic technique.”
The movie Forrest Gump tells the story of a simple man that had a profound impact on America during 1950 – 1982. The movie was release in 1994, when America began to explore the Super Information Highway, the Internet. It was well received at the box office; it was number one for 10 weeks, yet some critics were annoyed by the antics of the main character, Forrest Gump. Through Forrest Gump’s ramblings, from a bench at the bus stop, every major event in American history including cultural icons was explained. And of course Forrest Gump, through a twist of fate, was a witness to it all.
Most of the historical events touched on in Forrest Gump were portrayed in a humorous manner; like when Forrest met three Presidents. As an All Star football player from Alabama State, Forrest had the opportunity to meet President Kennedy. Forrest, so excited to drink free Dr. Pepper’s at the reception blurted out, “I’ve gotta’ PEE!” when it was his turn to shake President Kennedy’s hand. Upon graduating from Alabama State, Forrest enlisted in the Army and witnessed the Vietnam War. As a war hero (he saves Lt. Dan), Forrest Gump got to meet and shake hands with President Johnson. Forrest actually mooned President Johnson in an effort to show off his war wound. The evening after meeting President Nixon, Forrest tipped off the police about lights being on in the hotel across the street, which started the Watergate scandal.
Popular icons of the 1950-80’s time period were also portrayed in a humorous manner. Did you know Elvis got his hip swiveling, knee jerking dance from Forrest Gump? Elvis, a boarder at the Gump house, watched a young Forrest with leg braces dance around the room. Low and behold, Elvis was seen on TV mimicking Forrest’s knee jerk and all. Lt. Dan, who was first mate on Forrest Gump’s shrimp boat, took money from the business and invested in a “Fruit” company, which ended up being Apple Computer.
The three year running segment of the film explained the tee shirt fad in America; a business man was gleaning advice from Forrest handed him a tee shirt to peruse. Forrest wiped his face with the tee shirt leaving the infamous Smiley Face print with the “Have a nice day!” salutation. But then, someone splashed mud on another advice seeker, which triggered the “Shit Happens” bumper sticker as well. Also the running segment showed how in American culture people clamor to causes, gurus, TM (Transcendental Meditation); they seek to join something.
Influence
The movie, Forrest Gump, had a major impact on American culture; from language idioms, to books, to products, to even restaurants. The quirky catch phrases, cookbooks, shrimp products, and seafood restaurants inspired by the movie still exist today.
One quirky phrase, the famous line “Run Forrest, Run!” is now a part of American language/slang. I use it from time to time when I see a classmate rushing down the hall. I throw my head back and yell out, “Run Forrest, Run!” as if my encouragement will help my classmate arrive at his destination faster. Other quirky lines from the movie that became popular are: “Stupid is as stupid does,” “Have a nice day,” and the ever popular, “Mama says life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get.”
The Bubba Gump shrimp scenes from the movie spawned a whole host of products, books, and restaurants. The restaurant Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. was inspired by the movie. Forrest Gump was released in 1994 and two years later the restaurant appeared. According to Wikipedia:
“The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Restaurant and Market is a seafood restaurant chain inspired by the 1994 film Forrest Gump. As of September 2010, thirty-two Bubba Gump restaurants operate worldwide. Twenty-two of these locations are in the United States, three are in Japan, two are located in Mexico, two are in Malaysia, and one each in the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong. The company is based in San Clemente, California, and has been a division of Landry’s Restaurants since 2010.
The first Bubba Gump restaurant opened in 1996 in Monterey, California by Viacom Consumer Products. That firm’s parent company, Viacom, is owner of Paramount Pictures (the distributor of Forrest Gump), and also owns the Rusty Pelican restaurant chain. The Bubba Gump restaurant is named after the film’s characters Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue and Forrest Gump. In the film, Bubba suggested the shrimping business and ultimately Forrest pursued the idea after Bubba’s death in the Vietnam War” Cite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubba_Gump_Shrimp_Company
As for books, there are at least a half dozen devoted to the movie’s main character:
All the books came out in 1994/95 after the release of the film. Cite: http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Bubba_Gump_Shrimp_Co_Cookbook.html?id=5igMAAAACAAJ
A host of Forrest/Bubba Gump tee shirts emblazoned with Forrest’s famous lines, along with Bubba Gump shrimp hats and shot glasses exist for sale on EBay.
Amazingly all these product and restaurants were developed by pure influence of the movie, not the planned release of toys and action figures that accompany many Hollywood movies. Though Viacom, the owner of the distribution for the movie, did have a hand in it.
Plot Device
Running was a major theme throughout the movie both physically and metaphorically. “Run Forrest, Run!” Jenny would yell to the adolescent Forrest Gump as the grade school bullies were about to pounce. “Go Forrest, Go!” the stadium crowd cheered as the teenaged Forrest carried the football for another Alabama State touchdown. The infantry Forrest Gump RAN and carried Lieutenant Dan to safety during the Vietnam War. The disappointed Forrest Gump physically ran his heartbreak away after yet another rejection from his childhood sweetheart, Jenny. In the process he started the running craze of the ‘70’s that put NIKE athletic wear on the map.
While Forrest Gump did a lot of physical running his sweetheart/nemesis, Jenny, was constantly running away metaphorically. She ran away from her small town as a teen to go off to college. Jenny ran away after being kicked out of college to hang out with drugs and fun in San Francisco. After realizing the toll of drugs and partying had taken on her life, Jenny ran away to a safe, boring life of waitressing. She always seemed to be running away from Forrest, though he was always the best influence on her life. He always shared his unconditional love and never judged her. Jenny kept running away from her abusive past throughout the entire movie.
Cinematography
Forrest Gump was revolutionary at the time; it introduced us to the CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) techniques of blending historical footage of famous American events with a current character walking in and out of the scene. CGI is computer generated imagery.
“Ken Ralston and his team at Industrial Light & Magic were responsible for the film’s visual effects. Using CGI techniques, it was possible to depict Gump meeting deceased personages and shaking their hands. Hanks was first shot against a blue screen along with reference markers so that he could line up with the archive footage.[24] To record the voices of the historical figures, voice doubles were hired and special effects were used to alter the mouth movements for the new dialogue.[16] Archival footage was used and with the help of such techniques as chroma key, image warping, morphing, and rotoscoping, Hanks was integrated into it.” Cite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-generated_imagery
Lighting
The lighting of the scenes played a major role in setting the emotional tone of the movie. When Jenny was strung out on drugs and about to commit suicide, the scene was dark and murky. As she was scrambling to get on the bus at the political rally, it was also grimly lit. Most of Jenny’s scenes upon running away from her small town life were dark and gloomy until she redeemed herself by becoming waitress. The lighting reflected the fact that Jenny was always running away from her “Dark Past.” Similarly, the lighting of scenes for Forrest was overall more bright and hopeful. The exception being the scenes where Forrest was running nonstop to assuage his pain and disappointment; those scenes were gray. The same lighting patterns held true for Lt. Dan. When Lt. Dan was frustrated with the loss of his legs, the lighting of his room was dark and dismal. However, Forrest came along with his simple man’s charm and the scenes brightened to reflect hope.
Sound Design
The music was used as a time lapse device in the movie. During flashbacks of Jenny’s life various songs were used to show her hanging out in San Francisco, Woodstock, Disco clubs, etc. Songs like, “Running On Empty” by Jackson Browne were apropos to mark time when Forrest was running non-stop for three years. The music that was popular during the 60’s and 70’s added richness and validity to all the historical events that were depicted.
Another time lapse device was the family maid. She was young in the beginning, yet at the end of the movie she was bent over, still in service to Forrest and his son.
Angles
Forrest Gump touched on both sides of many popular issues in America. It showed Anti War Protests and it showed the Vietnam War. It showed the KKK and the Black Panther Party. The movie showed the despair of drug and alcohol abuse, along with Forrest Gump’s pious life. Child abuse was hinted at as well as HIV/AIDS; these were countered with Forrest Gump’s loving Mama. The Gump family was relatively wealthy compared to Jenny’s impoverished upbringing. It showed JFK and Bobby Kennedy, as well as George Wallace attempting to block the desecration of Alabama State. It showed bullies of the same race as Forrest, along with his best friend, Bubba, who was black.
Message Take Away
The movie stressed that even the meek underdog can accomplish great things in life; so don’t overlook or dismiss the simple man. It showed that human kindness and compassion were the most important values to have in life. Throughout the movie Forrest Gump was kind and compassionate to everyone he met, no matter how they treated him. (With the exception of taking up for Jenny, Forrest did initiate a couple of beat downs.)
For White on White images, a one stop difference in the lights was necessary to make sure the subject didn’t blend completely into the background. The strobe light on the left was metered to f/16, while the strobe light on the right was metered to f/22. The View camera was raised up high and tilted down into the middle hole of the light tent. Also a paper plate reflector was taped on the left side of the light tent to add the shadow back unto the marshmallows and dish.
Here is the technical information for this shoot:
The Set-Up information is as follows:
The Technical information is as follows:
The results were marvelous. All the exposures turned out; several had a slight purple cast. One film was a perfect blend of white on white.
John Early is an Automotive and Product Photographer with a studio in Los Angeles. He has over 20 years of experience photographing cars for placement in print advertisement and for internet campaigns. Early’s clients read like the A-List of all the high-end car manufacturers: Audi, Acura, Honda, Infiniti, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Volkswagon. And this is a partial list. He has incredible images of cars with reflections oozing from their tires. Early’s product shots of metal are equally incredible.
My instructor chose the cocktail shaker for my Metal assignment in Commercial I class. Since the cocktail shaker had an approximately 270 degree family of angles, (highly reflective all around) it was photographed in a light tent, a box like structure covered in diffused material to cut down on all the reflections. This assignment was shot with a digital camera instead of the 4 x 5 View camera. To make the cocktail shaker more interesting I added an upside down Martini glass with a single strawberry sitting on the base. The glass had to be pushed back so as not to add any more reflections on the metal. Two strobe lights were used one on either side of the light tent. The strobe light on the right side was at table height and the strobe on the left was high and angled down into the side of the light tent. The set up looked like this:
The camera, a Canon Rebel with a 55mm lens, was positioned in the middle hole of the light tent with the other holes covered up. The cocktail shaker, Martini glass, and fruit stand in were placed gently inside. Cherries were used as the fruit stand in until the composition was finalized, then the fruit was switched to the strawberry with the fancy culinary slices.
The strobe lights were both powered at 31 watts/sec; no modifiers were used. The test exposures ranged from f/32 @ 1/125 sec. to f/16 @ 1/125 sec. at 100 ISO. The final exposure was f/16 @ 1/125 sec. at 100 ISO. Test Shots:
Here is the technical information for this shoot:
The Set-Up information is as follows:
The Technical information is as follows:
The results were amazing once you covered all the light tent holes and around the camera as much as possible. One can hardly see the tiny camera lens reflection in the cocktail shaker. Light tents are awesome.
This image of bottles partly submerged in liquid is simply stunning. The photographer is Carl Zapp. He is the owner of Carl Zapp Studios Inc. in New York. Mr. Zapp specializes in product and still life photography for advertisement agencies and design firms. His clients include Sony, American Express, and Ricoh Copiers. I’m inspired to figure out how he shot this image as well as create my own high quality glass stills.
c Snap Photography 