Fashion Forward.

 

This Photo shoot was fun. It was also the defining shoot for me to see if I can become Fashion Forward's official photographer (a try-out of sorts) and with the head of Gainesville's Fashion Forward there the pressure was on. See, I had never done work for fashion before. But she liked  them so I got the position.

Shot in colour with my D60. low ISO

Beach

I always dread going to the beach with friends and my camera. I am almost always dragged into taking crappy group photos. You know, the ones where everyone is jumping at the same time or the look-what-I-have-written-in-the-sand pictures and the lets-all-put-our-feet-together shoots. And during a very sunny day, like on Sat. 7th 2009 at Clearwater, Fla., creating art is much harder than at dawn or using the red glow of dusk.

So I looked for rare moments and stole them :-D

 Used: Nikon D60. NIKKOR 55-200mm lens. ISO-100 @ 1/100 sec. Focused at 150mm

 

Used: Nikon D60. NIKKOR 55-200mm lens. ISO-100 @ 1/400 sec. Focused at 62mm

The Beatitudes Video

The Beatitudes

A mid term project done in studio with specialized lighting. These pictures are from the shoot and the video will be in the next post.

 

 

The bellydancer Video

If you saw my earlier entry of this shoot you know the true quality of the photos. This is the final project for which I used the photos for. Again the picture quality doesn't do her justice. But I have decided that if I will be using this method to create videos I will have to shoot stills in RAW format.

UF Scuba video

So I finally settled on putting the soundslide project to Quicktime format. I know it reduces the quality but I figure it a price to pay.

My Friend

One of the many photos I need to upload from Soul Fest . . . Over two weeks ago. Busy Busy.

Sanjida Shahalam and the bellydance

This shoot was fun. I shot to stop motion during the belly dance and also a few profile shots.
Plus she was a great and very energetic model.

 

 

Burn, Dodge. Crop - I still really like art.

Sign

Who was it who designated this sign as "SLOW." And is the sign referring to how fast it moves or it mental competence.

Sex Talk

Last week the African Student Union hosted a forum about safe sex and all-that-jazz (for those of you who don't know me "all-that-jazz" is my way of saying "things of a similar nature"). As a guest speaker ASU brought Devin T Robinson X a.k.a. Egypt. Apparently, he has been on BET and MTV. He is the founder of AIDS Awareness Poets.

After this shoot I promised myself that I wouldn't put my self through the agony of shooting in a place with crappy lighting when I am not allowed to use flash.

Anyway I have to figure out posting Soundslides to my blog.

Caio.

Power in a Yell

Again with the lighting. This photo was taking using two warmer modeling lights. The light on his right had a reflector on it and the other (on his left) had a soft box.

P.S. Just noticed his shirt is also shouting.

Studio Portrait - Flash

Janelle Rich, 20, displays her alter ego Perry in a photo shoot on Sunday afternoon. Perry, a rich model, expresses her talent and personality in many different poses.

Shemuel Arrindell
Studio portrait: Flash
9/8/09

For this assignment I was able to find a model sooner and so I was able to plan to some degree what it was I wanted to get done. She was really excited to be photographed so we were able to play with some props in the studio. I now wished we had more props but I think that might have complicated things more at the time.
I found this assignment to be very challenging at first because I did not know how to set up the lights or my camera to get shots like the second one you took of Logan. So I decided to just use the light to remove the shadows on the background and try and capture her personality (Photos 1 and 2). Later in the shoot, after a little practice, I was able to use the lights to change her appearance (Photos 3 and 4). I like the third picture because the position of the life added shadows to the goose-bumps on her arm and shoulder. In the last picture the light was softened but point them to the black piece of board she was holding. It created a shadow but it was not doubled like when using the soft boxes.
In all this assignment was hard because it took a while for me to figure out how to use the camera and lights together to get the results I wanted.

Stop The Sickle Cycle

So one of my best friends, Darrell Stevens, is involved with a campaign called "Stop The Sickle Cycle" and as part of his vision we have to find people with Sickle Cell to interview. I was first.

I did the lighting in the studio and left the direction, shooting, editing and all the graphics and elements up  to him (after all this was his campaign). We used a regular Kodak point-and-shoot and three modeling lights. One with a reflector, another with a softbox and the last directed at the background to remove shadows.

We will do a few more interviews for the month and have more videos up for your viewing pleasure. We uploaded it for Facebook and Youtube for all to see.

However, I am now part of an online publication called Blacklisted Magazine so the link I will be using to show you this video will take you to the Blacklisted mag Web site. So look forward for my editorials and photography on the site but for now lets Stop The Sickle Cycle.

Beginning A Semester of Light

One-light portrait: No flash
9/1/09

One discovery I made was that friends who would usually jump at the chance to be photographed, shy away from the camera after they find out the photos are for class. However, the promise of getting copies of profession pictures of themselves usually wins over. A challenge that I faced was trying to be creative while tired. Luckily my model was very excited about the shoot because it made things easier.

End Of Summer Classes

So today was the last day of classes for me and I got to take my camera for a little fun and practice. I played with Portrait, Black and White and at the end (because of how dark the rooom was) flash.

ORI 2001 End of class on PhotoPeach

Seven Jewish Children

A 10-minute play by Caryl Churchill written in response to the attacks in Gaza earlier this year. I got a chance to see it on Saturday and after the seventh part I still didn't know what to make of this play written in poem format.

If you have time you should YouTube it.

The set.

The Producer

The pole goes right through her head. Darn!

Do you like Orchids?

I visited an aunt last week and was amazed to find orchids growing in pots around her kitchen. I have always had a special respect for orchids because of how hard it is to grow.

Fourth of July 2009

Hey guys it's been almost a month. Life has been busy but isn't it always. Ok so after not shooting for a few weeks I finally grabbed spontaneity by the horns and took a road trip. I went to St. Augustine on Florida'a east coast. I would recommend visiting that city to everyone. I got there in the late afternoon in time for the fireworks show and wished I had gotten there earlier so I could have taken more pictures of the city. (I will return).

I still haven't figured out how to upload soundslides to my blog and Windows Movie Maker kills the quality of pictures :-(.

The pictures were taken with my Nikon D60 and a SB600 flash. 1/8 Shutter speed and ISO 800.

Fourth of July 09. on PhotoPeach

PICS. My photo art.

I haven't tried painting with light again because of time. On some assignments, I did have time to play with the environment, manly pictures without people. These would almost never make it into a paper unless it were a feature.

This first picture is from a photography exhibit by Eastside High School's Photo Club. These 11 graders were quite good. The photo of the eye stood as the center of interest on that wall.

Whenever I see funny pictures on the internet I always wonder where they find them. Now I know. This clock actually works displaying the correct time. I found it at the Civic Media Center on Main street. The clock was at a slant but it only added a little more personality.

What have I been up to?

Well since starting my reporting class I have been doing nothing put trying to get interviews, writing and worrying about AP style errors in my papers. That has proven difficult because I still lose about 15-35 points per article. On the upside, My work have been published in the Alligator. Both were very short, about 5" each but I was my first two attempts and both were published.

They can be found here and here.

I also had a few photo assignments which were published with other anticles.

Those can be found here and here.

I am currently working on another article for Thursday about the digital television switch. However, the article can only be completed if Bob Woods, City of Gainesville spokesman, would get back to me. I hate having to track down this man everytime I need to get the city's stance on an issue. You would think the city would provide a more available person.

Anyway, I added two more items to my most wanted list. Remember: the lense and the flash.

These items are a new desktop, MAC or PC perferably PC, sorry but I want to play Assassin's Creed 2, and a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS4.

So to anyone selling any of those items let me know.

Reggae Shack Cafe after Renovations.

Reggae Shack Cafe on PhotoPeach

Again all photos by Shemuel Arrindell.

Police shooting I Covered.

Police Shooting, Gainesville Fla. on PhotoPeach

All Photos taken by Shemuel Arrindell.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Summer

This summer was suppose to be my free summer. I am only taking two classes this summer but I never realised the amount of time each would require. Reporting on its own is taking three to four days per assignment. I wouldn't mind if my grades reflected effort I out out. So this summer needs putting in perspective.

A benefit of summer is the amount of time available for reporting. With less students the chances of being published increases expentionally. I am also able to consult the editors and writers of the Alligator more directly.

Because the class takes so much time and energy I have very little time to do anything else. I have been given assignments from the Alligator but I haven't the time to go practice and get enterprise photos. Passing reporting is maybe the single most important thing a journalism student can do at the university however, my photography is being put on the back burner.

So far my summer photo publications can be found here and here

The first one was my first time covering a hard news story. These shoots allowed me to see how a newspaper works. I never met the reporters who were assigned to the stories I just got to call with the assignments.

Some Art

I now need human subjects to help improve my craft. As a photojournalist pictures of animals, buildings, and scenes just don't cut it.

These are just a few photos.

This last photo was my exposure and shutter speed test.

Its been forever and a day.

My last blog post came to you a month ago just before the beginning of finals for my Spring semester. So what have I been up to? Quite a lot. I have not been taking pictures as much as I would like to and it's frustrating. For example, I went to Miami Fla, a week ago and if you have ever been in that city you know the hundreds of picture taking opportunities just waiting to happen. Unfortunately, I was the driver in all of my adventures and took almost no photos. I am however, planning a return visit before summer is over.

New, I started experimenting with the use long-exposure light painting. I have a few mediocure shots which I took last night to see how it worked and to get the right settings etc. I will be creating art in the nex few weeks so look out for that.

In school related news, I started JOU3101 - Reporting, at the Universit of Florida. It has been deamed the second hardest class at UF but I'm not going to let that scare me. It's very time consuming but not impossible.

Now for the pictures. They have been unedited in any way, mostly because I hate editing and I do not have my own copy of Adobe Photoshop for windows.

These photos were taken at the University of Florida Veteran Memorial dedication ceremony on April 30th.

New Format and such.

Hello readers,
I am changing the format of the blog, for the better I believe, to include a midweek post. This post will discuss issues and current events in the news. The pictures will still come on the weekend. I think some comment is needed because they are to important to pass up. A example of that would be the closing of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer print version a few weeks ago.

Now to the pictures.

This week I started a photo story project for my Photojournalism class. My focus was the UF Scuba program and the class. Even though the students pay large fees to be in the program, the university is still considering cutting the program.

Hopefully I manage to get the finished product published to the Gainesville Sun, Highsprings Herald, or the Alligator's website.

Making a Splash

By Shemuel Arrindell, Alligator

Brandon Sell, a UF mechanical engineering student, uses the Back Roll entry to enter the Student Recreation and Fitness Center pool on Thursday. The UF Academic Diving Program provides students with the opportunity to learn and become certified in different types of scuba exercises.


The next three were not submitted to be published but were some other I took of the Scuba students.

Final days in sight .

Since entering college I noticed that unlike high school, the last few weeks of any given semester is expectantly stressful. However, after six semesters over the course of two years at the University of Florida, my mother still seems to think that the last days are a walk in the park.

With all my regular assignments completed I now look forward to starting my final projects. From American Sign Language to my photojournalism class, it presents a very daunting task.

Over the period of the last two weeks I managed to learn Soundslides and be made aware of how expensive learning to be a Photojournalist has become.
Soundslides, Photoshop, a Mac computer, flash and another lenses(50mm f. 1.4D AF Nikkor Lens) and the out-of-pocket cost of summer at UF are on my list of things I need or want by the end of the year.

But putting all that aside:

Tampa Tribune Multimedia Reporter and Online Community Producer Kenneth Knight, came to the University of Florida last week and spoke with the members of Accoiation of Black Communicators. He is a great contact to have.


In doors at night without flash. Still much to learn, Young Jedi. I'm still practicing with nighttime shots and shotting in dark places when flash is not allowed.

And last but not least. The lens of my dreams.