Portfolio Site

https://hansenmd.wixsite.com/hansenmd

It's been a pleasure. Thank you Eric for all your insightful lectures, practical knowledge and application. I hope my peers benefitted from this class as much as I did.

Feature: Easter Services at Tuacahn

Calvary Chapel St. George, a non-denominational church, holds Easter Sunday service at the Tuacahn Amphitheater.

80mm | f/4 | ISO 800 | 1/500th 

There were two services, 8 AM and 11 AM. Both consisting of worship and a message from the church's senior pastor Rick Nerud. Nerud was proud to boast this was their 10th year worshipping at the Tuacahn Amphitheater.

210mm | f/4 | ISO 640 | 1/2000th

Nerud giving his Easter themed sermon.

The services have a distinct theme, "The Name of Jesus", which is hailed during a song that spoke of the "beautiful, wonderful, powerful" name of Jesus. This was reflected in a larger than life banner, raised in the middle of said song.

50mm | f/4 | ISO 500 | 1/2000th 

210mm | f/4 | ISO 800 | 1/1000th

Nerud gave a message of who Jesus is, what Jesus did and will do. Interestingly enough, Nerud's goal seemed to be to remove Jesus from religion. In a an area, let alone a state, where religious influence is abundant, this message, while still being religious in nature, was in a sense counter cultural. The evangelical nature of this message was front and center.

The worship band offered a blend of old and new, mixing traditional hymns with contemporary Christian music. Regardless, the amphitheater was surprisingly booming.

210mm | f/4 | ISO 800 | 1/500th

210mm | f/4 | ISO 800 | 1/500th

55mm | f/4 | ISO 800 | 1/500th

Naturally, the first service had less in attendance, but of those there, they seemed eager and happy to be.

18mm | f/2.8 | ISO 800 | 1/2000th

The overall experience was quite sensational as far as church services go. It would seem Calvary Chapel is making an effort to stand out and stay relevant in this day and age.

Bonus Pic: Pseudo Tilt-Shift

Some metadata may be inaccurate as I was using an older long zoom (80-210mm) with an adapter for some shots. They ought to be in the ballpark, though.

Peer Edit

From Daxton's feature post:

For this shot, I wanted to crop it and level it. Also, place the subject in an intersection (Rule of 3rd's).
After

Also manipulated highlights, shadows, whites and blacks.
After

Similar edits as the previous photo, this time focusing on the man (3rd from left).
Before

After

Shooting to Illustrate

This assignment was probably the most difficult to shoot.

Context

Physical context is illustrated in the subjects; everyday items that consumers may or may not be knowledgeable about.

The psychological context is found with the juxtaposition of the objects and what shouldn't be there. The viewer may see how certain objects perform a different task than illustrated (i.e. a condom as a preventative and safe measure).

In our American culture, we somewhat pride ourselves with excess; excessive serving sizes for one, and excessive amounts of sugar in our foods and drinks.

Regarding social context, we as a society understand that drug addiction is an issue, one that is constantly talked about. When it comes to sugary drinks and unhealthy foods, the conversation is never really as in depth, but it is still a problem.

The temporal context is found with the prevalence of unhealthy foods in our stores. They definitely saturate our day-to-day shopping experiences and it's debatable whether or not majority of consumers are even aware of what they're consuming.

56mm | f/1.8 | ISO 3200 | 1/500th
A play on what we're really drinking buying juices. There's a Minute Maid and an Arizona behind the glass, both of which are filled with 60+ grams of sugar, most of which is addictive, not from natural fruit juice.

23mm | f/1.8 | ISO 3200 | 1/500th
With this photo I wanted to illustrate that we should not take gambles with our food; that as consumers, we should be knowledgeable concerning the production and handling of what we consume.

23mm | f/1.8 | ISO 3200 | 1/500th
I wanted to depict sugar as a drug, in the sense that abuse of it is dangerous to our health. I desaturated the image a bit as well.

Exterior Lighting

Natural light, shooting outdoors.

55mm | f/4.5 | ISO 320 | 1/500th
The sunlight created a nice, even split on Kaden's face.

55mm | f/5.6 | ISO 320 | 1/500th

55mm | f/4.0 | ISO 320 | 1/2000th
The high-noon sunlight was even harsh under the shade.

Shooting indoors, natural light.

A difficulty I found with the interior photos, using exterior sunlight, is the difficulty to pull a decent highlight off the cheek. Obviously, the exterior is blown out, and with a blonde subject, it was a bit difficult to properly expose without also losing detail in her hair.

55mm | f/4.0 | ISO 320 | 1/180th

55mm | f/4.0 | ISO 320 | 1/180th

Portrait Session

Shots from the studio today

56mm | f/1.2 | ISO 500 | 1/2000th

56mm | f/1.2 | ISO 500 | 1/2000th

56mm | f/1.2 | ISO 500 | 1/1000th

56mm | f/2.8 | ISO 500 | 1/250th

56mm | f/1.2 | ISO 500 | 1/1000th

56mm | f/5.6 | ISO 500 | 1/60th

Shooting Tight

Some objects in my house, shot tight.

55mm | f/4.0 | ISO 3200 | 1/60th
City of Peace

55mm | f/4.0 | ISO 5000 | 1/60th
I'd love to record a record.

55mm | f/4.0 | ISO 5000 | 1/60th
I actually haven't solved this.. yet.

55mm | f/4.0 | ISO 3200 | 1/30th
It spins in the light.

Shooting Wide

12mm | f/2.0 | ISO 200 | 1/1700th
In Bryce Canyon on a very snowy day.

Axioms of Photography

Recent shots to assist in the understanding of camera variables.

Deep Depth

12mm | f/2.0 | ISO 1600 | 10s
Just another star photo, nothing to see here.

70mm | f/2.8 | ISO 400 | 1/80th
OS X inspirations.

Shallow Depth

56mm | f/1.2 | ISO 1000 | 1/125
Innocent Exterior, Mischievous Intentions

56mm | f/1.2 | ISO 800 | 1/180
Which was harder: pulling focus or getting him to sit still?

Frozen Motion

140mm | f/2.8 | ISO 400 | 1/110
Curious cow creeping toward me.

90mm | f/2.0 | ISO 200 | 1/125
Ducks in a row, pecking and walking.

Blurred Motion

56mm | f/2.8 | ISO 200 | 2s
Passing cars makes for a neat long exposure.

140mm | f/3.2 | ISO 200 | 1/75
Cayuga(?) duck flapping its wings. 

All photos taken within the last week (1/15 - 1/22)
Locations: Near Shivwits/Paiute reservations
                  Duck pond
                  Home

Self Portrait, or The Importance of Vanity in Creativity

56mm | f/1.2 | ISO 2500
I framed this shot and had my lovely wife release the shutter.

I genuinely wish I had an essay to back up that title.

Hi, I'm Matt Hansen. I have a passion for visual arts, writing, music and computers. Like the rest of my peers in this course, I plan on using this blog to archive not just assignments, but any content that appeals to me, especially that which pertains to photojournalism and photography in general.

I look forward to posting more frequently and seeing what the rest of the class comes up with. I don't mean for that to sound contrived, but honestly.