Photographic Essay...

I had a few versions of the same image, just trying to play around with text, and even deciding whether I should have text.

This following one was an example of not having any captions, however it doesn't explain itself, my intentions and the concept of this photographic essay, so I decided to place some opaque text onto the image.

This was the product of my opaque text, however despite the image now having an explanation, I thought that the extra caption made the image too busy. So I had my next idea.

I changed the font around this time, and placed the image inside a border. The outcome was generally more desirable, but I thought the font didn't suit the image as a whole. And eventually, I changed the font back for my final product.As a whole, I'm quite pleased with how the images of all eight eyes turned out - kind of revealing, but yet hidden behind the vignetted edges. The edges almost gives the image as a whole a secretive view, and the eye is the centre of it where little bits of personality is revealed. The other thing I felt about the images were that some of the kind of gave me a predatory feel, which was quite interesting.

Zodiac fun facts Part II

and so it continues...

7. Horse:
Dominant colour is green
Fixed element is fire
Equivalent star sign is Gemini
Those born in the year of the horse are skillful, perceptive although they sometimes talk too much. They are very independent people and rarely listens to advice.

8. Ram:
Dominant colour is light blue
Fixed element is fire
Equivalent star sign is Cancer
Those born in the year of the ram are elegant, gentle, compassionate and wise, though at times they may be shy, pessimistic and puzzled about life.

9. Monkey:
Dominant colour is white/violet
Fixed element is metal
Equivalent star sign is Leo
Those born in the year of the monkey are clever, skillful, flexible and have a good memory. They are remarkably inventive and original and can solve the most difficult of problems, however has a short attention span.

10. Rooster:
Dominant colour is white/yellow
Fixed element is metal
Equivalent star sign is Virgo
People born in the year of the rooster are deep thinkers, capable and talented. Rooster people are often a bit eccentric, and thus have rather difficult relationship with others. They frequently are loners and though they give the outward impression of being adventurous, they are generally timid.

11. Dog:
Dominant colour is navy blue
Fixed element is metal
Equivalent star sign is Libra
Those born in the year of the dog have a deep sense of loyalty, are honest and inspire other people's confidence and trust because the know how to keep secrets. However, they can also be quite selfish, stubborn and eccentric. They can also be quite cold emotionally.

12. Pig:
Dominant colour is dark green
Fixed element is water
Equivalent star sign is Leo
Those born in the year of the pig are chivalrous and gallant. Whatever they do, they do with all their strength; they have tremendous fortitude and great honesty. However, they don't make many friends, but when they do, they make them for life as they are extremely loyal.

All information found on here

Zodiac Fun Facts

The Chinese Zodiac consists of 12 different animals - much like the Western one (ie. the Astrological Signs). However since this photo essay only allows for 8-10 photos, I chose 8 of the zodiacs because it was most convenient for me to find people who were of those 8 zodiacs.

All the ones highlighted in White are the zodiacs that I'll be using in my photo essay.

1. Rat:
Dominant colours are red/black/white
Fixed element is water
Equivalent star sign is Sagittarius
Those born in the year of the rat are generally associated with wealth, charm, and order, yet also known for their aggression and love for gossip.

2. Ox:
Dominant colours are yellow/blue
Fixed element is water
Equivalent star sign is Capricorn
Those born in the year of the ox are generally patient, soft-spoken, and reliable, yet they're also known for their stubbornness and can be short-tempered.

3. Tiger:
Dominant colour is green
Fixed element is wood
Equivalent star sign is Aquarius
Those born in the year of the tiger are courageous, competitive and sensitive, however they can be rather rash in their decision making.

4. Rabbit:
Dominant colour is green/peach
Fixed element is wood
Equivalent star sign is Pisces
People born in the year of the rabbit are articulate, talented and ambitious despite being fond of gossip, they're generally kind people who seldom lose their anger.

5. Dragon:
Dominant colour is gold
Fixed element is wood
Equivalent star sign is Aries
Those born in the year of the dragon are perfectionists, idealists, aggressive, determined but they can also be quite short tempered and stubborn.

6. Snake:
Dominant colour is red
Fixed element is fire
Equivalent star sign is Taurus
Those born in the year of the snake are deep, say little, and possess great wisdom. They can sometimes be vain, selfish and a bit stingy except for those who are close to them. However they have tremendous sympathy for others and help those less fortunate.

That's it for now... will continue with the other 6 zodiac signs a little later when I'm free.

Eyes...

So... due to many complications, I had a back up plan just in case my golf theme couldn't be carried out in my photo essay.

Eyes... a friend mentioned doing eyes of my family members and designate a colour to them. However, as I was researching for eyes and the different photos. I came across these ideas of having eyes, however, each eye is not only represented by the colour, but each colour referred to an astrological sign.

Zodiac Eyes by Magica-28

Another image that was similar was this one that I found. Instead of having the same image but with different colours. This artist used different images, and along with the different colours they also used a different design for the eye make up and it gave the image a different feel overall.

Eyes of the Zodiac by xiam-anartform

So, why do eyes? What's so special about eyes?
As many people may have heard the saying that "the eyes don't lie". I personally admit I'm not sure how that works, because I'm pretty sure some people are so good at lying that even their eyes could lie. But that doesn't matter. I still honestly believe that the one feature that really allows people to see into another person is the eyes. The eyes generally convey a great deal of emotion even if it may not show on the person's face, but the eyes may give them away. Hence I chose to do eyes... and not any other parts of a human body.

Lost in my mind

Been having trouble concentrating on one specific thing when everything seems to have a time limit that's running up. Almost as though the brain is currently cluttered with an overload of this to think about, and thus all thoughts have become jumbled as one. I have yet to find time to go out and take those macro shots for my photo essay, which I'm panicking about since I have yet to really start. But uni and life is getting in the way of a simple task of even finding an hour when the sun is still up to go out to the driving range and do my photo shoot. So I've decided that I'm going to get up at 8am tomorrow, bright and early, and go down and do that photo shoot... Hopefully I have just enough time to capture all my photos before I need to head out to yet another group meeting for another subject's assignment.

When has time gone by so fast? Or was it always going at this speed but my mind had not been able to catch up to the pace at which time goes? I don't know, but all I know is I'm falling too far behind and sleep is no longer a top priority for the next week and a few days.

Feeling blue.

Today was an extremely long day, left the house at 9:40am and got home at 10:40pm. Was getting kind of grumpy and feeling kind of blue. After realising that I have much to do before week 12 is all over, I started to have a mild panic attack which did not actually help. After the panic passed by, I just felt blue.

Out of curiosity, I typed in the saying 'feeling blue' into google just to say what comes up. And a list of depression counseling groups. Under google image, many of the images depicts either a sad gloomy scenery or a person looking sad - or in other words 'depressed'.

Lastly for this blue day, I looked up some images on deviantART that really emphasises my overall mood:

Feeling blue by lowapproach

I really love the dark tones and shades used in this photo, and the reflection of the blue in the sky which seems to resonate all throughout the photo is beautiful.

Feeling blue by dEivIDmx

The large amounts of space and openness of this photo along with the dried leafless trees really gives this whole image a very vast loneliness kind of feel. Especially that one tree closest in perspective to us, it seems lonely and distant from the rest of the other trees - almost as if it were alone.

Anyways, that's it for today.

Different Holga Images

Have yet to decide what technique of imaging I might use for my photo essay. But I do know that I want my photographs to be squared. Possibly a Holga imaging technique could be adapted. As the vignetted edges may give my macro shots of golf balls an even more accentuated feel to it.

I also might choose to use colorization in my photographs. Perhaps a black & white photo with only partial things emphasized in green for example. Or I can choose to use a green huge like the following photograph.



On the other hand. The multicolour Holga shots will be considered as the vibrant colours are attractive and somewhat bold due to it's outstanding hues.

Macro Golf...

Some macro shots of the golf ball that I've looked up in google that I might take pointers from for my photo essay.

From here

The golf ball right next to the hole...
From here

Golf ball on tee... focus on the golf ball and tee.
From here

Golf Story board...

The Day in the Life of a Golf Ball.

Despite my lack of technique in drawing, I still attempted at a story board of my images, which will hopefully make my life easier when it's time for me to take the photos.