Ernst Haas

This work gives of a quiet vibe to me and I enjoy the simplicity of the images. Haas seems to keep things simple but his work is still interesting to look at. He makes good use of color and can lead your eye all over the image and really into the picture, there's a lot of depth to his work. A lot of his work has elements of blurred motion which I think are very successful. Anyone can try to blur part of a photograph, but it doesn't always work out well. His blurring adds a bit of abstraction to his work but also conveys a feeling of movement. Some of his work can be found on this website.

Craft 2, second post: Michael Muller

I once again found this artist on Google. I think it's a great tool, a very fast way of finding new things. I was just looking for portrait photographers and I found Michael Muller who works with a lot of Hollywood stars, doing movie portraits and portraits of them in more "normal" looks. He works with movie stars, as well as musicians, athletes doing portraits and also advertising work. He also does some documentary work and other images that are somewhat like landscapes or nature images. I find his website very easy to navigate but the simplicity is nice, it puts the focus on the images. I find his work to have a very new feeling. I haven't seen many portraits like this before, they're all very "in-your-face" which I think is great. Your typical portrait is just a person sitting there and that can get boring so I like that he takes a new approach to his work and really gets involved with the person to capture a fierce image. It's nice that all the people aren't just staring straight ahead at the camera, they are more interacted with props or the set up around them. He uses a variety of colors and lighting setups to achieve different feelings which help the overall imagery.

Christian Riese Lassen

This is the work of Christian Riese Lassen that I stumbled upon while google-ing something a couple weeks ago. It's not photography, but I think it's amazing that people can paint like this. He captures so many brilliant colors. I enjoy the beach scenes, but I'd have to say I like the impressionist works better for their softer feeling. You can see the paint strokes and I like that textured look. Lassen lives in Hawaii, so his work all revolves around the sea and nature.

"I believe in making a difference through my art. In my work, I seek to act as a messenger, alerting people all over the world to the deterioration of the global environment, and to the need, as well, for greater understanding and respect for the world's diverse cultures. The Earth's irreplaceable treasures are steadily being eroded, but each of us, collectively and as individuals, can make a difference and must! This is my message." -Lassen

Craft 2, lighting/studio

From the Marco Guerra Studio. I love the curving forms in this and how the staircase brings your eye down to the girl. It feels like a new twist on portraits. The lighting is great because it leads my eye from the darker stairs on the right across the image to the woman in her white coat with the light shining down on her.

I love the family portrait below. It seems so comforting and intimate. The lighting highlights their faces and her belly in the perfect way. I also like the casual feel to it; it seems like you might stumble across this in their home, it doesn't seem posed to me.

The wedding portrait also gives a new twist. I'm drawn to the colors in the background which are so dramatic against her white dress. The light shining directly down on her puts her right in the focus of the image. I also love the stacked look of the frame going around the picture. It adds a little bit more and makes it visually more interesting.

Peter Lik

"His deep connection with the heart and soul of the landscape is what drives Peter and keeps him searching for that indefinable "perfect" image. His photography is about the challenge of translating the awesome power and beauty of the earth in a tangible record of a moment in time. From the soulful portraits of the vast heartland deserts, to the pristine beauty of the reefs and rainforests, Peter Lik captures the true feeling of the land like no other."

I first saw Peter Lik's work when I was on a family vacation in Australia in 2006. He had postcards and posters for sale in a lot of the shops we went in. I was captivated by all the colors. He manages to find gorgeous landscapes and elevates them even more through his photography. He highlights the forms and colors of his subjects. The two images I included above I find interesting because of their abstract quality. The colors are striking, but underneath that they have a feeling of movement and rhythm. The pink canyon walls become ribbon-like as they flow into the background. I find that I can stare at Lik's images and get lost in them.

First post.

Last semester, in Photo 2, i worked on a final project for about 6 weeks focusing on nature and being outside. I did a lot of work involving water and the textures that were created when the sunlight hit the water. Photo 2 was an all black and white class and my work was shot with film, so I am hoping to be able to create images that are just as beautiful as my black and white work now that I am working with color. This image is by Johannes Burge, shot in Switzerland in 1998. I love the clarity of the reflection, it's like a double world.