Secret Success

today was the critique for my photo inspired by a secret project. i ended up printing two instead of one but there was also another photo i would have liked to work on and added to the set. i feel that for the time allotted i did a decent job, and most importantly the photos still had my signature look and feel to them.

i also learned a lot about my classmates who in general chose more upbeat secrets to divulge. "i preformed with the circus" "my favorite place is the airport" and "i sing to my cat" were some of my faves. my teacher not only participated but used some secrets of her own which i really enjoyed. the most surprising one came from my best buddy in class who had her picture taken with paul mccartney and george bush!

i thought my own secret was different, for those who aren't up to date it was "i was a maid at the hotel where the "shining" was filmed and used to hitch hike to work every day!" the picture for my secret wasn't really like my experience, its not like we live in the mountains of oregon, but i thought it was amazing anyways. it really captured the moment she was in when she took it. it felt like an opening scene of a big movie, i felt like any minute someone was going to bust through the front doors and the camera would zoom in! unfortunately no matter how long i stared, no luck. i liked the use of light and admire it was a night picture because i have little to no experience in that department yet.

i feel pretty good about my class this semester and couldn't decide which photo i liked best. i think being around such good photographers will really give me a chance to push myself and strive to be better. i can't wait for the next critique!

next stop... inspiration station

today or thursday i should be printing my photo inspired by a secret from a classmate. because my friend's dogs are not exactly vicious i had to create and image that made them look at least a little menacing. the photo i chose jumped out at me because the way it was framed made the dog look confined and ornery. the depth of field really draws me into it also. i got some good glamor shots of her cute pups but feel that this one best fits the bill.

in the near future we will be deciding on our final project for this class. i already have a pretty good idea of what i want to do. before explaining myself i thought a little background would help understand my interests. i was a competitive ski racer since i was seven years old, when i aged out of the racing program at the stratton training center i coached in the seasonal programs for an additional three years. then took some time off to travel around my passion of the mountain and snowboard bum for a few years. fall of 2007 i moved back to ct to finish my education, but i still miss the mountains and like to use vermont's unique landscapes as inspiration for my work.

after completing black and white photography in the spring at community college of vermont, i spent summer of 2007 living in stratton and exploring the area i love. i started my own project finding ski areas that had been nonfunctional and photographing them with my 35 mm. so far i have not had access to a darkroom to develop my prints but want to continue the project with my digital camera. some of these places i have skied at and have first hand experience with, but for others just finding the area is an adventure in itself. i would eventually like to include interviews and public records to document the existence of these locations before all evidence of them is reclaimed by nature.

the posted photos were shot by me in november 2009 at the dorset quarries outside of manchester vermont, and were inspired by edward burtynsky.