Wednesday, January 26, 2011

"Can You Describe Your Most Recent Moment of Happiness?"

   The purpose of this week's assignment was to ask a wide variety of people an icebreaker question. Our question was to ask people to describe their most recent moment of happiness. This was an interesting assignment that forced us once again out from our photography comfort zones into the real world. I had some great experiences this week meeting some very interesting people around the Bellingham area and I was really pleased with the overall quality of my pictures. Hope you enjoy.

David


On the agenda for next week: Environment Portraits!


                                                                                                                                        

1.)  Flip Digital, 29, poses for a picture in front of a local store on Railroad Ave. in Bellingham, WA on January 26, 2011. Digital is a Queens, NY based hip-hop producer who has recently moved to the Bellingham area in search of a new start and hopes of furthering his producing career. When asked to describe his most recent moment of happiness, Digital responded, “the happiness from the fulfillment of selling my CD.” Digital enjoys selling his CD’s with face-to-face interactions because it is a more personable approach than selling CD’s through record stores, said Digital. “It’s all online,” added Digital referring to the current state of the music industry. Flip Digital can be found online at Dirty Milk Productions and on the streets of Bellingham selling his CD “Just Beats - Vol. 2.”


                                                                                                                                 




2.)  Ben Graupe, 77, stands on E. Magnolia St. smoking a cigarette with two bags of groceries in Bellingham, WA on January 26, 2011.  “Hmm, my most recent moment of happiness was when my first wife left me! No, no, only kidding,” Said Graupe jokingly. “I let my new dog friend out the other day and then he came back the next morning,” said Graupe. Graupe recently found a stray dog that he has been taking care of and was happy to see that it still wanted to live with him.


                                                                                                                                




3.)  Sarabijit Kaur, 51, waits for a bus at the Bellingham bus depot on January 26, 2011. Kaur described her most recent moment of happiness as “all the time I get to spend with my kids and when my daughter comes up from Seattle,” said Kaur. Kaur has been living in the U.S. for the past 20 years after she moved from India.


                                                                                                                                  




4.)  Tasha Howell, 20, along with her son Matthew, 4, walk down Railroad Ave. on a sunny afternoon in Bellingham, WA on January 26, 2011. “ My most recent moment of happiness was being certified as a certified electrical trainee,” said Howell. 


                                                                                                                        











5.)  Laura Tom, 11teen, walks towards the Bellingham bus depot in downtown Bellingham on a sunny afternoon with her boyfriend on January 26, 2011. Tom and her boyfriend have both spent around the last 10 years homeless and Tom has recently given up drinking. “My most happy moment was spent with my boyfriend and my family,” said Tom. “He’s a Seahawks fan, I’m a Rams fan,” said Tom talking football.


                                                                                                                                        













6.)   James Kosta, 22, stands in the grass at the center of Western Washington University’s campus on a rainy day on January 24, 2011.  “My most recent moment of happiness was Sunday, I cooked split-pea soup and it turned out really well,” said Kosta, “I was happy I could share it with my friends.”


                                                                                                                                     


And just for fun...























 

Friday, January 21, 2011

“Hey, Do You Have a Minute for the Environment?”


In our first assignment for photojournalism we were asked to buy a disposable camera and find a story. Having no real background in photojournalism, this assignment proved to be much more difficult than I thought it would have been. This assignment forced us to step out from behind the glass of our nice DSLR's and behind the cardboard of your everyday disposable and forget everything we thought we knew about photography.  We are also required to turn in all of our photos in black and white which often changes the overall dynamic of the picture. This first photo was turned in to be graded and the rest are other shots from the same roll.


“Hey, how are you doing today? Do you have a minute for the environment?” Aidan Schauer, 26, asks this question, a lot.  Aidan works for Environment Washington, a statewide environmental advocacy organization, traveling to different to different districts in Wash. in search of donations. Here, Aidan approaches Western student Gilbert Vancitters, 21, explaining his organization and their cause. “We usually come to Western once a quarter depending on the response we get, the response was great last quarter so we tried to come back early winter quarter. ”Aidan and three other members of Environment Washington traveled to Bellingham on Jan. 18, 2011. Posted below is a link to Environment Washington.

Environment Washington

        

                                                                                                                                                 




         Aidan Schauer, 26 - Winter 2011


         "Wow! It's a Taste that Beckons" - Bellingham, WA - Winter 2011


        Bellingham, WA - Winter 2011


        "Bad Day" - Bellingham, WA - Winter 2011


        Bellingham, WA - Winter 2011

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Black and White

For my upcoming class this quarter we are required to turn all of our assignments in through a black and white medium. I have always taken a few b/w photos whenever I am taking a collection, however I still have not quite developed the "photographers eye"  that I hope to one day. I have chosen here a few pictures taken from travels in Spain, Italy and a few more recent photos from Bellingham, WA. Hope you enjoy, David

- Also, I might be moving this blog into another domain and if that happens I will post a link here. Although, that hasn't been decided for sure.

Busy day at St. Peters Cathedral - Roma, Italia

Keeping the heat out- Perugia, Italia

Day trading in Plaza Mayor - Madrid, España

Waiting to leave - Alicante, España

Passing by - Bellingham, WA

J-Fitz - Bellingham, WA

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

First Post

This is my first post into the blogosphere. I am a student at Western Washington University using this blog as an avenue to share pictures with family, friends and my Photojournalism 305 class. I have only recently taken up photography after 8 months spent living and traveling around Europe. Hope you enjoy. David