I don’t like WordPress’ way of displaying images. Actually, scratch that, I don’t like the way high-resolution images get displayed on monitors. I shoot my images at 12 megapixels, which equates to 4000×3000 pixels. The typical monitor has a resolution of 1920×1080, and as a result, huge images like that have their details blurred, what was a sharp line filled with definition and color comes out as an amorphous blob of color. I don’t know if things are going to improve when ultra-high res displays like Apple’s Retina or 4K televisions become mainstream, but consider me annoyed. Right now, I think the best way to distribute and consume photographs is through printed media, preferably on glossy paper printed with a commercial printer, framed and well lit. But for now, viewing images of such resolution through a monitor doesn’t quite communicate the intended experience.
In this particular set of pictures, I focus on doing interesting things with lighting, doing stuff like shooting a digital picture through a sheet of photographic film. I think I was successful in doing that. That said, I feel too many of the shots I take here feel derivative or unoriginal, mostly shooting in twilight to get the effect I want. I’ll figure it out.
The view from my dorm room on one of the last days of the school year. I like the desaturated colors of my room, it almost has a pseudo-vintage feel.This is me shooting the same view through a sheet of film. I should find a way to fasten it to my lens and use it like a filter.This is Scorch, my summer project for the year. More on it later.At AT&T ParkAround my neighborhood, I noticed the rows that the chimneys made and thought that could make for something interestingYosemite Valley from Glacier Point, as if this was the only image of the place that anyone has ever taken. 😛Half Dome towers over the valleyYes, I know its a derivative perspective, but I did it anyway. I just thought the gradient of color that you see in the sky looked really slick.Hiking up the valley wall.Rafting downriver, I wish I could have gotten more of the sky to show the sheer vastness of the place.Random chandelierFirst attempt at something resembling long exposure. I really liked this shot.From the park near my neighborhood, this swing doesn’t get used enough.From the night of July 4th, hiked up a nearby hill to shoot this.I like the interesting framing of this sunset (yeah, another derivative subject)I went through a short film photography phase early this year, until the price of processing broke me out of it. This one of Saint Cecilia’s cathedral in San Francisco is one of my favorite from that roll.More film shots, this is of the Sunset District looking south from Grandview Park, the place is like a cliffside facing the ocean.This, this is my favorite shot that I took in the last few months. Lens flare from the same park looking westward. You don’t get that with digital photography.Looking down Market Street, again, I feel like someone shot this picture before, but deal with it.City Hall, shot this quickly during the intermission of Video Games Live. Love the lightCame across a model of Yosemite Valley in front of Yosemite Valley, juxtaposed both the simulacrum of it and the real thing as a macro.SilhouetteI love how the setting son and smoky air casts this beautiful pink glow here.
Wow, has it seriously been three months since I last did a photography post?
Down Market Street in San FranciscoThis shot has probably been done before. But I shot it.More dramatic shot from Market StreetLooking down Hope St. in Los Angeles. Wish I shot this on film.My friend Zach on the road trip up to GDC (I think I had a post planned for that)Whoa. Trippy.Installation piece at the Rhythms and Visions event at USC.Codeveloper Allison after a Reality Ends Here development meeting.Jenova Chen at the 5D Worldbuilding Conference at USCMy good friends Catherine and Esteban simultaneously photobombing my picture of the wall.Comics booth at the LA Times Festival of Books.Mudd Hall of Philosophy at USC. I like the little cloister they have here.Little hidden library I discovered before class.The Who
So I’ve been shooting on a Canon Rebel 2000. Its a fun camera to use. I picked up a rare roll of Ilford 200 SFX Infrared film, a special effects black and white film used for art-photography that produces strange, surreal effects. Here are the results of a month of intermittent shooting on this roll.
Generally, I composed my shots, but there are a few hip-shots in this set. If anything, this was an interesting, fun, and ultimately nerve-wracking film to shoot on. The unpredictable effects that it has on light and color can change anything.
I took the Rusty Chain macro I took some time ago and databended it. I created nine different image files for each cut/paste/edit of the image’s code to show the effects of each step of data bending. Its cool stuff, almost desktop material.
Really surprised how well the coloration and effects came out in this one. Everything about glitch art is accidental and I have little control over what happens. Things turned out well here.
So, some years ago, I took this photograph with a crappy little Canon point & shoot (which is coincidentally, still the camera I use now). I noticed a cool texture on a rusty chain by the Golden Gate Bridge and decided to shoot a macro of it. Uploaded it to Wikipedia and didn’t realize how cool it was until it was shortly thereafter made a featured picture for being one of the best on the site. It made the front page today, which is pretty exciting.
1. All images in the challenge must be taken by a disposable film camera.
2. All images in the challenge must be taken within a mile of the camera’s place of purchase.
3. All images must be uploaded unedited.
4. Each like gains one point, each share gives two points, each reblog gives three points. Count these interactions and save your score.
KEVIN JAMES WONG 