Inuit artist Sammy Kudluk’s ice sculpture captivates hearts at the 2024 Quebec Winter Carnival, reigniting his passion for art and bridging cultural gaps.
Inuit Artist Sammy Kudluk’s Ice Sculpture Rekindles Passion and Br…
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Amy Quinn Hill Photography Unveils Exclusive Senior Portrait Experience for Graduates
Amy Quinn Hill
A specialized senior portrait experience that blends expert styling, high-quality prints, and unforgettable locations.
My goal is to not only capture the milestone of senior year but to do so in a way that honors each student’s individuality”
— Amy Quinn Hill
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, USA, February 16, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — Amy Quinn Hill Photography is excited to announce its new Senior Portrait Experience designed for graduating high school and college students. This service offers personalized photo sessions to commemorate this significant milestone in a student’s life with style.
Amy Quinn Hill is a senior portrait photographer in Charleston recognized for her ability to capture each student’s unique personality and spirit. Her photographs are known for their emotional depth and the stories they tell, set against the backdrop of Charleston’s scenic beauty.
The service includes a collaboration with a professional stylist, ensuring each senior’s session reflects their personality. Unlike standard portrait sessions that may only offer digital images, Amy Quinn Hill Photography places a strong emphasis on printed photographs because she believes photos come to life in print. Every senior session comes with a print credit, encouraging clients to create tangible reminders of these important moments.
Amy prioritizes quality in her print offerings, working with top-tier labs to provide various products, including photo albums, framed prints, and metal and acrylic options. This commitment ensures clients have durable, beautifully crafted memories to display and cherish.
The selection of locations for the photo sessions, such as Isle of Palms Beach and Historic Charleston, adds a distinctive charm. These settings are not just backgrounds but integral parts of each portrait’s narrative, chosen to reflect the preferences and style of the senior.
Amy’s role as the contributing photographer for Daniel Island Neighbors Magazine, where she captures the cover photo each month, showcases her recognized talent and connection to the local community. In reflecting on her approach, Amy shares, “My goal is to not only capture the milestone of senior year but to do so in a way that honors each student’s individuality. It’s about creating something that feels personal, tells their story, and that will be treasured for years.”
About Amy Quinn Hill Photography
Amy Quinn Hill Photography offers lifestyle and documentary photography services including personal branding, family, milestones, and senior portraits in Charleston. Serving the surrounding areas, Amy focuses on creating timeless, heartfelt photography. Whether for family vacations, special occasions, or senior portraits, her work is dedicated to capturing these moments with authenticity and care.
For more information about the Senior Portrait Experience or to book a session, please visit amyquinnhillphotography.com/.
Amy Quinn Hill
Amy Quinn Hill Photography
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GaHee Park Unsettles Still Life Traditions with Surreal, Soured Temptations
“Drowned Thought” (2023), oil on linen, 90 x 67 inches. Photo by Paul Litherland. All images courtesy of GaHee Park and Perrotin, shared with permission
In a brief email exchange about her work, GaHee Park references freedom several times. The Seoul-born, Montréal-based artist wants to liberate herself from realism and infuse her paintings with the expressive, simplified qualities of abstraction, creating decadent scenes with recurring motifs like eyes and fish. “I like to think about every subject of my work, including animals and human figures, as part of a still life. That gives me more freedom to make images,” she shares.
Working in flat planes of oil on linen, Park envisions surreal tablescapes and moments of intimacy gone awry, and she begins each piece with a preliminary sketch. “Sometimes I keep these drawings for a few years in a drawer until my confidence in the image grows, and I am ready to make it a painting,” she says. “I often use some images or motifs from previous paintings so I can play with familiar forms more freely, exploring variations to go deeper into those subjects.”
Park often returns to flesh, whether it be on the human body, fruit, or fish. Appearing seductive yet spoiled by hordes of ants or incongruous feelings, the more carnal aspects of her works reflect on the pains and pleasures of being alive in the world. In pieces like “Drowned Thought” and “Waiting with the Fishes,” eyes float in glasses filled with colorful liquids, “reflecting different emotions and states of consciousness,” she says. The motif “could be to freeze a particular moment or show multiple moments or states of mind at the same time.”
Fish have a more personal role for the artist. “My grandmother sold fresh fish in a market in Korea, and I have always spent time with (dead) fish and seafood. Observing them from a young age probably makes me want to paint them,” she says. “There’s something familiar about them for me, but they also still seem very alien.”
Park will open her next solo show, Fun and Games, on February 24 at Perrotin in New York and currently has a piece on view in 50 Paintings at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Follow her work on Instagram.
“Three Faces and a Shadow” (2021), oil on canvas, 52 x 48 inches. Photo by Tanguy Beurdeley
“Cat with a View” (2022), oil on canvas, 60 x 80 inches. Photo by Marion Paquette
“Waiting with the Fishes” (2023), oil on linen, 25 x 24 inches. Photo by Paul Litherland
“Half Asleep Night” (2022), oil on canvas, 34 x 41 inches. Photo by Elad Sarig. Image courtesy of the artist and Nassima Landau
“Touch I” (2022), oil on canvas, 40 x 48 inches. Photo by Paul Litherland
“Seafood Dream” (2020), oil on canvas, 24 x 25 inches. Photo by Guillaume Ziccarelli
“Touch II” (2022), oil on canvas, 40 x 48 inches. Photo by Paul Litherland
“Still Life with Slugs” (2022), oil on canvas, 38 x 32 inches. Photo by Marion Paquette
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article GaHee Park Unsettles Still Life Traditions with Surreal, Soured Temptations appeared first on Colossal.
You’ve Never Seen These Photos of Björk Before
Humberto Leon was a sophomore at UC Berkeley when he first caught the video for Björk’s 1995 hit single “It’s Oh So Quiet” on MTV. “It changed my life,” the designer and Opening Ceremony founder says. “I remember like it happened yesterday. It was so happy and joyful, yet weird and strange—everything I love in one.” Shot by filmmaker Spike Jonze in the San Fernando Valley as an homage to Technicolor musicals, the video perfectly matches the song’s quirky effervescence and abrupt transitions between gentle verses and brassy choruses with colorful, highly stylized visuals and theatrical choreography. Nearly three decades later, it remains the Icelandic musician’s biggest hit, thanks in large part to its constant rotation on MTV.
Few may know that Jonze, then 25 but already a seasoned director for the likes of Fatboy Slim, Dinosaur Jr, and the Beastie Boys, only met Björk the day before. The now-defunct Detour Magazine asked if he could shoot photos of her at Chateau Marmont for an interview. “We just went down to the pool and shot photos in the pool for two hours,” Jonze recalls, “It wasn’t a big production in any way. She was just roaming around the Chateau.” Thousands of photos were taken, but only six were published. Still, they became classics in the Björk canon, wonderfully capturing the spellbinding slyness that would catapult her to stardom with the album Post. Jonze shelved the outtakes and never revisited them until recently, when Leon—a friend and collaborator—unearthed them while helping organize his archives.
“When I came across these photos at Spike’s, I knew they were special and needed to be seen,” Leon says. So he organized and curated an exhibition of more than 25 previously unseen images from the photoshoot that opened yesterday at Arroz & Fun, his Los Angeles restaurant and gallery space. Presented with the support of WeTransfer, the show includes photographs, contact sheets, and a zine featuring a conversation between Leon and Jonze. “Many of these images, and the physical zine, can only be seen at the exhibition,” Leon tells Surface. “The digital nature of things is so easy today, but I really want people to feel the sense of discovery I felt when I uncovered these photos at Spike’s house, or when they opened that issue of Detour back in the day.”
Devoted Björk fans would be wise to read closely—Jonze reflects not only on how the video came together, but his experience capturing the enigmatic artist’s mesmeric mythos as she was entering her prime. Their friendship has remained constant since: “She’s this Icelandic punk who probably can drink a lot more vodka than, well… definitely can drink a lot more vodka than I could.”
“The Day I Met Björk” is on view at Arroz & Fun (1822 N Broadway, Los Angeles).
Arran seal sculpture washed away in storm found
Clyde the wooden seal vanished from a boulder in the village of Corrie during Strom Isha.
How to photograph a solar eclipse with a smartphone 2024 — 8 tips from an expert
A total solar eclipse is about to visit North America — and with the right knowledge, it’s possible to produce spectacular images and videos of it with just a smartphone.
On April 8, 2024, six states in northwest Mexico, 15 U.S. states and six provinces in Canada will be visited by a total solar eclipse. To experience totality — darkness in the day and a totally eclipsed sun — you must be within the 115-mile wide path of totality. Inside the path, you’ll see (using solar filters or solar eclipse glasses) the partial phases of the eclipse on either side of totality, lasting up to 4 minutes and 28 seconds. Totality (and only totality) can be viewed by the naked eye and imaged using cameras and smartphones without solar filters. Outside of the path of totality, you’ll see only the partial phases.
Why smartphones are ideal for the total solar eclipse
Gone are the days when people tried to use point-and-shoot cameras — these days, it’s either a smartphone or a DSLR/mirrorless camera. ‘Smartphones are going to be the way most people capture this eclipse and that’s fine—they will work very well,’ said Alan Dyer, solar eclipse photographer and author of How to photograph the solar eclipse, in an interview with Space.com. ‘Even if you just hold it up and shoot on auto exposure, you’ll probably get a good shot.’
You’ll never match professional close-up images of the sun’s corona, which use professional cameras and telescopes, but you can get some excellent photos with just a smartphone. Here are some top tips to maximize your chances, but if you’re looking to photograph the solar eclipse with a dedicated camera, be sure to also read our ‘how to photograph a solar eclipse‘ for more generic advice or find the best solar viewing kit for you with our buying guide.
1. Switch off the flash before totality
If you’re inside the path of totality, there’s one thing you must do to your smartphone — disable the flash before totality. Using flash won’t help your photography and, worse, it will detract from the experience of totality for everyone around you. If you don’t do this, expect groans and moans in your direction.
2. Don’t zoom in on the eclipse
This next bit of advice doesn’t apply to those with smartphone that have a separate telephoto lens that optically zooms in on far-away subjects. But for the many smartphones that don’t have this, take heed.
Don’t make the one classic mistake that most people make when using a smartphone to take an image of an eclipse. As the eclipsed sun appears, the temptation is to pinch the screen to zoom in as far as you can. It’s so tempting, particularly if your smartphone has a so-called ‘superzoom,’ but it rarely heralds good results. After all, as you zoom in, you lose resolution, and all you are doing is reducing the quality of your image, which will become noticeably grainy and dirty.
3. Go super wide-angle or portrait
The most impactful wide-angle images of an eclipsed sun occur close to the horizon. That’s not going to be possible during this eclipse because totality takes place from a maximum of 68 degrees above the southeast horizon when it’s first seen in Mexico, dropping to about 24 degrees above the southwest horizon as it’s last seen in Canada. So, you might consider using portrait mode to fit in some foreground, though super wide-angle ought to work for many.
4. Lock focus during totality
A superb image can be had during totality using just a smartphone — but only if you set it up properly. ‘Use a smartphone on auto exposure, and it will probably work, but whether it’s in focus depends on what’s in the foreground,’ said Dyer. ‘It may hunt for focus.’
The answer is to use the focus lock on your smartphone. Exactly how you do that will depend on what smartphone you have and what app you use. For example, on an iPhone’s native camera app, you touch what you want to focus on by pressing on the object on your smartphone’s screen for a second or so. This will lock the focus so you can concentrate only on composition. With plunging light levels just before totality, exactly when and how you do that is key. Once just a slither of the sun is visible in your eclipse glasses and it begins to get suitably dark around you, focus your camera on something in the middle distance — perhaps a tree, building or the bridge on a cruise ship. You can then move the brightness shutter up and down to control the shutter speed — you’ll probably want to take it down a notch.
5. Use burst mode during totality
With the last few beads around the moon, you’re ready to catch one of the highlights of the eclipse — the diamond ring. It’s the final bead of sunlight before it goes completely dark, and the sun’s mighty corona appears. This happens in a split second, and you’ll have no hope of catching it manually, so consider using burst mode to capture the magical moment.
6. Shoot totality in RAW
Totality is dark. If you experienced totality during the last total solar eclipse in North America — on August 21, 2017 — you’ll recall the twilight and 360-degree sunset effects on the horizon. This time around, the moon will be closer, the path of totality wider, and totality likely significantly darker. That means you need to think like an astrophotographer (check out our astrophotography for beginners guide) and shoot in RAW image format. RAW images retain the original sensor data and skip the built-in processing your smartphone automatically applies to JPEGs.
The way to shoot in RAW is to download a third-party app such as Halide, Yamera or Camera+ 2 and toggle on the RAW mode. Some phones, like the Google Pixel range, will let you shoot RAW without needing any third-party apps.
Shoot as usual; after the eclipse, you can edit and touch up the image in one of the desktop best photo editing apps for astrophotography, or smartphone apps like Darkroom, , or VSCO. The finished result will have much more dynamic range, color and detail than any JPEG your smartphone’s built-in camera app produces.
However, since RAW images take up more space, it’s wise to make sure you have plenty of room on your smartphone, perhaps clearing out unwanted photos and apps before eclipse day. Need more space? Back them up on one of the best external hard drives.
7. Don’t shoot a handheld video
Taking images with a smartphone is possible, but try shooting a video for something different. This will come as an instinct for many people watching the eclipse, but most will do it wrong. ‘A lot of people will take a movie,’ said Dyer. ‘But they’ll be waving it about and bouncing around, and all they’ll get is a movie that will make anyone watching it feel sick.’
8. Shoot video using a tripod
If you do want to film a video, change tack and think about it as a video of you watching the eclipse. A movie of you and your friends and family in silhouette enjoying totality and glimpsing the eclipsed sun will be a treasured souvenir of some of the most magical moments of your entire life.
To do this properly, lean your smartphone against something or, better still, get a small tripod and a universal smartphone holder. Position it properly and compose the movie a few minutes before totality. ‘Put it in wide-angle mode, start the movie going a couple of minutes before totality and just let it run,’ said Dyer. ‘As a bonus, you’ll capture audio — the cheering and you shouting ‘oh my God!’ — a big part of the experience and a great souvenir you can use to relive the eclipse years later.’
Upcoming total solar eclipses
Our solar eclipse guide details at length when and where the next solar eclipses will be, but below is a summary to whet your appetite.
8 April 2024
The path of totality for runs across North America, from northwest Mexico, through Texas and the midwest U.S. and will end over Atlantic Canada, touching 15 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces. Austin, Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Montreal are just some of the cities that will experience totality.
12 August 2026
Europe is next treated to a total eclipse in 2026, which will be visible from Greenland, Iceland and Spain. Weather permitting, several large cities will see totality, including Reykjavik, Bilbao, Zaragoza, and Palma. Most of western Europe will experience a partial eclipse.
2 August 2027
The path of totality for this 2027 eclipse travels across North Africa and the Middle East before terminating over the Indian Ocean. Egypt will see the longest period of totality, a huge 6 minutes 22 seconds, near the city of Luxor — the second-longest solar eclipse of the century. Given the climate, time of day, and exceptional length of totality, this is likely to be the most favorable viewing position for any solar eclipse in this decade.
22 July 2028
The final total solar eclipse of the decade will happen in 2028, when Australia and New Zealand will witness an eclipse with a maximum totality of over five minutes. This eclipse will be notable for passing over Sydney.
Kampung Benua: A Cultural Renaissance Through Kites and Straw Scul…
Discover Kampung Benua’s transformation through kite flying and rice straw sculptures, attracting tourists and reviving cultural heritage.
The Revolution of Photography in the Social Media Age
In the digital age, the art of capturing moments through a lens has transcended traditional boundaries, evolved by the rapid currents of social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. As we delve into the intricacies of how social media has revolutionized photography education and monetization, a fascinating narrative unfolds. The journey from shutter speed to screen swipe reveals a complex tapestry of creativity, commerce, and community that has reshaped the essence of photography in 2024.
The Instagram Effect on Photography
At the heart of this transformation is Instagram, a platform that has become a pivotal arena for photographers. The key to success on this visual stage lies in building a robust following, a task that demands consistency, quality, and a keen eye for curating images that speak volumes. The mantra is clear: to thrive, one must not only capture but also captivate. Instagram has emerged as a formidable marketing tool, enabling photographers to showcase their work to a global audience, thereby opening up avenues for monetization previously unimagined. The allure of viral posts and the potential for financial gain, however, has steered the conversation away from the core of photography as an art form, towards a focus on gear reviews and income generation.
Branding and Content Pillars in Social Media
Another dimension to this evolving landscape is the emphasis on personal branding and the establishment of content pillars on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Understanding one’s ‘why’, identifying the target audience, and articulating key themes are paramount in resonating with viewers. This process involves distilling one’s essence into a ‘secret sauce’ that blends professional achievements with personal anecdotes, offering a holistic view of the creator behind the lens. This strategic approach to content creation serves not just to educate or entertain, but to forge a connection that transcends the superficial, inviting viewers into a world where every frame tells a story.
Leveraging Social Media for Monetization
The path to monetization through social media for photographers in 2024 is multifaceted. It encompasses building a strong online presence, defining a niche, and crafting a professional portfolio that speaks to both skill and vision. Networking with clients, harnessing the power of social media advertising, and directly selling products to an engaged audience are key strategies. Yet, amidst these tactics, the importance of nurturing a strong brand and engaging with the audience on a genuine level remains paramount. Legal considerations and a deep understanding of one’s audience also play crucial roles in shaping a successful monetization strategy. The narrative has shifted, highlighting a delicate balance between honing one’s craft, embracing the artistic value of photography, and navigating the waters of financial gain.
In conclusion, the impact of social media on photography and its education is profound and multifaceted. The platforms that once served as mere showcases for the final product have now become arenas of learning, networking, and business. The challenge for photographers is to navigate this new terrain with an eye for authenticity and a heart for artistry, balancing the pursuit of passion with the pragmatics of income generation. As we stand at the crossroads of creativity and commerce, the future of photography remains a canvas awaiting the next stroke of genius.
Rediscovering the Art of Photography in the Social Media Age |
Photography’s essence and education have been significantly altered by the surge of social media, presenting a complex challenge for photographers. This insightful video dives into this topic, exploring how the focus has shifted from the art of photography to monetization and gear reviews, emphasizing the importance of this shift for both emerging and established photographers.
Coming to you from Prince Meyson, this candid video highlights the evolution of photography content on social media platforms. Meyson points out that earlier, content was primarily educational, with photographers sharing their skills and behind-the-scenes insights. However, as social media grew, there was a noticeable pivot towards gear reviews and monetization strategies, driven by the allure of collaborations with brands and the potential for financial gain. This shift, according to Meyson, has led to a dilution of content quality and a move away from the core of photography as an art form. He stresses that while gear reviews and monetization advice are valuable, they should not overshadow the educational aspects of photography that inspire passion and creativity.
Moreover, Meyson reflects on the impact of this transition on learning and passion in photography. He observes that many newcomers are drawn to photography not for the love of the craft but for the potential financial rewards, a trend fueled by advertisements and content emphasizing quick financial success. This, Meyson argues, undermines the foundational skills and the joy of learning photography, suggesting a disconnect between the pursuit of money and the artistry of photography. He advocates for a balance, encouraging photographers to focus on improving their craft and embracing photography for its artistic value, not just its potential for income. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Meyson.
This Instagram Account Is Entirely Dedicated To Street Photography And Here Are 56 Of The Best B&W Photographs
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