Photography Journey Pt. 2
Around this time I took my first photography class, Photograms and Darkroom Photography, which was a seasonal class at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, CA. Actually, it may have been around the year 2010 that I took that class…I don’t remember. I do remember that I was a big U2 fan at the time, which would have been around 2010.
The point is that I learned how a dark room works, starting with “photograms,” which are images created by placing objects on photopaper and exposing them to light using an enlarger. We then developed the photo paper using the standard chemical procedure (develop, stop, rinse, dry). In a photogram, the resulting image looks like a negative of whatever objects were used, since the objects block the light from hitting the paper and only the negative space is exposed. Unfortunately I do no know what has become of my photograms from that class.
Not my image, but an example of a photogram.
Credit: Spolloman, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photogram#/media/File:Fotogramm.jpg
Another really cool thing we did in that class was create a pinhole camera, which is about as basic as a camera can get. I made mine out of a Quaker Oats container. You simply poke a small hole in the cylindrical, light-proofed container and while you are in a dark room, place a sheet of photo paper inside, opposite the side that the hole is in. Make sure the hole is covered until you want to expose the paper. Then when you find a suitable subject, place your camera on a sturdy foundation to avoid moving it during the long exposure. Then uncover the hole for, I think, 30 seconds or so. The light is refracted when passing through the hole and the image is “received” on the paper upside down. Cover the hole again and remove the paper only when you are back in the dark room, at which point you can develop it like any other image.
Nov. 10, 2012. Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, CA, the city where I was born and took my first photography class. Pasadena is also the home of the Rose Bowl, just north of this bridge. In 2017 or so, I took a summer job at a tennis camp in South Pasadena, got my commercial driver’s license, and drove under this bridge often to pick up the kids at the Rose Bowl location to transport them to the movies, bowling, or laser tag. I have always loved bridges, and this bridge in particular, so that was a real treat.
Below are some more favorite photos from the high school years.
Aug. 9, 2012. Golden Gate Bridge. I just love the composition of this image, with the huge metal cords filling up the space on the left, my friends’ face on the right, and the tower in the reflection of her sunglasses.
Aug. 6, 2012. Another image I like because of the composition. The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco is such a unique shape that from below, the converging lines make it look like an infinitely tall building stretching up into space.
June 15, 2012. My dad owned homing pigeons in El Monte, CA, so I had lots of opportunities to photograph them in flight. What I like most about this photo is how the birds in the background are in a formation that resembles a butterfly!
June 24, 2012. Huntington Beach. The high contrast adds drama to this image, and I played around with the colors to get the red effect.
July 31, 2012. Griffith Observatory. An all-time favorite place of mine, and somewhere I always try to take people who are new to Los Angeles. The views, especially at night, are amazing. However, I blame the movie La La Land for the fact that you now have to pay a pretty penny in parking fees to visit.
July 24, 2012. St. Andrew Catholic Church in Pasadena, a landmark that I love to see when driving along the 210 freeway. When driving back and forth between Thomas Aquinas College in Ventura County and my home in El Monte, the tower was a symbol that home was not far away. The church is just as lovely inside as it is outside, with huge, many-colored marble pillars throughout. We must have visited here to arrange a memorial service for my brother, Anthony, who had passed away from leukemia the day before.
Well, so much for another blast from the past. I look forward to sharing even more in the next post, when things progress even more with a college-level photography class!
