Best of First Session

The following is the best of my images that I turned into my teacher for my final.  There were a few others that I would have chosen, but I think these turned out nicely.  My calling is definitely portraits, but I also love finding beauty in the little details.  I hope that next session turns out even more amazing images.  :)  Please do not steal these images and call them your own.  Once you become an artist yourself, you realize just how much copyright laws protect your right to your images.  I hope you enjoy them!  Now I am off to head home and enjoy the company of friends and family for a brief week.  :D  

All images copyright of ©Lauren Kanegawa

 Shape, Line, Texture assignment 

Architecture Detail assignment

Architecture Detail assignment

Pans, Blurs, Selective Focus assignment

Pans, Blurs, Selective Focus assignment

Picture Story assignment

Diffused Light assignment

Window Light assignment

A Picture Story

So, at Brooks this past week, we had to do a sort of stop motion picture story.  It didn't have to be as fast transitions as I did, but I quickly learned the bare basics of Final Cut Pro to make it look the way it does.  I couldn't have it more than 3 minutes and didn't want to cut it short, so it ended up being 2:30 minutes with some cut stuff.  Next time I want to make one without limitations.  :)  So, I had my best guy friend Eddie (his real name is Edward) come out and model for me, which was really awesome because he is 5+ hours away from Santa Barbara, and he was my "Alice" and my "Wonderland" was a Disco Inferno in one of the studios.  hahaha.  We played loud upbeat music to get everyone into the mood and I took the pictures from the floor.  XD  I love how it turned out.  I bought poster board and paint and we created 2 of the panels in the background and then the other 2 pieces were just really cool types of paper.  The music is also kinda fun to talk about.  The first song is a song called Alice by the artist Pogo.  This guy takes sounds from specific movies and makes whole songs from JUST sounds from the movies!  He's done ones for movies such as Hook, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original and better!), Alice, Mary Poppins, Up, Terminator 2, and so forth.  Here is his youtube page.  http://www.youtube.com/user/Fagottron
The little ping sound is a tribute to my all time favorite band m-flo because they use it in their albums often.  Plus it was a really cool sound to signify his arrival to the Disco Inferno!  And the final song is by the ever awesome and dance inducing Electric Six.  :D  btw, I only realized till after I finished the movie that Disco Inferno is a name of a 50 Cent song.  XD  oops.  and I thought I was being creative.  That's what I get for not knowing most of the hip-hop era's song titles.  lol.  Well, anyways, I hope you enjoy my video!!!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=310699256757


please let me know if you cannot view this. youtube wouldn't upload my video correctly. =/

He Qi Crystal Designs

note, I noticed that this layout doesn't highlight clickable links!  So the links have numbers by them.  :)

Last month I checked out another little jewelry blog.  This time I found the girl was living in Davis! (about 45 mins from where I live, and a lot of my friends go to school) And I fell in love with these pretty feather-esque earrings.  In her blog, she said they were one of a kind and she had a blue/silver version, and then a purple/gold version.  I figured I'd go with the blue/silver so it could go with another piece I have.....  ^_~  I also noticed that she was the only jewelry blog using the vitrial medium color (at the time) and so I had to get her Alice series necklace.  :)  Plus, the jewel was 18cm and I like bigger crystals.  =P  Her service was extremely quick and it was at my house the day after I got the tracking number.  Lisa's work is very beautiful and recently she's been doing more unique pieces.  I am in love with her beautiful necklaces and earrings.  I love this piece (1) in particular.  :)  These are also stunning pieces(2) (she has 3 different colors of this necklace).  And these are a pair of her more super unique earrings (3).  I had a great experience with He Qi and am definitely looking to buy from her, as soon as I start being more decisive with what I want to buy.  Online shopping is a gift and a curse.  One, I like having unique things and looks, but at the same time, I want to get everything!  hahaha.

Please visit her online shop! (4) You will not be disappointed.  :D

The feather earrings

the Alice Necklace

oh, and I am simply writing this because I love her work and want to spread the love.  :)

The Happiest Place on Earth

My happiest place on Earth is definitely Disneyland.  The first time I went to Disneyland, I was 3 months old.  XD  My dad is part of this Disney group called NFFC (National Fantasy Fan Club) and we used to go to conventions a lot.  A lot of the artwork in my house are Disney cells from various movies and old collectables that my dad has found over the years.  I remember going to Disneyland a lot when I was growing up (at least 2-3x a year) and it is about a 6 hour drive from where my family lives.  Everyone in my classes knew me as the Disney girl and everyone looks to me to know the Disney trivia.  XD  Going to Disneyland now, makes me nostalgic and remember the fond memories I have of going with family and friends.  I used to hate roller coaster types, but now I am obsessed.  hahaha.  I think my favorite Disneyland ride is probably Indiana Jones.  Or perhaps Big Thunder Mountain.  I also REALLY like Haunted Mansion at Halloween till Christmas because it is Nightmare Before Christmas themed.  Some of my favorites growing up where Alice in Wonderland and the Submarine ride (now the sub ride is Nemo themed and is super cute!!).

I went over Super Bowl Sunday to Disneyland and shot my photo assignment there.  We had to do pans (where the subject is sharp, but the background blurry), blurs (the subject blurry, background sharp) and depth of field (having the background out of focus).

Pan shot/ can't you just feel the motion?

Blur shot/ teacup mayhem!

Selective Focus/ I LOVE the expression on the guy's face.  This is when he was flipping the girl during the parade.  :)

I also really like these things that are called "circles of confusion."  My teacher is really into them and likes to point them out every time he sees them.  =P

Lights look like this when you open the lens opening VERY wide and keep the back out of focus.  These look really cool right?  Here are a few other pictures that I really like the way they turned out.

A little bit of Disney magic.  :D  

Submarine view  ^_^

It might be a little hard to tell, but that's a girl there.  :)  this is while the teacup was spinning.

This was hard because the only light on her face was from the back of her camera.

The carousel spinning.  :)

Anytime I go to Disneyland I love taking pictures and trying to make the things in Disneyland look less recognizable.  Can anyone tell where this is (this was taken with film and printed in a darkroom)?  It's one of my favorite places to go in the world!  :)  Disneyland is a place that will always make me happy, and I hope that when I have kids, I will be able to give them amazing memories at this place too.  ^_^