A Weekend in Paradise

I flew home to Eureka for the weekend. I haven't seen Rachel for at least two years. I am so glad we got to spend some quality time together. Sunday, I will go back to Utah and she will begin her journey back to Iraq. It is so easy to let time get away from you. You have to see your family, even more than you think you have time to.
Rachel got a new camera and I have been showing her alot about how to use photoshop. Rachel took this picture of me at Moonstone beach, one of my favorite places in the world.
The sets would drop out about 100 yards, then come crashing back in every few minutes. Between sets, everyone ran to the cave and climb up on the rocks before the next set came in and closed it off. The tide was going out so we weren't too worried, plus the way out was only blocked by about 8 inches deep of water.
Driftwood. Just holding it sets me off into a thick sea of nostalgic memories of growing up in this amazing place.

Taller

President Hinckley was the prophet during the time in my life that I feel I experienced the most spiritual growth. His signature marks the letter that sent me to Mozambique, where I had the most amazing experiences of my life. I attended three general conference sessions in person where I felt his presence in person. President Hinckley has always been an amazing example to me. Whenever I hear or read the things he teaches, it makes me want so bad to be the kind of man that he was.

New Update

A fellow photographer told me that one of his best selling points on his website is his bio (a short section talking bout himself as a photographer). I played around in photoshop and wrote up this short bio of myself. The bio will also be featured on a local photographer's website who has alot more traffic than I do.

www.jaredmedley.com/About.html

Good Day

Me and Sean went to brighton today and had boarded snow I never knew existed. The powder was waist deep all day. While we were riding the lift, Sean noticed that goose down was flying around us, then we found this tear on the back of my jacket. One of the many twigs and branches that brushed me as I was boarding must have been a little stiffer than I thought. Sorry Sarah

Here is the link to my digital portfolio. It includes school projects and also promotional work done for the UVSC Athletic Department.

jaredmedleyportfolio.blogspot.com

Fine Art Photography: Defined

For an assignment in my photography class, I was asked to define "fine art photography" in its most fundamental terms. More simply, a person who has no internalized notions of what art is, or was, has asked you to define "fine art photography".

I believe the words "art" and "photography" are dramatically different concepts.
Photography is a very specialized way of using complicated, technical equipment and light to expose a light-sensitive surface, then transfer that image to a printed surface that represents the period of time that the surface was exposed to light.

Every person has internalized the world in a different way. When a person attempts to externalize this world by visible, audible, or tangible means, this is what, in our society, we call "art".

It is obvious then, that "fine art photography" is more than just the technical knowledge of photographic equipment, but rather, the attempt to express one's subjectified world, using the technical knowledge as the foundation.

Here are ten images that I believe are good examples of fine art photography.


(above - Aaron Hobson, American Labor 1) Although there is nothing moving while the photo is taken, there was obviously a tremendous amount of destruction sometime before. This relays a strong feeling of isolation, as well as a strong symbolism of the repercussions of living a fast-paced, irresponsible lifestyle (isolation, destruction, loneliness, darkness, weakness).



(above - Fam Van de Heyning, Mother with son) This photo was most likely meant to do nothing more than be used in an article about social struggling. I like this photo alot because it there is an obvious story that is told within the frame. The protective mother dominates the majority of the frame and completely surrounds the boy's figure. The stern expression on her face tells how she feels about what happened to her son. On the other hand, perhaps the boy was punished by his mother and she wears an expression of the disciplinary as the boy shows the photographer what she has done.



(above - Sarah Small, Ariella and Crow) One of my favorite emotions depicted in art is tension or fear. As you see the girl's expression of fear, notice how it causes you to sub-consciously tense up yourself and feel almost the same way she does. The form-fitting clothing she is wearing attributes to her feeling of vulnerability, as well as makes visible the tension in her body. There is a universal fear among children of electrical sockets. The girl looks trapped between two things she is afraid of.



(above - Gideon Photography) An immediate observation could be that this is a very provocative photograph. This aspect is accented by a number of characteristics. The only color in the photo is the woman's red dress, which psychologically triggers feelings of passion. There is a strong contrast between the woman's flowing dress and curved body against the chiseled surface of the brick wall behind her. The only curved lines in the photo are the woman's dress and body. In many ways this photograph is symbolic of femininity.



(above - Mark Tompkins) The mysterious, surreal nature of this photo is very similar to the mysterious nature of death, the very subject of this photo. Death (or the notion of existence thereafter) is by far the dominant cause of religious dispute, war, and has been the least understood of any natural phenomena. One of my favorite places to photograph is at cemeteries because of this mysterious nature they posses.

My new job

I recently started working for the UVU Athletic department doing their graphic design. This is my first project . I am very excited about working as a designer and hope it is something I can do one day to make a living. For now this is good practice. Life is good when you can do what you want to.