Final Project

What does my photography mean to me? Is it a hobby, self expression, something to pass the time? I guess it can be all those things at one point or another, but over all those things I believe photography is art! It can tell a story, make someone laugh, teach a lesson, or maybe even inspire! 
For this series of photos my theme was "The Changing of Social Norm in Fashion" ok...so what exactly does that mean? As time moves on I notice that fashion statements are edgier, weirder, and in my opinion, they start to lose class. For example, the latest trend on social media has been putting ones lips into a small cup and sucking all the blood flow to the lip causing them to swell up and bruise. IS THIS FASHIONABLE? 
This series is important to me because with the changing of times moving so rapidly I am scared to see where the future of fashion is headed. So I wanted to capture this. For my series I told three women to where something they believe to be classy and fashionable, then I gave them the "futuristic makeover" to show where I believe fashion will be one day if we arnt careful. I mean I love the hunger games as much as the next guy, but I am not ready to dress like them! I edited the first photos in a really dull saturation to show that this style is slowly disappearing and the new photos are bright, and vibrant with high contrast. I hope you understand that while I am a fan of progressing as people I just want us to be careful in which direction we are headed! 

Portrait Photography

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

I had so much fun photographing my best friends, who I believe were all models in another life! I used the same lighting technique for all of my photos. (as shown below) The only thing I changed were the positions the models faced. The backdrop is a grey patterned sheet that looks like rain. 

My theme for these portraits is "VULNERABILITY". I wanted to get models of different builds, sexes, and races. The reasoning behind this, is that it shows that EVERYONE gets to an emotional state where they feel vulnerable. It's not restricted to only the stereotype of girls or sensitive people. We would be surprised if we saw what went on when someone was alone in their thoughts. To help with my theme not only would the photos be edited in black and white, but also to show consistency within my sequence of photos the models would be dripping wet and appear naked. (you should have heard their reaction to it! haha) In my opinion these two things along with unique posing showed exactly the vision I was going for! Hope you enjoy! 

                                             

                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                   

Once Upon a Time....Motion/DOF

Here are my examples of Motion/DOF photography...They are mixed matched but you can tell which is under each category (hopefully) haha...I decided to have a little fun with this shoot and tell a story through the pictures...It is about a princess leaving the castle for the day to take a stroll in the woods but then gets lost! Hope you enjoy!

This first photo is showing an example of DOF as the princess is bored on the steps of the palace. 

The next photo shows an example of motion photography as the princess is leaving for a stroll! The motion is in her hair as she moves quickly so she isn't caught!!

Here is the next example of DOF. It's almost like a secret camera caught her sneaking away!

Here is the next motion picture, as the princess is jumping over a creek! 

The next motion picture is less saturated. I wanted to give it a very soft but still pale look.

The next DOF picture is one of my personal favorite as the princess is relaxing and enjoying the views! 

In this motion picture I really tried to pump up the colors showing almost a fairy tale look.

This DOF is really cool because every time you look you notice more detail....For example did you see the diamond ring on the rock? Or the princess in the background? 

The princess is now in the woods for this motion pic! It looks rather windy! I hope she makes it out ok! 

Now she has made it home! and in honor of Cinderella she wanted to do a lost shoe pic! this is the final DOF photo!

A day in the life of a Lamp Post

Here we are! This is my original image. The only thing that has been done to it is the color has been desaturated. Already You can see the contrast in colors!

For this image I wanted to create something that had every value from black to middle grey to white. So I increased the brightness and contrast to achieve this goal.

     Next we have "HORROR LAMP" I played with the contrast and the dodge/burn tool to achieve this creepy image. All we need next is a little blood and this will be perfect! haha

Here we see our lovely model showing off the latest trend in "sepia tone" I played with the colors to make sure there was a strong difference in the three color tones.

For my last image I wanted to create a lighter photo but not washed out. I really played with the dodge/burn tool to create almost a "snow day for lamp post" look. 

Street Lamp

Well here it is! MY FIRST IMAGE...This is the original photo. For my first assignment I will be turning it black and white five different ways. There are a couple of reasons I chose this photo: 1. The values of the photo have all the colors and contrast I wanted to make a really cool black and white image, there are plenty of light, middle, and dark areas which are essential in making an interesting work. 2. I like that the photos subject is timeless...you cannot tell this photo was taken in Mckenzie, TN in 2015 which is a quality that makes it very cool :) Hope everyone enjoys these! 

WELCOME TO MY WORLD

Hello! As you probably know by this point my name is Jacob Estes...nice to meet you...unless you're a crazy stalker, if so LEAVE NOW. :) I am a senior at Bethel University. Well, I say i'm a senior...I've been here four years so I guess i've earned the right to say that...Who's counting credits at this point! Anyways, I am a singer/actor/dancer most of the time...It's my passion. I love to travel the world during the summer when I am not in school and perform in different professional productions. I love all things "The Arts". In my spare time I am a photographer (not professional or anything) but I love it. It's amazing what happens when you use your imagination. All of a sudden the old falling down building, a field of dead grass, your best friend, or even your little sister can become ART!  Wanna hear something cool? I am FINALLY taking a class to learn some stuff about the nitty gritty details of photography and I couldn't be more excited! This is the home base for all of my future projects! Stay tuned folks! We'll chat soon :)