Knowledge is Forever.

I am Ricki, Ricki-Leigh and this is my tumblr. This tumblr will be my way of showing the world what I am doing at Ringling College of Art and Design. It will allow you to see my creative process for assignments and projects that I have. I am a first year Photography and Digital Imaging Major and I cannot wait to see what the future holds.

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Okay, so this is part one of my final and finished product for my color theory project. Now, what I have to do is take this image, the colored one, and actually paint it to look like the image and then reshoot it under white, or neutral, studio light. The good thing is that I have worked with acrylics and paints before, so I do know about blending and value and things of that sort. It should be interesting, hopefully I can pull it off and it will look good enough to get me a good grade...!

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So, these images are all edited in photoshop. I used channel mixer and a few other techniques in photoshop which allowed me to create such cool images. I enjoyed this a lot as well.

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Here's part two of my work! Remember all of these pictures were NOT edited in photoshop and only used lighting and colored gels to make these images.

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Here's part of a lighting assignment that I did for my Studio Fall Workshop class, for this project: color theory. I really enjoyed this project, because it allowed me to experiment with lighting and with colored gels. I'm going to upload the rest of them, in a second post.

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This is the final product for my Studio Fall Arts Workshop project, something like exploring composition or something like that. As you can see, it didn't really turn out as well as I would have liked. What I got from it was that I really need to think about the time, effort, cost, and supplies for projects like this in the future. Overall, it was a really difficult project to execute, it took up SO much time and effort, and it was just a general headache as a whole. I really hate to say it, but I really wish I did a different idea for this project, one that was easier and not as complicated as this one.

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This assignment was environmental portraits, where we had to take pictures of someone in their environment. I decided to make it more like a story, so that's why I put two images into one. I believe that the eyes are the soul of a person, and really tells their story better than any other part of their body. So, that's why I focused on the eyes. Plus, I think it makes the image overall more interesting.

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So, these images are more of my process. and let me tell you that it was BEYOND difficult. It was nearly impossible to get it perfect. I spent one day getting one part strung on right, and even then it wasn't even perfect. But, with the help of one of my friends, I was able to make a compromise of sorts; I printed the background, and then I decided that I would only hang a few. Even then, it was still difficult for me. Bah, it was just so difficult. But I did learn from this. I learned how to properly use the laser cutter, I learned how to use Illustrator, and I learned that as simple as a project might seem, that's not always the case.

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Fall Workshop: Optical Illusion project

So, in my STDA (Studio) Fall Workshop class, we were assigned to create a 3d object that had to have some kind of illusion. My inspiration for this project was this:

The artist name is Michael Murphy, and he created these sculptures like this:

So that's what i wanted to do for my project. The only difference is that I wanted to try something different. I wanted to try to create an image that was full frame, and that wasn't a clear, front portrait. So I took this image:

And then I took it into photoshop and edited it a little bit.

This is what I got after editing it a lot. After that, I got it laser cut, by the laser cutter that our school has. It was such a cool process! But unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, or else I would have documented the entire process. Now, the tricky part is trying to figure out how to suspend the actual cut out pieces and get them to look right. I'm still trying to figure that out, mainly because it's so tricky! But, I'm seriously pressed for time; this project, plus three others are due this week! (24-28) I don't know how I'm going to survive; but I'm going to have to. 

Such madness.

-Ricki

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These pictures come from an early project for motion. We had to use different shutter speeds 1/1000, 1/250, 1/30 &1/15 of a second for a total of 4 photos. The first, second, third and fourth pictures are 1/1000th, 1/250th, 1/30th, and 1/15th of as second, respectively. For the most part, I'm happy that they came out really well. The only problem that bugs me is the fact that the first image is so noisy. But other than that, I think this project went over well.

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It's here! I've had it for awhile, but this is the first time in a while that I have free time to actually update my tumblr, anddddd it's here! My site is pretty much finished, but I wanted the layout for the portfolio page to be different. I'm sure it will change in the future, but for now, here's my website. I might also create a different one, one with my own domain. I can't worry about that now too much, I have too much going on! -Ricki

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Now, these pictures are from my lighting assignment. The emphasis for this assignment was going out and shooting at different times of the day. All of these pictures were taken either before or after sunrise or sunset. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed waking up early, going out, and shooting. There's a certain atmosphere if shoot in the morning, as well as if you shoot at sunset. But, before my teacher assigned this project, I had never really gotten up early specifically to go out and shoot the morning light. The first time I went out morning shooting, my friend Krystina and I stayed up for a majority of the night and left campus at around 6:30. We went to Bayfront Park, took some pictures, but more so, watched the sunrise. Quite honestly, it was probably one of the most magical things I've witnessed to date. I really do love going out in the morning and shooting, and since I'm in such a beautiful location, it just makes the whole experience really incredible.

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These images are from my second assigment at Ringling, which was studying Depth of Field. The criteria for the assignment were:

1. Zoom lens as far out as possible (longest focal length) 2. Choose subject that has a distinct foreground and a background at least 10 ft. apart.   3. Focus on the foreground subject (focus as close as the lens allows and do not change the focus) 4. Set the aperture to f16 & shoot photo. 5. Set the aperture to widest aperture lens allows (probably 5.6 when fully extended) & shoot photo (you will need to adjust your shutter speed to keep exposure accurate according to the light). 6. Repeat with three different subjects for a total of 6 photos. Portraits - 2 people 10 ft apart & so on with a landscape & architecture.

I think I successfully covered all the criteria. I found that the pool table in the area that we, here at Ringling, called the Fishbowl (basically a common area where we all hang out when we're not dutifully working on our homework!). I found that the fishbowl was endless in the subjects that I could shoot. -Ricki

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Let the Fun Begin.

Productivity beings early.

By early, I mean 8:30 AM.

My classes start at 8:30 AM every morning, except for Wednesdays and the weekends. Today was especially productive. Fall Integrated Studio was my first class of the day. In that class for the three hours given, I created and edited my wix website, tumblr, and blogspot.

My wix will be the website that I use professionally, as in, for my professional work and a professional way of contacting me. I've been working hard on it, but I still need to figure out which pictures go where and how to word my "About Me" without it sounding corny or like a personal ad (I PROMISE I WILL FINISH IT SOON). I'm really excited about it; the first website I designed wasn't all that much to my liking, but this one is really cool. Here's a special sneak peak into what it's going to look like....

The first picture I took during the first week of school. It's of one of my friends that I made here at Ringling. After I took it, I put it in Photoshop (CS5) and edited it. Fun Fact: I drastically edit pictures as a form of relaxation. I also edit pictures when I don't have anything to do (which is a completely far from the truth now that I'm in college...). The second one, I took about two years ago. For a Biography/ About Me, it does the job. Plus it's just an overall good picture.

Like I said before, I created and edited this tumblr, and my other website over at blogspot. Now, the purpose of that one is to show my progression and the steps for the projects assigned in my Observation and Illusion class. No, we don't learn to perform awesome illusions like Chris Angel. No, we don't observe those awesome illusions by Chris Angel. So then, what do we do? Well, it's basically an introductory course for 2D and 3D Design, as well as some other things, all smashed together in one class. Plus, we get to use the welding and wood shop that they have in that studio building. It's awesome. But you can find the link to that blog on the right hand side, where it says "Observation and Illusion". As of right now, there's nothing on it, but I will definitely be posting very, very soon.

So, be sure to check back often. I'm sure I'll have the wix website finished soon. Hopefully by the end of the day. I'll see.

Ricki Leigh

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Knowledge is Forever (Explained)

Knowledge is Forever.

To me, the knowledge you have and the knowledge you acquire throughout your life is something that you cannot really lose, something that no one can take away from you. If you were to lose everything you own, you'd still have the knowledge you acquired throughout your life. It's something that you keep forever. It's solely your own. So, when you think about it, I'm documenting knowledge about photograph and all it's elements, and I'll have the knowledge forever. Plus, if you think about it, I'm posting the knowledge to the Internet, and it will be around forever.

But that's just my take on it.

Who I am

My name is Erica Fagan, but I'd rather go by Ricki. I am an 18 year old, first year student at Ringling College of Art and Design in the beautiful, sunny Sarasota, Florida. I am majoring in Photography and Digital Imaging. The main purpose of this Tumblr is to document what I'm doing and see the progression and change of my work. Plus, it helps keep my family and friends who might not be familiar with what a student actually does at a Art and Design college. The most important priority right now for me is soaking up as much information about photography and everything that comes with it, so that in three years, I will feel prepared to enter into the professional, business world of Photography.

Well, let's get started then.

Ricki Leigh