Digital Art

Something you may not know about me is that I am very, very picky about my personal taste in photography.  Although it spans a broad range, from abstract landscape portraits of crystalized salt formations in Nevada to runway chic with countless variations in between, I am still pretty selective about which images impress me the most.


I hope that this has been translating into my own work over the past few years.  True, whenever I look back at my photography even from just a few months ago I feel that it could use some improvement, but I am always learning and gaining new techniques, new information.


Something I've always had fun with is post-work that pushes the envelope beyond reality.  I get kind of annoyed when I see something that's supposed to look real and doesn't (inexperienced "glamour" photographers airbrushing every natural detail out of a human face is one of my biggest pet peeves!!!) but when a photo blends with post-work to create something altogether new and different from the original product, it's exciting for me.  I love photography more than I can say, but I was steeped in many types of art as a kid and I enjoy many mediums.  With photography changing so much now, the rules are shifting drastically and this new kind of experimentation is  more acceptable.


I was up far later than I should have been last night messing around with this image and I thought I'd share!


Edit:  Here are two other versions I came up with, as well.

Sea Turtles, mate.

Hello, all!  I'm taking this opportunity to ask that you please support my very good friend, Shea Hofferica, to reach her fund-raising goal for a trip to La Tortuga Feliz in 2011.  Here's her description of what she'll be doing there:


"La Tortuga Feliz is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of sea turtles in Costa Rica and once I complete my Associates Degree in Chemsitry next May I am flying down to volunteer for 35 days! Volunteers help out by patrolling beaches at night, guarding the hatcheries, helping with maintenance of the buildings and creating an ideal environment for the turtles to lay their eggs safely and without danger of poachers and fisherman. I am super excited for this opportunity and the experience it will give me in the environmental sciences. I need all the help I can get funding my flights, lodging fees and my travel pack necessary for the duration of my stay there, but I hope that with support, donations towards the cause and facebook/email forwarding I can make it down there for this experience of a lifetime!"


Please help Shea raise money for her trip, and if you have any questions about the program she's working with, feel free to visit their website.

Road trip!

Part of me loves road trips - I enjoy getting out of the Philly area and seeing new places.  In West Virginia I didn't get the chance to take quite as many photos as I would have liked to, since we were first and foremost celebrating my aunt's birthday.  We had a beautiful, relaxing time, but I'd really like to go back some time soon to devote a lot more into capturing that area.  What in interesting world!


Tomorrow is another exciting day!  I'll be heading off to Washington D.C. for the day to photograph Sarah and Terence and their nearly born baby Gabriel.


I can't wait to spend the day with them!  Sarah and Terence are such a beautiful couple and Gabriel is going to be an amazing addition to their lives.  I'm really excited to see what we get!

Y'all come back, now.

This weekend was such a beautiful and needed time away from the city.  My aunt's birthday was cause for a West Virginia mountain celebration - so we packed our tents and drove the four hours to their newly purchased 14 acres of land!

What a lovely place we found when we arrived.  Trees and tree saplings everywhere, and in the distance a farm on a hill where in the early morning you could just make out a rooster's crow.  It was absolutely gorgeous!

We had a little rain, but we all managed to have a good time anyway.  It was so good to be with my family for a few days and enjoy their company.  My fiancé and I were able to relax from the business of wedding planning and classes and take some time to go on a walk or stand in the rain.  It was wonderful. I'm excited to go back again some time soon!

Three months and one week!

It's so bizarre to think that in just over three months I am going to be a wife.  Have I reached "grown-up" at long last?  Can I now begin this long and complex journey to wrinkly and rocking-chair?  I'm excited.


Yesterday was muggy and 80 degrees, but it could have been worse, and out in my backyard it actually felt pretty nice, so I decided to take a few pictures.  I'm going to miss my backyard so much when we move.  I'm hoping for something equally beautiful, or even more-so.


There was a nice soft light underneath the trees that I took advantage of for these.  It really feels like walking into another world out there, I love it.  I wanted to plant a garden but I feel now sort of like there's not much of a point if I'll be leaving in just a few short months.


In other news, things are finally in the works for my Canon 5D Mark II and 24-70 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8 lenses!  So excited!!! I should, if all things go according to plan, have them in the next few weeks so I can familiarize myself with them before the wedding I'm shooting in August.  Can't wait!

Dreamweaver.

Hello all.  The semester is coming to a close and I am relishing the free time to catch up on the rest of life! The wedding is just over three months away, can you believe it?


I had an interesting assignment in my Design for Journalists course.  My introduction to Dreamweaver was to create a website.  At first I was really confused about how this program works, but after some greatly appreciated help from friends Kevin Cook and Arielle Morgan, I was able to get things up and running.


I used my school domain for this project, but now that I understand how Dreamweaver works a little better, I am excited to build a website under my own domain.  How great to be learning these things, finally!


If you'd like to see what my school website ended up looking like, you can check it out here.
__________________

Edit:  I reserved a free domain for my work and uploaded all of the HTML to that as well.  I also bought AlexisRyan.com, but I still need to work on getting that up and running.  In the meantime, please check out my current, working site!