Radiant

Main Entry: ¹ra·di·ant

Pronunciation: \ˈrā-dē-ənt\

Function: adjective

Date: 15th century

1 a : radiating rays or reflecting beams of light b : vividly bright and shining : glowing
2 : marked by or expressive of love, confidence, or happiness
3 a : emitted or transmitted by radiation b : emitting or relating to radiant heat

My first image is a part of a series in which I shot my friend Nick and his newly created pieces of art, his silk-screened t-shirts. His work inspired me to find a way to shoot them, as opposed to just lying them on a table and taking shots straight on. I also knew that for this project I wanted to explore the different facets of lighting, both studio and ambient, to see how I can manipulate the feeling of the shot. I also acquired some new flashes recently, so I was eager to test them out! This first shot I really like because of the way the lighting brings out the definition of the t-shirt, but also how it relates back to my word. Radiant is a word that can describe the quality of light as well as a quality in someone. I certainly consider my friend Nick to be quite radiant.

The second image is towards the end in my series of photographing my friend Nick. The color coordination in this shot is subtle, yet really makes the blue in his t-shirt pop out. I love the shooting environment on his porch, and I think that the two rocking chairs make for a great composition. Once again, this shot uses both natural and unnatural lighting to make an average image just a little more interesting. Radiance is something that I have considered quite deeply during this project, and I am excited to see the range in which the definitions can be applied both physically and emotionally.

The last image is a part of a series where I wanted to capture an evening by campus. The physical definition of radiant includes “radiating rays or reflecting beams of light”. Thus, I believe that the long exposure street shot combined with a subtle portrait of myself captures the essence of radiance, both physically and beyond. Once again this is a combination of natural lighting and studio to create a very strange feeling in the composition. It took me a while to get the right shot, but it felt great when I finally got the results I was looking for.

Contact Sheets

Discussion Question

Our class has decided to explore five different facets of design and the problems/solutions that lie within them. My group, "Behavioral Studies" will be exploring the reasons why people behave the way that they do and how design plays a role in this. We will each be designing our own project, which is both exciting and somewhat intimidating. I am confident with time and research, we can come up with a great experiment.
When we first began to discuss this project, it seemed a little bit ambiguous. However, I feel now that our group has started to narrow down some key concepts in the study of behavior and how it relates to design. "Design is the conscious and intuitive effort to impose meaningful order". This is a very broad definition of design, and I am actually a big fan of it. Design, in some way, can be related to or taken from almost anything, and that is what makes it so meaningful. Likewise, behavior, whether conscious or unconscious, is relevant to so many decisions that we make as humans. The experiences, genetics, outlook and so many other factors effect how each of us behave, and thus how we impact design. Perhaps more importantly, how it impacts us.
I am not quite sure yet how we will test the relationship between design and behavior, but I feel like the options are almost limitless. This is maybe why it might be so hard to pinpoint just one thing and effectively demonstrate it through an experiment. One thing that first came to my mind was some sort of public "node", be it a sign or or some sort of poll that people will react to differently. It is crucial to this "node" that there be several options or choices for the person to have at their disposal. These options should be designed differently in some sense, in order to determine perhaps why each person is impacted by it, and thus why they behave the way that they do. For instance, a billboard sign reading "Slow down, arrive alive" may impact some people differently than others. We are all receptors of design thousands, perhaps millions of times per day and that is the beauty of people's different behavior.
Although this is just the beginning of a long road, I am feeling a little bit better about the concept of this project and the variables that will make our project unique and efficient. Good luck to all of the other groups!

Michael

Mind Map

Influences

J. Grant Brittain

Rocco in Los Angeles, 1987, B&W 35mm

Untitled, 1990, Large Format Polaroid

Andre Pierre, 1992, B&W 35mm

Untitled, 1995, Color Slide Film 35mm

J. Grant Brittain is considered to be one of the most important figures in the documentation of skateboarding since the early 1980's, back when there weren't very many people interested in taking photographs of skateboarders. By viewing any of his thousands of photos, you can instantly tell that this man has complete control over his shooting environment and lighting, while at the same time never hindering his models actions. Using an array of mediums, including both color and b&w 35mm, medium format, large format and even the elusive large format polaroid camera, his work is not exclusive to skateboarding. His portraiture and landscape shots are just as enthralling as his action skateboarding photos, often conveying an eerie vibe to the viewer as seen in the untitled large format polaroid of the little girl between trains.
Brittain, at quite an early age, inspired me to start taking photographs of my close friends. I studied his lighting techniques, including one he made popular many years ago called "kicker lighting" or "back fill", incorporates the slight underexposure of the scene, a side front flash, and the all important "kicker" flash, which is placed behind the subject and overexposed by usually a stop, providing an aura effect for the model and helps to separate the subject from the background (Last Untitled skateboarding photo is an example). I even went the distance to acquire some of the same exact equipment that Brittain used!
Brittain, to this day, remains the Senior Staff Photographer of the acclaimed Skateboard Mag, a full-color, glossy wide format skateboard magazine whose quality is unparalleled. He has made the shift to high-quality Digital SLR's, as many photographers have in the action field but still manages to bust out his medium format Hasselblad on many occasions. The large format Polaroid medium I mentioned earlier is really a testament to his skill and popularity; I believe there are only 3 or 4 of those large format Polaroid camera on the face of the earth, and much to big to be transported very far. Hence, photographers from around the world have sought the use of these cameras, but very few have had the opportunity.
All in all, J. Grant Brittain has contributed so much to the skateboard world as well as the art world with his photographs. I believe that he deserves all the credit that is due to him. After all, being one of the first photographers to shoot Tony Hawk is pretty awesome!