For all you fellow Earth-lovers, let's get GREEN people!

The process of silk screening is quite unique; and in order to achieve my result, the materials I needed were fabric stapled tightly around a wooden frame, fabric paints, the canvas bags, and something to spread the paint across the fabric.

This was my test silk screen. I used block paint for this paper tester which is washable, unlike the fabric paint I used on top of the canvas bags.

These three silk-screened canvas bags were my final marketable product. I enjoy the distinct and bright colours, don't you?

For the last type of media, I did a silk screen of a photograph I shot of a front-angle view of a bicycle in Stratford, Ontario. I am intrigued by and love everything about bicycles, from their practicality, beautiful complexity, and how amazing they are of a method of transportation due to its amazing environmental impact, so I was inspired as soon as a saw this vintage bike downtown. Immediately after capturing this photograph, I knew I needed to do something with it. I'm ecstatic I decided to do a silk screen of this photo, both inverted and normal. 

This process is by far the longest and most complicated process I have ever tried in photography; however, it is also the most rewarding. After deciding I wanted to use the photo of the bike for one of my three mediums, at first I chose to do a cyanotype. However, conditions like poor weather and lack of sunlight failed to provide me withany successful results. That is when I made the decision to make a silk screen rather than a cyanotype. For an interesting spin on the silk screen, I used the acetate of the inverted image that I would have used for the cyanotype, but also burned the non-inverted acetate into the silk screen as well. After vigorously scrubbing the silk screen with water and a sponge, I was ready to start seeing my results. On my first tester, I used the normal acetate as the black base, and then applied the inverted image in a different colour on top of the normal one (2nd image). I was thrilled with the results, and continued on doing the exact same technique for all three canvas bags, which I feel turned out to be an extremely successful and creative product.

I chose to use this media as my marketable item for a couple significant reasons. Firstly, I really love the photo of the bike. I decided to explore the theme of environmental consciousness and awareness, for its something I have been extremely passionate about since I can remember, and what better way to showcase my photograph than on reusable, recycled cloth bags, which implement the notion of reduce, reuse, recycle, just as the option of a bike over a car does. These bags can be used as reusable grocery shopping bags, a tote for the beach, and many more!

I shot the original photograph of the bike (below) with a Canon Rebel T2i with an 18-55 mm lens, with an aperture of f10 and a shutter speed of 1/80 of a second.

Photogram Collage Collection

For the second type of media, I did photograms. The process in order to achieve these images was to place a bunch of random objects that your creative juices conjure up on top of a piece of photo paper in the dark room. When you expose the piece of paper to light, whatever is exposed turns black. However, the beauty and fascination of this type of media is that the objects on top of the paper are protecting it, and therefore stay white, for they are never exposed. What I did to achieve an even greater effect was I moved a selection of the objects while the light was still exposing the paper, in order to get some greys in the photo, not just black and white. Some of the objects I used were a pair of sunglasses, a few necklaces, an intricate barrette, string, earphones, a silly band, a dog chain, a comb, and a Canadian dollar bill. If I were to choose a favourite item I would probably have to say the pearl necklace, for I enjoyed the structure and shape of it against the hard black, and also simply because I love pearl necklaces.

Glued to your Roots, literally.

Acrylic lift- photograph shot with a Canon Rebel T2i with an 18-55 mm lens, with an aperture of f9 and a shutter speed of 1/80 seconds.

For this assignment, our task as a class was to create three different types of media incorporating an interesting and meaningful photograph you took. For the first one, I did an acrylic lift of a picture of a tree's branches (taken from the bottom, under them) with a bit of an eclectic and quaint building at the top. I took this photograph while in the beautiful, downtown Stratford, Ontario, a very musical and artistic town. What intrigued me about this photo and setting is the symbolism and beauty of the point of view. In my mind, I imagined being the roots of the tree, taking it from their perspective. The roots of the tree are significant because they represent the strong and pure base. With the quaint building at the top, which shows the rich history and culture of Stratford, it all ties together the notion of sticking to your roots, or your people, or heritage, etc.

I chose to do an acrylic lift for this photograph because I imagined the way the branches would contrast with the light sky background, which would create a very interesting effect. In order to make an acrylic lift, there are a few required steps to do prior in order to get there. First, you choose a photograph of yours that you feel would be good for an acrylic lift, and then you print it using a laser printer. From there, you duct tape the paper down to a wooden board, start applying relatively thick layers of glue over top of the picture, and then making sure it's dry before apply the next coat. Just to be safe, I did nearly thirty layers, when really fifteen would have been sufficient. Once I had the layers and they were dry, I soaked it in water and proceeded the vigorous duty of rubbing off all the paper on the one side of the acrylic lift. Once all the paper is gone, all you have left is the multiple layers of acrylic with your image on it. It is a very unique and fun process, and I enjoyed it very much, with an end product I can be proud of.

Breaking Some Rules... of Composition

This breaks the concept of normal or ordinary. Typically, if I were to follow the guidelines of composition, the top of the gingerbread house (bottom of photo) would be in focus, as supposed to the tree and candles which are in focus. Also, I would have changed the background to make it more simplistic and balanced. This was taken with an aperture of f7 and a shutter speed of 1/80 seconds.

This photo was taken with a shutter speed of 1/15 of a second, with an aperture of f5. What intrigued me about this photo was its retreat against normality and regulation. The difference of light and strength is highlighted here, with the lights on the pillar versus the lamp. This photo breaks the rule of balance, rule of thirds, and other rules of composition.

After two years of training my mind and hands to follow the basic rules of composition of photography, this assignment did not come at all easy. When taking photographs, my initial instincts tell me to consider the rule of thirds, and if the photo is balanced, and whether it is simplistic or not, etc. However, with this assignment, I had to bottle up all those trained instincts and rules in order to be successful with this assignment. My tactic to tackle this assignment was to put myself in the shoes of a curious, care-free, inexperienced child. As children, you don't think about the complications or restrictions of the real world; you just do what comes natural, comfortable, and easy, and that's what I adore about the innocence of the mind and imagination of children. All photos were shot with a Canon Rebel T2i with an 18-55 mm lens.