Melisa A. Pendergrass

...

2009-06-13T13:04:00.000-04:00

Things have been crazy. Nothing new to show for it. All in good time.

While Out

2008-08-16T02:29:00.004-04:00

I took some pictures of this pretty spot. It's by a ski lodge near where I'm staying. In the winter, this is a tube slope. Haha it's awesome!! It was just a gorgeous day so I wanted to capture that.

Some Re-shoots of a Sort...

2008-08-16T01:59:00.003-04:00

I did a version of these images sometime while I was a student. I didn't really like them, and didn't even use them for the assignment they were for. So, for my final portfolio, I chose to re-do these. They are some of my favorite 'trys' and I wanted to actually do what I wanted with them. All in all, I got the effects I wanted: The smoke is very organic and abstract. The water is clearer with a darker background to increase contrast and has much more movement while still keeping the water balloon shape. My straws are glowing even though I shot them in a fairly bright area. Minimal PS work done to all of them. Mostly slight contrast and saturation changes with a little sharpening. I did help the background on the straws so it went black, and I removed the needle used to pop the balloon.

One of the things I've done

2008-06-19T00:19:00.005-04:00

I sort of was asked to put a poster together of one of the luncheons I attended. This is for the Docs and is displayed in the hospital. They love it!

Second internship

2008-06-05T23:54:00.002-04:00

This one is quite fun and exciting, and definitely more related to what I'm interested in for a career. That in itself makes it a very interesting internship. I'm working with Good Samaritan Hospital - part of the Bon Secours Health System. Not exactly as an O.R. photographer and videographer (my bosses haven't even seen that since they've started working with the hospital), but in the marketing department. I'm getting lots of opportunities so far: shooting different events and dinners, designing posters and other publications, physician portraiture, and in a week or two I'll be in the O.R. shooting the staff at work. I'm really excited, as these first 2 1/2 weeks have been busy busy.

What we do. . .

2008-05-09T14:24:00.005-04:00

Fredrika Foster

Marjorie Melman

Marjorie Melman

.
Stephanie Raushenbush

here at the Soho Photographer. Art documentation. For submissions, archiving, what have you.

4 x 5 macro

2008-05-02T16:05:00.002-04:00

The paper clips came out alright, but the earrings didn't. They were rather hard to do, but alas... I didn't get it. Not all of them are in focus. Paper clips are 1:1 and the earrings are 2.5:1.

While here:

2008-05-02T15:51:00.003-04:00

I've done a little bit of shooting of my own. Here's a few of the lastest:

Internship thus far....

2008-04-03T10:41:00.004-04:00

For the most part, I've just been an assistant. But I've seen a lot of what running a photography business is all about - and I don't wanna have my own. Lol heck no!! Soooooo much work and you are at the mercy of the public (in this case, the art world). I have seen some amazing artwork and sculpture (some costing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars). And, I've helped photograph a few pieces (actually, we did 4x5 macro on some interesting jewelry - Scheimpflug ftw...).

Ya know, people say film is pretty much dead, especially large format. But that's not entirely the case. Mr. Dee has had plenty of artists request 4x5 and even 8x10 transparencies for their work.... so that's pretty cool. Recently, he's given me projects, "here's a camera, lights and a ____, you have 2 hours." Yesterday, I worked with only 4x5 transparencies doing some macro (and beyond) stuff. Was quite fun. I believe they came out alright, not sure yet though. Pictures to come shortly.

And Before I leave...

2008-02-28T19:05:00.002-05:00

I'd like to make this last post. It's my portfolio for my macro class. Woot!

Second Soundslide - EBN

2008-02-20T10:54:00.004-05:00

Thank you Tavane, Laurie, and Cindy!

More for Class

2008-02-12T16:28:00.001-05:00

All of these are, again, for my macro class. I normally haven't been able to sign up for the 5d kit so I jumped at the chance to work with it. I used a ring flash for all of them, but a hotlight for the main light. Everything is at 1:1.

Soundlides - Thanksgiving 07

2008-02-06T10:06:00.000-05:00

Thanks you guys, I love ya.

for soundslides

2008-02-01T15:20:00.001-05:00

The most recent assignment in our multimedia class was to gather audio and images. We has to put them together to make a one minute soundslide telling a story. Angie and I did ours about a winter day at the zoo. We ended up hanging out at the zoo for about three hours. These are a few of the pictures we got. Shot with a D200 with a 55mm lens.

More Macro

2008-02-01T13:17:00.001-05:00

All of these were done while at the NC Zoo for another assignment. I wanted to try using only available light for my macro assignments this week, so shooting at the zoo was a perfect time. I did ok for most of the images. But when I went into the monkey exhibit I really struggled to keep from there being blur. I ended up shooting the 1st and last image in there at around 1/15 - 1/20 of a second at f2.8 and f4. No depth of field, but I don't necessarily think that hurt the images. I prefer shallow dof on these. The middle one is for the 'metal' requirement of this week's assignment and is the lower portion of a magnifying glass - the big silver things that you put a quarter in to see in the distance... All images are shot at a 2:1 ratio with a D200, 55mm lens, and lots of available light.

Older Stuff

2008-01-24T01:12:00.001-05:00

I honestly can't remember when I took the top three. It has been a while, but probably my first semester. The top two were taken in Williamsburg and the third was done at Carolina Beach. My last one was for my up close and personal assignment.

Macro... again

2008-01-23T15:15:00.000-05:00

This is a second try at understanding macro. I used the D100 with a 105mm lens, extension and reversing ring on the first image (a styrofoam ball), and the same equipment minus the reversing ring for the memory and piece of plastic. I didn't get the results I wanted from the ball with the ring, but the more I play the more I'll understand it. All images are shot with hot lights at 1:1. I played with depth of field a lot for these subjects and ended up between f5.6 and f11.

playing with a new toy

2008-01-17T13:25:00.001-05:00

I got this cute little camera for Christmas, a Canon Powershot SD 10000. I really like it! It's adorable. So, with all this macro talk, I wanted to play with it and see what I can get from this. I just walked outside and saw the ice on the rock melting. The flower, though, was shot on top of a light table. I used a little fill for the top of it. All in all, it's alright =D

for my first assignment

2008-01-17T13:18:00.001-05:00

This was my first attempt. My first REAL one. There are def. some issues, but also some good things. I need to work on my math a little better... I used stupid strobes and "popped" (bracketing of course) from 4 to 32 times. Granted, that's only 2 under, and 1 over, I'd still like to have done better. My aperture was at f22 (but I'm not happy with it. I'd have liked a lot less dof actually) and I used Kodak e100. I like the lens choice though, it's fun to play with. 60mm Nikon lens/camera at 1:1.

From my NY Trip

2008-01-14T09:36:00.000-05:00

Back in October, I went to NY for the Photo Plus Expo. It was definitely an experience. I met a lot of people in the industry and got to play with a lot of cool stuff. While that was educational and fun, I think I had an even better time roaming the streets and subway system with a few school mates and hanging with a friend I hadn't seen in a while. I took pictures of everything!! But these are just a few. I can see myself going back just to hang. Great place.

Weird I Guess...

2008-01-14T00:48:00.000-05:00

I was bored while raking leaves, and I'm kind of obsessed with the sky atm, so I took these. I just like black against the multicolored sky. Not really the best images, but pretty imo.

Paying to stand around a camera

2007-12-12T20:56:00.000-05:00

So, one day in lab Kevin decided to show us how to pose groups of people. He gave us some things to think about, then in a round robin style told us to post everyone. These pics are just a couple of the fun things we did.

Hurrell

2007-12-11T00:24:00.000-05:00

We have this assignment where we have to shoot a classic George Hurrell-ish styled picture. For this image, I sat April in a very feminine pose. I also used dramatic butterfly lighting. The only problem I have with this is I really like the color version. The color of the dress is awesome with the red-burgundy of the chaise and lipstick. But, since this was supposed to be a black and white assignment, I had to tone it down. I desaturated the image, but not completely. I do like the second version as well.

Another Try at Portraiture

2007-12-11T00:15:00.000-05:00

I think I did MUCH better this time!!! These are a few of the images I will be turning in for Kevin's assignments. They are all done in the studio and after experimenting with many different lighting techniques, I can safely say that I'm extremely happy with what I am turning in.

QuickHit

2007-12-01T19:15:00.000-05:00

Both of these images were used for my quick hit photo story assignment. I did the story on my mom since she has been working at a bowling center for about 20 years. I thought it was kind of interesting. The other pictures for the assignment were of other jobs that she performs at the center. These two images were hand-held at 1/20 (the top image) and 1/8 (bottom) of a second.

Paige Times 3

2007-11-30T00:14:00.001-05:00

Ok, so hairmasking is fun. Hard, yes, but very fun. Start with a model (thanks Paige!), cut them out, and put them on another scene - or in this case, 2 other scenes. After figuring out how to cut her out, the rest of it went pretty fast. I can say that as annoying as this assignment was, I really enjoyed doing it. I learned a lot.

Thanksgiving with the family

2007-11-26T19:22:00.001-05:00

My Aunt Gail. She is so awesome.

Cousin Paul. He's a trip.

My dad with my cousin Matthew. It was Matthew's birthday on Thanksgiving and he had a Pirates of the Caribbean themed party - hence the hat and swords...

My bro, Adam. <3

Cousin Lexie.

All in all, it was a great day. Had family from all over come by and eat with us.

First try...

2007-11-26T19:19:00.001-05:00

at the panoramic assignment. I took several images this day at two separate times. This one was about 10 minutes after the first one. Now, I liked this a lot and thought I had something. But man, the sun was going down so fast that almost all my images were different color temps and exposures. It was a learning experience. This is only two pictures put together, but I think it's still kind of pretty.

FNFB Strikes Again

2007-11-20T11:00:00.000-05:00

These all came from the ERHS vs Asheboro playoff game on the 9th. I tried to get things other than just people playing football. The band, coaches, and after-game rituals were all interesting, so why not photograph them? I do, however, still have an issue just accepting the fact that fnfb pictures will all be 'dark as crap'.

Another portrait

2007-11-20T10:45:00.000-05:00

This assignment required us to take a portrait of someone outside. Some of the things we needed to be sure of was: balancing light and light temperature, keeping composition nice, posing, and over all feel of the portrait should be nice. I tried this assignment quite a few times and just never really got anything that I thought was assignment-worthy. But, thanks to April, I think I got it on this one. She is lit with a Vivitar 285 + Softbox though the gazebo 'window' and I used a 30d w/ the lens at 100mm and f/10.

Little John's (weekly)

2007-11-14T16:02:00.000-05:00

After a few more lessons in layout and design, I gave my weekly another look-over. I had to fix spacing a little. They are located in Greensboro, and I shot this with a Canon 30d, 24 - 105mm lens (lens was around 35 - 55mm for the images), and a Vivitar 285 flash.

Lines...mmm fun.

2007-11-13T09:48:00.000-05:00

We had this assignment in portrait class where we looked at 3 different body positions, or lines. I, S curves, and C curves. We had to use a male and female to post in both masculine and feminine versions of all 3 lines. This was especially hard for me because I didn't really have an idea on how to pose people to begin with. But, I do have to say thank goodness we were only doing silhouettes of our models...we were laughing so hard during these soots that I can guarantee the faces would have been horrendous. I def. have some things to work on... The original assignment called for plain white walls, but since this isn't the assignment, I changed them. What can I say, I like color.

Friday Night Football

2007-11-08T11:22:00.000-05:00

So we have to shoot Friday night football and honestly, it's hard. It's dark, your images are going to have a lot of noise b/c you have to shoot at 1600asa and almost everyone has red eyes because of having to use on camera flash. Normally all of this would bother me, but hey...it's Friday night football - it's SUPPOSED to look like that. This game was Randleman vs Southeast Guilford. For the most part, we didn't have to go beyond the 40 because SEG would get the ball and come back to us. Yay for consistency.

Medical Portrait

2007-11-08T11:10:00.001-05:00

This assignment was for out BioComm PJ class. We had to make a portrait of someone in the medical field. I bounced a flash off the corner behind me so I wouldn't get a harsh shadow in the shape of her head on the wall to her left, and I used a blue gel on a strobe. I stood on a chair with a 35mm lens to get the angle I wanted. This is the first one I will submit, but I'm not happy with it at all. I'm going to re-shoot it.

Large Format & Object Lighting

2007-10-26T00:33:00.001-04:00

"Optimash Prime" This was done for one of my large format assignments in the end of my 1st year. It was our still life assignment. I used 4x5 Ektachrome for this one.

"Water I" This is my original idea for this assignment. It was for my Object Lighting class. I've always seen cool pictures of things exploding, so I wanted to try it. The only thing is, most times they have a sound or motion gate - I didn't. I did this over and over until I had the timing down. There are somethings I can do to make this better, and when I re-shoot this particular scene, I'll post.

"Water II" This was a redo of the above assignment, but this time was shot in studio. To begin with, I used studio strobes to light it, but then ended up using a small flash instead.

"Our Choice - Portfolio" For the portfolio in Object Lighting. To me, this one was all about texture. I wanted to have this really pretty hand painted candle lit.

"Our Choice - Portfolio" This was also for the portfolio. I wanted to treat this small statue like I would a person when it comes to lighting. I wanted texture in the wings, dress and hair while still having pleasing light on the face.

"Portfolio - Edible" Another portfolio piece for Object Lighting. What can I say. M & Ms. Yum.

Small Format

2007-10-25T22:21:00.000-04:00

"Fast" This was for a weekly. Two boys practice at the YMCA in Asheboro, NC for an upcoming midnight basketball game.

Brooklyn doesn't pay attention to me as I snap her picture.

One of the "moving artists" during Greensboro's Arts and Storytelling Festival adds her little bit of fun to a canvas that is shared by six other artists.

He relaxes after a few glasses of wine during The 2007 Wine Festival at Tanglewood.

After rolling around on the ground, Maxine grins while I take her picture. She and her mom enjoy themselves at the Arts and Storytelling Festival.

A large group of kids try to beat the heat at the Asheboro YMCA during the hot June days.

Latex?

2007-10-16T10:11:00.001-04:00

Yes! Well, this was for a project near the end of our class. We had to light latex to make it nice and clean. I think I did ok. The hard part was doing the initial setup for this - I had a pig's foot and and was faking a surgery. Anyway, after it was all done, I thought this one fulfilled the assignment better.

camera: Nikon D1X
aperture/ss: f 19 @ 1/30 sec
ASA: 250