Hank Drew's PhotoBlog

Christmas Lane

2009-12-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

I recently made a trip over to Christmas Lane with some friends in San Mateo. Pretty street. Lots of power suckage.

Leslie and Rob are engaged

2009-01-16T13:15:00.001-08:00

Our friends Leslie and Rob are now engaged, so I thought I would take some couple portraits of them in Santa Cruz.

Rob protested that he was not very photogenic, but I hid myself in the sunlight and he forgot I was there.

Some recent pictures from Capitola

2008-11-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

Jim Lucas Slideshow

2008-11-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at using the fantastic Soundslides program. This program is a must if you need a quick and easy way to generate slideshows.

The

Photoshop HW3 Duotone

2008-08-06T14:20:00.001-07:00

Photoshop midterm

2008-08-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

Magazine Cover

2008-07-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

This is my final magazine cover for my intro to photoshop class. I used an image from a shoot I did with the SJSU set design team.

I decided to go with the look I had seen on professional journals. I think the cyan bars and white text do a great job of enhancing the main image of the cover.

Pen Tool and Surrealism

2008-07-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

Homework 9 Healing and Such

2008-07-15T22:41:00.000-07:00

Photoshop HW8 Pt. 4 Typography Experiments

2008-07-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

Neon Filter and Text wonkiness...
Image was from our trip to Amsterdam and was photographed by a 33mm Rangefinder

Pace Photographs from West Africa

2008-05-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

"The Person in Front of You: Photographs from West Africa," offer a vivid view of day to day live in a land that most will never see, with great displays of thatch roofed houses and beautiful hand woven dresses.

My first favorite photograph here is the shot of a young woman in a purple dress against a wall of different chipped off colors. I find that this shot captures this young lady in a great moment. She seems a bit pensive, yet open. The colors of this shot are astounding in my opinion.

I also loved the shot of the lady making potery with her young child sticking its head out from behind her. The woman is very stoic, but reveals much in her face: inquisition, protection and warmness. The kid is totally spooked.

Overall, I found this to be a great set of pictures and found that the close portraits to be outstanding over all.

Uni Envi Port

2008-05-06T19:06:00.001-07:00

Steve Salisian, Assistant to the Ceramics Department, loads a gas power kiln with SJCC student ceramics. These ceramics will be fired over a twelve hour period.

Photo Illustration

2008-05-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

Both Democratic presidential hopefuls have placed the high cost of health care at the forefront of their campaigns.

Sporting Shots

2008-04-28T21:17:00.001-07:00

A Mt. Pleasant batter runs down a sacrifice bunt in their 13 -14 loss to Lincoln High School.

Event Pictures

2008-04-21T12:32:00.001-07:00

A group of protesters raise awareness of Mumia Abu-Jamal in San Jose. Jammal will celebrate his 54th birthday April 24.

Bresson Copy Atempts

2008-04-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

Two drummers spend the day jamming in Cesar Chavez Park. This image uses Bresson's tendency to use slow shutter speeds to exaggerate the difference between animate and inanimate objects.

Henri Cartier Bresson

2008-04-14T15:11:00.001-07:00

"The simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression... . In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotif." — Henri Cartier Bresson

In photography, our aim should always been capturing genuine moments and Henri Cartier Bresson, in my opinion, did accomplished this in every shot. Bresson, a French photographer, is considered to be the father of street photography and photo journalism.

Bresson worked with a very small Leica rangefinder camera (I am a rangefinder user as well), a 50mm lens and would often cover his camera with black tape to make it less conspicuous. When working with human subjects, they have a tendency to close off real emotion and try to express what they think you want to see.

Bresson's style breaks through posed moments and brings out genuine moments of emotion, which you will see in the imagines below (his picture of Marlyn Monroe is perhaps the only picture I have seen of her not vamping).

His work is always balanced very well with great contrast. He seems to know exactly when and where to use shallow depth of field or to go really deep into the picture.

Silhouette

2008-04-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

The SJSU music video production class works in the shadows to create a promotional video for Paloma and The Rubys.

This Devon Rex, Neko, was bred by Rex -N-FX cattery. The first Devon Rex was discovered in Devonshire, England, and is known for its pixie looks and lively personality.

The bottom shot is my favorite, but I thought I would show a progression through the stops to the final darkness.

Framed Shots

2008-03-29T00:41:00.001-07:00

This cave was created by the Dutch Henry Winery to store and age their wine.

East meets west as the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum faces Herbert Hoover Junior High School in San Jose.

The loading bay of the SJSU Set Design department overlooks San Jose City Hall.

Student Union

2008-03-22T16:52:00.001-07:00

Omar Hamid slices a back handed shot in the Student Union table tennis room.

Extreme Angles

2008-03-22T16:50:00.001-07:00

SJSU students enjoy a lunch in the sun.

Music Video Shoot (Paloma and the Rubies)

2008-03-17T13:03:00.001-07:00

SJSU Music Video Production class, RTVF 185, collaborated with Paloma and the Rubys to film a music video during April 2008.

"The students all want to start at the top," said SJSU Set Shop assistant Aaron Kaufman. "My job is to make sure the ones who start at the bottom do their jobs as well."

The set for the music video is created by students, some of whom had to work over their spring breaks.

"They were told they could not attend any of the off site filming locations unless the inside set was complete," said Kaufman.

The students were able to transform the University Theater into a Mexican Villa a matter of a few weeks.

Aaron Kaufman, Set Shop Assistant and SJSU student, stands before the tool shed.

The University theater in early stages of transformation. The columns above will be coated with stucco.

John York, head of the design shop, looks on as Ryan Pantalunan slices some Formica.

Crystal Jix and Eerin Cain use Formica slices to fill seams in the stage.

Students stain wooden tiles that will be glued to the walls of the set.

Jaime Hilgeneck applies stucco to wooden steps to give the appearance of natural carved stone steps.

The University Theater enjoys a rare moment of silence during the set building process.

Paloma and the Rubies bring the set to life.

Shadows and Light

2008-03-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

This Pinzano straw hat was purchased from the Berkeley Hat Company.

Tropical plants line Brooklyn Ave. in San Jose, CA.

A tray of succulent plants strike an alien pose in the shadows.

Campus Life

2008-03-03T16:11:00.001-08:00

Cropped per some class discussion.

San Jose State University study between the book stacks at Martin Luther King Library.

Spring weather brings out the snuggling students on the San Jose State University campus.

A San Jose State University student ponders his work while sitting at the bike table at the Martin Luther King Library.

Reflective Surfaces

2008-02-27T17:47:00.001-08:00

Bike posts are mostly empty on the San Jose City College campus.

The SJSU Student Center's sprinkler valve is open for business.

A beautiful spring afternoon is reflected in the windows of Martin Luther King Library.

Stop Action Photo

2008-02-23T15:32:00.001-08:00

Danielle Drew prepares for Easter by frying Peeps for dinner.

This was a bad week for this assignment. Light was lacking everywhere I went. So, I built a studio in the kitchen with a sheet and some torch lamps.

Other attempts were with my Karate classmates at SJCC.

DOF with Knitting

2008-02-15T17:44:00.001-08:00

Danielle Drew travels the world collecting balls of yarn. The above item is a shall in progress.

Enviro Portrait

2008-02-13T13:06:00.001-08:00

Steve Smith guards the secrets of magic at Victoria's Dance & Costume, San Jose, CA.