Drama 16 Stage Lighting

2/10/15, 12:30am, outside Alliance Hall

The sky was doing wacky things as my boyfriend Matt and I headed back to his room following birthday festivities. It was an eerie mixture of purple, orange, and grey. A song called “Miasma Sky” often comes up on Matt’s auto-shuffle when we are in his car. Earlier that very day I had looked up what “miasma” meant:

This photo that I found on the web reminds me of (many) a drunken night spent in the city with friends. The slant, of course, creates the uncentered feeling that a few hours of partying will cause on the body. I love how the headlights from the cars make us feel like everything is in motion. Even at 3am, NYC is not sleeping — or even close to being quiet. The warm lights from what looks like a late-night diner are welcoming to many a soul who would regret not eating after the night’s debauchery. And even though it is a subtle addition, the few apartment lights on make me wonder what everyone was up to at this hour. Walking the city streets at night makes me feel larger than life, but something about this picture makes me feel small. Perhaps it is that I know that I will just be another apartment light that is on, or off, to anyone passing by.

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/195/7/2/new_york_nightlife_by_credination-d3r7sf0.jpg

This is another one of my own photos.

THEME: Nightlife

DESCRIPTION: This is a photo taken of the NYC skyline from Long Island City. The lighting was amazing, and I’m glad I was able to capture it in a photograph. I think it’s pretty safe to say that the orange and green lights in the foreground are the star of the image. The way the lights reflect off the ground is incredibly captivating. I also love the way the two colors bleed out into the shadows, as well as how the two colors meet in the middle. In the background is the NYC skyline which you can see in the night sky and in the reflection of the water. The photograph seems festive and alive, but at the same time there’s a sense of stillness and peacefulness in the night.

Theme: Night Life

Source: https://40.media.tumblr.com/24efcc86f67c428d1b8b16b23c588425/tumblr_ncshu103MD1syvcbdo1_500.jpg

I chose this picture because it invited me into a fun story. The intense neon colors, the cracks in the pavement and walls, the steps leading into the dark–all of it screams debauchery and vice. What I see here is a trashy hole-in-the-wall venue that may be fun, scary or both. The picture is taken in such a way that the “WATCH YOUR STEP” is shown, but the actual letters on the sign aren’t. The irony of those words combined with the blur of the sign and the blackness of what’s beneath make this photo feel dangerous, but the myriad of color suggests a fun danger. This is enticing. The lights create a clever color fade effect, as they get colder the farther down you go. I think walking through this would feel like walking from a pink daylight (a time of routine and structure) into a blue night (a time of fun and release).

This is a photograph from Nicholas Jandrain’s photo series Shanghai.

The photo corresponds to the theme Night Life.

This street has gone to bed early. The stores are shuttered up and all their patrons and owners have left for the day. Nocturnal streetlights and insomniac store security lights dimly light the alleyway. In the background, apartments and office windows flood the sky with light like pixelated stars. The sky soaks up the light pollution like water soaking up a wash of pigment. One figure stands alone in the light coming from a shop, the only one left awake.

Photo taken by my sister Wendy June 2014

NIGHT LIFE

Nothing says night life quite like Vegas. Vegas at night is a cacophony of colored lights that just say fun is happening here. This photo was taken from the “Linq”, the new giant wheel ride in Las Vegas. It features the world famous Flamingo Hotel at center and other icons, Caesars Palace, The Bellagio, Paris Las Vegas and others. I like the reflection of my sister and I both taking picture superimposed on the scene with me beer in hand (another staple of night life). Notice also, just below my phone, the beam of light shooting up from below. That is from the top of the pyramid which the Luxor Hotel & Casino.

1) 1/29/15, 10:30pm, Lounge of Nassau Hall

2) An outdoor light that was aimed at a tree created a shadow of the branches in the snow.

3) My lighting moment was wonderful. Everyone in the lounge thought I was a weirdo when I stopped my friends to appreciate the moment I was currently having. The intricate twists and turns of the trees branches was represented so clearly in shadow on the freshly fallen snow. The snow being white and slightly illuminated by the moon, created a beautiful contrast between the light and darkness of shadow. The source of light hitting the tree also created little glimmers of sparkles in the reflections of water droplets that had turned to ice, which hung from the branches. The effect was very haunting in a way that surprised me. Yes, it was beautiful. But the chaos of the way the branches were entangled, combined with the lack of color told a sad story. It felt like death, as winter often resembles.

Photo taken by Peter Charney

Theme: Sunrise/Sunset

Description: I choose this image because I feel like it accurately represents a sunset in a very straight forward way. I feel like the interesting part of this image is not the sun itself, but rather the industrial tower in the foreground. When reading books on photographing sunsets, I discovered that sometimes the best way to capture a sunset is to turn around and see how the light affects the rest of the world. Even though I do actually include the sun in this picture, I think silhouette of the tower is beautiful in itself. Like in theater, when something is lit from behind it creates this effect that is really powerful. Something like an industrial tower that people often reject and call “ugly” during the daytime, can transform into something beautiful thanks to light.

Source: https://500px.com/photo/27583363/sunrise-by-frode-langdalen

Theme: Sunset/Sunrise

The optical illusion in this photo really appealed to me. The way the sunset lights up the snow on the trees to make it appear as if it were a pink cherry tree in spring reminded me of home and a more livable season, even though the picture was taken on a winter day. It’s a reminder to me that even though I feel cold, gray, or stressed, that peace if available if I look for it. I’m also grateful that the sun is not in the image. In the other sunset photos I viewed, the sun was a very powerful and active force and wedged itself in as a focal point. In this photo, the sun is absent and I can wander the image freely. I am not opposed to powerful forces– but this is what I needed to see.

1) January 26, 6:52 PM; Vanderpoel

2) The streetlights illuminated the street outside my window

3) Again, I was taking pictures of the snowstorm when I stumbled on an interesting piece of lighting. The road to Nassau/Suffolk and the parking lot outside of Lib/Rep was completely white with snow. The streetlamps were little balls of yellow light suspended above the road. Their stalks disappeared against the trees. The lights looked floating and magical and cast yellow light on the snow which diffused into an orange-purple color. A car drove down the road, casting blue headlights in contrast with the yellow light. I began to wonder about our different points of view. From my point of view, the lights seemed so pluckable and tiny. I wondered if the driver had enough light to see as he moved from light so shadow. I wondered about how we go through the day, using light from below the source and taking for granted that it fills up the air around us, while from above the source of light is so fragile.