Light Observation #4

Posted on February 23, 2012 by previousstudent

1. February, 20th – 6:45PM, Netherlands South

2. Flickering light from the lamp post

3. I had spent most of the day in my dorm doing work, and I finally emerged to go get some food a little before 7. When I walked outside, it was pitch black – the only light came from the houses themselves. After a few seconds, though, a light came on, flickered for a few seconds, and went out. This repeated infinitely – always on and off, never staying on for more than a few seconds before going out again. The light – and lack thereof – created in intense feeling of unease. Although I know the area around my dorm like the back of my hand, it’s still easy to feel fear when you only have light for a few seconds at a time. The flickering intensified the feeling of unease – it was like a teaser, showing the shadows and only illuminating the are for small amounts of time, never fulling lighting the quad. Anyone or anything could have been hiding against a building or tree and I never would have known, and that is very, very creepy.

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Light Observation!

Posted on February 23, 2012 by previousstudent

Saturday 18 February, 2012
Central Park
Around 4:30 pm

My friend and I are walking from the north end of the Park, the sun setting over the roofs of the skyscrapers that make up the New York skyline. Because the sun has only just decided to set, the shadows it casts are from a rather high angle. As we walk along one of the paths heading in a general southward direction we pass by and under American Oaks. The trees cast shadows over and around the path we’re walking along, weaving in and out of our way.

The spindly branches of the close-sown oaks overlap to create a web of shadows, reaching out towards passers-by in an attempt to chase them. The grooves and pockets in the tree bark are cast in relief against the trunks, giving a startling amount of depth to the natural contours of the trees. They actually look kind of lonely. Their branches are reaching out towards people, trying to bring them in, but are only scaring them away by being too frightening. They attempt in vain to find some contact, any contact, but their efforts are foiled by none other than themselves.

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Photo Observation #4

Posted on February 23, 2012 by previousstudent

2. Photo by Chris and Lisa Teso – http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanthonysfeast/3646198388/in/set-72157594268821333

3. Theme: Night Life

4. This is a photo of Saint Anthony’s feast weekend in Boston. Growing up in a very Italian family, this particular feast is one of the most important (and lively) of all the feasts. I’ve gone every summer for as long as I can remember. The day starts around noon, and goes well into the night (as seen in this picture). It’s a giant party, and what I consider the epitome of “night life”. Hundreds of people fill the street, there’s always live music, and street vendors sell merchandise and freshly made Italian food. People hang out their windows yelling in Italian, and stapling their donations to the statue of Saint Anthony that goes around multiple times throughout the day/night.

In this picture, I love that you can see all of the hanging lights suspended between the two rows of buildings. The same lights have been used since I was a kid. There are so many of these lights that they are the only things needed to really light up the street. The other thing that I love about this picture is the lights coming from each of the vendor’s tents. Every vendor lights up his/her own tent in their own way (often with fairy lights, though) and in this picture, the tents actually seem to be glowing because of it.

In addition to the lights in the street, outside of this photo you’d also be able to see the city lit up. This picture just reminds me of home, and my childhood.

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Photo Observation #4

Posted on February 23, 2012 by previousstudent

2.http://images2.clubzone.com/company/images/17039/2.jpg clubzone.com

3. Theme: Nightlife

4. I really like this photo because I believe it captures nightlife. The main source of light comes from the walls and furniture, and the ceiling is dark like it was outside. Also, I really like how the different colors of light come from the furniture that effect is really fascinating. There is enough light to get around, but just the right amount of darkness as well. So it is like your outside, but your really inside.

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Lighting Observation #4

Posted on February 23, 2012 by previousstudent

1. 2/22/12 6:45 p.m. in the quad outside of Lowe

2. Quad lights and the Hofstra Emergency Light

3. On my way to rehearsal I walked by the quad outside of Emily Lowe, and I noticed something that we learned in class. Even though the dim light from the lights around the quad had a really nice effect over the club, I noticed my eyes went straight to the blue light that Hofstra uses for emergencies. It went back to the phenomenon we discussed in class, when we learned our eyes are always looking for red and blue colors. So it was the first time I really noticed my eyes going straight to the blue color because it needed it.

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Photo Observation

Posted on February 23, 2012 by previousstudent

2) I found this on tumblr. http://weheartit.com/entry/23333707

3) Night Life

4) This photo represents night life in more than one way. While it is a picture of alcoholic beverages, the lighting shows more than just that. The club lighting makes the drinks look colorful, like a rainbow. The rainbow effect makes the drinks feel more inviting to take part, in small amounts.

 

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Lighting Observation 4.2 (The Sliver in the bluish glow)

Posted on February 23, 2012 by previousstudent

1) 2/23/12 – 6:22 – Walking outside of the Caulkins Quad facing toward NAB

2) OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was walking to Bits from spanish class and the sun had just set. The sky was barely lit and I could see Venus and the moon. The moon was a sliver but I could see the entire outline of it behind the shadow of the earth.

3) SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was walking to Bits after a long and boring day of classes. I was in a bad mood as I had lots of homework and other things filling my plate. I was walking across the quad just outside of Caulkins enjoying the last few moments of light for the day. I was beginning to feel better while we walked as this was my first time outside to enjoy the spring like weather. As my friend talked to me about his day I gazed upwards, towards the sky to see the brightest objects in the night sky begin to appear as final rays of the sun beat down on campus.

The sky was a deep, and very rich blue that seemed to glow across the entirety of the sky. There was no sunset at this point, it was simply just the last bit of light that was reaching across the sky. I noticed that I must have timed it just right to be out there at this time. I noticed how usually when the sun has just set, it is still very clear where the sun is setting. The western side of the sky always has a brighter feel to it and on the eastern edge there is always almost complete darkness. Tonight was different. The sky was blanketed with an even coating of color all the way from east to west and there was no variation in intensity. As I looked up I saw Venus burning brightly in the sky. The pure, brilliant white light from Venus provided amazing contrast against the deep and glowing blue of the sky around it.

Just to the right of venus I noticed the moon very high in the sky. It was only a sliver of a moon and will probably not even exist tomorrow at this time. This sliver, like Venus, provided an amazing contrast that was so vivid in the beginnings of the night sky. Despite the fact that the moon was only a tiny sliver tonight I was still able to see the entire shape of the full moon being illuminated behind the shadow of the Earth. It was a very interesting sight and one that is very vivid in my mind. It was very cool to me to think that the Earth itself was blocking out all of that light from the sun that was being reflected from the sun. Even though the shadow was there, the sun was still powerful enough to illuminate the entire sphere for me to see against the glowing sky.

 

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Photo Observation #4 (A Night in Praha)

Posted on February 23, 2012 by previousstudent

2) Taken By: Nic Christopher, March 23rd, 2010. Taken at 10:30PM in streets of Prague, Czech Republic.

3) THEME: Night Life

4) DESCRIPTION: This Picture was taken late on a mild March night in the streets of Prague, Czech Republic. To me, night life is not going to parties or getting drunk, going to dances or going out on the town. I never do anything like this, instead my nights are spent in the theater or they are spent exploring. I love to explore and imagine my way through places all over the world. I enjoy walking through the streets, watching people, looking at the empty streets or see what late night action is going on around me.

On this March night I was walking around the streets of Prague with my parents looking up at all the history that surrounded us. Prague is known for being one of the most historic places in the world. At night the buildings are illuminated  against the night sky and from certain spots up on the hills you can look out over the entire city and see where the new meets the old and where the castles, churches and clock towers have stood for hundreds and hundreds of years.

This picture is a short time lapse of one of the buildings just outside of the castle. What speaks most to me about this image is how it has the ability to show the new, the old and the night sky. The building in the foreground is one of the “newer” buildings in the city and is illuminated and portrayed in what seems to be rather natural lighting. The Ancient cathedral is overexposed and is dominating the composition but still maintains its figure, shape and details. Filling all the empty space in this image is the deep blue glow of the night sky. The sky is absorbing all the ambient light from all of the other buildings and plazas that are surrounding this spot. It is a harmony of all the elements in this city into one composition that can only be seen at night. This is why I like to go explore at night, there are new sights, new places and new perspectives on the world all around us. To me this is what night life really is, the discovery of these old buildings, this history; and then to wonder what exactly is it that goes on in there every night, what all has this one building been through… probably more than anyone can handle in a whole life time of nights out on the town.

 

 

 

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Lighting Observation 4.1 (The reverse shadow)

Posted on February 23, 2012 by previousstudent

1) 2/19/12 – 3:03 – southern tip of Manhattan, near Battery Park facing east towards Statue of Liberty

2) OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was at battery park standing on the bike path facing east looking toward the Statue of Liberty. The sun was bright and reflecting off the water, onto the building behind us and creating a shadow in front of my friends and I.

3) SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was taking my two friends to see some of the sights in Manhattan this weekend on saturday. We head into the city mid afternoon and went down to Battery Park so that I could show them the view of the Statue of Liberty from the southern tip of Manhattan. We walked across the bike path and stood at the waters edge as they were in awe seeing the lady for the first time. The sun was beginning to get lower in the sky just to the left of the statue.

None of us had our sunglasses on and it was extremely difficult to look at the statue for very long as the sun was reflecting very intensely off of the water between us and the statue. We had to duck behind the large wooden posts that were sticking out of the water acting as tie downs for incoming boats. We used these giant posts to block the light out and catch glimpses of the statue through the cracks in the posts.

I was explaining to them what different things around us were and pointing out important  and significant landmarks all around us. At one point I pointed up and noticed that on the post in front of us there was a clear shadow of my gesturing hand and my body on the post we were hiding behind. What caught me off guard was how vivid our shadow was yet we were staring straight into the sun. What was happening is that the sun was reflecting off of the water and bouncing back up onto the skyscraper behind us and illuminating my friends and I from behind. It was a cool effect to be looking straight into the burning sun yet also looking at a clear shadow of myself right in front of me. As cool as this effect was I realized just how aware I need to be in lighting designs of where reflective surfaces are so that I dont create these odd phenomenons. This moment made me realize just how hard it really is to put light where you want it as well as keep it away from the places you don’t want it all at the same time.

 

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Photo Observation

Posted on February 23, 2012 by previousstudent

2. Shoot The Freak- photograph by Nicole Wiseman

3. Nightlife

4. This is a photograph of my friend Mia’s band, Shoot the Freak. Her band is a glam-punk band that tends to play gritty New York City bars, which I think captures the term “nightlife” all own its own. However, the colored lights coming from behind her, casting her in pinks, purples and blues, barely reflecting off the drumset just give the feeling you’re at one of their shows even though you’re just looking at a picture. Also, the light is shining through a thick haze, almost reminiscent of the haze of alcohol that you’ll feel by the end of the night. All the colors are clashing together, bouncing off the instruments, the sheen of her hair, the haze making you just feel the feeling of being at a rock show in NYC.

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