News & Updates
2009 Global Focus Photography - 1st Place Sean Leahy
I am very proud to announce that my recently submitted print has been selected as the 1st place winner in the 2009 MSU Global Focus Photography Contest. The winning image below was shot just outside of rural Kigali Rwanda in early October of 2008.
The following is my semester long project: Research Development Portfolio. This project is part of my CEP 900 Prosem course as an introductory course to my Ph.D Program. This project has been an ongoing project that I have been working on all semester long. As I have progressed through this project it has been very inspiring, has been providing me with very valuable lessons in educational research, and sparked my interest in several areas of online learning that I will continue to pursue in my doctoral program. Traditionally this project is printed and a physical copy is turned in, however, an online option was available for those students who could submit electronically. The entire portfolio is contained within this section, you may skim through the contents or use the index to jump to the desired section.
In celebration of Labor Day this year, a few friends and I piled into a car and headed up north to Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge. We went to the bridge to participate in the 52nd annual Bridge Walk. Every year (for the last 52 anyway) they shut down the bridge on Labor Day and people from all over the country (and World) walk across the bridge. It is quite the spectacle. We were lucky to have great weather all weekend, we did have a nice patch of fog roll in on us as we were crossing the bridge, so that made for some interesting atmosphere to both walk and photograph. The following video is a short compilation of the some 1000+ images I shot while on my trip.
What better way to spend your average Wednesday than jumping out of an airplane at 14,000 ft?
This was my first time skydiving, it was an incredible experience that I am sure to repeat in the future. The folks at Skydive Tecumseh made sure my jump was a thrilling time. Their staff was very friendly and professional and although you are jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, you actually feel rather safe in their hands.
There really is no experience like it, feeling the icy cold air rushing past your face, the feel of the cold aircraft aluminum against your hands as you look out the rear door of the aircraft. As you gaze downward to the familiar earth below you stomach cinches the last knot. One, two, threeeeeee and out the aircraft you tumble, rushing toward the earth at 120 mph as you flip and twist before steadying your free fall. Wind whipping all about you, trying to make sense of your bearings and surroundings as you plummet, a calm enters as you take in the beautiful scenery both around and below you. Jumping from such a height you feel disconnected from the earth below, almost as if it is not a threat to your safe landing, its just there, beyond your reach. Then suddenly you are violently jerked upwards as your main chute deploys and the canopy fills with air. Now gliding smoothly and gently, you take in your surroundings as ground beneath you raises faster and faster towards your feet. A few quick maneuvers of the canopy, legs swinging from side to side you come sliding to a soft landing and feel the ever familiar sturdy soil beneath you. You are done, you are filled with adrenaline and excitement from the few moments of pure danger and rush. When I stood up, released the harness the only thing I could say was..."let's go AGAIN!" It was so much fun I cannot wait until the weather is good enough to jump once again.
The image above is a mock advertising shot I created for my portfolio. I created this in an attempt to broaden my portfolio in the commercial photography realm.
This particular image is a combination of studio images and Photoshop effects. The image of the shoe was captured with a Nikon D300 and then post processed heavily in Photoshop to achieve the paint particle and splatter look.
Here are a few images taken recently from a series I have been working on with abandoned buildings.
I have been working on this series for a few weeks. I look for an old building or structure of some kind that has become dilapidated, yet strangely is still part of the “normal” landscape. These old structures become forgotten yet they are not removed. I find the juxtaposition of the old dilapidated buildings in “normal” surroundings ironically intriguing.
If you know of any old houses or buildings that are in pretty rough shape please let me know. I would like to continue this series for a while longer yet.
All images above were shot with a Nikon D300.
Looking to continue the MSU Landmark project, I ran out and grabbed a quick HDR of the MSU Library. Oh the hours spent inside this building…if only I could have them back. (just kidding…it was well worth it). Anyway the weather was great, and it was calm enough (not too many students on campus yet) for me to get a lot of shots without having people walk through my scene.
MSU Main Library 2008
Okay, I must admit that taking images like this gets me all geeked up. I start looking at other scenes (with my own eyes) and start seeing them as HDR’s in my mind, constantly shifting images through my mind looking for great possible compositions. I had the idea to shoot this HDR for about 2 weeks now, riding past the Library at near dusk I could see the illuminated interior against the light sky and kept thinking “that would be a great image” and well, I am pretty pleased with the result. When scouting for HDR images I normally look for scenes that contain a lot of contrast, that is scenes with areas that are dark as well as light, like the above image, the windows are light, yet the exterior is getting dark, perfect for HDR!
To create the image above I took a bracketed range of exposures (7 of them) ranging from -3 EV to +3 EV with the primary image at 0 EV set to f11 and 1/4s shutter speed. To get an idea of the composite images here they are broken down (I left a few out, but you get the idea).
For this setup I used my Nikon D300 on tripod with a cable release (to help ensure there is no motion blur introduced with slow shutter speeds) and attached to my camera body was my new Nikon 18-200mm VRII lens, have I mentioned yet how much I love that little lens? Well let me plug it again…although I have only had this lens for a few days it has already earned its permanent place in my camera bag, in fact at the moment it will be the defacto “attached” lens, so if I am ever in a hurry I can pull the camera out and catch the action knowing I will have the right focal length in hand.
If you have any suggestions for other MSU Landmarks that you think I should photograph please let me know, or heck come along with me its always more fun to shoot with other people.
The elusive thalarctos maritimus has finally been captured on camera, well ok, its not all that elusive and well, its not even alive, but it was still impressive.
This image is that of the great thalarctos maritimus otherwise known as a polar bear. This massive polar bear is located in the lobby of the Natural Resources Building on the campus of Michigan State University. This bear was shot in 1957 at Point Borrow Alaska and donated to the University by Mt. Koepplinger of Oak Park Michigan.
The image above is a composite of two separate images. Both images were shot at night in the lobby with one image exposed for the outdoor scene and lights, and the other for the bear itself. Blending the two images allows the bear to look fully lit while having no lights visibly on him. The image was then converted to gray scale to be used in a project that never made it to the big time, so here it is, in all its glory.
Is there a better MSU spartan icon better than Sparty himself? I think not. So here is a sample ofthe Spartan Landmark series I have been working on. This is a shot of the newly placed Sparty. The original Sparty statue is now inside the new football stadium, protected from the weather and elementsThe original Spartan Statue was created in 1945 by Leonard D. Jungwirth and measures 10 feet 6 inches in height weighing in at 3 tons making it one of the worlds largest free standing ceramic statues.
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