Experimenting With Coloured Smoke

I have always been fascinated by smoke, the shapes it can take on, the effect it can give to a photo, and the things it can do once light hits it. Here are some recent portraits I created using some coloured smoke grenades. I wanted little detail visible in the face, as if the subject was being engulfed by the smoke.

Recreating A Historical Painting

Of course as photographers we draw inspiration from all mediums of art, including paintings. I have always been fascinated by historical paintings and have an interest in creating photographs that have a painterly style to them. When I was given the assignment to recreate an old painting for my History of Photography class, I was extremely excited. I decided to recreate a self portrait by Joseph Ducreux, the French painter: "Yawn" - 1783. Below is a comparison shot of the painting on the left and my photograph on the right.

Christopher Bucklow Inspired Shoot

 After studying Christopher Bucklow's work in class I became extremely fascinated by his series "Guests" and the way in which he captures light and photographs people. As someone who loves to shoot portraits, I am always looking for new and different ways to photograph people in interesting lighting situations. I was inspired to create my own set of images with the techniques Chris used, which was executed by tracing silhouettes onto tinfoil, poking hundreds of tiny holes with a pin, shining a light through these images and photographing its projection on a wall. For my first try with this technique, I feel like my images turned out pretty well. The first photo in this series was displayed at Sheridan College's annual photography gallery in March of 2013

Putting On A New Face

This is a self portrait series I did where I dressed up as iconic women in history. Through makeup, hair, and digital manipulation, I transformed myself into these people while still keeping a hint of my own appearance. 

Portals

   
    This summer I had the pleasure of joining the Young Photographer’s Alliance’s mentoring program, where teams around the world were challenged to create a series of photographs based on the theme Escape. I was one of four photography students that was chosen to join Team Toronto, and with the guidance of our mentors; photographers Michael Cooper and Dave Cox, we met weekly to share our own personal projects and help each other out. This is what I created, a series of images is entitled “Portals”. Gallery showings will take place in Toronto (Fall 2013) and New York (2014).

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I'm Christa Michelle and I am currently working towards my Bachelor of Photography at Sheridan College. I specialize in portrait, product and conceptual photography. Here you will find updates of my recent work and assignments, as well as any behind the scenes photos from my shoots and gallery events. Thanks for coming along the journey with me.