Joel.Rojo's Photos

This is another take on the sunset seen on another picture seen in this same gallery ( http://beta.zooomr.com/photos/JoelRojo/782361 ). The difference is quite obvious, the tones indicate that we approach to the end of the beautiful show that are the sunsets in Altamura. Then, to go along with that theme, and the theme from the other picture, I played with the illumination to reinforce the perception of a path, which I like because the lighting looks kind of pretty where there are steps in the sand. I would have loved to get richer colors in the sky but I wasn't able to do that and keep what I liked originally. I'll have to add that to the reasons to go back.

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After a more serious attempt at this same location, which you can also see at http://beta.zooomr.com/photos/JoelRojo/788960 , I went for a more Lomo kind of picture, as an experiment, which resulted in this. I specially like the figures drawn by the lights because of the overexposure, they never seem to form this kind of shapes when you want them to, which is a good thing, keeps you fresh on your approach.

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Having the camera near floor-level was not just a creative resource this time, it goes with the theme of longing and need of what the altar represents. The altar and the path to it are the bright parts of the picture, and the luminance rises as you go up vertically in the photograph, which is because of the religious themes on it. If you dislike the religious motif, there's also a door to the left that's actually as bright as the ceiling of the altar, which I didn't want to left out. To me it represents what we are yet to find out, but I'd be interested to find out what it could be for you. For anyone who cares, this is the Cathedral of my native city: Culiacán, in México.

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This was taken years ago, I've long ago dropped the emo glasses. Ok tks. This was meant to be a self portrait of sorts, but in a more lomographic frame of mind. I wanted it to look frank and sort of troubled, but still vibrant, which was achieved with contrast and brightness levels. I made two shots and after editing, I liked this one enough to keep it.

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This is a view of the City Hall of my city, Culiacán. Not much to say really, I just tried to take the best shot I could.

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I took this picture at my alma mater, Universidad de Occidente. Depicted are two of my friends, Lesli (sic) and Alma. I told them they looked like monkeys eating each other's lice. I got what I deserved: cuts and bruises. Crime doesn't pay, and neither does sense of humor. This is a more truthful attempt at lomography, a candid photo on high contrast, a scene of our days at college. There was more detail on the background, but I felt it detracted from the piece, so I took it away by toying with illumination and contrast.

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I don't want to get too philosophical here, so suffice it to say that I wanted to combine the elements of the sky and car traffic, so as to imply that in more than one way nature and humankind are the same thing, despite how often we depict both themes as opposite. On the elaboration, I wanted it to be, again, sort of lomographic aesthetically (which might be heresy, as lomography is supposed to be spontaneous, but whatever, it's also a monopoly, so suck it, Lomo Inc.) The exposition is understated, which works to make the trees stand in a more beautiful fashion against the sky, but also the power lines and such. A tiny bit of playing with the tones rounds the photo, to take full advantage of the great, great sunsets we often get.

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This is a shot of a non urbanized area near my city. This emphasis on nature and a simple life is illustrated on the big sky: It doesn't only represent peace and quiet, but it also adds emphasis on the rest of the piece with its tone.

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This was a hypnotic view, being there. I was seating on the grass with some friends, and we are were having a good time, under the trees. It was a pretty good moment, and many of us had never talked to each other despite we knew each other since a while ago. So as we were talking, I went absent and laid on the grass, and what I saw was pretty much what you can see on the picture. When I look at it, actually, somehow I get the feeling that the clouds are moving between the trees like in a corridor of sorts. To make it more dreamlike, I barely added some blur to the picture. Just a tiny bit, so the leaves would still be contrasting against the sky and clouds.

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I'm hesitant to call myself a photographer, really. Actually, the most I've done is saying that I'm an amateur photographer, emphasis on amateur. However, I do think that there's something that makes us spend our time doing this kind of things, playing an instrument, writing a short story, make a painting, take a photograph. And despite that those of us that do try to do that kind of things are the minority, at least some of our work resonates to everyone. What makes us draw, what makes us sing, it comes from this common places, that when tickled the right way makes us shiver. None of us completely comes up with anything, I guess that's what I'm trying to say, and these common places and themes might be everywhere. The evocative elements might as well reside in an aroma, a chord, or an image. I don't know why I felt I had to take this shot, or why does it resonate with me and some of you. Whoever laid those bricks surely wasn't making an aesthetic statement, and being there, nobody saw anything special to the ceiling I was photographing. Despite everything, the image remains compelling all the same, and I'm glad I can share the hidden beauty of a small laying some bricks, lost in an abandoned basement, in the nowhere of Mexico.

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I like taking pictures of people doing music, moving to music. I've played some instruments myself, even if nowadays I only practice guitar, so be it a big concert of a big band, or a couple of friends jamming for the sake of playing, being able to take pictures is something that I enjoy every time. Part of it it's because it gives me a chance to experiment, to try to find ways to capture the feeling of music, which is a fun challenge every time. This time I try to capture the rhythm by leaving the lens open, which makes the picture blurry and suggesting movement, the feeling of a small gig among mostly friends, outside some mexican houses is suggested with the warm colors which stand for the intimacy built around friendship, then it's saturated over the top to go with the upbeat, youngish nature of the picture.

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This is a portrait of a good friend of mine, Ireri. She happens to be one of the most energetic, positive people I've met in my whole life. Now, often i get sick of people who just seem to try too hard to be like this, but this is not the case with her. Rather, she's the kind of people that make you smile by greeting you. So when I found this spot, and how I could make the lighting work in a photograph, it was pretty obvious who I should invite to be in the picture. The purpose, then, was the show a warm environment that seems to flow from her, casting shadows away. I also thought that if she was to be where the light comes from, she should less sharp, so I decided to try that, taking care to let the details on the rocks. I know that more intensive editing would have made this easier, but I dislike such practices on my photos. Nothing wrong if you do it, though, it just differs from my vision.

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This is, again, more based on candid photography than anything else, and in the spirit of capturing how we (I?) were feeling at the time, so I tried to make the picture warmer, brighter and more vibrant, because the shot itself seemed quite cold and, well, off. In the shot itself I knew I had to capture a sense of direction (the highway), movement (the hair on the girl on the right) and introspection (the mirror showing the face of the girl on the left). Those are clues, I have avoided telling you how we were feeling, what do you think? There's a comment box right here: | | v

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This comes from a set of two pictures, you can find the other one right next to this one, or at http://beta.zooomr.com/photos/JoelRojo/786629 These are the feet of another great friend of mine, Maria (marisanz). While talking we noticed her socks, and I tried to portrait their cheerful nature here, even if I think I could have done a better job integrating the legs into the composition, I do think the everyday kind of fun that comes out of these small things does come across, and I really like it. Also, as I mention on the other picture, to me the, this kind of beaten up sidewalks are reminiscent of the time I used to spend with my friends when a kid and early teen, which is why I wanted the colors to be sort of washed out, like an old photograph, but they still had to be vibrant, again, for the cheerful nature of the picture.

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As stated there, this comes from a set of two pictures, the other one being found at http://beta.zooomr.com/photos/JoelRojo/786680 Again, this are the feet of Maria, one of my closest friends. It's hard to say how much of this is candid and how much purposeful composition. It did flow, but I struggled to integrate it better in a composition to capture what I got from the image, a sort of playful shyness, spontaneous as everyday moments (this everyday theme to me comes from the beaten up kind of sidewalk that made the usual meeting spots of my childhood and teen years). Ironically though, as much I insist on everyday themes, I don't meet this friend that often.

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This is not showing properly, Ill try to fix it and comment then.

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Technical issues, I'll fix it before commenting.

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