brushing up on photography
Photography has always been a hobby of mine; an expensive hobby at that. I enjoy most aspects of photography, but I’ve found that my eye doesn’t normally capture the type of shot that I’m looking for. This has led me to lean towards studio photography and playing with light. Controlling the lighting in a situation is probably where I have the most fun. Whether it’s properly lighting a subject or providing harsh lighting for a dramatic effect, I really enjoy creating a special “effect” in photography.
A friend of mine recently asked to have a quick photoshoot. When she first asked, I assumed she was looking for headshots for her resume/portfolio so I told her to bring a couple outfits and we would just shoot on white/my back wall. I quickly realized, based on the wardrobe she brought, that she wanted something more in the direction of glamour shots. Well that definitely threw a wrench in my plans so I had to quickly improvise. In a perfect world, I would have all the lighting equipment that professionals use. In my world, I used my desk lamp, an overhead light, and an office light.
These are the results:
My focus was on the post process and taking a simple photo, but making it pop a little more. Id like to mess with posing her a little more in a full body situation but my apartment isn’t the right place for that.
The whole experience was really enjoyable and reminded me about how much I enjoy photography as a hobby. I think if I really pushed myself, I could take the photography to a professional level, but I also just like the thought of having a stress free hobby. Money makes everything more stressful for me. The idea of not satisfying a client who is paying me is quite scary!
I hope you guys enjoyed the series. If you want to model for me, let me know! I’d love to shoot some more!
David Lu
http://davidluonline.com
Becoming Official
If there was ever any doubt that this wasn’t going to be my profession, this makes it official. Gimme your feedback!
David L
http://davidluonline.com
Figuring Out Life
Lately this blog has become a place to put personal projects up. I’ve been currently working at a non-profit in downtown Atlanta and that has consumed most of my design time. This is a little typographic composition I put together after I heard this quote. I think there’s some truth to it. It’s a two step process: knowing what you want & actually knowing how to ask/get it. Someone told me it looks like the latest Kid Cuddi album? I had no idea. This is just something that I put together on my own.
In support of Japan, I made this poster to raise awareness and support for Japan. It’s my hope that we will always remember and support those in need.
Let me know what you guys think!
David L
http://davidluonline.com
Lack of Updates
My lack of updates is not something I’m proud of but work has been keeping me busy. Life has been filled with guitars and friends of late, but I’m happy to report that I have recent additions to my web portfolio.
The first is a site for a vintage wedding venue business venture. We talked about the look and feel of the area and then applied it to the site. I used the idea of the swirls to give them an ornate and victorian-esque feel. Overall I think it turned out fairly modern looking with a bit of my pizazz. I liked this project because we created the logo for them as well so it was an all inclusive branding project. I’m excited to get it completely built out.
The second web project in the works is a quick mock up I did for a company called Stain & Stamp. They do custom concrete staining and their current website needed some work so I did a quick overhaul following something similar to what they already had. I just made it cleaner and obviously more modern.
I’m currently applying for a permanent designer job located in downtown Atlanta so wish me luck! Life has been busy, but hopefully the next update won’t be forever and a day away.
David L
http://davidluonline.com
Senior Projects
Sorry for the lack of updates. Life has been completely overwhelming until this point. I am now sitting comfortably at home with the command center up and running and my guitars next to me. This is how it should be done. 
Ok, I will post some work. This piece is a senior piece that I put together for myself. After I finished my last final project, I had about a week before graduation and I suddenly became motivated to do some of my own work to help finalize my journey through my program. I was highly inspired by my boss’s work and essentially copied many of the components from one of his pieces, but I still made it mine. So I hope you guys enjoy it. Let me know what you think!
I have gotten this piece printed on canvas and it will be stretched soon hopefully. It’s approximately 2ft x 2.5ft. Digital photograph manipulated and additional elements used.
David L
Jellyfish & Theremins
A design for a two page spread for Wired Magazine: this class assignment forced me to find an article and create a visual element for it. Combining engineering with biology, the article I chose was based on playing one of the oldest electronic instruments, the Theremin, through the motions of Jellyfish. Here’s the article if you’re interested.
David L
http://davidluonline.com
Ducks & Ducklings
Today was relaxing adventure day! Some friends and I went to Lake Ella to enjoy the nice weather. We bumped into several ducks and their ducklings. All in all, it was a fun afternoon ending with a slice of cheesecake. yum.
While at the lake, we met this nice young lady who asked about my camera. Turns out she was interested in a photoshoot so I offered to snap a few to give her a sample. I’m really pleased with this simple, yet attractive photo and I definitely hope to work with her sometime in the future. What do you guys think?
David L
http://davidluonline.com
The Valiant Little Tailor
Assignments in class are usually a hit or miss. I always end up submitting something that I like, but whether or not the professor likes it is a different story. In this case, we had to design a 5 page magazine layout in an interesting format. I decided to use graphics as my medium and text boxes.
I didn’t want to just put up my magazine pages individually because I feel like the body of work is much stronger as a whole so I arranged them in an appealing manner. Let me know what you guys think! The story in the typography is “The Valiant Little Tailor” by the Brothers Grimm. You can read the story here [http://tinyurl.com/375z3m7]
David L
http://davidluonline.com
A Huge Party
Ever wonder what happens when your garbage gets collected? Magic right? WRONG. How about recycling? Haha
Today I got to visit a recycling plant and it was definitely a neato experience. The chaos but organization of it all was really interesting to me. The arrangement and sifting of throwaway items made the collections alarmingly important in my eyes. Take a look at some of the photos I snapped today. Maybe you’ll find something you threw away at some point. Maybe you’ll understand that your throwaway items get sifted through and organized by fairies. Maybe not.
David L
http://davidluonline.com
Spheres of Wonderful
So I was going to post something I worked on this week for an assignment, but I found this really really excitingly cool video on youtube and I have to post it. Some things are just so inspiring, you know?
David L
http://davidluonline.com
