http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:DigitalRapture&section=today deviantART RSS for by:DigitalRapture en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:29:04 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/27389454/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/27389454/ Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:56:24 PDT
Beginning a new piece all starts in my mind at first, until I reach the point where my mind is making my idea so complex that I must write it down. It takes a great deal of imagination to conjure up thoughts. I can’t always be so lucky to just have a brilliant idea create itself solely in my mind. I spend a lot of time looking through books or websites of admired artists to help invoke inspiration. From that point on, my plans are all on paper. I love being able to come back to old pages with ideas that had fallen through at the time, but suddenly finding a new light in that old plan and pushing it forward.

I base a lot of my success from pure self-satisfaction with my work. However, I cannot forget that the art I practice is visual, and thus will be on display somewhere for people to see, to interpret. A part of my success is the feedback I receive from my peers in critique. It’s especially useful to hear feedback from people who also practice the same art I do. Everyone’s opinion matters, but it’s my photo and design peers that aid me to get to the next step in my work. In photography, my work is not successful if I’m not happy with it. If someone misinterprets the message I am trying to convey, that’s okay with me. It’s their interpretation of something I created that’s, well, up for interpretation. Design is different though. Graphic design, assumed in most contexts, is not so much up for interpretation (and this is very situational). Likely, a graphic designer is going to be given an assignment to use their skill to convey a specific message, and if this message is not clear, then the piece is unsuccessful. I would presume this more in commercial design. Note: I am not saying this is true for all graphic design. With my experience, this is just one of the differences I have noticed between the two arts.

Making art does get tough. Ideas fall through, or ideas just suck when you have everything said and done. Sometimes I’m too far into an idea to back out, so I try to make the best of what I have, and just pat myself on the back and say, “This is a learning experience, don’t do it again.” If I catch myself in a rut early enough, I just keep researching and keep absorbing all of the information and inspiration that is out there for me. I keep reminding myself that this is what I want to do with my life. If I can’t overcome these obstacles now, then what happens when I have a real job and I have a specific assignment that I get stuck on?

I’m always out to challenge myself. If my practice ever became easy, then the thrill of it all would die. I’m always out to look for new processes and new techniques that will make my work more worthwhile. Settling in a comfort zone is a block to the creative flow. I take my photography and design and ask myself, “How can I make it better? Can this be pushed further?”

Specifically, I draw a lot of my inspiration from Sandy Skoglund, a photographer who physically builds her sets to convey a constructed reality, no photoshop used. I also find a lot of inspiration in the works of Robert and Shana Parkeharrison who also construct their work outside of photoshop. This is ironic because most of my work uses photoshop to some extreme, but I admire these works because they are out to create some sort of surreal reality or situation, and I feel like my work reflects that. I also find a lot of inspiration in media, whether it’s fashion photography or commercial design.

Back in h... ]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/24092575/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/24092575/ Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:57:09 PDT
Today, my name was on the list of admitted students.

I'm ready for my royal ass kicking in BFA.

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/21416711/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/21416711/ Mon, 10 Nov 2008 07:12:37 PST
Here it is. Make sure to watch the animation all the way through before moving to the next page!

[link]

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/21307933/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/21307933/ Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:12:47 PST
Just remember to vote for the candidate that YOU want to see leading this country, don't vote for someone just because everyone else is.

Check out the candidates and their positions one more time! If you don't know what each candidate stands for, then you should probably do some studying before you aid in making the decision on who is going to lead our country for the next four years.

McCain
[link]

Obama
[link]

Vote... fools


Liberals, check this out.
[link]

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/20002582/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/20002582/ Sun, 17 Aug 2008 10:52:37 PDT
It's still in the making, but in the mean time, check it out/add me as a friend!

[link]



-Valerie

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/19805607/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/19805607/ Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:26:27 PDT

[link]

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/19345092/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/19345092/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:20:38 PDT ,entered a contest held by H&M where the winner gets sent to Japan.

Go to this link... and click "yes".

And if you have time... click "no" for all of the other people (or at least the top ten)

[link]




]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/19198716/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/19198716/ Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:53:15 PDT
Hello all!

I started a fan page on facebook to get the word out about my photography.

Here is the link:

[link]


Thanks for your time!

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/17935022/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/17935022/ Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:44:04 PDT
[link]
[link]
[link]


Some "artist", found a dog off of the street, tied it up in an art gallery, and left it there to starve. The day by day death of this dog was his consideration of "art", when in reality it is just sick.

I have seen people comment this group, and some say that this man is a genius because his work has evoked so much emotion, and this is the point of art work. That is a bunch of bullshit. So they are saying that because this man's exhibit literally brought me to tears, then he has done his work???

No... he tied up a helpless animal, and let it die. If people actually consider this art, then I'm afraid to see what "art" is coming to.

Whether or not you actually sign the petition, (by the way, it's really easy to do so), I think that people just need to know that sick people like this really do exist. You don't have to be an animal rights activist to have feelings about this issue.

If you have facebook....

[link]

If you do not have facebook, here is the link to the actual petiton...

[link]

Here are the actual signatures if one of the petitions, just so you can see that it actually exists...you should sign too

[link]

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/17897092/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/17897092/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:03:56 PDT
I found out that this guy aids in maintaining the trails and actually participated on winona lake's town council in deciding about the new greenway path that now runs through the trails.

He was very kind and polite. He told me that he loves photography and really likes to take pictures in the woods as well. We got into a short chat, and I found out that he knows the people who used to live in my current house. He introduced himself as Eric Graves, and I said that I would be sure to tell JoEllen and Roy (our neighbors that used to live in the house that we have now), that I had run into him.

So then Eric Graves ran off into the woods to check on the loud group of kids who had just walked by. And that was that.

Then this happened....

[link]

Yikes. I ( and other friends of mine), have an acquaintance with the family that was involved, and we arerelieved that everyone is safe.

This just goes to show you that you just really don't know about people.....

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/17493091/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/17493091/ Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:35:15 PDT
So, after being in the photo lab for 9 hrs for my Easter Sunday (not kidding, 1:15 p.m. to 10:15 p.m.), I came back to my room to put money on my campus access card so I could get my laundry done, and then crash ofr the night. My computer looks like it is turned off, so I push the main power button. Well, it was really on standy, not off, so pushing the button turned my computer off improperly. I thought, "No big deal right?"

Wrong... very big deal...

I kept trying to turn on my computer.. and it came to a black screen that gave me different options to start my computer
Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt
Restart with last known good configuration
Start Windows normally

I tried all of them... and every option kept taking me to this blue error screen that would not let me proceed to open Windows. This has happened before... but not so consistenly

So, I called Dell, and the nice man on the phone instructed me through some tests (I learned a lot about my computer when doing this).

We did a software test... it was fine.

We checked my hardrive and memory... it was fine.

So, my computer should be good right?..... not... An error NEEDED to occur so that Dell could diagnose the problem, but since no errors were coming up, the problem supposedly became bigger. The problem is now with my operating system. The Dell consultant told me that we would have to reinstall my operating system with the disk that came with my computer. BUT, reinstalling the operating system would result in having my whole entire hard drive wiped out, gone, erased, finished, no more.

I felt like I could vomit. All of the photography...essays...copies of my resume...photoshop (unless i contacted them for reinstallation), illegally dowloaded music (ha), gone... forever.

So here is how the rest of the convo went:

Me- "Sir, reinstalling the operating system will wipe out everything...correct?
Dell Guy- "Yes mam. Since we have run the proper tests and found no problem with your hardrive or software, the only other solution is your operating system. The only way to repair this is to reinstally the system, which will clear out your hard drive."

Okay... I just spent ALL of Easter in the lab for 9 hours, im tired as hell, and now this.

So I asked him what my options were on recovering my memory after the system reinstallation. He gave me phone numbers for companies like Disk Savers and whatnot, and then he said that he would help me use the reinstallation disk.

I'm thinking... wait. If disk savers recovers memory after it has been deleted, why don't I contact disk savers BEFORE it is deleted, and then they can externally save my memory, and THEN I can reinstall the operating sytem.

So I call Disk Savers. It costs almost 2000 dollars to recover the hard drive. When I get off of the phone, I start to cry. Is it seriously going to cost thousands of dollars to save my memory? I called another company, and the quote was about the same.

So I called my dad crying my eyes out, telling him what I did. And he was like "I don't care what we have to do. This is an emergency, I'll pay for whatever needs to be done. Try looking up a computer repair service in Bloomington first."

So I did... I called a local company... and started to explain to the guy what was happening...

I couldn't even finish my sentence...

"Mam... Dell tells their customers 99% of the time to do an operating system reinstall, but that is not necessary, bring in your computer and I can fix it in about 20 minutes... free of charge."

When I got to the shop, he commended me for not doing the reinstall and losing all of my memory BEFORE I brought in the computer.

20 min later, I got a phone call saying that my computer is ready to go.

In conclusion... I stayed up until 1 in the morning talking to a Dell consultant, who had me run a test that would take all night. I went to bed, woke up, had the test results, and found out that I may have to pay almost $2000 dollars to recover all of my computer's memory if I chose to reinstall my operating system. I cry to my parents, I cry to Travis (my loving boyfriend who sat and listened to me cry like a baby... wonderful boyfriend), all just to find out that some guy at a computer shop could run a system check through my computer and fix it in 15 minutes.

I love my Dell, I still love PCs, but common. Was Dell seriously going to have me delete all of my memory to solve the problem?

No thanks.

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/17408988/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/17408988/ Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:22:43 PDT
Love life - perfect, I love Travis now more than ever. I am hoping to submit some portraits of him in the future. He is such a piece of art.

School- Sick of it, but classes are going very well. I am trying to meet the general requirements to get into IU's Liberal Arts and Management Program.

Home- I miss it. Spring break was lovely. I went to florida, but then spent that last half of my break back home.

Career- Still working at the IU auditorium box office. It's alright. I may continue next year, but since I am getting an apartment, I am going to need a more consitent job to meet rent. I am still a photographer for the newspaper, but, since I am in a photo class right now, it has been hard to find time for the paper.

I am still trying to figure out what I am going to do with my life. Hopefully, if I am admitted into LAMP, I'll figure out my path. I was such a dead set business woman when I came here, but now I am not so sure.

We'll see.

Keep visiting my page!

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/15727597/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/15727597/ Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:56:38 PST
My first story board idea was have a large picture of a dancer (myself).. and then having three smaller pictures of my beaten up feet, measuring my stomach with a tape measure, etc. (showing the difficulties of being a dancer despite the beauty that the viewer sees).

This idea has fallen through... I either want to do a storyboard similar to what I just described, or a David Hockney style collage. Google him if you don't know.

Thanks guys

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/15322927/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/15322927/ Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:04:30 PDT
Yesterday, I went to the newsroom simply to be introduced to the people, and to see how things run, (how to pick up assignments, load assignments to the photo desk, etc.). Eventually, I was supposed to shadow a photographer, and then be able to start doing assignments on my own. I wasn't planning on shadowing last night, but when one of the best IDS photographers asked me if I wanted to shadow him at Rocky Horror Picture Show, I could not resist. I brought my camera along, just incase.

Basically, his assignment was pretty cool. IDS wanted pictures of the costumes at the event. He told me that this is probably one of the most difficult assignments that anyone can have because we were in an auditorium setting, and the lighting was horrible for photography. Since I was only shadowing, (and I am not set up on payroll yet), the photos I took wouldn't run in the paper, but I was doing the same stuff as this veteran photographer was doing. He was super impressed because I thought of certain angles and shots before he did. The quality of my photos weren't that great. I still have to learn a lot about my camera. (I just got a Rebel XT about a month ago, and I am still getting used to it). Unfortunately, my photos were erased from my card after we loaded them to the photo desk. Chris (the journalist I shadowed), said he'll get my pictures back to me, and I can perhaps post one or two on here. Like I said, they didn't have great quality, but it will be cool just to have my photos from my first photography experience for Indiana Daily Student.

It was sort of funny. I realized that I am more of an artistic photographer than anything. Photojournalism is very different from regular photography. I noticed that I kept wanting to take incredibly detailed pictures (i.e. when audience members were being de-virginized on stage, they were standing in a line facing the side with their legs spread. I kept wanting to take pictures of just their legs because it was an AWESOME line photo. Each leg had different whacky tights, fishnets, boots, etc.) With photojournalism, you need faces, not so much artistic composition. Its funny because I sort of caught myself trying to be artistic when I really needed to step back and capture the whole moment. So I'll actually have some pretty cool artistic photos... not so much photojournalistic stuff.

I'll probably continue to give updates on this topic, and as I gather pictures from assignments, I'll post em'. Right now, I am simply doing "stand alone" assignments. This is where I just carry my camera around campus and if I see something interesting, I shoot it and record names and whatnot. Its pretty exciting. I hope to work my way up quickly!

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/15097956/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/15097956/ Wed, 17 Oct 2007 07:07:28 PDT
I was able to meet and talk with him a bit after the show during his book signing. I handed him three books. One was for me, and the other two for my boyfriend Travis. He seemed to have misunderstood which name he was supposed to address in what book (I had purchased the book, Naked, for myself, but he began to address it to Travis. Travis already has the book, Naked). While signing, he asked me who Travis was, and I told him that Travis has been my boyfriend for about a year now. He signed, To Travis, with pleasure of meeting your enchanting girlfriend,-David Sedaris. I felt myself blush because I was flattered by his comment, and I knew that he was signing the book to the wrong person.

The second book he signed was, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. This one really was for Travis. He signed "Travis, I am so angry I missed you."

Then for the third book, Barrel Fever, he asked me my name, and I told him about the mixup. Barrel Fever and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim were supposed to be for Travis, and Naked, for me. But he told me that he could easily fix the problem. In the Barel Fever, he signed, "Travis, Valerie is pregnant. - David Sedaris"

Then he went back to fix the message he wrote in Naked. Remember, it originally said "Travis, with pleasure of meeting your enchanting girlfriend. -David Sedaris... He changed it to say "To Travis's girlfriend Valerie, with pleasure of meeting your enchanting fetus" -David Sedaris

Those of you who have read any of his work understand how nutty he is, and I think its hilarious that I was able to get such random messages in our books, I mean, its pretty much what he is known for. For example, when the girl in front of me was getting her book signed, the first thing he asked her was what time she got up this morning. She responded about 9, and David saw this as a shame, and he claimed to get up at about 10:26 every morning.....

When I was up there, we discussed Harry Potter (he mentioned in his discussion that he really enjoyed the Harry Potter books, and claimed that he had no reason to live after the 7th book was finished).

The whole experience was very interesting to say the least. He was hysterical during his readings, and I only wish that I would have brought a pencil and paper to write down some of his quotes.

]]> ~DigitalRapture http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/14971042/ http://DigitalRapture.deviantart.com/journal/14971042/ Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:17:39 PDT
I'll be ready.

]]> ~DigitalRapture