Revised photo essay

I work in an oil laboratory. I do various tests on samples of oil to make sure the oil is clean. Some of the tests I perform are, the Brookfield, soot, patch, particle count, and flash test. In my photo essay I focused mainly on the brookfield and patch tests.

Although it is not as interesting as a mad scientist lab, I tried to take great pictures. There are so many scientific instruments and tests to document. This project should be interesting to someone who has never been in a lab before. I hope that my photo essay can help educate someone on events that occur in a big oil plant.

Everyone drives, but never really thinks of where the oil, that helps their car run, comes from. We supply oil to hundreds of clients all around the world. We supply all of the oil to the buses in Milwaukee, that is one of our bigger accounts.

I hope to display some beauty in such an ugly business. I love my job and hopefully my photos will give an inside look and better understanding of what I do.

for more pics go to www.flickr.com/photos/kmatuli

portraits

This was the hardest project for me. I love photographing people, but I just couldn't seem to get the right pictures. I didn't really have a theme or any plan in mind. (That might have been what made it so hard.) I went out around town and just snapped at whatever I thought was cool.

This was my favorite picture. This picture was taken at the Locust street festival. This little boy, who was decorated with beautiful face paint, was walking around by himself checking out the scene. I followed him for a little bit and eventually asked him if I could take his picture. He said he didn't care, so here you go. I like this picture because it is unique from my others. I had the most fun taking it cause it was at a festival and that is one of my favorite past-times.

go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/kmatuli for more portrait photos

Bikes

Riding a bike is something you never forget how to do. So, why, once you grow-up does hardly anybody ride bikes anymore?

I ride a bike. I do not own a car, but sometimes ride the bus. As if the financial burdens associated with owning a car are not enough, imagine the environmental hardships. I do not know the statistics on drivers or pollution, but let me estimate while I ride my bike down the street breathing in exhaust. There are millions of people who drive to and from, in and out, and allover Milwaukee. I used to live in Phoenix, Arizona, which now is probably one of the most polluted cities; and I would hate it, if Milwaukee ever even came close to that relm. I know that Milwaukee compared to many other cities, is clean and environmentally aware, and I want to keep it that way. That is why I chose to document bicycles.

So I went out on a mission to document how cool bikes are. I went on a mission to document people of all ages riding bikes, to document all different types of bikes, to document how easy and cheap it is to own and ride a bike, and finally, just simply, to document bikes.
I hope that after you check out my pictures you remember that dusty bike in the basement. You might pull it out and take it for a Sunday drive. I hope my pictures remind you of the plants, animals, and people being killed all over the world by pollution, and maybe you'll ride your bike to work tomorrow. Or maybe you want to shed a few pounds and decide to ride your bike around the corner instead of driving. Whatever your reason might be-Go ahead and ride your bike!

If you want to see more flix of bikes go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/kmatuli

Light Blog

When I first started out with the fire concept I wanted to photogragh a close-up of myself lighting a match. This proved to be quite difficult using a 2 second timer on my camera. I just couldn't seem to get the timing right. So anyway, I decided to take a different approach and liked my result.

During this project, I found that my favorite type of shooting photographs was with the least amount of light possible. I like this scernario because it allows the light itself to become the focal point. I really like how this photograph turned out in the dark because it shows different layers. First, you see obviously the huge flame. (I love how the camera caught the colors and arrow shape of the flame.) Next you can see the candle vaguely, and lastly, darkness.

Taking pictures with little light gives us a new perspective on items. Humans usually live life with light (sunlight, artificial, ect.) Taking pictures in the dark allows you to see something from a different point of view. you might catch something you normally wouldn't notice.

My flickr acct is http://www.flickr.com/photos/kmatuli