Tat it With a Ring

Tat, tat, tat it up! Tattoos have become the newest sensation of PROVING one’s love. The old days of faithfulness and long commitment through marriage is slowly vanishing to hip hop lyrics promoting body defacement.

Day 26 member, Que, and girlfriend Dawn Richards, is a prime example of this new found love. Que confessed to the world his love for former Dainty Kane singer, Dawn by getting her name tattooed on his hip when the relationship started getting serious. He has now gone as far as getting her lips imprinted on his neck.

Displaying Affection

If your significant other can’t accept the love you display out your heart and mouth, then there are distinct control and insecurity issues. One should not have to manipulate their body into a walking billboard to prove their in love.

Was this not the same stunt we seen Rhianna and Chris Brown pull? They got matching star tattoos, and came to find out that Chris’s were not even real. Now, lucky for him the tattoos were removable, because look at the situation he’s facing now:

• jail time
• criminal record
• felony charges

Confess your love through marriage, not a permanent marking.

For all the Wrong Reasons

It must be the latest fashion trend in Hollywood; to have a baby on your hip from the Hip-Hop star himself, Weezy F. Baby, and yes let us mention, all these babies!

Lil Wayne had a daughter, Reginae, when he was a mere 16 years old---just old enough to obtain a job. Ten years later, he gave birth to his son, Dwayne Carter, in October 2008. Casual sex has become the latest fad and women are popping them out faster than they could have popped birth control pills that would have prevented it. The list of Lil Wayne baby mama drama is continuing to grow:

• Toya
• Sarah B
• Nivea
• Lauren London

Both Knocked Up

Lauren London had such a promosing career and many movie successess. The young actress, 24, now has to share her glowing pregnant tummy fame with Lil Wayne's fiancee Nivea, who is also pregnant. Who ever wants to be the side chick? If you’re going to satisfy your sexual hunger for sex, at least be smart about it. Use protection! These children are being born for all the wrong reasons and are becoming the result of irresponsible planning. Just because these celebrities have the financial means to support all these children, doesn’t make it acceptable.

The emotional connection these children need, the traditional two-parent home is becoming more and more vacant. It’s bad enough the celebrities have the demands of their job to pull them away from home, but having multiple baby mamas at the same time is not what’s hot!

Celebrities are a part of the world’s population too and they need to wrap it up just like any other civilian does. Women need to get back on a higher level of standards and stop settling for mediocrity and casual unprotected sex that leads to being knocked up for all the wrong reasons.

Roadkill

There has been a steady increase in roadkill and animal collisions by motor vehicles every year. According to the Sustainable Energy Institute, an average of 190 million motor vehicles hit the road every day, while one million animals get hit by those vehicles. As I ventured out to find some roadkill in the early morning hours, I didn't have to go far before I approached a dead animal struck by a vehicle. In most cases, I found that food from fast food bags or other trash was near by from where the animal was hit at. So not only are humans contributing to the death toll of animal collisions by adding more roads and construction work in animal habitats, but we're lurking animals out of their habitats by throwing unwanted garbage on the ground. This garbage is acting as an attraction for animals to unknowingly risk their lives for food. Another contributing factor to roadkill is the excessive speeds motorist are driving at. I watched the back roads to see how many people would exceed the speed limit, because this is where I was finding the most roadkill at. In a speed zone of 35 miles per hour, 7/10 vehicles were speeding far over the speed limit within a 10 minute time frame. It is a sad and disgusting sight to continuously see, however until we as humans change our polluting and driving habits, it is an ongoing problem that is going to rise until we decide to make change with ourselves.

Its simple, go the speed limit!!


















Don't Pollute!!

















... then roadkill wouldn't big that big of an issue.






http://www.flickr.com/photos/shantaysmith

Portraits: Familiar & Unfamiliar Faces

Originally, I thought the portrait assignment was going to be fairly simple. How hard could it be taking someone's photo. Then I realized it was a lot easier said than done. I found that while trying to take pictures of complete strangers, some were very willing and others frowned their faces and walked away. After people agreed to take the picture, I realized I wasn't getting the shot that I wanted. I don't find much interest in normal, average poses of my subjects looking directly into the camera. I feel a picture tells so much more when we don't realize we are being captured. It shows the true essence of ourselves.

Among my favorite shots of the unfamiliar faces, is of an older man walking down the street. His body language is what caught my photography eye. His back was hunched over and his face looking down as if to convey his sadness. Then interesting enough, he was passing by a painting on the wall that brings you into a dimension of snowy days, yet its obviously summer outside due to the green grass in front of him. It's an interesting shot. After I took it, I then asked him if it was alright for me to take his picture. This way, I got the shot that I wanted, and didn't offend him if he did not want me to take his picture. I would simply delete it out of respect for that individual. I guess it comes down to that ethical question again, is it okay to just go around taking shots of people. That's why I made sure to make the gentlemen aware that I had taken it.



My favorite shot of my familiar faces, would have to be of my niece. She likes to sneak away and get into something she is not suppose to. Thats why I love this shot; it captured her mischievous look as someone was looking for her.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/shantaysmith

Document Proposal: Miracles of Life

Originally, I wanted to expose the everyday, ordinary life of my 14 month old son. After giving the assignment more thought, I realized I wanted to start from the foundation. Life is a beautiful thing, and often we get caught up in the mechanics of life that we forget to recognize or appreciate the simpler forms of it. I wanted to capture the miracles of life. Whether it be a woman carrying her unborn child, a newborn, or even the innocence that a child conveys in their spirit that most adults lose sight of.

Once I begun my assignment, I found it difficult finding women who were pregnant. Than once I had my subject, I found it difficult to portray the strong sense of appreciation for life that I originally felt. However, I than found a beautiful, engaging, life filled flower that made me feel everything I wanted this project to symbolize and represent. I than had my subject hold this exotic flower upon her belly. I than took both a black and white exposure and a color exposure to capture the essence of the flower. I than combined the portraits, to create a direct representation of a blooming life. The flower looks like it has bloomed and developed well, in which the mother holds her belly as if to symbolize the same is yet to happen of her unborn child. This child will bring as much joy and life as this flower has.

I also found myself taking different angles and approaches to the assignment by photographing different cycles of life that embrace the concept of pure marvels to life. I captured countless shots of a newborn within his first hour of life. There is nothing rewarding as seeing a baby born into the world, and consciously, with his eyes open, viewing his new surroundings. I even captured the essence of a child. By the time a child is able to express what they want and take a sense of who they are, the essence of their spirit shines even brighter. So bright, that they often tire themselves out while still trying to be active. I capture a shot of a little girl who was so exited by this flower, and felt so honored to be apart of he flower, that she held on tight without letting the flower go, even until she fell asleep. Which captured the high spirits of a child, paused for a brief moment.

Overall, I think I captured my intended shots. I just took a different approach by capturing different cycles of showing life's miracles.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shantaysmith/

Light Photo

Capturing a sunset is definitely a site to witness. This is by far the most fascinating source of light; especially if you can capture when the sun has just settled underneath the horizon, which projects more vivid colors than sunrises. In this photo, having a particular vantage point enhanced the essence of the building. If I would have been looking upon the building from the front side, it would have not captured the same essence as it did from the angled vantage point. There is no colorful sunset bursting through clouds. However, the windows of the building have caught a mirror like reflection of the sun setting in the West, which leads the viewer into the heart of the sun. Sunsets carry a sense of peace, like a long days work completed. I enjoyed capturing the tranquility of the sun setting on a soon to be summer day. With the weather altering so drastically from day to day, it is quite engaging to see a vivid photo without the presence of cold bitterness this winter has brought us.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shantaysmith/