COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES CAMPAIGN
Check out this slick campaign, Talk to Your Kids About Art School, by Team Detroit for the College of Creative Studies. All the photos are here.
DRIVE A HEMI TO THE SEMI
I had a great time at the Yule Ball Semi last night, hope y’all did as well. Here are the mystery videos, all in one place, and some pictures.
Episode 1:
Episode 2:
Episode 3:
Btw, I realized just now it has been snowing on the blog, guess that means it’s actually winter.
ART CLASS ASSIGNMENTS
Thought I’d share some more work from art class. The previous post on the horse assignment was the only one I have used strictly photography in as the rest of them are mixed media. A whole lotta time in Photoshop.
The first assignment of the year was an observation/still life of mechanical parts of the boiler room. I drew one of the pipes, then photographed it and combined the media in post. Here’s the final imaged and an animation of how the layers came together:
The next assignment was gesture drawing. I didn’t exactly follow that, not being much of a drawer, but I did add some loose lines into this image.
The next week was the horse assignment (shown in the previous post), and after that a dynamic figure. I chose to manipulate the features of my cousins face along with the landscape from one of my photos from Arizona.
And our most recent project was architecture. Of course, I think I was supposed to draw a part of the school building, but I had the idea of a wrecking ball in my head so I went with that.
Then next projects are landscape and bicycle, which I’ll post when they’re finished.
HORSES
I have never been a huge fan of horses. My only experiences with them were subpar guided walks with them at commercial stables, and a sour game of red light, green light as summer camp with a horse who didn’t know how to stop. Or maybe I was doing it wrong. Whatever.
But ever since seeing Konrad Brattke‘s perspectively warped photo of a donkey (I think it was a donkey). Similar to this shot:
I have had an interest in shooting portraits of animals. Fast forward a few years to October 5, 2011 and I’m shooting the horses at Lee’s Riding Stable as part of my art class.
Here are some of my favorites, enjoy.
I have to admit, after spending some time with these grand animals, I really do want one. And of course, and chain mail suit, and a shield, and a large sword holstered in the saddle.
NH + AZ
I had a crazy week. Last Saturday, the 8th, I left for Plymouth, NH after work to spend the weekend with Kristina. Besides for the Plymouth State University campus being just about empty on the holiday weekend, all was good.
We spent Sunday afternoon outside at the Flume Gorge, just thirty minutes north of the school. For a walk it was kinda pricey at 14 bucks a person, and if you end up there at some point, I recommend trying to sneak around the long admission line to avoid paying. Anyway, here’s the gorge:
As you can see, the crowd here more than makes up for the lack of occupancy on PSU campus.
I left Plymouth in the late morning, spent about five hours on the road due to traffic and got to Litchfield in time for dinner on Monday. All I had to do now was get through school on Tuesday. Simple enough due to the field trip to the Horse farm during periods 1 and 2.
After school I went to work until 6 and got home with ten minutes to pack for Arizona. The next 24 hours went something like: drive to Rockaway, New Jersey. Settle in and get some sleep. Wake up. Drive to Newark Airport. Board plane to Phoenix, Arizona. Rent car. Drive to Red Robbin. Eat large burger. Check in to hotel.
My family and I had a great trip to Arizona. It was pretty brief but we packed a lot in. On Thursday we rode the Verde Canyon Railroad. The ride was amazing and the rest of the pictures were views from along its tracks.
Well I’m back in Litchfield since this morning and I get to go to school tomorrow…
Cheers
FILM PORTFOLIO
You may have noticed as its been live for a little while now, but my portfolio now includes a Film section.
These photos were all shot on a Canon AE-1, a film SLR made way back in 1980. I bought it at The Photo Shop in Torrington on a bit of a whim. Just a couple months after buying a 60d I was feeling a need to refresh my work. These feelings, no doubt stemming from the miserable winter we had, turned me onto film. After trying to navigate through a few shady ebay auctions of semi-working cameras I decided just to go buy one at the store. Anyways…
Even before I got a film camera I knew the purpose of the pictures it would make. Simple shots of friends and family. Just for fun; snapshots, moments. If this strikes a chord check out the Dasein video below. The way I shoot film is rather spontaneous. I can shoot 5 rolls in an hour of hanging out with friends, or I can go 5 weeks without making a single frame. It is a lighter, freer act than my usual photography. Of course I love my usual photography, but the simple yet long process of shooting film is a refreshing break from it. So, enough of this somewhat senseless explanation of what Ive been up to with the AE-1… here are some pictures in the portfolio and you can check the rest out in the linked text above.
GOT 7 MINUTES?
Take a break from your work and check out this extraordinary message and documentary on the groundbreaking Dasein project. Enjoy, and let your mind wander a bit.
SENIOR PHOTOS: SHELBY
I was driving down route 138 through Kingston, Rhode Island when Kristina and I broke in to what must have been our fifth argument over the directions.
“We’re supposed to be on that road,” she said after glancing back and forth between the road signs and our map a half dozen times.
“But you told me I just had to stay straight…” There was no way this was my fault. She had even pointed.
“Yeah, stay straight on the same road. You just turned off!” On second thought, maybe she was right.
“Are you kidding me? This road was physically straight ahead. The one we were on was turning.”
“You’re stupid. Don’t talk to me.” Lol.
We did end up making it to Shelby’s place less than an hour later. She rents a house just off of the Narraganset Shore. After a great lobster dinner, we took a nice little photo walk to the beach. And by photo walk I mean I stayed in front of Shelby with a camera pointed at her and throwing out occasional crude remarks to make her laugh. That night we covered the dunes, some odd stone ruins, and some light water splashing as the light was fading. The next morning I buckled my camera into a waterproof bag and we all went for a swim. Despite the mass of insects migrating out of their seaweed habitats and into the girls’ bikinis, I got some fun shots. Later in the day we dried off and went for a walk along cliffs that overlooked the ocean. Shelby, being her bubbly self, became an incredibly enjoyable photo subject. So much so that, without realizing the amount of work being produced, I shot over 800 pictures in two days. Here are 30 or so shots from the weekend.
G+
I got started on Google Plus today. Gotta say, I may already like it better than Facebook. It is similar to moving to Mac OS from Windows; it is way cleaner and it really works.
I believe the social platform finally opened to the public. There shouldn’t be any more need for invitations or waiting lists but just in case, here is 150 invites for you: https://plus.google.com/i/TiMUm6U5hm4:zx3gnDkLHcU. Make sure to add me if you’re already on. As much fun as it is with three people in my circles over there, I sure could use some more friends 
Here I am: https://plus.google.com/101613881857646646084/posts
The most notable thing I’ve enjoyed so far is photo sharing. Photos are way bigger. You don’t have to squint to see one that has just been posted in your feed, and upon clicking on a picture an even larger view with meta data or commentary information is instantly available. One thing I would like to be able to do is reorder the photos within an album, but maybe I just haven’t figured it out yet.
Another perk is that it works in school, at least so far. Its integration with other Google services seems to trick the filters into thinking its an iGoogle page or something. Hooray.
FROM THE BEACH
A post card from the beach.
I spent the last week in Narraganset, RI/Eastham, Cape Cod/East Dennis, Cape Cod in a last ditch attempt to spend some time outside of Litchfield before the outset of the school year.
(Beach in Narraganset- iPhone)
(Beach in East Dennis- iPhone)
(Brazilian Grille Chicken Hearts- iPhone)
While in RI, I shot Shelby’s senior pictures. Those will be coming soon, in a theater near you. Here is a sneak peak/outtake.
