Upcoming Shoot

so, i have an engagement shoot this sunday! i am very excited. we have two locations to go to. first, the elementary school where my clients first met (cute right?), then to the groom’s parents’ property for some country scenery. my bride says there is a lake and beautiful scenery, so i hope it’s workable. 

the school i visited beforehand. that one won’t be a problem. it’s going to never seen before locations that makes me a tad nervous when first arriving. can’t wait to see the property though and quickly brainstorm ideas with the lovely couple!

i want to try and make this as fun and enjoyable and genuine as possible. i have done engagement shoots in the past, but this time i want to take a different approach. so wish me luck!

 

(also, while  i was out shopping one day i saw this cute sunflower necklace that i thought my bride would just love, so hopefully she likes it. the wedding theme will be homey/country with sunflowers and burlap and greens.)

Camera Simulator

Camera Simulator

This is a good learning tool for those needing to start from the basics.

darkroom time soon

so, i scheduled a weekend to go to one of my favorite places in life. the darkroom. in may, i will be taking a weekend off to head out to peters valley in layton, nj, to shoot and print and relax. i am very excited and will definitely start shooting here and there before then so i also have stuff from home to develop and maybe print.

this particular class is with andy schmitt, but they have plenty more to offer! i suggest and highly recommend checking out peters valley if you have any desire to poke around in arts and crafts. great people, great scenery, relaxing atmosphere. go. now.

http://www.petersvalley.org/store/html/category.cfm?id=19

off to make some money now though, making hoagies for you hungry folk.

 

something’s missing

so…i have been out of the game for quite awhile now. unfortunately. i have let my “real” work and social life take over and they pushed out all the time i used to have for art and photography and passion. i very much would like to change this. if it works, you can stay tuned as i will begin posting again. if you see no new posts…then i was again taken over by my monotonous life. wish me luck? i will at least leave you with a couple “recent” photos i made:

 

My Goddaughter 🙂 in my mocked up in-home studio

 

Detail of Dress from last wedding I shot in May 2013

 

Also from Martin Wedding

 

Martin Wedding 2013 Centerpiece

 

I Photoshop painted over this image for my cousin. Fun Fun!

 

 

gnite.

 

 

laurie klein

laurie klein

http://ps.laurieklein.com/

one of the most down to earth and amazing not only photographers,
but of women, i have had the fortune to meet.

Laurie studied with Ansel Adams, received her degree from R.I.T., and teaches and mentors on a daily basis. she is known widely for her infrared, fine art photography, but she also does wedding photography and has for a very long time and she also hand paints some of her photographs. i bought a copy of one of her hand colored prints last summer in an auction while i was doing my assistantship at Peters Valley Craft Center, in Layton, NJ, where i met and worked alongside Laurie.

Laurie’s Blog

I cannot even begin to explain how much I learned from Laurie. She is extremely inspirational and believes in you to the fullest extent she can. If I had more time I could probably write a book on that one week that I spent with her! She helped me to open up, be able to voice my ideas, talk to models, become more confident in myself, and so much more. Everyday was like a group therapy session during her workshop. And no, that’s not a bad thing! I met other wonderful photographers and artists and really wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

Referring to my last post, here is the link for the gallery of hand-painted photographs.
The matted photo I bought is here.

hand coloring

i am working on hand coloring my old black and white darkroom prints. i went to youtube too see if anyone had up videos for tips or anything, because a visual demonstration is always nice, but didnt find much except:

 

and this guy…

 

so as you can tell, not much help. so i moved on to looking for websites:

• Terri Sprinkle on photoforum
• eh..
• Rosemary Pipitone has tips and a gallery
• classroom spotlight from Freestyle

 

so anyway, there are some resources to look over..my next blog i will write about a photographer i met and worked with last summer who also used to hand color photographs..

 

gary fabiano

Gary Fabiano

www.garyfabiano.com

gary fabiano is a photojournalist living in nyc and working currently in and around washington, d.c. he has photographed all over the globe in many different environments. from the many shocks in haiti, to wartime in europe, and 9/11 in the US, gary has moved on for now from the horrors of violence and is documenting the life of the president and other officials of washington. he is also taking a step out of his still photography career and pursuing more film/video opportunities.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012, gary came to marywood university to be the keynote speaker during comm week. he gave a brief speech on how it is to work in the journalism field now and offered up advice to visiting high school students. below are points that mr. fabiano mentioned followed by an explanation and some commenting by me.

• expand your knowledge – get a feel for not only still photography but also sound and video recording and editing. editors in the industry today are starting to expect their photographers to be one man shows. they expect them to be asked to go take stills, grab a sound byte, and record a 3 minute interview, without question or hesitation. so don’t be a one-trick pony, become well-rounded.
• learn – make sure you know absolutely everything you possibly can and need to know before you leave school. take courses outside of your major and main interests. they will only benefit you. after you leave college, your resources suddenly disappear and reality smacks you in the face like a cold, dead, wet bass.
• accept the lifestyle – being a photojournalist isn’t glamor and fun travels. being in the industry takes sacrifice and acceptance. chances are you won’t be sent on assignment to stay in a 4-star hotel in an english speaking land. its a hard job–there are many risks and they probably outnumber the benefits, but they are worth it. which leads me to his next and biggest point:
• believe in what you do – being a photojournalist means having a goal. it means being connected with what you are shooting or documenting. if you are out there just to get a paycheck, it wont be worth it and you wont get the images you should be getting or that are meaningful and worth the trip/time. again, there are a lot of physical and mental strains when it comes to this profession, so if you are not committed and 100% in to the lifestyle and story, then you wont 1. be happy, or 2. be successful.
• your morals or your job description? – the age old controversy of whether or not to step in in times of need when you are out on assignment. obviously it is up to you as a human being, but know that either way you go will have its resulting comments and criticisms. its a personal choice, don’t let the media or your peers steer you one way or another. if you feel the need to help an old lady on to a vehicle or hold a child for a doctor while he recieves medical attention (as gary admitted he did on both), then by all means. if you want to stay strictly “professional,” let her fall and the child perish. that’s on your conscience.

i really enjoyed hearing gary fabiano speak. he was real and inspirational. his images are amazing. please look at them. we got to hear him tell the story of his 9/11 experience; he said he hadn’t told that story in a long time and you could tell he was emotional in doing so. i couldn’t even imagine the toll it has taken on his life since. i fully respect him not only as a photographer but as a human.
one of the bigger ideas he left me with, me wanting to pursue this career path, was the fact of accepting what will be seen and experienced while photographing and also accepting the possibility of an untimely death. sure, i’ve thought about these things, but to be in the position will be a whole other matter if i ever get the opportunity. it has to take a lot of will power and mind over matter and peace within oneself to do these things. i can say i am ready for that, but only time and experience will let me know if i truly am. my one fear is the resulting mindset afterwards. can i accept that i may be mentally scarred? can i accept that i can have ptsd from something going terribly wrong and getting caught up in it? not even ptsd, but even anxiety or depression? can i find it in myself to look at what i’ve brought home or brought in to other people’s lives and say “yes, it was worth it”?

i was upset that he didn’t talk about his time as white house photographer. that has to be challenging with security and permissions and such. and i want to know how he moved on to that instead of being “in the field” per se.

Killing time along the fence of an Albanian refugee camp. Children in the camps had shown signs of loneliness, boredom, agitation and depression. Photo: © Gary Fabiano

 

world traveller

so……….

i was in spain from march 2 – march 11. man oh man was it beautiful! only bad things were 1. the food, and 2. i dropped and broke a lens 😥

while visiting madrid i found my way into the Reina Sophia and the Prado. i happened upon a a couple photographs that i enjoyed in the reina sophia:

Nacho Criado is a spanish conceptual artist. This is a piece from his earlier work.

this work is fun; it is simple and nice. i would consider doing a series such asthis.

 

 

good ole wikipedia tells us that:

“Agnès Varda (born 30 May 1928) is a French film director and professor at the European Graduate School. Her movies, photographs, and art installations focus on documentary realism, feminist issues, and social commentary — with a distinct experimental style.”

i relate very well with these images. they are the types of things i would shoot myself. actually i relate with her in general, like when she says this in her biography on the faculty page of her school:

“I just didn’t see films when I was young. I was stupid and naïve. Maybe I wouldn’t have made films if I had seen lots of others; maybe it would have stopped me. I started totally free and crazy and innocent. Now I’ve seen many films, and many beautiful films. And I try to keep a certain level of quality of my films.”

I feel like this is me, except in photography. I didn’t pay attention to photographs when i was younger or even in most of my teen years. i didn’t technically pick up a camera and shoot seriously until i was..18 or 19? Only 4 years ago. in a way i am sure that this has both helped and hindered me. however, i feel as she does in knowing that not being cultured from the start enabled me to think more freely and unrestricted.

thats all. 🙂

digital printing woes

so. whats the record for how long it takes a newbie digital printer to make an inkjet print? i want to set the bar at 2 days with a combined total of 7 hours. on one photograph.

so here are some should be, no-brainer tips:

1. clean and align the print head first.
– doing so will enable you to avoid the worry of unnecessary banding and color weirdness.

2. don’t use a printer that is 10 years old and incapable of giving you the correct icc profile for your 2012 paper.
– doing so will enable you to avoid the worry of unnecessary proofing of 15 different profiles looking for the best match.

3. check ink levels and keep back up cartridges handy.
– luckily i didn’t need the backups. this time. (talk to me again this time next week though)

4. play music
– it’ll keep you calm when you do an hour’s worth of manipulating and decide to scrap it all and start over

5. take a break
– refreshed eyes is never a bad choice

obviously it wasn’t the best experience for me. however, it was a learning experience. I used Epson’s old model stylus pro 4000 printer. it does nice work–when it’s set up and working properly. i’m sure i would have gotten even better results with the right paper profile.

this was my resulting mess:

so how about take a look at this while yer taking advantage of tip number 5…. 😀

i’m coming back

so i have been out of the posting world for a good while now thanks to a hectic last semester in college and a spring break trip to spain. however, i am back and will have at least two more posts coming shortly.

 

stay tuned.