More Color More Squares Less Circles

Having to do with Minimalism and color. These squares and the circles inspired by this fellow here.

More Experiments in Color (and B&W)

These were taken before "the walk", but the difference here is that the color wasn't intended. Originally I had in mind they would be B&W, which some of them still made it to be, but I got to experimenting with the color with some interesting results and I thought, "well, this isn't something that I would normally do, sooo, I'll do it! Yeah, that's a good idea!" I should also add that this is a piece of white plastic shot with the same "ghosts and ameoba" technique. About a 5 second exposure in low light and during the exposure I zoomed in or turned the camera which was on a tripod. The color comes from blowing out the saturation in post.

Explorations of Color on My Way to My Car

These are a few images I shot while walking out to my car the other afternoon. Maybe they could be used as an argument for shooting in mid-day sun as opposed to sunrise or sunset. Colors are more vibrant and saturated in full daylight. I've never been one much for shooting in color, so this is a new way of looking at things for me. But I did throw in some b&w for old time sake. Anyways, my version of William Eggleston with a bit of Aaron Siskind and a painter, Clyfford Still, thrown in for good measure.

ghosts of amoebae

These are some extra shots I had from the series I recently posted at Osmosis. I like all the amorphous shapes that were formed out of this madness. I can't decide if they look more like ghosts or amoebae. But maybe amoebae have ghosts too, so perhaps it's both. Like I say in the post at Osmosis, I wanted to break the image down to basic light and dark tones to create something completely abstract. I went about this by shooting white styrofoam balls of varying sizes on white corrugated paper next to a large window facing west. I shot as the sun was setting so the light was coming directly through the window, which created sharp shadows from the styrofoam. That is where I concentrated my shooting, on the shadows, the "nothing in between" area. Then when I took the pictures I used several techniques simultaneously to really exaggerate the forms, the "abstraction heaped upon abstraction". First, I set my camera to overexpose the image making sure that the shutter speed was slow enough so that I could use camera movement as another effect. Then, I purposefully set the lens as out-of-focus as I could. When I took the picture I moved the camera in a variety of ways; across, up and down, zig zag, etc. at varying speeds. Then in my post-production, I added another level of abstraction by increasing the contrast as much as possible blowing out the highlights and darkening the shadows. I wanted to get as far away as I could from the way the actual "thing" I was shooting looked. I really like the way these images came out. Not sure if I achieved "a common truth of the human experience," but that is why I keep doing it and you never know it might just happen once.

New Osmosis Post

My latest Osmosis post is up here. It's the closest I've come to a manifesto. I wanted it to work not only as a sort of artist's statement, but also as a manifesto of what I am looking for in the artists I feature on the site. Artists who can elucidate something about the human experience and connect us all through that experience.

Star Lee Magazine Cover

On Friday night I attended the launch party of Star Lee Magazine. It was a magnificent gathering of all the people who helped to create the magazine. I was honored to shoot the inaugural cover for them. The cover shot is a play on "Rosie the Riveter", the WW II icon representing female empowerment. It is a fitting symbol for the first issue of this magazine intended for the female entrepreneur who is, in their words, "seeking a work-life balance while remaining true to their values."

For Every Event There is a Time (and a tie, a black tie usually)

I wonder if there is any scientific research on the quality of photos based on whether the photographer is wearing a tie or not. Well if there isn't yet, let me be the first to volunteer. Here are some of my would be submissions for the "wearing a tie" portion of the of the contest. Images are from the 2008 Hispanic Business Entrepreneur of the Year and Woman of the Year Award ceremonies.