Different lines.....

MT
Was just looking at some pics to post....put these together due to the lines I saw in each...  All different styles/different points of focus, but thought they worked well together as a set.  I am amazed, over and over again, at how my first shot at any scene is often ends up being my favorite, no matter how many I take following that initial shot.  I love to shoot objects/subjects/scenes the way I find them, and the most genuine or most striking (IMHO) shots turn out to be from the point I look up and say "oh, wow" and then reach for my camera...I know that sounds generic and even semi retarded, but I think there is something to be said against over thinking a shot or too much effort being placed into a perfect angle.  However, I included Bixby Bridge in this set, because I had a story that goes along with it, and that shot counters what I have written so far.  I traveled up to NorCal long ago and photographed the bridge after passing over it.  I rushed my effort and was never satisfied with what I captured, and for the longest time thought about what I really wanted with it..  Sooooooooo.......When I went to Neil Young's Bridge School shows in October of last year, we traveled along that amazing coastal route and I took my time once I was back at the bridge.  I walked around a lot, looked at a lot of angles and thought about what I saw with the bridge...  The shot is not one of the first I took, and it was really one of the first times that I really surveyed everything before starting to shoot.  Around that time, I ran across a quote from Ansel Adams....it has, of course, stuck with me...  "A good photograph is knowing where to stand.".....  It is so true...cameras are getting better, fully automated etc..  I guess my point in all of this is that I know everyone with a 1000.00 dollar camera has an equal chance to stand in the same place and use the same angles....sure, timing with or presence around "events" or light is always a variable, but my best advice to anyone that ever asks me for it (total requests for advice thus far is still Zero) is this: when you see something that moves you, if you aren't close enough, simply walk up to it and don't be afraid to stand there at any point that makes you say "oh, wow"... if you say that at the first spot you find yourself, then that is your most genuine picture..you only get to experience that moment once, don't lose that chance by checking everything out first - you will not remember to walk back to that first wow spot.  Word of the day is "wow" apparently, and I am giving myself a timeout...

Something new

So now that I've taken a breath since yesterday and I know I can't change what happened, I'm capable of making a bit more sense. All I can assume is that one of my CF cards failed and I lost all the studio shots of one outfit from the big shoot this past weekend. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't a HUGE loss. I still have 3 studio outfits, all 4 outfits outside and the drag shoot. But fuck man. 300 photos is still 300 photos. Plus the time, the people involved, everything.

God that blows. Especially when time is at a premium.

But on a bright note, it's always good to try something new. Like photographing someone in drag. A completely new experience for me. And kind of awesome, to be perfectly honest. I didn't have to sit through the "transformation" process, which was nice. As much as I'd like sitting and watching someone put makeup on someone else for 3 hours, eating a sandwich was way better.

And I think I fired somewhere in the ballpark of 350 shots in less than an hour. We were losing light pretty quick. And it was cold.

So here are a few of the drag shots.
Clothing designer: Jenine Hi
Makeup: Raymond Smith
Photographer: Me. Duh
Model: Chris (not sure of his last name) aka Pretty

Probably can't tell as well in a small photo, but #2 wasn't a particular favorite, but it's one of the only ones where you can see that there is a wedding photo shoot going on in the background. It still makes me laugh knowing that there's a slight (although highly unlikely) possibility that their wedding photos may have a guy in drag somewhere in the background.

K

Mobile beer blogging

fuck. fuck. fuck.

sooo goddamn pissed.

i have to reshoot one fashion outfit because my cf card failed. it is beyond gay. more like ghey. i will probably blog more when i am not so blinded by anger. and a bit more sober.

i love and hate that i can write this while i am sitting at a bar.

apparently i can not use capitals or apostraphies though.

also ghey

k

You've got those hands that heal...

A picture of my brother's hands while painting.  I did a larger series that I'll post later, I just particularly like this one cause of the strange colors... almost tribal looking.  The textures seem to change based on the colors.  I tried to tweak the contrast but it started to fall apart so here it is...

 

PV

Duck, Duck, Goose

MT

Alabama, Arkansas.......

 

MT

 Quick Pick 3 from recent road trip....All red states....

Tech Corner: Picture 2 (Middle Shot above, Bus Stop in San Antonio).. I ramped up the ISO on this one....1600 if I recall correctly.  Dark scene, overcast...saw this guy from afar having trouble with his shoes so I knew I had to walk by with camera low so there was no distraction as I didn't want his head anywhere but his hands..  One of the more difficult things is to hold my camera sideways and still frame a shot correctly.  I have learned that if you "softly" place your left hand flat behind the camera while you shoot with the right hand, you can judge the angle much better as the you are not fighting the weight of the lens in addition to the other angles...nearly every time I just 'drop' the camera down and shoot with my right hand supporting the camera and shooting, I almost always get a very very poor framing, even when it feels like the camera is 'vertical'...a lot of street scene shots I get of people up close are shot in the 'dropped' camera position, so you will see that they are from a center position of the subject..  Getting this method correct was a huge step.  I literally stopped for one snap and kept walking....just takes timing and getting your ISO or speed correct before you get to the spot you want to shoot.....

MT


Pickin on Phil Corner, Pt. 1
I want to thank facebook for allowing us to all follow Phil's evening last night during his bender.  Homework?  No Homework...which is it Phil??  You should tweet on bender nights......

9 p.m. Drink in hand. 

9:13 p.m.  Gunna stop, do homework
9:33 p.m.  Haven't started, homework seems far away, open wine now
9:50 p.m.  Shirt off
10:11 p.m.  Just realized I was staring and laughing at the hallway for past 2 minutes..
10:30 p.m.  Totally focused, starting homework
10:31 p.m.  Yikes...wine gone, headed out real quick before I get too far into my work...
11:50 p.m.  Phew....after leaving the Pink Elephant, I totally thought I left my phone in the Glory Stall....
12:11 a.m. Where is that damn light coming from.... too bright.
12:15 a.m.  Sorry bout that last tweeeet, I was using binoculars to look at my neighbor with big boobies and I somehow got focused on my desk lamp.
12:34 a.m.  Shirt on, but on my legs
12:44 a.m.  Legs off....the tripod I mean
12:59 a.m.  Painting my balls green....drink lost...bottle here
1:22 a.m. Found drink, bottle missing now
1:33 a.m. Gunna Facebook everyone to let them know I really want to do this homework tonight, but I am just fooling them.
1:55 a.m. Can someone read that last tweet back to me?
1:59 a.m. FUCK....only one minute left....last call......
2:00 a.m. No bell??  Maybe the bartender forgot....
2:10 a.m.  Angry the bartender keeps serving me.  Damn me Phil
2:40 a.m. I either passed out for last 30 minutes or someone drooled all over my desk
2:55 a.m. Man, my bed is really hard....and not very flat...
3:13 a.m. Just realized I was leaning against my dresser for past 18 minutes
3:58 a.m. Fucking tap water. 

# ?

I feel like we need a # 4 now. So we can rip off a shitty looking movie and totally sell out. Without the money or the big titted blondes with a single digit IQ.

What was I saying?

I'll eat your fucking cupcake.

Welcome aboard MT.

You'll probably regret agreeing to do this.

K

Phantom Meningitis - Poachtagraphy 101

I am number 3.  I have permission from one of the original 2.  The second of the original 2 may not know I have been invited.  I am not Yoko.  I offer the one that has yet to meet me, this cupcake.  Eat it, or die.

MT

Phantom of the Novella

I see this old keyboard and wonder what kind of maniacal bastard must have invented it.  I mean was this one of those my dick is bigger than yours kinda things?  Only for... nerds, or publishers or whoever...  Were people just really uncoordinated back then and couldn't handle pressing little buttons?  Ok, I guess it had to do with technological limitations but I would rather pretend its the keyboard of an evil genius.  Or the typewriter of some mad scientist.  The keys are so large cause he's trained his evil cat to dictate his thoughts or something awesome like that... 

"Take dictation!  He screams.  The cat jumps into action balancing like some ninja warrior on each key... psh... as if cats were that cool.  I might actually like em... but unfortunately they're stupid and sucky and I hate them.  And thats what we call a twist ending everyone.  I typed it up on my evil type writer.  Suck it, this isn't about me, its about awesome old technology.

PV

They Don't Make em Like They Used to...

Went to the international print museum this weekend and took some photos.  The place was pretty crazy... even had a print press like Ben Franklin used back in the day...  Its interesting to me that the history of type is basically the history of how knowledge has spread... 

I wonder if books will be a luxury again...  It seems like with digital technology books could become rare; just not for the same reasons... Its so amazing seeing these machines working after a hundred years.  I mean we don't have printers that last more than a few years today...  It just shows that we don't make things like we used to... nothing is built to last

Its crazy that old school printing is coming back as an art form... I wish I could get into it... it reminds me of intaglio... I miss working metal plates...  Not enough time to do all the things I love.

Phil

Fucking idiots..

So when did it become acceptable to be incapable of doing basic math? I know I don't frequent many high end establishments, but is it too much to ask that someone that is in charge of handling money can actually FUCKING COUNT or do simple calculations without fingers or paper? My personal favorite is when you hand someone change after they hit done and you're greeted with a blank stare and a length of drool starting to dribble from the side of their mouth.

I should be allowed to euthanize anyone and everyone that can't figure out that if my change is $1.93 and I hand you 7 cents, I get $2 bucks back instead of 1 dollar and a pocketful of change that I'll end up giving to a one legged, one armed, one nutted bum that smells like dried urine.

If you are incapable of figuring that out in less than 2 seconds, I get to shoot you in the face.

If it takes longer than 5 seconds, I get to shoot you AND your parents in the face.

If it takes longer than 10 seconds, I'll just put your face in a bucket of water and let you drown yourself. Then I'll go shoot your parents, grandparents, siblings/kids, your dog and the teacher that let you pass 1st grade.

Exceptions to be made if:
A) You're drunk
B) You're stoned or generally on drugs.
C) You're genuinely retarded. And not just borderline retarded. Bona fide napkin eating retarded.
D) All of the above.

Fuck man. It's really not that hard.
K

You Can't Fake This

For some reason I'm becoming fascinated with stupid shit.  Stupid shit like wear and tear or grim buildup... messes and accidents.  You know... the shit we can't fake.  It just happens.  I am learning more and more that when I see a compelling image I should capture it THEN.  Not when I feel like it cause too many times the moment is gone before I get my ass in gear and I am just sick of letting these moments slip away... At the very least I want a shitty recollection or an out of focus distortion of my life.  As long as I capture something. 

I don't really remember what catalog suffered the wrath of our rains but as you can see its been splattered all over the place.  You cant fake this...  I really want to use this as a theme for a series.  Maybe it will train me to either take my camera everywhere or to at the very least start jumping on shots when I see them, instead of pretending I'll get around to it.

PV

Back to School.

Apologies for the lapse in posts. P is too apparently too busy thumbing his butthole and I am busy with my usual procrastination.

I decided to take a short break and be serious for a bit.

As most of you know, I took (and am taking) OB's death pretty hard. Even if I don't show it. I was on the verge of withdrawing last semester and set myself back a bit with the overall progression of my thesis project and my less than glorious grades. Or I assume my grades were less than glorious. I haven't had the nerve to actually check yet. I may never actually check.

To this point, I have only shown these to a select few people and the people I had in my digital montage class. My final project was to do the 5 stages of grief and 2 "recovery" montages. I am posting only 3 of the 7, just because they are the only 3 I was completely happy with.

Just to give an idea, here are the original base photographs. 

I've been reluctant to show any of this mostly because it's actually personal and reflects how I felt/feel. But it seemed about time to share some of it. It's a new semester. I have to get creative (somehow). 

I miss you OB. 

K