Empire State of Mind

'America Under Attack' is the first image in this series...

'September 11th'

I shot this series, literally, of the screen of my television as it was happening. The idea was to capture the moment as most of us actually experienced it... through the TV. Mine was an older TV set... curved front, classic 'tv border'... you can even see the "grain" of the picture produced by the cathode-ray tube... I think that may actually be my favorite part of how the image is created.

Empire State of Mind

So I am watching the History Channel, (I know, I'm such a geek) and they are airing a special about the events surrounding September 11 and the World Trade Center. As close to a real-time video record as possible, using media coverage but mostly footage from camcorders. It is incredibly powerfully done.

Before I go on, I think you need to know a little bit about me I think. I was born and raised in Upstate New York. But, that does not mean that I am removed from what happened in NYC. Both my parents are from New York City and we spent 4-6 weeks of every year visiting our family and friends. It has always been in my blood. A place I call Home.

There are few things in this world that can make me cry. I consider myself to be tough as nails... well, let's be honest, I'm a bitch. But, watching the event unfold on that day, made me sob. I think I ended up living in a daze for the next year. That was my senior year in college, and frankly, I dropped the ball... but that's another story.

That morning, when I woke up and saw the news, I put a tape in my VCR and hit the record button. On 2 VHS tapes I have 12 hours of news footage... every year, I make sure I have the 11th off and I sit down and watch some (or all) of those two tapes.

And I cry.

Maybe it's a strange tradition, but I find it to be very cleansing.

I am ever the artist, never does a day go by that I am not 'in' my art. As I watched that day, I got an idea... I loaded my Nikon with Black&White film and photographed my TV... and the series I will be posting over the next couple of weeks is the result of the idea. I found it surprisingly powerful, for me at least.

Cleveland Project

Fall in Cleveland is quite lovely. The iconic clock tower at the West Side Market makes a lovely contrast of the Orange bricks against the clear blue sky. Timing, especially in the fall, is everything. Cottonwood trees are among my favorites as they change colour in the fall. Just one tree can showcase green, red, orange, and yellow all spattered together.

After looking at how this image uploaded, I think I will tweak it a bit in Photoshop, and repost... The colors are far more vibrant in the original image... hmm.. We'll see.

Cleveland Project

The West Side Market... forget 'Whole Foods', that's for the eastsiders... but here on the West Side this is the place to go for whatever you need! Though it looks like it may have once been a train station, it has always been a market. I was watching a special on PBS focusing on Markets across the country, looking for one where they could buy a whole pig... they chose 5 markets from florida to Hawaii... but the last one... and the only one where they where successful was our very own.

Below is one of my favorite vendors, where I used to buy my herbs and spices... favorite guilty pleasure... Hawaiian lava salt!

CLeveland Project

I started the Cleveland project, partially because I lived there for so long... and partially because people seem to have a preconceived notion of Cleveland being some dirty, ugly, rust-belt, low-class kind of town. OK... at one time it really was (I mean, come on, they were so dirty they set a river on fire) but, after spending a decade there I have learned so much more. It really is a beautiful city. In fact... where else can you take a train from the suburbs into downtown and be in walking distance of an airport, Great lake, a science center, several museums and botanical gardens, a Hard Rock cafe, an MLB field, an arena (home to a major NBA team), an NFL stadium, and a harbor 'housing' a submarine?

Speaking of a submarine... you didn't think I was kidding did you?

Ladies and Gentleman: the USS Cod.

Cleveland Project

I have been diligently been working with my Cleveland Images and can't wait till I have a slew of them ready to post... Patience, I promise lot's of good stuff on the horizon.

Wagner Wedding

Well here it is... a sample from the reason I have been so neglectful of my postings here. I love weddings... I love photographing them especially!

I am happy to report I am now knee deep in RAW images from my Cleveland project. I have over 250 images to weed through and play with to post here for you. I hope to start getting them uploaded by the end of the week! YAY!

On another note I am starting a new collaboration with a writer. I am exploring a fun new method of playing in PhotoShop... I will be creating Comic Book style illustrations for her story, I am very very excited. I hope to post some of the results of our project here for you all to enjoy as well.

Cleveland at Night

This is the first in a new Series I am currently working on of Cleveland city shots.

Hope you enjoy, tell what you think!

Oh and yes I moved the moon into that place... it was originally higher up and all the way to the right... but I like it better there, I am still working this image, i need to put in a reflection of the moon on the water.

The Human Landscape

Another one of my favorites:

Continuing my series of the Human Landscape with these two pieces in Black and white. I started this project a few years ago and am Hoping to revisit this series this fall, but I will need to find some new models... if interested met me know, I am always tasteful with my work, as these three images are evidence.

I loved doing this series... I felt really inspired by the Black and White portraiture of the 30's and 40's. Like this one, single light, stark contrast.

The Human Landscape

After a long Hiatus, I am back! Sorry about that!

I have several images I plan to post tonight!

Alas, it is not to be.... BlogSpot is having issues uploading my latest 2 works.... I am working out the kinks...

The Human Landscape

Black and white is still one of my favorite mediums. This is the first from a series I've done called the Human Landscape... I want to look at the human body in a different way, lit with a single light, sharply contrasted.

East meets West

Sorry I have been away for a while I have been prepairing like crazy for a wedding I am shooting this saturday... oh speaking of weddings... :-)

Weddings are one of my favorite things to shoot, there is something so special about being there with a couple to capture the beginning of the rest of their lives... they are depending on you to tell their story through images.

Indian weddings are amazingly colorful and the bride is typically dripping in gold jewelry... I couldn't help but notice that, as she stood nervously waiting for the ceremony to start, she was playing with a very western engagement ring...

As always, opinions and feedback are always welcome!

NightHawks

I was definitely felling inspired by Edward Hopper's 'Nighthawks'. That feeling of observing a moment in time.

I was at our downtown building, and of course I had my camera with me, when I was on my way to the "Lemon Tree" diner downstairs... I stopped for a moment and just looked... there was something about this quiet moment that inspired me, reminded me of 'Nighthawks'... a little voyeuristic perhaps...

This is s little lighter then the original, I used a brushstroke filter on everything except the center to draw your attention more into the center, to the people.

Portrait, "The Fifer"

I'm not going to babble on about this one.... yet... curious just to know what you think.

Abstract portrait

I love kids... I am biased... I think my nephew is the greatest kid on earth...

He is a true bundle of energy; I set out to try and capture his effervescence...

I love how this came out, not a traditional portrait, because its not about how he looks, it about who he is at that exact moment... a little kid who can't stay still. One of my favorite images... wait I guess so far they are all my favorite images...

I love input, let me know what you think... many of my classmates were very lukewarm to this one... (but I let the pompous artist inside me tell me they didn't know good art... it's conceptual people).

Abstract

By special request: I dug up the originals from the fountain shoot which was the image in my last post. Believe it or not, it is actually quite close to how it was shot. Digital SLRs have the ability to adjust the white balance of the light right on board... I simply changed the setting from [Sunlight] to [Custom] and played with color temperature.... so here are a few originals from the same shoot that I did not play with in photoshop.

Correct light temperature, small aperture, long exposure.

Light temp set all the way to the cool end, gives the image a bluer tone. However, setting the light temp to the other end of the spectrum gives the image an amber tone, like below.

Abstract

There was a time when the Purist in me thought that the people who created PhotoShop were evil and destroying the art of photography,...

Much like the art itself, I have evolved. I have new thoughts on this... with Photoshop at my finger-tips I now view my photograph as a canvas and Photoshop as my paintbrush...

This does not quite do the original justice... way more purple...

Something Different

And now for something Completely different!

This is probably my favorite image from a series I had hoped to complete of close-ups of neon signs. In concept it is quite intriguing... in practice, a giant pain in the a$$...

I spent countless hours seeking out interesting signs in shop windows, driving all over Cleveland... trying to get the perfect angles. I took nearly 200 total shots... I have 2 that I actually like (yeah 2, 1%, it's a little depressing)... I don't think this series is dead in the water yet... but I have put it on a hiatus for a while... with hopes of revisiting this summer.

Let me know what you think... is it worth resurrecting the series? Should I keep trying?

Something Different

"And now for something completely different"... I always loved that phrase...

Right now I am posting a 'greatest hits' collection... my abstracts are coming up next and I really hope you like them, as always I totally value all feedback.

On that note I am also taking requests... what would you like to see? Portraits? Landscapes? Abstracts? I am working on about 4 projects right now, god bless being ADD, working so many things at once would probably drive a normal person crazy.... but I can't seem to focus one thing, I have to run with every idea in my head all at once.

OK, Promise to bring my favorite abstracts to ya in the next couple days!

Playhouse Square

One more Downtown Picture for this little series so far, a different angle on Playhouse.

Ok so this is the last picture I have finished perfecting enough to post (I almost never consider an image 'done' and frequently go back to rework them) from my December downtown shoot... I am digging through the raw images this week and hope to post a few more this month... let me know what you think.

Lakeside Avenue

Now some images fall into your lap by accident... others take patience. The Justice Building on Lakeside Avenue. This took 20 minutes and about 16 similar shots that I discarded, just so I could get the angle and the lighting on the building just right... not to mention timing the stoplights to get them both green...

Totally worth it.

I have to smile, as I was preparing this image for posting, Kendall peaked over my shoulder, and said "wow... you make Cleveland look elegant". I will agree, I think elegant is the right word.

Playhouse Square

Continuing in the rain, at night, through cleveland... takes a lot of artistic drive... and courage.

Cleveland embarked on a very expensive project... the Euclid Corridor project... basically expanding the street and revamping the bus line in the hopes of bringing the people downtown and rejuvenating Cleveland... construction took over a year, businesses languished as people couldn't get to them through the barrels... mom and pop shops that had been here for 50 years closed down....

I think the Jury is still out of whether or not this was worth it...

But the new bus terminals are architecturally beautiful, and lit blue, in the rain... I find them to be stunning. This is a guerrilla style photograph, shot very carefully through my windshield while I was stopped for the briefest of seconds.

Here against the red and green lights of Playhouse Square old meets new.

Terminal Tower

On my first trip through downtown I had taken a similar picture... but on this night it was raining... the streets practically glowed, and off I went to reshoot everything... I am in love with the bronze cast overall.

Terminal Tower

I would like to take complete artistic credit for this composition... but its an extremely happy accident.

So, in december, I decided to begin work on a series featuring downtown Cleveland, show it off. As I was winding my way through downtown, with my window down, I would occasionally take a quick shot out the window. This I do to help remember a location once I park the car and head out on foot.

So I am there at a stop light in Public Square, which is lit up for the holidays, when I decided to take a quick pic... and of course the light turns green... shutter still open, I take the camera back down and begin to drive away... when I check my camera later, I found this image.

A happy accident... only needed a little tweaking in photoshop to adjust the contrast.

The Monastary

Senanque is a beautiful monastery in the rural south of France, lovely architecture.

The Musicians

I get very mixed reviews when it comes to this image, I happen to love it... like a quiet little slice in time.

From France

I have been accused of being a "Micro-Retoucher" by one of my professors... ok so maybe I blew this pic up to 400% to get the perfect contrast on the leaves of the trees and brighten up the highlights in the waterfall... totally worth it, i think it really needed the subtle shifting in contrast to bring out texture...

Yeah, I am a Micro-Retoucher, and proud of it!

Avignon

For the entire week we were in Avignon, Rachel and I would grab our lunch, from a crepe stand, and walk up to the palais to eat... sitting on a little wall that overlooked the square. (the little red star in the image below)

One night I dragged my camera and tripod to the same spot to try and capture the full moon over the tower of the palais, instead I caught it between the two, even better if you ask me.

From the top of the tower on the right I shot the photograph below.

Avignon

Taken from the Tower turrets of the Palais des Papes (blue star in picture below). There was a flutist who would play in the square everyday, Gonzolo Vera, he was amazing and the acoustics in the square made it all the more wonderful. This image really takes me back.

Avignon is the home of the Palais des Pape, (palace of the Popes) a beautiful and monstrous structure at the heart of Avignon. We stayed in a sweet little b&b not to far from the palace square, so we went there everyday to enjoy the music and scenery. Each evening we would get a Crepe from a little stand along the way and then sit on the wall in front of the Palias (red star in the picture above) and watch the sun set. Some of the most wonderful evenings I have had.

Eiffel

This image was taken from the elevator as you move up one of the legs of the Eiffel Tower, looking back down, if you look carefully you can see the people standing on the ground waiting. The white stripe is a highlight of the sun hitting one of the wires carrying us up.

I like the contrast of the upward motion of the image and yet your really looking down.

Eiffel

Anyone can photograph the whole Eiffel tower....

I fell in love with the angles of the composition and the way the sun played in the highlights and shadows of the architecture. I did have to do a little correcting in Photoshop, there was a netting on the underside of the tower deep in the shadow that I removed.

I think there is something to be said for a squared image.

From France

Gorde, a small town in france, east of Avignon.

From France

This is one of my absolute favorite images.

Chartres Cathedral is incredibly beautiful famous for its labyrinth floor and the intricacy of its "flying Buttresses". After climbing the taller north-west tower, I found this amazing view of the buttresses and a stained glass window.

Spring 2002, I spent 3 weeks of my last semester with Hiram traveling through out France with our Art History professor. It seems fitting to start my blog here with some of my favorite Black and whites.

Traveling through-out France brought many great opportunities to photograph classic locations from a different angle. This seemed like the perfect place to begin.

These images were shot on Tri-x 400 of Agfa 100 Black and White film. Then scanned into photoshop to tweak the exposure and contrast.

I love the grain in the images that is achieved from shooting on film... however the advancements in digital are making it more and more obsolete, and I worry that some day we may loose the art of film altogether.