Nashville Photographers Give Back
My photography friends from Nashville decided to do something more for Christmas, to show that they're not just here (on earth) to take pictures of glamorous models or flashy musicians (included Bradley Spitzer, Eli McFadden, David Bean, Jeremy Cowart, Ben Hancock). So they invited all families unable to get or afford their own portrait photos to come to a central location and get photographed by some of the best photographers in the country, for free.
Mon, Dec 15th 2008
Yours truly featured on Photography Served
Photography Served is a Behance Network site, and recently they chose to add my photo series "Portrait of a Redneck" on their site. Its a great honor to be recognized, even in small ways, for the work that you do. I'll try to remember this:
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting."
e.e. cummings
Mon, Dec 8th 2008
Thank you, but ... what?
I recently became aware (via Digg) that my name was added to a list of 14 Photography Masters. Me. What!?
My parents always taught me to be humble and gracious, and typically have a hard time handling praise (someone criticism feels more honest and true than genuine praise, which is something I need to work on). As gracious and appreciative as I am about making the list I'm reasonable enough to know that I'm in no way a master. I believe I'm good -- creative, talented, sometimes original (whatever that means), but out of the hundres of thousands of photographers in the world, I know of many photographers that are much more talented than I (Jeremey Cowart Ryan Kurtz, Alexey Titarenko, Phillip Toledando, Michael Muller, Gregory Crewdson, Ryan Schude to name a few). So thank you for the recoginition, but I really don't deserve it.
Fri, Nov 14th 2008
Has it really been this long?
I'm afraid it has been far far too long (almost a year!) since I've updated. The projects have continued, as has my learning and growing in my photographic pursuits. Since December I've agreed to terms with Jupiter Images for 7 of my photos (though I'm unsure if any are selling; I remain skepical), continued doing work with our church and have done 4 weddings (which I'm growing my fond).
So what's next for my journey? I hope to begin looking for a photo agent (which would increase my clientele and commercial opportunities), compiling a book to show, and creating a new (improved) series of "2:45am" images; which basically will train me for our upcoming child (to also create into small book that I can sell).
Thank you to all of you for continuing to visit the site, Look for some new improvements and enhancements soon.
Fri, Oct 24th 2008
Google digging
I occasionally will do a Google search for my name (aka: wiseacre); and recently found that Jeffery Zeldman (of Happy Cog and other internet awesomeness super-stardom) has ma.gnolia'd my Flickr work -- take a look. I'm quite surprised and pleased.
Mon, Dec 3rd 2007
Did I say that?
I think I had once said that I would be adding improvements to this site, and those are still in the works and in development; but there's been quite a bit of activity on the "photo" side of my life.
1) I'm about to sign a contract that would allow me to make some residual income on photos, that I predominantly take for fun and pleasure.
2) Have done several on location shoots, and have been busy editing and posting those.
3) Growing (what will be) a massive beard
In other news, I found out from a friend (from a friend) that a few of my photos are featured prominently in a new book called Capture Cincinnati; which is surprising and nice. I'll have to pick up a copy.
So, thanks to all of you who visit, inquire and just browse; more things are in the works; bigger and better things.
Fri, Nov 30th 2007
Spreading the love of love
Special thanks to Michael and Joshua for the link love; even more reason to get the remaining pieces of this site completed (and thanks to any of you for visiting from those sites!)
Still to come:
-- A proper footer
-- Links to other photographers, inspirational photographers, friends, tutorials, equipment
-- restyled News area (I don't like the dates or the wide columns).
-- Zoom image feature ....
Fri, Nov 9th 2007
Where it all started
Whiskerino is in full swing again, which means copious amounts of self-portraits and endless, tireless nights thinking of ways to top myself. Overall I'm feeling somewhat flat creativity, but excited to see what might just "show up". Whiskerino is dear to my heart, without it, I would never have caught that photography bug.
Thu, Nov 8th 2007
Here we go!
So, this is the official relaunch of this photo portfolio. Thanks to all and any of you for visiting. There are still many things I want to add and work on. But feel free to browse and look around ... leave comments and send on your inquiries. I hope you enjoy your visit!
Thu, Nov 1st 2007
Get Out There
Shot a new series called "Get Out There". We all are afraid of vulnerability -- of exposing ourselves to unsafe people; being misunderstood, laughed at, manipulated, teased, abused or hurt. We protect our hearts. Hide it away. The new series is about letting who we are, what we have, the life inside us -- our love for God, the Holy Spirit in our hearts, the experiences we've gone through, etc -- to get out, to help others, to be unafraid of falling or being hurt, to let the light shine.
Thu, Jun 7th 2007
Upgrade
I'm a relative newcomer to the world of photography, but I feel there is a great potential for me to continue on and to help make some income. To my delight (and surprise) I got a Canon 1Ds for my birthday. Man, this thing is a beast ... and awesome awesome beast.
Fri, Jun 1st 2007
Little Me
After exhausting my options on the "Big Me" series (or maybe not?) I did the equal and opposite series titled "Little Me". Being small, sometimes can mean insignificance, or shyness, or low self-esteem -- for me, its shyness. Overall though, it just makes me chuckle to see the juxtaposition, of expecting one thing but seeing something else.
Thu, May 17th 2007
First Wedding
There's nothing like your first time. For me, that happened this past April (21st 2007) weekend. My first wedding shoot. My friend Mark asked me to shoot his wedding, which took place on the beautiful (and surreal) beach resort of Seaside Florida. It was difficult, stressful, tiring and a great experience. I don't think I want to be a wedding photographer (as my only means of making an income off photography), but here and there, not too bad. Unfortunately as it was my first time, there are many things I'd do differently, but I LOVE how everything turned out.
Wed, Apr 25th 2007
Get Your Sexy Back
The series "Get Your Sexy Back" examines the cultural (and specifically the mainstream advertising and marketing) messages that define what it means to be "sexy". How it affects your view of yourself against those things we see; how it affects our relationships or marriages. The series shows us at our most vulnerable -- when we're examining ourselves in the mirror, before we sleep; imaging ourselves as those things which culture defines as "beautiful".
Women aren't the only victims of the beautiful stigma -- the marketing of what a man should be, or should want to be. I think men have the same, though very different, issues. We want to be more muscular. More athletic. Be taller. More rugged. Have sexual prowess.
Tue, Apr 10th 2007
Illuminate
I feel that the Illuminate series is the best conceptually and executed photo series I've done to date. I'm incredibly happy with the results. My best attempt to imitate Gregory Crewdson.
The idea was to show the power and mystery of Palm Sunday and the resurrection (5 days later) that subtly draws people. We wanted to show something of the innocence of children, the fun of an easter egg hunt and how our symbols and rituals of today compare nothing to the real story.
So we went to a park, set up one light, connected to a battery pack and shot several pictures to try and capture this. The lighting and sunset helped so much in giving the photos a fantasy and surreal feel (with bright color, deep contrast, warm light).
Mon, Apr 2nd 2007
Open Up and Say Ah
"Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom—it's animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats." - James 3:13-16
We all say dumb things. Hurt others by what we say. Our words possess enormous power -- power to hurt and power to heal. When asked to develop a (photographic) concept depicting the power of the tongue, I had an immediate; and fairly violent image. After exploring other options (cover mouths to control our words) I decided to create those images in my head -- of our mouths being sewn shut, wrapped with barbed wire, to show the power and danger of our tongue.
Wed, Mar 7th 2007
Isn't She Lovely
I am shooting for an upcoming series entitled "Isn't She Lovely". We staged a wedding -- guests, cake, bride/groom, flower girls, reception, the works -- for the shoot. The series focuses on the church as the bride of Christ. Part of the concept was to never fully show the face of the bride. It was about 5º, with the wind whipping around --- the "smiling" in this shot isn't because they're all happy, but because they're about to freeze to death.
Fri, Feb 2nd 2007
Big Me
I'm working on a new (personal) series called "Big Me". Its inspired by the work of Nick Koudis and is juxtaposition of sizes, settings and perspective. You can view the first of the images here.
Wed, Jan 31st 2007
Fundamentals
Starting a new series about the basics and fundamentals of faith, The Fundamentals -- the fruits of the Spirit (as they are called -- which are love, peace, patience, joy, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control).
The concept behind the shot and design was to echo the idea that although you may say the right things, know the right things, dress the part, but when it comes to "playing the game"; there is nothing. So we wanted to show a "team" that as a team just acts the part, but is better at talking a good game than actually playing one.
Sun, Dec 17th 2006
Experiments gone awry
Sometimes the only way to spark creativity is to push yourself out of a zone of comfortability. Exploring something you wouldn't normally do. The luxury of working for myself also brings with it the complication motivating myself. So I decided to take uncommon self portraits. For a month I'll wake myself up at 2:45am (taken from the Elliott Smith song) and take a picture of myself -- unaltered, sleepy eyed and groggy.
You can view the entire set (as it happens) at Flickr
Fri, Dec 1st 2006
Shift CD cover
I just finished work on the CD sleeve for "Shift", a cd of songs that will be released by Four Corners Church. The process involved several shoots and manipulation to create the final composition. I'm quite pleased with the outcome.
Mon, Jul 24th 2006
Welcome to my corner of the world
Welcome to my little corner of the interwebnet world, a little dingy place to showcase for some of my photography work. I'm still working on a few additions and features (as well as tweaking the design to my liking), but I hope that what is here now will suffice.