Secret Caverns in Cobleskill, New York

On my recent commercial trip to upstate New York, I came across this funky little joint called The Secret Caverns. They have hand painted all of their billboards in the region, and I just fell in love with the throwback style. It makes me think of what road side attractions used to look like before the interstate system was created. More to come, I think I shot about fifteen or so of these. Sphere: Related Content

Interesting Article on Light Painting Photography

Look at the Photostream on Flickr after you read the article. The Light Painting folks are breaking new ground in shooting at night and their unique usage of lighting.  Sphere: Related Content

Clown laid to rest by fellow Shriners

Staff photo by Marshall Gorby for the Springfield News-Sun

Here is a very clear example of the unique ability of a photograph to tell a story with no captions needed.

Here's the link for the full story.

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Oddities from NASA's Image Archive from Wired Magazine

Check out a cool series of images over at Wired Magazine from the NASA Archives. 

To the left, seven original Mercury astronauts trying to corner the market on desert fashion having made clothing out of pieces of parachutes. For a survival exercise, tres chic. 

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Hasselblad Masters Awards

If you haven't popped over to Hasselblad's site to check out the running for the 2009 Masters Awards, you should. Images are presented by the top 100 finalists for the ten  represented categories.

Shinji Watanabe in the Fine Art Category is my personal favorite.

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Aerial Photography Virtual Tour of New York

Put together from a helicopter over New York, Oleg Gaponyuk and Andrei Zubets take you on a relaxing tour around parts of the city. 

Aerial Tour of New York

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Art using tape - Mark Jenkins

Mark Jenkins has some really creative work. Using tape and the existing environment he manages to create surreal landscapes from the mundane. Frankly, some of them are a little creepy, but I like it and the other off the wall galleries he has on the website. Under the contacts banner is a link to making tape art sculptures on your own. Sphere: Related Content

Combining two images in Photoshop CS3 using HDR

I'm finally back home from a week long commercial trip to St. Petersburg, Florida with 1,375 plus images to sort through for an art  renovation of the Downtown Hampton Inn & Suites. Whew! Apologies go out to my readership for not keeping the blog updated much while I was out of town, I'll be frequently updating this week as I go through the shots from the trip and sharing some of my favorites.

I came across an interesting article in the March/April issue of Photo Techniques Magazine that suggests different options for using the HDR Automation in Photoshop. It gave me a few ideas, and the image to the left is an experiment in combining two completely different images and the very funky result. The first shot was of two gulls trying to swoop in and steal fish scraps at the Fort De Soto Fishing Pier. The second, not that you could tell, is a shot of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge taken at night with the camera positioned on the steering wheel while traveling at 65 MPH. The potential for combining images in this way is endless and a quick trip to Barnes and Noble or Borders is well worth it to check out the article. It's a great tool for inspiration and reminded me that we live in a very exciting time for photography. 

If you just can't wait, the HDR feature is under File/Automate in Photoshop. A word of caution that will save you time with this type of converting, make sure that the pixel dimensions for the images are the same. 

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Blow- a unique new tabletop lamp design from Studio Italia

This unique new lamp design from Studio Italia has a halogen lighting unit inside a clear crystal dome that you focus by moving a small magnet on the exterior. I just wish it could have been an LED design. Sphere: Related Content

Martin Wittfooth- animalia done right

Image copyright Martin Wittfooth

Wow! I came across Martin's work while perusing through Hi-Fructose magazine at B&N. I love this kind of atypical presentation of the animal world. It reminds me of a darker Tyson Grumm. I wish I could paint like this. Modern, American surrealism is in a class all by itself.

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Gela Skins - the new perfect gift

If you have to buy a present for somebody between the ages of thirty-five and fifteen, go to Gela Skins and give them the gift of cool. They have skins for laptops, phones, gaming consoles, or buy an art print on earth friendly bamboo stock. 

Word!

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Close Up: Photographers at Work program on the Ovation Network

I had two of these recorded for a week or two and finally got a chance to watch them the other night while recovering from the stomach bug that's going around. Both were excellent, I would highly recommend taking the time to check it out. Each episode focuses on small group of established photographers, prompting them to discuss the impact of their work and its process. The interviews range from fine art, architectural, portrait, or documentary photography covering a nice spectrum. 

The show was produced for the Ovation Network by Maysles Films. I at first thought it rather arrogant that Albert Maysles was the first to be interviewed considering his film company was the producer. After watching it, I was very wrong. I found his interview to be one of the most intriguing of the show and was challenged to see street photography in a new way. He is a ridiculously likable personality who's smile and honest nature are infectious. For those wary of taking pictures of people, take notes from how this guy interacts with his subjects. Rounding out Maysles in the first episode are Gregory Crewdson, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Andrew Moore, and Sylvia Plachy. 

One can only hope that more are in the works.

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Words of Hope - a signed poster from Seth Balliett

My boy Seth Balliett just released a poster edition of his new torn paper work "Words of Hope," now available on his website. 

18"x24"

$29.00

FREE SHIPPING

A limited edition on stretched canvas is also available.

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E Pluribus Venom by Shepard Fairey

This dude's stuff is everywhere! This book covers a large body of Shepard's work displayed at the Jonathan Levine Gallery in 2007. I love his stuff but always seem to remember to check the Obey site after the press run of the current poster crop is sold out. Ah well, at least I can afford the book starving artist that I am.

Hardcover 

144 pages

Ginko Press

$29.95

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New Lensbaby Composer

Lensbaby has updated their original designs and added some fantastic new features including the soon to be released Composer lens. Integral to the new design is the Optic Swap System which allows for greater creative freedom while still using the old magnetic rings, signature to Lensbaby, to control Aperture. Available now for pre-order, check out their updated website for information and inspiration.

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Airfloat Systems - a solution for fine art shipping

Granted, I make all my own shipping crates for distribution to galleries but for you folks who don't want to deal with the hassle there is Airfloat Systems. The key here is that they offer re-usable solutions for shipping your work. I can often only use my self made packaging once as they are completely custom. Until I go into business selling custom shipping crates, this is your next best thing. ;)

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Bracelets made from old camera lens parts

This is brilliant. Definitely on my Christmas list this year. 

RE-VISION

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Artomat - art vending machines created from old cigarette ones

This is just wild. This company is converting old cigarette vending machines into ones that dispense art. Eighty-two machines and counting in the US. They are taking submissions as well if you are looking for alternatives to the normal publishing or exposure avenues. 

ARTOMAT

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Bizarregoylz - the gift for your geek with everything

Check these things out. If ever there was a gift for that someone you know that you never know what to get them... here you go.

Bizarregolyz

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