Some images from last week. A couple of themed shoots: Madame Butterfly and Poison Ivy.
For information on prints or licensing of these images, click here.
Poison Ivy and Madame Butterfly photo shoot
Category: Still Photography
Photographic image made by Jeff Gatesman. Digital, film and HDR photography
Drops 2
A continuation of my previous post where I attempted to collide water droplets and freeze them in time by use of a very fast burst of light. This time I added a digital component to help get the timing more accurate and controllable. Click on the images to view them larger, or if you would like a print, or license, hit this button [button url=”http://gatesman.photoshelter.com/gallery/Water-Drop-Art/G0000Gqdm0BnPS48″ style=”black” size=”small”] Get a Print [/button]
One of the things I’ve come to like about these images is that they are kind of like cloud watching, in that I start to see different things in the shapes and patterns they make. But then, I’ve been looking at quite a lot of these recently and it may just be the creeping madness that comes from prolonged solitary work. I guess it’s time to hit the bar…
Water Drops
I’ve always been drawn to water. I’m a Pisces so I guess I should say “naturally”. But this is the first time I’ve attempted to photograph it so deliberately. (click on the images to see them larger)
Creating these images required a contraption, timing and patience. Only one of those things, the contraption, do I have 100 percent tolerance for. I love making a contraption: planning it out, finding material, building it. Getting my hands dirty has always been part of my DNA. As for patience, let’s just say as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten better with it, though some might still say it is not my strongest virtue. Fair enough. And timing, well, I’ve always had an inconsistent relationship with timing.
Enough of the self-reflection: this project had me firing on all cylinders. I loved every bit of this because the outcome can be so incredibly soothing, satisfying and surprising. I can see why people get so hooked on the pursuit of creating water sculptures. I think I will try this again in the near future. I’ll keep you posted.
Shuttle Mission #26
The Space Shuttle Endeavour made it’s way from LAX toward the California Science Center this morning. I meant to go out and catch it as it left the airport this morning but 2:30 am was a little too early after spending most of yesterday shooting at the beach. So I caught up with it as it took a short break this afternoon in Westchester.
The skies were a perfect kind of overcast, and even though it was reported there would be no official public viewing of the Shuttle while it sat waiting for some traffic lights to come down, it drew a large crowd.
Space Shuttle Endeavour Over Los Angeles
Space Shuttle Endeavour took it’s final flight today and I was fortunate enough to be both at Santa Monica Beach and LAX airport for her final landing.
Free Music Thursdays in Santa Monica
I really like riding my bike down to the Santa Monica Pier for free music on Thursdays during the summer months. Last week was the final one for this year and one of my new favorite bands, Best Coast was playing. I brought my camera along for fun and made these images. I know it’s out of order, but the first image above was the last one I took that night. It was a beautiful, still night and the colorful lights from the buildings on the right just looked so perfect, and contrasted so well with the powerful orange glow of the city in the background. Check out the gallery for more great images I made from Venice and Santa Monica. Continue reading “Free Music Thursdays in Santa Monica”
The Most Talented People In The World
I am honored to have been interviewed recently for the blog, The Most Talented People In The World. The blog, which is run by Jennifer Stoots, dares to ask, in a fast-paced, digitally dependent world, is there still a need for classic, analog ideas and education?
Few professions are dependent on a single concept or tool; while it is important to be able to work with and incorporate new technology, success in many areas still relies on a working knowledge of historical precedents, creativity and, above all, hands-on experience.
In her blog, Stoots seeks out and interviews various professionals in the arts and sciences who all have one similar and undeniable trait. They all exist and work in the digital world, but began their careers and have experience doing their same job under a completely different set of circumstances–before the job was dependent on microprocessors, digital chips and sensors. Before social networks, when you had to rely on experience and abilities over apps and computer programs. I am proud to be a small part of this project because I believe in Stoots’ mission, that you need to be educated in what you are doing, not just how to use a program that accomplishes a task. Because ultimately any knowledge base is built on generations of people before us, but an app is only as good as the programmer behind it.
For me, todays real-world example in photography of this phenomenon is truly apparent in the multitudes of plugins and actions that are readily available for Photoshop. Some of them are true additions to a program that has been around for a very long time, but as I’ve been working with the program since version 3 (that would be 1994!), I notice that most of the bundles available today, do things that are easily accomplished within Photoshop itself. All the hard-earned money you pay for those shortcuts doesn’t get you anything more than you already have and in some cases, limits the control you need to make the end product truly your own.
Remembering John Pedone
[dc]H[/dc]is self proclamation “I’m kind of famous at Burning Man”, I’ve learned was accurate as news of his untimely death spread like wildfire through that community. I knew John Pedone as a colleague and fellow technician in the film lighting industry, and for a short time a decade ago, as a room mate. I only recently became aware of his impact on the legendary annual gathering of artists and misfits in the desert, as he proudly showed me photos of the camp he co-founded there years ago. His status at Burning Man became apparent to me posthumously as I began hearing about his motorcycle accident from some of the unlikeliest sources–all attendees at one time or another at the desert festival. That he was well-known amongst a large group of creatives in southern California doesn’t surprise me as he was one of the liveliest people I have known: well-traveled, adventurous, artistic, friendly and energetic. He created colorful light shows for raves and live performances, insanely huge structures for Burning Man, jumped from airplanes and scaled rock walls.
John and I worked together on more than a few projects over the past decade, the last, and probably coolest one being a 360° video for a new album by Gun’s ‘N Roses guitarist, Slash.
John lived life at full speed and last Friday he was remembered by a gathering of friends and family who came to say goodbye in a way that I’m certain he would have truly appreciated.
RIP John Pedone 1971 – 2012
Super Moon
I, like so many other people, have a fascination with the moon, some kind of inexplicable, odd attraction. Not that it inspires crazy actions or odd hair-growth spurts, rather it’s a majesty thing. The moon is a celestial body we can see differently from all the rest of the planets and stars and moons in the sky because it is so close to us. I guess it’s like a perennial child in that, it’s ours, it’s always there, and it’s always different. Precocious little thing, isn’t it?
So, when it made it’s closest orbit to us this past weekend I went out and made theses images of it.
[dc]T[/dc]he moon has inspired so many legends and tales and superstitions, but I think my favorite is one I’ve heard when I was on the Amazon river in Brazil. The Caboclos there have a myth that tells the story of how the mighty river was created. You see, it seems the Sun and the Moon were once lovers, but the Moon’s father forbid her from ever seeing the Sun. Like any forbidden love, they couldn’t be kept apart forever, so there are few but far-between times when they can come together. We call it the eclipse. But in those long breaks between their brief meetings, the Moon lamented her love and wept for her lover. And her tears created the Amazon river–a waterway so mighty it rises and falls 40 feet throughout the year. And the scientists say it’s due to extreme rainfall.
Shameless Self Promotion:
If you like that story, there are many more fantastic tales and outrageous myths that I’ve documented in a film I made about Life, Myths and music in the Amazon region of Brazil. You can buy or rent it at Amazon.
The Road Kings
[dc]W[/dc]ith clear blue skies and perfect temperatures we lit out of Los Angeles like a couple of rogues after a bender which left a heap of twisted metal and broken hearts in our wake. Well, maybe it wasn’t quite so dramatic, but every once in awhile it’s really nice to just get out of LA in a testosterone fueled way, you know–rattle the bones and shake the cobwebs off, and this weekend my brutha from anutha country, Jakob, was in town from Copenhagen and we got on a couple of Road Kings and headed north on the coast highway, breathing in the salt air, wind on our faces, feeling every bit the Kings of the Road. Continue reading “The Road Kings”