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The Commander In Chief Plays Soccer

Did you ever just want to shout something out loud?. This is number one of a two-parter, and I got the idea for this image some time ago and just decided to put it together. Take whatever meaning you want from it, in fact I would like to hear what other people get from it, for my part I’m a very-few-words kind of guy. Maybe that’s why I make images.

I actually didn’t take any of the photos used in this composite, even though I had planned to in my original concept, but I did license them from iStockPhoto. I don’t know if I would ever offer licenses to my work through royalty free sites, but if it works for other photographers, more power to them. I do believe strongly in paying for intellectual property and frown on the practice of grabbing images off the web, especially when they are copyrighted, as are all of the images on this web site.

The are more composite images coming, and I am going to add a whole page of them to my online portfolio, so keep looking here for more updates and cool images. Now I have to go outside and take photos of the black helicopters that keep circling my house…

A Quiet Bright Reedsong

In school I learned that composition, emulsion, color, exposure, distortion, depth of field, are important elements in creating an image; creating a way for the viewer to see things through your eyes.

When I had the opportunity to spend time with a group of Whirling Dervishes from Turkey, I learned a lot of things about culture, music and life, but when I struggled with printing the images I had made from that brief time, I found that the right exhibit medium is every bit as important a decision as camera techniques. Silver-gel printing techniques did not quite capture the time I spent with the Dervishes: I was looking for images that were both timeless and yet portrayed the Semazens (as they are called in Turkey) as they are: devout; simple; kind. During this time I stumbled upon the process of lith printing and found the soft tonal distribution and colorful mid-tones to perfectly represent my image of the dervishes. When I further treat the prints in a hot bath of selenium the color turns to a warm brown and adds excellent archival protection.

I have published the series in my portfolio. If you are interested in prints from this series, they come in 8” X 10” and 11” X 14” copies on fine art lith paper from Sterling. Contact me directly for pricing.

Dominican Republic

 

While shooting a project in the Dominican Republic for Microsoft I spent a little time walking through a barrio just outside of Santo Domingo. At first there weren’t many people around, but an old woman invited me into her home to show me photos of her son who was serving with the U.S. Army.


By the time I had gotten out of the house, word had gotten around and the project Producer and myself had gone from anonymous to a curiosity to celebrity. Soon the streets were buzzing with activity and my camera was drawing a lot of attention from the neighborhood children. At one point an old man waved me into his yard. He really wanted me to see his bible, for some reason.

Later, back in Santo Domingo I came across a few other kids playing in the street. They were all very interested in the camera and really wanted their pictures taken. Soon they swarmed around me like a band of bees. More kids kept coming out from alleyways, huts, seemingly everywhere. Soon I was swimming in a sea of children.

Not sure why the people of the DR are so interested in just having their pictures taken. They were not like people from any other place I had been to: most 3rd world countries, people want you to take their picture, but then they have their hands out, and in America… well, I’m from Hollywood which has it’s own brand of jaded-ness, but most folks here won’t let you take a photo of them before first negotiating the price. Not in the DR. They just simply seemed to be excited about having their pictures taken.

 

 

 

That perfect moment

Have you ever had the notion that kids are much smarter than adults? I mean really young kids. It’s as if they have a certain natural wisdom they are born with that sometimes gets corrupted as they grow older.

This is Vayle. I made this image while I was visiting her parents in Portland. I first thought this moment was perfect because the way the sun back lit her and made her white-yellow hair glow, and how the light played off the hardwood floor. Then I notice that this is both a child in motion and one who is very focused. And as I look into the eyes in this image I see knowledge well beyond this child’s‘ couple of years. It is as though she is secretly saying; “click that shutter now camera boy, because in 1/60th of a second I’ll be gone.”