29 April, 2007

Casting Shadows

How often do you actually look around? I know that I am more often in between the places I need to be, but very rarely do I look around. It's already familiar, the same thing I see every day. It's not that exciting. I think that was one of the motivations behind my new series, "Casting Shadows." It's like the old saying, "stop and smell the roses." Well, in this case, it's "open your eyes and look around."

Shadows are an interesting thing to look at because it is almost impossible to see the exact same shadow cast the same same. It is dependant on time of day, the angle you see it, even the atmospheric conditions, so what you see one day will not be precisely the same the next. So open your eyes and look around.

Cast Shadows


The Sentry


Curiosity

22 April, 2007

Studio Work

I initially believed that much of my photography would focus on portraits, events, and in general, people. I did not realize that I would end up enjoying studio work as much as I do. Yes, you will here me complain about the endless hours of prep, as well as the endless hours trying to get the perfect shot, but there is almost something soothing about the whole thing. From the fine focus control to the need to see a thousand different pictures in a single object. Most of these are older images, but they haven't been shown here before, so I apologize for those of you that were hoping for something new.
















08 April, 2007

Kiwanis One Day

As a part of Kiwanis One Day, an annual event in which all branches of the Kiwanis Organization gather together to do a project in the community, I attended the Golden Kiwanis Easter Egg Hunt. (As a side note, by "hunt" I mean all the eggs are layed out in plain site so children can find them.) The weather proved to be the challenge as freezing temperatures and a healthy amount of snow kept everyone shivering. Of course, the event was well attended, which is not surprising when you realize that someone is giving out free candy. In terms of photographing the event, I had the same type of challenges that I had at the Circle K International District Convention; how do you get distinctive pictures at what can easily be a "grit and grin" type of event. I think I got a good start, but definitely still need some practice. The only other thing was that I was trying for some very good images that would translate beautifully into black and white prints, but as one would image, the focus of the images certainly became the color, especially with the weather.




One more thing to note: with my commitment to service leadership and community service, this will hopefully be the start of a new project I am tenetavily titling "Seasons of Service." This project will take a look at the different types community service that occurs during different parts of the year. Let's hope that there are some very distinctive service opportunities that are held specifically with the change of the seasons.