08 December, 2012

It's About Seeing Starz

 Well, it's taken a while, but here we go. As many of you know, I've been photographing the Starz Denver Film Festival for nigh on five years now. That's impressive, especially in the idea of the photographs that come out of it. You'd think that ultimately you would get the same images every year, and to some extent you would be correct, except for the fact that the people would be different. I'm kidding, but that is the challenge of photographing something so long: you get into old habits and you see the same thing and you make the same image. For the one person that follows my blog, you'll recall that the first (maybe second? man I'm old) film festival I photographed came with one little saying that I have carried with me every since: See with new eyes. You have to in order to continue creating. So take a gander at this years recap of the festival, one which deals mostly with light and dark (a common theme on this blog) and the people at the festival. Enjoy! and maybe we'll stop in again before the annual photo a day project, which is right around the corner.

Festival Director Britta Erickson introduces the film Shadow Dancer at the L2 Events and Cultural Center

Actor Ed Lauter speaks with students following a screening of his film The Fitzgerald Family Christmas

Festival founder Ron Henderson speaks prior to a panel discussion on Childhood Domestic Violence
Director Zach Weintrab waits to speak with students following his film The International Sign of Choking

Director Onur Tukel speaks with students following a screening of his film Richard's Wedding
Actor Mark Ivanir poses on the Red Carpet prior to a screening of his film A Late Quartet



20 October, 2012

Corey Feldman is Boss

Corey Feldman at Mile High Horror Festival

There really isn't anything else to add, it's all true. But yes, Corey Feldman engaged audiences at the Mile High Horror Fest in celebration of his film Lost Boys. The entire weekend was filled to the brim with horror enthusiasts, special guests, and served as a good warm up to the upcoming Starz Denver Film Festival. I didn't see you at the Mile High Horror Festival, I hope to see you at the Starz Denver Film Festival.

28 September, 2012

That's What Artists Are For

So this happened last week.

Wayne White at the Denver Film Center Colfax for Beauty is Embarrasing
This is Wayne White. He is awesome. He is a truly imaginative artist who, after watching the wonderful documentary about him, Beauty is Embarrassing, turns out I have been a fan since I was little, watching Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Beakman's World, and many others. He came to speak about his life and his film and it was amazing. One of the things that really struck me was his absolute love of art and his passion for getting people to do art, and do what they love. Specifically, he said

"The world is dying for stuff made of love, and that's what artists are for."

This applies to everyone in my opinion, because the world would be a much better place if everyone had the courage to just do what they love.

And as a side note, I this person really epitomizes that sentiment.

Amanda Palmer at Twist and Shout Denver
Amanda Palmer, one half if I am correct, of the once and future Dresden Dolls, and now out on her own making great music. More than that, she is an incredible personality, full of passion and a strong believer in the whole do what you love thing.

So that's the latest and best update from my little corner of the world. More to come eventually? We'll try, but I can't promise it will be quick. So go, as Amanda's husband would say, "Make good art."

28 August, 2012

It's all about the moment

As you know, it's all about, as our good friend Henri Cartier-Bresson would say, "the decisive moment." It can occur at any time, from the cyclist pushing to be the best at the USA Pro cycling challenge,


or an otter being punched in the schnoz.


Indecently, the otters weren't in some odd re-enactment of Fight Club, but were as otters are want to do, "rastlen'. "  And tangentially, while the USA Pro Challenge showcases some of the best cyclists in the world, this is the image that I was drawn to take.


Make of that what you will.

15 August, 2012

On Being Busy


So it seems we have once again come to that crucial point in any blog: When you have things to blog about, you don't have time to blog, and when you have time to blog you have nothing to blog about. This is mostly a case of the former.

It's been rather busy, which is good, and while in the mire of editing, this little gem stood out and said "look at me!" This here is the lovely and talented Meiko. She plays music and is quite good. Check out her website if you don't believe me. I had the opportunity to photograph her during a performance at Red Rocks Amphitheater for Film on the Rocks. You can click on those and check them out for yourself, but it's safe to say it is an awesomely fun time, even if awesomely is not an actual word.  Well, back to it then.

19 July, 2012

Those Above

Those Above

It's been a while since I got a really good cast shadow on here. Feels good.

16 July, 2012

Good Things


It's good that the summer has been so busy, but at the same time, I feel bad that I can't provide for my one reader. As they say, there just never seems to be enough time in the day. You'd think we'd have figured out time travel by now.

10 July, 2012

Empty Spaces

Empty Spaces

Even when it's empty, the space is still filled. What memories linger in these spaces? What will remain when you leave?

05 July, 2012

Go North! Redux

I went North again. That's pretty much all there is to that.

04 July, 2012

The 4th of July and The Magic of Banocolate

Happy 4th of July everyone! Here is a scene from the Civic Center Independence Eve Celebration with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra! Put on primarily by the Civic Center Conservancy, this has become a wonderful family tradition.

 And after feeling particularly inspired after a Banocolate (I'll let you figure out the pronunciation of that) shake at a late night post fireworks run on Steak and Shake, I final put together a Warhol inspired piece, which I have been trying to do for a while, I just hadn't found the right image.

Hope you've had a lot of fun, did not set anything on fire and have kept all of your appendages and follicles.

01 July, 2012

Go North!


I went North and this what I saw. Then I went back South, thus equilibrium was maintained.

17 June, 2012

A Dash of Elegance

I assure you that I am not neglecting this blog. There's a lot in process at the moment, including a great rooftop party featuring the amazing musical talents of Ian Cooke with the Denver Film Society, as well as A trip to the Denver Comic Con with ASIFA Colorado. As I said, these are currently in progress, but I wanted to give a shout out to the fine folks at Geek Chic and their booth, which featured their new Kickstarter project: Mustache Monocles.

These were great guys and dare I say they had, hands down, the best booth at the Denver Comic Con. They managed to showcase all of their beautiful products without it being cluttered, which is an often occurrence at festivals and conventions. Not only that, they had a barker! Who does that these days? Only those seeking to add a dash of elegance to your life. So thanks Geek Chic, you put on a fine show and I can't wait to add your fine works to my household when I get the chance.

Geek Chic Mustache Monocle
A fine Gentleman selling his wares.

Mustache Emporium
The Mustache Emporium, for all your Mustaching needs.

Mustache Monocle Classic
I added this dash of elegance to my own wardrobe, and yes, I am waiting for the Mustache Wax.
Yep, as much as I say I don't shoot product in studio anymore, I do seem to do it often enough.

14 June, 2012

Robots in the Garden. Worse than Rabbits.

When you get an idea, just go with it, even if it's in the middle of the night. It may not come out perfect, but it just needs time to grow. It's a seedling that your robots need to tend to, and maybe your robots don't help it to grow into a mighty oak, but that one idea will lead to others. You'll have all these ideas, some great, some not so much, but they'll be there, ready for you take them and shape them into something grand. So get out of bed and create. You can sleep in tomorrow.

03 June, 2012

Chalky, and a Little Wet


For those of you have been diligently looking over the blog, you would have realized a distinct lack of posts. Well, that's not exactly uncommon because you have been looking at the blog long enough that you know that sometimes I get busy. But to appease the masses, and my own sanity, you will gladly note that basically festival season is upon us once again. Specifically, we are starting off with the Denver Chalk Art Festival!


We did get a little bit of rain at the end of the first day. For the most part it didn't affect too much. You'd think that it would just wash away all of the art, reminding us of the fleeting-ness of emotion, the nature of art as a momentary, in-tangential, unknowable reflection of ourselves. (For those wondering what the reflective cylinder is, it's a reflector set up to "straighten out" the eventual chalk art, which is drawn with a great amount of distortion. It's a visually stunning trick, though they do it every year, even if the image itself changes.)


Or maybe you didn't think of that. Actually, many of the artists use pastels, which while similar to chalk, proved a little more sturdy than the old green slate chalk we grew up with.




In the end there were great little moments among what had to be record crowds and the final day rounded out without any more rain. (Though, it has been extremely warm of late and a little rain would be kinda nice. Just sayin.)

Oh! And I did take the ol' Full Vue out to the festival. We'll see how things develop and if there's anything worth revisiting later.

22 May, 2012

Annular, not Annual

Did you catch the Annular Solar Eclipse this past weekend? We didn't get a complete annular eclipse due to a host of things including our position in space, but it was impressive nonetheless.



I had the wonderful opportunity to view it from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, who had many great activities throughout the afternoon, along with several telescopes set up for stargazing. They also had this great view, which held us over while the clouds trumbled past.


Clickin to embiggen.

19 May, 2012

Another Day Out


 I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot at the Denver Botanic Gardens the other day, which featured Kizuna West Meets East as its primary exhibition, a celebration of Japanese influence on western culture and specifically a focus on bamboo.


Installations by artists Tetsunori Kawana and Stephen Talasnik are abound in an absolutely stunning presentation. Also, there's just some really amazing natural-y things. You should totally check it out.







And this is just a part of the sculpture garden, which unfortunately I did not get the artist for. I have shot this particular piece before for those of you that recall. You'd think I would have written it down then. Nope.

18 May, 2012

To Be or Not to Be or the Question of the Identiy Project

When you were little, what did you wanted to be when you grew up? Maybe you wanted to be a dinosaur!



Or maybe you wanted to be a robot! Powered by clockwork!

 

Well, as is the case, that always seems to be fine and dandy when you are little. We grow up, and we become something. Maybe that something is what we dreamed we'd be, but more often than not, we fall into our chosen professions. And that is who we become. Somehow, somewhere, we decided that what we do is who we are. I'm not sure that sits right with me. The big thing is that it lets society define who you are and not the other way around. We, as individuals, should be the ones to define what society is, yet the utter failure of that is evident if you just look at society today (politics anybody? Seriously, didn't anybody tell them to treat people the way you want to be treated?)

So where does this all fit in? For those of you keeping track, today is one of those retrospective days as we close out the year and it seems I've always been trying to define exactly where I fit in the world. Everyone is doing it, so don't worry, but it's one of those things that I think we need to re-engage with. We tell kids that they can be anything when they grow up and many of them make it, fulfill their dreams and I am happy for them. But are they the better off for it? Those that follow the straight line course achieve what they set out to, but what do they miss along the way? I for one have not followed the straight and narrow, but wandered the board a bit and I can honestly say it has been amazing, from the places I've been to the people I've met. Yes, there were (are) quite a few bumps along the way, but every little bump has helped shape who I am. Certainly, society has this idea of who I am, lumping me into a category, but it doesn't matter. So my advice for the coming year: deviate from the beaten path. Learn something completely unrelated to your job. Don't get settled into what society thinks you should be. And most importantly, have some fun while you're at it. You are who you choose to be.

Also, if you're so inclined to see more of the Identity Project, check out the ol' website. Yep, shameless plug.

03 May, 2012

Babies! On the March!


You'd think babies would tire easily, but they do not! It's been another great year shooting for the March of Dimes Colorado and their annual March for Babies, which was this past weekend. And for those of you wondering, I still have no babies of my own (other than a particular Lensbaby).


This year was much like years past, lots of dedications, lots of color, lots of babies, but this year did see a significant change. This is the first year that the March for Babies was held in City Park and what a great place to hold the annual walk! First, it's self contained so no more worries about getting hit by cars or turning down the wrong street or racing to catch a mall shuttle to get ahead of the pack. Second, there is so much grass! It's like A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat! It definitely made the whole feel of the event much more friendly like a big picnic! Which there was, sponsored by K-mart, as well as games and activities and even some warm up Zumba lessons! Yeah, I'm definitely considering "gettin jiggy wit it" for those of you that are old enough to remember.


And at the end of the day, it really is all about healthy kids. And a magic show. Cause magic shows are cool. Also, can you believe that this is my fifth year shooting this great event? Seriously, you'd think I'd have a baby by now.

And in case you were wondering, the Denver march raised just around 1 million dollars. None too shabby. Them babies have some deep pockets.

22 April, 2012

Look at, not Through the Window.


Sometimes the view of the window is just as nice as the view outside of it.

15 April, 2012

Doors Open

Hope you had an opportunity to check out Doors Open Denver, which if you didn't know is a wonderful opportunity to check out some of the amazing architecture around Denver. With 80 sites this year and a "Landmarks" theme, you could have seen many great sites from historic hotels to firehouses to the Governor's mansion. Can you guess where these were taken? (It should be pretty easy.)




Clickin to embiggin!