While obviously a few years old now, I can't see not posting this picture on Christmas. Me and one of my best friends, and one of the best photogs I know, Ely.
"The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!" Luke 2:11
Happiest Christmas and a blessed New Year to everyone
I was first made aware of the Sleeping Giants project on the skateboard photography forum I have been visiting and participating in for years now when the photographer behind the series posted looking for critique. Since then I have seen it linked from a number of sites including the blog of a photographer I follow from New York and the San Francisco art site Fecal Face. I have been seeing work from Brooks Reynolds on Agro (back to when it was still SkateboardPhotography.com) for some years now and clicked the link to be brought to a simple flash gallery filled with compelling images that, in my opinion, accomplish what they set out to do:
"Summer nights encompass some of the most unforgettable times of our lives. There is a certain mystery contained in the darkness & tension. In 48 photographs, ‘WE ARE SLEEPING GIANTS” eludes to the stories of youth, isolation & nearly supernatural experiences during this annual epoch."
I was going to gush about Brooks's use of light and effectiveness of capturing whats really an indefinable mood, but just go look at the images. They speak for themselves.
For a while now I have been seeing photos around the internet, a lot of them band group shots, with a particular over-sharpened kind of desaturated look to them. Sometimes it works really well, other times it is wildly overdone and looks terrible, but regardless I was interested and wanted at least to know how it is done. So, with some experimenting, I figured it out. Or one of what I'm sure is many many versions of it. For the image to try it out on, I set up a quick self-portrait in my cramped and cluttered studio apartment. To Try something else out, I threw some color-correction gels on my strobes that I recently purchased. The key light has a 1/4 CTO gel and the rim has a 1/4 CTB.
It turned out kind of interesting. I am not completely sold on this kind of over-processed look, but it seems like people who are doing it are getting a lot more work than I am presently, so it is clearly not a bad technique to have in my toolbox, and when it's done well I think it has real potential. So, what do you think?
With the Nikon D90 in stores and the new Canon 5D Mark II shipping now, there are some extremely interesting new worlds opening to photographers as each of these DSLR bodies also shoots HD Video. As a skateboard photographer (one who hates sequences at that) I am not sure I am excited about the notion of skaters asking/telling you to just film a trick instead of shooting a photo, but having the equipment available for instances when a photo just is not going to happen may be a way for photographers to supplement their skate-related income, all while further flooding the already over-saturated skate-filmer market.
Concerns and points of interest are plentiful with this new technology, but it looks like the quality of the video is not going to be of concern what-so-ever, as is evident in this short film shot by photojournalist Vincent Laforet using the new Canon 5D Mark II. Check it out before the server gets overloaded again and have your mind blown.
So I recently took a technological step forward and upgraded my phone to a Blackberry Curve. Said Blackberry has kept me more connected via internet than ever, so it is not too much of a surprise that I recently started another blog on tumblr to house a different kind of photos. Here's the rundown:
The End of June brings me back to southwest Illinois to photograph Cornerstone Festival. I have been here for just over 24 hours and am completely exhausted already (not to mention hungry and sunburnt). I will see what I can do to post on here as the fest goes on, but be on the lookout for my photos in the "Live Coverage" section of the Cornerstone website.
In spite of the amount of "work" (the quotation marks are important here) I have to do here, the decreasing number of bands I care to see, and the lack of company, cornerstone remains one of my favorite times of the year.
I realize today is Thursday, really I do. And while I don't think there were too many people holding their breath for a photo post yesterday, I'll just say that when it came down to blogging or riding my skateboard, I chose the latter More to come
..And you know what that means PHOTO DAY! BLAISE WAGENSOMER with a nollie BS Lip in Sherman Oaks, California from my last trip out there. The colors got a little sucked out in uploading, but it'll do. Sorry for the wait, Blaise! I just remembered I think I heard Blaise would be in town this week, if that's the case give me a call!
I've been slacking on updating, and the posts have admittedly been rather unphotographic, particularly considering the subtitle to this blog is "A photographic supplement". Therefore, I am instituting PhotoDayWednesday, because while they may not be the best, my photos are inarguably more interesting than my life as of late. SO HERE GOES:
ELY PHILLIPS comin through with the crailslide at Wilson This is the photo that was run with his little interview last month in FTK Mag, so in case you already saw that, to be fair I'll throw in another one
THOMAS CHRPA threw down for this photo to help me finish my studio final. The ollie wasNOT a land, but as far as my final goes, he really came through in a pinch for me.
so there you have it, I'll do my best to keep up with PhotoDayWednesday, and maybe even get some photos in in between as well. So, what do you say, DO YOU LIKE IT?
I got another photo run this month, and it couldn't be better for you, the reader. Why? Because not only did I shoot the photo, but it is of my good buddy Ely, and it accompanies a short interview with him regarding the wild world of skateboard photography. You can view the magazine online, just by clicking the cover below then again on the FTK site, or pick up a FREE copy at any fine skateboard retailer.
So much going on this week. Got out shooting skating for the first time in...months..over the weekend. Shot with ELY and got one that may run in FTK. Last week I came out of class to this:
so that sucked real bad, but I replaced the stolen wheel with a slight upgrade:
I've been putting the new wheel to good use at work. Monday I kept very busy and as a bonus got hooked up with some excellent car-rate runs as well and for my final run of the day my dispatcher offered a sunny ride way up northwest; I graciously accepted
So this week I had 1 Research Paper for History of the American City, 1 Ad recreation for Studio Lighting 2, a sculptural piece due in 3D Deisgn, and a group presentation in History of Photography with an accompanying response paper, all along with 3 full days of work. Needless to say I'll be glad when I can close the book on this week. But I did get a new bike...
I was awake on my couch late last night/early this morning working on a paper and around 4:40 the room seemed to be shaking, but I brushed it off as some adverse effect of my lack of sleep. I only just realized it wasn't a creation of my sleep-deprived mind when I just saw on the news that a 5.4 earthquake shook Chicago.
The past few weeks have been busy to say the least. Since the trip to Canada it's back to the routine, Monday work 8-6. Tuesday class 1030-5. Wednesday, the killer, work 8-6, class 6-10. Thursday class 1030-4. Friday work 8-7. Any "free time" on weekdays is generally spent working on papers/projects for school and weekends I just try to get enough sleep to make it through the next week. I love my job and I like my classes, but through all this its difficult to find time to see my friends and not lose my mind, and both of these things will get increasingly difficult with more projects and papers and tax season at work all coming up this next month. SO this weekend, with the first 2 consecutive days of 60+ degree weather I pushed all this nonsense aside and just enjoyed God's beautiful earth. Yesterday I went to the zoo and visited some aminals, and today I checked out a new church with Kate, and before riding around aimlessly in the sunshine I ordered a new bike frame, which while exciting to me, would bum Brian Anderson way out.
One thing weighing heavily on me this semester is the workload from my Studio Lighting 2 class. At least 3 significant projects still lie ahead this next month for this class alone. My midterm was the cause of this face, but it finally got done and while I'm not extremely excited about how it came out I am hugely thankful to Jeannette, Kate, Bob and Geoff for helping me out. So before I get to the point of hating these pictures I will post them up The assignment was "Hollywood Portraits"
It's the freakin weekend baby, and I had me some fun
For all my years listening to Maiden I have said that if they ever toured with Bruce Dickinson anywhere near me I would pay any amount to see them. I was finally presented with that oppurtunity when they announced their Somewhere Back In Time World Tour, and as a bonus they would only be playing songs from Powerslave and Somewhere In Time(plus a little Killers and fear of the Dark), the golden age of Maiden. So with my ticket and a mapquest map to "Toronto, Ontario, Canada" in hand, and no further plans me and tucker loaded up the car and hit the road.
Tucker took dat one, and these next 2 After another night sleepin at the Honda Civic Hotel we jammed around the city some more, explored queen st west, and saw a gnarly bum fight, it was time for the most epic show of my life Beyond worth it all. Right after the show I met a buzzed Tucker at a cafe and once he finished his Canadian brew we hit the road for our 500 mile drive back to Chicago through the night to get Tucker back to his 10AM class A sunrise as cool as they come welcomed us to Indiana 9 hours, 500 miles later, we were back in Chicago, and with midterms this week my day had just begun, but it was all worth it
I'm a photographer born and raised in Chicago, living and working in Southern California. I love taking photos of skateboarding as much as I love riding one myself.
See all my work at http://PhilBlairPhoto.com
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