As Summer Begins (at school, that is)

So the first week of school is officially over for me.  I don't know if I should take the time to type "yeay!" or not.  I guess I just did.  Anyway - it was a good week.  I like all my classes, and I think the classmates I have in them are all quite awesome.  I like what we're going to be doing in Fashion class on Mondays, Digital Photographic Art Direction on Tuesdays, Alternative Processes II and Portraiture on Wednesdays...  I've scheduled myself for darkroom time at school on Sundays, late, just before they close.

I'm really looking forward to posting the images created this quarter here.  I'm also working on creating a web site for myself that is more professional, less bloggy, and full of imagery that is conducive to me actually getting a gig somewhere with cool companies that like what I do.

Let's see...  With Fashion, I'm looking at doing something that will be a bit on the whimsical side - hopefully my location pans out and I'm able to execute my vision for the shoot.  It's almost too simple of a shoot, with minimal equipment and all that, but sometimes the simplest things become a wet bag of worms.

With Digital Photographic Art Design, I'm going to be paired up with a nice graphic designer to create an ad campaign of some sort that is a bit on the editorial side.  My alley.

Alternative Process will be pretty cool with the prints we're to create - one of the processes, something unpronounceable by mere mortals, seems like it will potentially yield some amazing images.  Stoked.

Portraiture will have some envelope pushing potential, and I'm really looking forward to working with the people in the class.

But, before I can post anything here from school, I have to do homework!  And I'm still formulating some of the imagery I need to compose and stuff. So, until I can share my images with the blogosphere, I will leave you with some older images I did with a gentleman named Darrell who is a Yoga instructor in Virginia.  He's a very awesome individual and will BEAT YOU UP in Yoga.  I remember bleeding internally through my eyes under his instruction.  It was THAT good.

These were for you, Jennifer.... ;)

Becoming New Again

Have you ever gotten something from somewhere, or made something with your hands and really liked the way it came out, put it away (or moved a few times, misplacing it in some haphazard box), and then forgot about it for a while?  Have you then found that 'thing' and looked at it with "new eyes" (a new perspective)  and made changes to it with the upgrades and updates to your thoughts and feelings?

I have.

I've taken some images that I thought were pretty outstanding - but I dislike what I do for the most part.  Well, it's not that I dislike it, I just feel I should be doing "better" than I am, and I'm my own worst critic (reference "Not Good Enough").

So while on this 'summer break' from college, I went strolling through some of my 'older' images and attempted to exercise my creative muscles I toned during this past quarter and quarters prior.  I must say that the ability to change the image I had first taken into something more appealing (at least to me), made me smile a bit.

As from the post before this, I had images of Justin that I had 'thrown away' because of some sort of technical, esthetic, emotional, stupid reason and shelved them in the depths of my hard drive.

Taking the time to separate Justin from the background and using the tools I gathered in my Digital Illustration class, I was able to allow a more fatally flawed image to become a pretty good black and white portrait of a physically fit and handsome young man in his prime.

Not wanting to leave well enough alone, I went for another...

I did the same with the image above.  I took Justin from the background and manipulated both it and he separately.  I wanted to ensure I still was able to use the tools in my 'tool belt' and see if my new perspective on images made a difference on a shot that I would have formerly discarded as a misfortunate loss.

I know I should put up the original, but I don't want to spoil the imagery that I've created here.  I think that the law of primacy is in full effect here, and the image you all see first, will be the one you will remember best.  So to taint that image with my flaws, would be sad, IMHO.  I mean, if this was to be some sort of tutorial, I would gladly put up the originals and show the process of making the end product, like I did with "Something Old".

These are just about beautiful imagery to caress the eyes of the viewer who takes pleasure in them.

I was asked when I was going to take images of women like this.  I didn't want to answer.  I think there are SO many beautiful images of women out there in various stages of pose, dress, attitude, circumstance, lighting, color... that is exhausting.  There are few images of men that are as stunning as of women, so I would like to be one of those photographers that do the masculine form a bit of justice.