Photography Class

Photography Class
11/10/10

I started taking a photography class through STL Community College last night. I’m trying to get the basics down, so I can stop having to butcher my photos in Photoshop to make them look half way decent.

I want them perfect in the camera, and then I can ruin them later in Photoshop.

Anyway, it inspired me to shoot some stuff today on the way to and from work. Here’s a few shots that I liked.

By the way, the shot of the Parking Meter is probably the best photograph I have ever taken. It will be hard to top that, and I wasted it on a parking meter.

Hakuna Matatah… Awesome Photo…

Hakuna Matatah… Awesome Photo…
08/22/09

Saw this on Ffffound, which saw it on Threadless, which got it from someone who either took an amazing photo, or had a clever idea for a photoshop project.

Either way this is a funny shot.

Thought I’d share.

Chuck Anderson – Day 2

Chuck Anderson – Day 2
08/6/09

I’m thinking of making this a daily thing.

Each day, I rip off Chuck Anderson’s NOPATTERN style. And each day you look at it.

By daily I mean I did it yesterday, and I’m doing it today. That might be as long as my scattered brain will take this. Let me know what you think of my monkey.

Original:

ChuckStyle:

Alright.

Now as for commenting on my blog. It has once again been brought to my attention that people are having trouble commenting. That makes me sad because I love reading comments. I’ll try to fix it, the only advice/request I can give you is to keep trying to post you coments. Multiple times. Maybe even copy and paste before you submit, then if it doesn’t go through, you can just paste it again as opposed to retyping.

It’s not ideal, but I’m working on it. You can also post on my Facebook page.

Chuck Anderson

Chuck Anderson
08/5/09

I have spoken a bit about Chuck Anderson and his NOPATTERN identity on here before. He’s a designer that I really respect.

I have been trying to mimic his style lately and I finally have one that is about 1% as good as his stuff, so I thought I’d share.

Here’s my attempt.

It’s not bad, but here’s his version.

Damn. I’ll keep trying.

Wisdom from Andrew Zuckerman

Wisdom from Andrew Zuckerman
04/23/09

I have been seeing this book, Wisdom, around for a while. On design sites, in bookstores and on Amazon.com. However, I didn’t know there was a film associated with it. I saw this trailer for the film thanks to this really cool blog Changethethought.com.

Wisdom – Introduction from SLNSW on Vimeo.

Aside from the superb design, layout and art direction of the book and portraits, the film adds another level to this historical chronicle of figures over the age of 65 speaking about their lives, what they have learned and their perception of the wisdom that is supposed to come with age. Actually hearing the voices associated with the face and the story is tremendously impactful.

Look at this line-up of great figures of our time:
Chuck Close
Clint Eastwood
Nelson Mandela
Bill Withers
Jane Goodall
Dave Brubeck
Ted Kennedy
Buzz Aldren
And like 40 more more amazing people…

Everything about this is really smart and beautiful. Just the concept of all theses figures speaking about their experiences, and their take on a similar subject is a conversation for the ages.

Wisdom is directed by photographic master Andrew Zuckerman. He specializes in that super high contrast, high resolution, HDR style of photography, where every detail of a photo is present and beautiful. Take a look at some of his photos from his last project Creature:

The great thing about this is that the 60 minute film comes Free with the book Wisdom. You can buy it here. It’s like $30, which is not bad for what would be a perfect coffee table book, but also I can’t think of a better gift for someone who is either approaching that 65 age, or just starting out their adult lives.

Check out this book and film, and if you don’t find inspiration from the photos, people or stories you might need a hug.

Fun work

Martin Luther King Tribute
06/1/10

I wanted to attempt this style  in February, and being Black History Month I chose the Rev. as my muse.

His face is made up of the words of his epic Lincoln Memorial “I have a dream…” speech.

Take a look. I am having it framed as I type.

Smoking Goat Branding
04/1/10

I like beer.

Beer high in flavor, alcohol and price. I brew at home, but wouldn’t consider myself very good at this point. I’m working on it.

We have friends in Louisiana who I would consider really good. I designed some branding for their forthcoming brewery down there.

The Smoking Goat will hopefully be amazing, especially if I get some good beer out of the deal.

Have a look. Then drink a beer and have a look again. Continue this process until the logo looks awesome.

New Poster
02/4/10

This is a poster I made for my buddy Dustin.

A classic quote from him as we drove by Effingham, IL’s infamous and huge cross.

I thought it would look good in his new apartment.

Sheltered Perceptions
01/6/10

I recently got the chance to work on a project for the Humane Society. Given the fact that every time I walk into an animal shelter I have to be talked down from taking home every animal in the place, I was happy to help in anyway I could.

With the majority of pet buying in the United States coming from breeders, mall pet shops and unfortunately mills, animal shelters (specifically the Humane Society) are left overflowing with pets that need loving homes. They are running into a perception problem however, and many misconceptions about shelter pets are accepted as fact, and often repeated as such.

To get past this, we decided to take the problem head on, and address the most common misconceptions individually.

Here is where we landed:

Lauren and Dan sit’n in a tree…
01/5/10

My good friend Lauren is getting married in July, and though I am extremely jealous of her fiance Dan (don’t tell my wife), I made their save the date cards.

I use VistaPrint to print these types of things. Though the quality suffers, and the rumor is that they are destroying local community printers nationwide, for the price they can’t be beat. Check them out next time you want to customize your own holiday card or invitation.

Here’s how Lauren’s STDs turned out: