Life In Santa Barbara

Horse

2012-01-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

Equine.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

To see other random visual perceptions visit www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

Cherries

2012-01-09T13:59:00.000-08:00

I made this image a long time ago. It was published as a poster and sold all over the world.

Every once in a while I will get a Google alert that somebody, somewhere is trying to sell their framed version on ebay.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

To see other random visual perceptions visit www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

The Secret Life Of Koi

2012-01-05T10:42:00.000-08:00

At the main entrance of the Mauna Lani Hotel on the island of Hawaii there is a fantastic collection of Koi fish. Often I will be seen there taking in the kinetic energy of the water made by the fish as they scramble for food tossed in.

I have spent hours there making photographs with different cameras. The one I used here is a Holga camera. By deliberately not advancing the film enough each time I made images overlap. This blending together of exposures created one long strip of film without the typical breaks between frames.

Once the film was developed I scanned it. Then, I bookended and overlapped two versions of the image. By masking out one side I revealed this strange yet captivating image.

Kind of a Rorschach test to the max.

What do you see here?

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

To see other random visual perceptions visit www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

Still Winter

2011-12-22T14:26:00.000-08:00

Just because we can doesn't mean we should.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

To see other random visual perceptions visit www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

Christmas Forgotten

2011-12-19T09:59:00.000-08:00

I forgot and left these bulbs outside.

Sometimes the mistake we make is the inspiration we need.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

To see other random visual perceptions visit www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

Christmas Past: Spain 1978

2011-12-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

I remember seeing these hanging across the streets of Pasadena when I was growing up. I don't see them much any more.

I was visiting Spain during the 78-79 winter and found this one. I think it was in Granada.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

To see other random visual perceptions visit www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

Christmas is Coming

2011-12-15T09:55:00.001-08:00

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

To see other random visual perceptions visit www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

The Santa Clause

2011-12-13T14:35:00.000-08:00

With all the Santas around, how are you supposed to know which one is real?

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

To see other random visual perceptions visit www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

The Mrs. Clause

2011-12-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

Years ago I made this photo for a printing company in Los Angeles. I thought is would be fitting to put it here this season.

Enjoy!

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

To see other random visual perceptions visit www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

Airstream Travel Trailer Part 2

2011-12-09T08:37:00.001-08:00

This is my Airstream Travel Trailer. It is a 25 foot Safari built in 1999 or 2000. It is parked in one of my favorite camping spot in the Alabama Hills on the Eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.

I've camped in this exact spot many times. The afternoon sun sets early behind the Sierras to the West but still shines with Alpenglow on the White Mountains across the valley. Sunrise starts on Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the lower 48 states. If you get up early enough you can watch the golden light as it slides down from the tip-top. With foothills in between this spot and Whitney there is a truly beautiful moment when the mountains are completely aglow and the nearby hills are still in a cool shadow. That alone is worth the trip.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

To see other random visual perceptions visit www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

Airstream Travel Trailer

2011-12-08T12:18:00.002-08:00

I own an Airstream travel trailer. It is a 25 foot Safari built in 2000, or 1999. I bought it used originally to use during my Master's of Fine Arts Thesis project. You can see even more of that work on this blog. This image here is not my trailer but someone else's. I found it at a vintage trailer gathering in Buellton California last September.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

To see other random visual perceptions visit www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

Lone PIne 2

2011-11-28T09:23:00.001-08:00

Back in Lone Pine I found this guy.

Yep, that's a fanny pack worn in front and a bluetooth earpiece.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

To see other random visual perceptions visit www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

Lone Pine, California

2011-11-26T09:24:00.001-08:00

Yep, in Lone Pine there is a museum dedicated to film. The Hollywood type of films. I was watching Iron Man, with Robert Downey Jr. last night and I was reminded, it too was filmed in the

Alabama Hills.

The Alabama Hills are the foothills just outside of Lone Pine. Mt. Whitney lies just beyond them to the west. Every year Lone Pine has a film festival. Usually in the first week of October. I've been to three of them to make photographs. Twice during my MFA thesis project and once just this year (2011) for another art project.

I captured this gent right there in front of the museum during my thesis visits. This particular image did not make the final cut as I was limited to only 20 photos, but I always liked this guy's expression and stance.

To see more of my work please visit www.eliotcrowley.com

You can see other random visual perceptions at www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

In Training

2011-11-17T08:52:00.001-08:00

Plum Lake, Sayner, WI

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

You can see other random visual perceptions at www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

Ignacio

2011-11-16T08:56:00.001-08:00

I met Ignacio one afternoon while he was waiting for the bus. I had my camera and lights in the car, so I stopped and asked him if I could make his picture. He agreed and this is what I made. Ignacio has a knowing, weathered face with kindness written all over it.

If we don't take the time to stop and make the photo then it has been pre-edited... out. I believe it is better to edit after the exposure has been made, not before.

Take the picture.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

You can see other random visual perceptions at www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

THE VIEW FROM HERE

2011-11-15T08:14:00.001-08:00

To see more of my work visit www.eliot crowley.com

You can see other random visual perceptions at www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.comhttp://www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

Pasadena Changes

2011-11-14T08:13:00.001-08:00

My home town, Pasadena California, has gone through some changes since I last lived there. This is a railroad crossing for pedestrians. Odd, I thought.

To see more of my work, visit www.eliotcrowley.com

You can see other random visual perceptions at www.eliotcrowley.tumblr.com

Planes

2011-11-11T12:44:00.001-08:00

Widow

2011-11-10T09:32:00.001-08:00

I found this beauty inside the propane tank cover of my Airstream the other day.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

Old Vines

2011-11-09T09:57:00.001-08:00

Pulling Back The Curtain

2011-11-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

To see more of my work visit

www.eliotcrowley.com

99 Cents

2011-11-07T11:40:00.000-08:00

Never buy a house in neighborhoods with shopping carts on the sidewalks.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

TOOLS OF LABOR

2011-11-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

Years of dust have covered these neglected tools. I guess not much work is getting done.

Suzy Chaffee

2011-11-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

I met and photographed Suzy Chaffee during my MFA Thesis project.

She was skiing with this outfit on at Mammoth Mountain.

Former Student

2011-10-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

Donnally

A former student volunteered to model for me. I love the intensity of her gaze in this frame.

Nice Shoes, Hipstamatic style

2011-08-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

76 Union Station, Highway 101 in Carpinteria, CA

To see more of my work please visit www.eliotcrowley.com

More Hipstamatic

2011-08-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

Even lunch seems better with a photo to document it. This one was very good, at Tre Luna in Santa Barbara.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

iPhone camera, not Hipstamatic

2011-08-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art or LACMA as we call it, a while back and took this with the iPhone camera. You have to choose the right tool for the job. This time, the square format of the Hipstamatic wasn't going to do it for me.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

Hip HIpstamatic

2011-07-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

Still loving the fact that this camera is in my pocket.

Not a thing like my old 4x5 days, even the Speedgraphic I still have.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

It's not the camera...

2011-07-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

More Hipstamatic

These digital cameras just keep getting better and better. I can remember the days of Kodachrome and thinking it can't get any better than this. Thank you Paul Simon.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

Hipstamatic

2011-07-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm in. I love this Hipstamatic camera I can now carry in my pocket. Not only does it do a cool job with the captures but I always have it with me, like here at the carwash.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

Visions of Christo

2011-07-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

Every time I see a group of umbrellas I always think of Christo’s installation of The Umbrellas. His art was in two places at the same time, Japan and California. I visited the portion in California. It was an easy drive up Interstate 5 to see the yellow dotting the landscape.

I saw these in Idaho. We stopped for lunch on the lake in McCall Idaho.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

Rugby and the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation

2011-04-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

In 1989 a friend introduced me to a litter of puppies, Golden Retriever puppies. I chose one of the males to become my dog and named him Rugby. I remember the day I picked him up. He and I drove down to San Clemente where we spent the night at a friend’s house. I got my first lesson in beach etiquette the very next day when Rugby decided to “do his business” on the sand. Some girls said, “Are you going to clean that up?” This was just the beginning of a 15 ½ year adventure I would take with Rugby.

Rugs, as I sometimes called him, went everywhere with me. I trained him with help from Mathew Margolis Dog Trainer. During the training I was using hand signals along with the commands. Rugs learned quickly. Late in his life he could not hear a thing so those hand signals came in pretty handy. We traveled all over California and beyond together.

This photo of Rugby is one of my personal favorites. Rugs was even featured in a few advertisements I shot for clients. A photographer who shared my studio made photos of rock bands in the early 90’s. Rugby would somehow get into some of the photographs and eventually HitParader magazine did a feature article on Rugby and how he got to hang out with all these “Rockers”. During my time in the Groundling’s school I wrote a sketch called Rugby. I played the dog, Rugby. My interpretation was a bit more unruly than the namesake. But that was for the laughs.

Rugby’s greatest gift to me was his ability to be my ambassador. I met a woman in 1993, who had 2 teenage girls. When I walked into her house on one of our first dates with Rugby I think I won the hearts of her daughters. When we married I joined a family with 2 other dogs and a cat.

For the past few years I have been working with the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. I happily photograph portraits of the dogs and handlers so NDSDF can use them in their fundraising efforts. A while back, NDSDF asked if I would like to submit a name for a potential Search dog. I suggested Rugby, and now there is a new search dog named Rugby who will be helping in the search for survivors of disasters. The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is a wonderful organization and they do great work. I encourage all to do whatever you can for this effort.

Rugby; 3/21/89 -10/15/04

His ambassadorship continues.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

Toyland, Santa Clause Lane

2011-03-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

This toy-store was open for as long as I can remember. It was located, curiously enough on Santa Clause Lane in Carpinteria, CA. I'm not sure why it was called Santa Clause Lane, but for years there was a Santa Clause head, face and cap, being used for a roof of one of the buildings. My memory says there was a Reindeer Room Restaurant and a candy store that could have been named the Candy Cane. The Santa Clause head has been preserved and moved into Oxnard, a town about 30 miles south of here. You can see it from the freeway.

Toyland closed one day and I decided to record the event. Here is my photo in memory of Santa Clause Lane's Toy Store.

It's like this, Cat.

2010-12-19T16:06:00.000-08:00

A few months ago we got a new cat. He was sort of a rescue from Texas. We went around and around about a name for him and finally decided. His name is Stanley.

Stanley has quite a personality and seems to have a lot to say. Just wish I spoke feline.

To see more of my work visit www.eliotcrowley.com

Photography workshops

2010-12-10T12:13:00.000-08:00

Double T River Ranch
Clyde Park, Montana

Good friends, Addie and Mitch own a wonderful place called the Double T River Ranch in Clyde Park, Montana. Last October we had dinner there and spent the night in the most charming cabin. I took this photo there that afternoon. I began to think wouldn’t it be a perfect place for a photography workshop. The place can handle something like 20 people. The barn would be perfect for classroom style meetings. All the cabins, some on the river others near the barn, have wonderful bedrooms and living rooms. The scenery is endless, and there are two of these red grain-elevators for image making. You can fish right there on the property and close by is the Yellowstone River. If you are interested in something like this, visit my website and drop me an email.

To see more of my work, visit www.eliotcrowley.com

Fast note

2010-12-07T10:31:00.000-08:00

It has been too long.

I have been cheating on you. I have been blogging at another address and haven’t paid any attention here. I’m sorry, and I hope you can forgive me for leaving you this way. But I am back. Oh I’ll still be at that other address as well each month, but now I think I can pay attention to both places. From time to time I may fail. I am after all only human. Please be patient with me when I seem to be missing.

If you are in the Santa Barbara area on the day of one of the SEENs feel free to join.

To see more of my work visit, www.eliotcrowley.com.

New Formatting

2010-08-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

Check out the new formatting of this blog!!!!!

A friend of mine, Mark Harmel, came up to Santa Barbara for the day.

Mark as a "stand-in" or sit-in for a 395 portrait

Mark has helped me out many times. He spent a few days with me along US Highway 395 wrangling subjects and working the lighting. Since then Mark has become a real expert in all this social-media-internet-stuff and has done some work recently for the American Diabetes Association along with other clients.

We had lunch in downtown Santa Barbara and then headed for my studio where we spent a few hours working on this site getting it “fixed up” to look even better. Mark also helped me put some Google code in here so I could track visits to the blog. It was great to spend some time with Mark and become one of his clients. I did give him a check for his consulting services.

You might notice Mark is one of my followers. You too can become a follower. Click on the Follow button in the upper left of this page.

Thanks Mark.

To see more of my work check out my web site, www.eliotcrowley.com

Bridge Party

2010-07-13T16:23:00.000-07:00

Over this last weekend my wife and I went to Pasadena California to attend the "Bridge Party". Now, the Bridge Party is a fundraising opportunity for the Pasadena Heritage which has as it's mandate "Saving our Past for the Future". The Bridge in this case is the Colorado Street bridge which goes across the "Arroyo" area of Pasadena. This bridge is commonly known as "Suicide Bridge" to the locals as many people have used it to jump because it is so high and you can walk across it. Beyond that the bridge has appeared in many commercials, television shows and movies. it is truly beautiful.

I have made a few photographs of the bridge or on the bridge. Getting ready to go to Pasadena I looked in my archives and found these photos.

This one is circa 1993 or so.

The one below is about 1978. Notice this is the older version of the bridge.

It was rebuilt after the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989.

There were bands, food and libations all along the bridge to keep you occupied while just enjoying the weather. This Bridge Party was great fun and I recommend everyone go next time.

To see more of my work visit my web site at www.eliotcrowley.com

Santa Barbara, California Dreaming

2010-04-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

Years ago I made these photos on a whim. Well not really a whim, I had been thinking about making these images for about a year.

One day I went out and made them. They have become a symbol of mine and the most valuable photo session I have ever done.

If you are thinking about a photo you have been wanting to make, get out there and make it. You never know, it could be your iconographic image, your most valuable work.

I believe it is true not only because I have this personal experience but because that is the work I wanted to do. Do what it is you want to do now, and it could work for you the rest of your life.

Beyond Highway 395 in Death Valley

2010-04-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I spent a few days out beyond my favorite highway 395 in California at Death Valley National Park with some former students. Stewart Marcano, Brett Siegel, Liz Thurston and Adam Morris joined me there for some photo safari and adventure.

When I returned home and started looking at what we saw out there I began playing with the different treatments photographers can do to images.

First I ingested the files using a program called Lightroom, an Adobe product. I like to use Lightroom because it allows me to put keywords and other Metadata attached to the files as they are being uploaded to my hard drive. Once all the exposures have been copied off the card from the camera I rate the images using the star style rating Lightroom supplies. Once that is complete it is much easier to find those photos worth spending more time with. In the development mode I made adjustments to exposure, color temperature, clarity, vibrance, saturation and some selected colors using the luminance sliders. All this took very little time. Then I exported the images to a file where they appeared with all the development instructions I had assigned using Lightroom.

At this point I was already happy with how the pictures looked but thought there could be some improvement or at least some difference seen if I opened them using Photoshop, another Adobe product, and made further adjustments.

These are four different exposures of the same subject, taken one right after another. These were done using a hand held Canon 5d, so there are slight differences in the cropping of the frame, but they are basically the same.

This is how the image looked as instructed by Lightroom.

Then I added a curves layer to adjust the contrast.

On top of that I added a layer of selective color. In there I adjusted the the black color layer adding more black essentially making the darks even darker. And then the white layer taking away black making the whites even lighter. The end result is an image with more apparent contrast.

At this point I thought what else can I do with this shot. So, I added another layer called Hue/Saturation. Dialing down the saturation of the yellow layer until the sand dunes looked almost sepia. Here though the selective color needed to be dialed back a little and I lessoned some of the black and white layers.

All this was done just through playing around and seeing what happens when choices are made and pushing sliders around. The best way to learn how to use these layers and sliders is just that, to play with them. I have always said the most important part of work is play. You can see more of my playing in my web site.

Very Early This Morning

2010-03-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

I was awakened this morning around 2:45AM... "the baby is coming, the baby is coming!" I got dressed, grabbed my camera and headed out to the barn. By the time I got there two of the longest legs I have ever seen were sticking out of Mama and shortly after a brand new horse joined our farm. No name yet, but what a future she will have.

La Quinta Arts Festival

2010-03-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I was a judge at the La Quinta Arts Festival. An old friend from school, Charley Akers lives in La Quinta and got me involved with this gig last year and I enjoyed it so much I volunteered again. It's great to see all the artists and their work, but also I get to hang out with Charley and Julia Akers.

Charley and I were two of the three judges. The third was Randy Bernardi. The three of us were judging only the photography portion of the show but that was plenty. There were over twenty photographers showing their work. Much of it was very interesting and creative. The photographers who were there were Bart Aldrich, Timm Chapman, Zeny Cheslikoski, David Forster, Jennifer Fraser, Chris Honeysett, Roger Isabell, Vern Clevenger, Richard and Jill Jackson, Dennis Kohn, Lisa Kristine who won the best in category award, Doug Landreth, Laurent Martres, David Mayhew, Jeffery Murray, Darren Olson, Youngbok Park, John Richter, Martin Roberts & Dan Witte, Mark Stephenson, Kenny Tong and Marna Zanoff & Chuck Boxwell.

Each of these artists spent four days there and I hope they all sold a lot of work.

I have included one of my own photos to accompany this entry. To see more of my work, please visit http://eliotcrowley.com.

01/01/10

2010-01-02T12:21:00.000-08:00

Ok its a new year. Time for resolutions and renewal. I am not very good at keeping "New Year's Resolutions". I did quit smoking one year, but I'm not sure if that was associated with the calendar changing. So, with that in mind I am not making any promises here. But what has happened that is marked by the date change for me over the last 25 years is my involvement with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. This is the organization that puts on the "Rose Parade" and the "Rose Bowl." For all of, or at least most of my life January first was spent somewhere watching or being involved with the parade in Pasadena. You could count on me being there.

This year I was on the Music Committee. I have been on many committees before but music afforded me an opportunity to get up close with the bands. I think the bands are the most fun part of that parade. I still love the drums beating out a cadence and the sound of the brass piercing the early morning air. I am always amazed I can actually hear the piccolos and the sousaphones as they march by. My position along the parade route was at the absolute end where the bands made up of mostly high schools, along with a few college and only a couple of what you might think of as professional bands, (the United States Marine Corp Band and the Salvation Army Band) finished the five and half mile march. The temperature this year was over 70 degrees.

I thought it would be an interesting study to make portraits of those band members as they felt the elation and exhaustion of that moment.

By the way, there was a band made up of blind musicians guided by their helpers who made the whole walk without a single member needing assistance. Very impressive.

For those of you who have never seen the Tournament of Roses Parade on television, I encourage you to do so. And for those who have never seen it in person, it is a spectacle you will never forget.

To see more of my work you can visit my web site.

395 Continues

2009-11-12T10:37:00.000-08:00

It is getting towards December. I am spending my time writing my thesis paper and sorting through the images of 395 for my final presentation. There are a lot of details in the final months of a MFA degree.

For your viewing pleasure, more of the people I met along US Highway 395.

Thanks again for coming by and reading. You can see more at my website.

Vault, An Art Space

2009-09-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

Porch,"where shelter and nature converge." a retail store in Carpenteria California was originally a bank. It came with the vault. The women who own and run Porch made the great decision to use the vault as a small gallery. This month, my work is being featured in this space. Come see the show and take a look at all the wonderful things these women have found to make your life more enjoyable.

The Artist's reception is Friday, September 25, 2009 from 5:00-7:00pm. I hope to see you there. To see more of my work http:eliotcrowley.com.

Santa Barbara Magazine

2009-08-19T10:58:00.001-07:00

Recently, Santa Barbara Magazine did a feature article about me and my work. I was interviewed by Starshine Roshell a wonderful local writer who has a fun viewpoint in her weekly colums for the Santa Barbara Independent.

I like to call these images my cactus work. They were all made using a Holga Camera, an inexpensive plastic lens, and heart... no thinking involved.

I am honored to have Santa Barbara Magazine publish my work and give me such a showcase.

The work included in the magazine is some I have written about before on this blog. The entry is called Series.

For the next month or so more of this work is hanging in a gallery called Porch in Carpinteria California.

Folio Hunt

2009-08-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

If you missed it here's a link to an interview I did with Scott Anderson from Folio Hunt.

395 so far

2009-03-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been some time since I last posted to this blog. I'm happy to say I have been very busy. Some of what I have been writing has been for the APA (Advertising Photographers of America). If you're interested, you can read it here
http://searchapa.us/wordpress/wordpress/?tag=eliot-crowley

Also, since I passed my Midpoint review I have been working on my Master's of Fine Arts Thesis. It is called Highway 395 Revisited. My projected graduation date is December 2009.

What I am actually doing is meeting strangers along US Highway 395, setting up lights and making a portrait right there on the spot.

It is a pretty exciting project and keeps me thinking, learning, and challenging my creative spirit.

Here are some of them so far.

Hey I Passed

2008-07-12T12:23:00.001-07:00

Ok the big news is I did pass my Midpoint Review. So, I'll be out there on 395 soon. Give a wave if your going by and you see me there.

Mid-Point Review

2008-07-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

I've just sent in my 6 bound copies of my thesis proposal. Dropped them right into the FedEx box for delivery tomorrow. One week to the day before I will stand in front of a six person panel at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. I'll let you know how it goes.

But in the mean time here are a few samples of what I am proposing.

All these photos were made on or near US Highway 395 which runs up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. That piece of asphalt between Los Angeles and Mammoth Lakes California I have driven hundreds of times.

It all started back in the sixties when my parents put the six of us into a yellow and white Ford station wagon. On the drive, my mother would read books she had checked out of the library. Those books told us about geology, biology, geography, and history of the area surrounding 395.

If this thesis I am proposing is accepted, I will be back on that highway a lot in the next year and a half. If you are out there you can look for me. I'll be somewhere between CA 58 and Lee Vining.

Food & Home Cover #2

2007-10-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

Here's another cover for Food & Home Magazine, as shot by me. This features Jeremy Tummell from the Wine Cask Restaurant here in Santa Barbara. http://www.winecask.com

http://www.food-home.com

More Groceries

2007-08-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

I have continued my series inside grocery stores. You can imagine how redundant it can get photographing products on shelves. Capturing shapes and random gaps in the product lineup was my first attraction.

This time I went in with color as my mandate. I went to find combinations of colors, and relationships of colors. There are three parts of a color. The hue, which is the color, like green or red. The saturation, which speaks to the clarity of the color or the purity of hue. Meaning there is no contamination of the color by black, white or gray. The third component of color is the tone. Tone could be thought of as the amount of white or black in a color, but is really the lightness or darkness of the color itself.

I have been learning recently about color and photography. You might think with my years of experience I would know all about color photography. Well, I can tell you there is always more to learn.

For instance, analogous colors, are those that are closely related like yellow, orange and red.

Photographers speak of subtractive and additive colors. These are red, green and blue as additive colors because if you add them together in equal amounts of light you end up with white. The subtractive colors are yellow, magenta and cyan. If added together in equal amounts you get black or dark gray. CMYK is the lithographic set of colors for reproduction. C is cyan, M, magenta, Y for yellow and K is black. The printers need to add a plate of K or black for contrast.

I don't want to get too caught up in the science of this but I did want you to know there is reason and esthetics behind color and the way and how we see them in relationship to the narrative or depictive level of a photograph. Whew, that sounds complicated and frankly it is complicated but understanding it a little compounds the enjoyment of the experience.

Enjoy the experience.

Plasticity

2007-07-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

Plasticity, is an unfamiliar term when used in connection to photography. The term, as it is used in art, or specifically flat art, like photography, means there is forward and backward apparent movement because of the colors used in relation to the shapes and placement in the picture.

Piet Mondrian is a classic example of plasticity in flat art. You may recall his work by remembering the art you saw that had black lines, a yellow square and a blue square, and you thought I could have done that. What you, nor I, could have done was pre-visualize the movement created by those colors, or in other words the plasticity of the flat surface he created.

True plasticity will give you a sense of colors and shapes coming forward or off the page and others receding almost deep into the flat surface, giving it a three dimensional feel. Look at the photo above. Do you feel the green wall coming forward while the red door, surrounded by blue, feeling as though it is going deep into the page? Yes, in reality that's the way it was but remember you are looking at flat art now. This also involves the concept of refocusing, which is the sensation the viewer experiences when looking at a photo. A sensation of actually feeling your eyes refocus even though what you are looking at is actually flat. It's a hard concept to wrap the thought process around and even harder to consciously try and make photographic images that demonstrate it.

Here are a couple more I made recently. Tell me what you think, did I accomplish it? Do you see the movement?

On The Cover

2007-06-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

I shoot for different magazines from time to time. Here's one I like especially since they put my photo on the cover. http://www.food-home.com/

Get Some Groceries

2007-05-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

I recently made a new body of work. It's not complete yet but I am excited about it. People who have seen it say it speaks to commercialism and indulgence. I just thought it was interesting shapes and colors.

Now this is a case of beer.

Need to replenish your salts and hydration?

Variety is the spice of life.

Got Milk?

And cookies!

My favorite.

Tell me what you think about these.

Time

2007-05-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

I recently read Stephen Shore's book "The Nature of Photography". He talks about all sorts of different things which I always understood but didn't use the same language. Things like, flatness, frame, time, and focus. Time is an interesting portion of the nature of photography. Photography is the only place where we, humans, can see time. Time is broken down into three values. Frozen time, still time and extruded time.

Frozen time is like a photograph of Michael Jordon in mid-air just about to slam-dunk a basketball. Or even that photo we have all seen of a drop of water going into some more water. You know the one. Or a bullet going through a balloon. You get the picture!

Still time is like a photograph of something that's, well, not moving, but not frozen, just sitting there. A portrait for example or a still life of fruit. Pretty easy to understand.

Extruded time is basically blur in a photograph. You've seen a waterfall taken with a long exposure and it looks all smooth and silky. It took time to make the image. Could be a half a second or thirty seconds. If it is blurred it qualifies as extruded time.

It got me thinking. Did we humans ever have the concept of frozen time or extruded time before 1839 when the invention of photography was almost simultaneously announced by Henry Fox Talbot in England and Daguerre in France. It's easy to understand the concept of still time. Almost any painting could qualify. Maybe even frozen time with paintings of an action. But extruded time or even blur, did we see it before photography could show it to us? I wonder.

I made a photo the other night, that shows extruded time. I used a classic symbol, the American Flag because it is immediately identifiable even if it is blurred or even out of focus. It's that strong of a symbol. Here it is.

The Wine Country

2007-04-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

Mark Gordon, (http://www.goldenticker.com/index.html) and I have known each other for over 25 years.Yesterday he came up to Santa Barbara and we did a little wine tasting at the Santa Barbara County Vintner's Festival.

I had a small point and shoot digital camera with me and I made this photo at the Melville winery. http://www.melvillewinery.com

For your tasting pleasure.

Communication Arts

2007-03-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

I have submitted these photos for the photo annual of Communication Arts Magazine.

CA as it is called in the industry is a premier trade magazine for the advertising, design, photography and illustration business.

Working Inside The Box

2006-12-26T10:37:00.000-08:00

I have always felt working with boundaries makes the creative process easier. Face it, if someone asks you to make a photo of anything you want, where do you start? But, if someone says make a picture that has these ideas in them you now have that place... to start.

It’s what comes after, which takes you beyond the box.

TEXTURE

Recently I was given some boxes to fill. Simple boxes like shape, line, and texture. Having improvisational acting experience I understand the power of a one word suggestion.

New Work

2006-12-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

Here's some new work I have been doing since my last post.

Enjoy.

Hauntings

2006-09-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

I see photographs in my head that haunt me. I dream about them. Then one day I will be compelled to just go out and make it. Like this one.

I live golf

2006-06-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Today I won my flight in the club championship at the Montecito Country Club, where I am a member. In a two day total score (less my handicap) I shot a 137.

Today was a great day.

Series

2006-06-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

I have been creating photos in series. One titled "Santa Barbara Succulents", is exclusively shot here. I have had 2 one-man shows with this work. . The first gallery, in Beverly Hills, sold 8 pieces. The second, here in Santa Barbara didn't have a single sale. It erodes my confidence. I know this work has legs from the response people give it.
SUCCULENT #4801
40" x 43.7"

I'm new to the "fine art" arena and while it seems to be a more receptive audience to cold calls and unsolicited mailings there is still all the fear associated with putting yourself out there. One big difference is, I'm not selling the invisible. I'm selling a tangible finished product. Take it or leave it, like it or not. Different mindset.
SUCCULENT #1932
40" x 44.9"

This succulent work came out of an absolute need, for me, to make photographs. Something inside me forced me out the door to push the button on the camera. I pushed the button many times before really looking at the film. But once I started to see the photos I had made from my heart and gut I knew I had something special.
SUCCULENT #10740
40" x 54.1"

Each piece is large. 40 inches is the smaller dimention. One, the best seller, is almost seven feet long. (not pictured)

Let me know what you think of these.

Final Exams

2006-06-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

I teach basic photography. Yep that's right PHO101 at Brooks Institute here in Santa Barbara.

Yesterday was the final exam for my classes. For me that is the most boring class of all. I get to sit in front of the class like some policeman making sure no one cheats. It's quiet. All I hear is pencils coloring in scantron slips and the shuffle of papers as each student turns to the next page of the 100 question exam.

Some finish in less than an hour and others take over two hours.

Frankly, I would rather talk about their photos and how they feel about them. But testing seems to be the only way to measure students.

I think the photographic education and training the students are getting today is far superior to what I got when I was in school. So I got to thinking. Didn't I still have a photo or two from my first days at school?

I think I was shooting the Shape, Line and Texture assignment. Still the same today, it's a classic assignment. I mean what photographer doesn't consider shape line and texture in every photo we make.

Father's Day

2006-06-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Today is Father's day. I got calls from my children and I called my father. These are some photos of my father that I have made over the years.

This one where he is all in yellow was on a trip to Greenland around 1993.

Where he is all in white with a red tie was on January 1st 1987. He is getting ready to ride in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses as the Mayor of Pasadena.

The third one I shot way back when I got my first SLR camera. In this photo he is just about what my age is now.

Through my children I discovered he is and has always been consistent. When I realized that a few years ago I found a time to tell him, I love you, dad.