Cold Beach, Hot Cowboy...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope this Monday finds you all doing well out there! Things here are busy as usual. So much to share.

To start, my Westworld shoot is finally done and posted. Some of the shots are below, and the rest can be found over at Behance. This was such a fun project in so many ways. To start, it allowed me to put my own spin on one of my favorite 70's-era science fiction movies. Then, I got to work with a great crew and one of my favorite models who always brings his A-game even when it's 20 degrees out. We braved some runny noses, ice, finicky equipment that froze, and a dark, dirty coal furnace to get these shots and everyone nailed it, I think! I hope you enjoy...

Speaking of projects, I believe I mentioned starting another large-scale project a few posts back? (A project on-par with my Zom-B-Vex, Venomous Vixens and Cigar, Creeper & Dark pieces.) Well, the new series, which I've entitled Modern America, is inspired by the paintings of Norman Rockwell. Few know that Rockwell's paintings were in fact based on photographs he styled himself, so it's only fitting to take those paintings back to the photographic medium, I think. I will create 12 or so final works, based on his paintings, but I am giving each a modern twist by addressing issues, dynamics and aspects of modern life that in many cases, didn't even exist in his day. I shot the first piece over the weekend, and I will post that next week! Keep an eye on this series, it's going to be good, I think.

We had yet more snow over the weekend, but that didn't keep me from getting out to the beach and enjoying the misty pre-snow weather. It's quite meditative being out there: watching the waves and the sea gulls. I'm very lucky to be able to drive 15 minutes and be at the beach: it's one of the benefits of living in Maine, for sure. And I also found this strange piece of metal out there that was all beautiful and rusty. I have a little curio cabinet that I put beach things in and I added this to the collection. I hope it was off of a boat from somewhere very far away...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Keeping it fresh...

Lovelies~

I hope you are all well this fine Monday! I have the day off for President's Day here and boy, am I glad I do. I was shooting various things all weekend long and it's time to play catch-up.

The shoot I'm most excited about, is a series of personal work that I mentioned a couple of posts back. Inspired by Westworld, a 70's sci fi classic, and featuring a killer robot cowboy, my crew and I braved snow showers and a dusty coal furnace to get these shots. And it was totally worth it! (But, if you ever do same, take note: bring Kleenex and something hot to drink!) Here is a trailer for that movie just to give you an idea of where I'm headed...



What else? Oh! I also did some client head shots and while I was in there, I took a new one of myself to keep my portfolio fresh. It came out alright, but photographing yourself is one of the hardest things you can do, Folks. Barf. Trust me. Take a peek. I was trying out a new lighting arrangement and background. What do you think?

All of this shooting hasn't taken me away from my other venture: STAG. A great group of items has been listed in the shop this week! It was a pretty clothing-centric group, but I will be back to listing things for the home next week! Take a look. That Dickie work coat is a classic, no?

I have found some amazing things that I wanted to share with you too. To start, if I ever have an actual budget for business cards that's bigger than $1, I would love some like these. Wow. Belinda Love Lee designed these cards for prop stylist Christina Yan and they have all the bells and whistles that make greeting card/graphic designers/artists like myself go weak in the knees; 100+ lb. card stock, gold foil and blind embossing. Goodness. Take a look... So classy.

Any of you have wee baby ones out there? Because one of my favorite design firms House Industries, has partnered with Uncle Goose (a high-end building block maker), to produce limited edition House building blocks. And they are cute and amazing and I want that set of Alphabet Factory Blocks like it's my job. So nice.

And I'm going to wrap up with some of the cutest Valentine's Day design I saw this season from another favorite design team: Lab Partners, out of San Francisco. I mean, just look at it! It's a 1960's era illustrated animal band... I mean, come on. That elephant? More importantly, that mouse? And those colors. This work makes me happy for sure...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Sweet Babies & Bright Colors...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all well out there this week, as usual! I am busy as per usual over here with a ton of things to share. To start, I recently photographed an absolutely beautiful newborn baby girl and unlike most very wee babies who sleep through shoots, she was awake the entire time. Which presented its challenges, but they were far outweighed by her awake and alert little face. (People who follow my work on Facebook seemed surprised to find I can do traditional portraiture too. You learn something new every day, huh? Ha!) Here are just a couple from the shoot. Her Mom and Dad were delighted, so of course, so am I.

What else? Oh! A friend turned me on to an amazing blog that features Autochrome photography of Paris from 1890-1930 and here's the best part... it's in full color! That's right, the technology of photography itself had only just been invented and yet, color had already been introduced. And what beautiful photography it is too. My favorites are below, and the rest can be found here. Amazing, truly, amazing.

And so as not to dwell too long on photography, I have also discovered an amazing painter and portrait artist who I want to share: Gottfried Helnwein. When I first happened upon his work, I thought it was photography. But no. These are photo-realistic works in acrylic and watercolor(?!?!!) and to make it even more amazing (is it possible? No. Okay, I guess so), the scale of these pieces is huge. I've posted a couple of pieces below, and also a process shot so you can see how big these are. I just... before I got into photography, I was a pencil portrait artist at 1/1 scale. This is just mind-blowing to me... Enjoy.

Compared to all the greatness above, my weekend was pretty tame! But we had a pretty clear couple of days, so I ventured out to the abandoned beaches of Old Orchard Beach (a sea of tanning oil-slathered tourists in the summer) and took some pictures. Man was it cold. And while I was out there, someone in one of the beach houses had a radio on full-volume, so this radio talk show was blaring and reverberating off all that loneliness. It was eerie. And then I found these boots. I think they're men's, but I do not care. They are worn and comfortable and have a non-slip sole. (I guess I found the one advantage to having skis for feet!) Love them.

Let's wrap up with some great typography that was in a recent issue of GQ. (I know, I know, with Beyonce right there, it's like, who notices the typography? The answer: This girl does.) What a great color scheme and mix of vintage and new typefaces (some from House Industries, my favorite type design house... *drool*) and the layout and breathing room in the design is pitch-perfect. I am in love...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...