February 24, 2011

Phone Home Daily

First Blossom, February 2011

Moonset & Palms, Wailea Beach, February 2011

So enamoured have I become of the image capture abilities of the iPhone4. With lots of free & downloadable apps available, simulating the looks of a variety of camera & film emulsions, very adequate resolution capabilities and the unobtrusive and spontaneous ease of use of the device, I've been happily snapping away, testing various "lens" & "film" combinations. 

Up until recently, I've been making simple snapshots. Now, I'm getting more serious, experimenting with those various combinations working towards compositions with the intent of creating a series, a body of work,

 for eventual print & exhibition. The goal is to make several photographs each & every day using the device and editing the amassed images into a series I'm now calling Phone Home Daily.

The two images above were made over the past two days using the iPhone4, Hipstamatic & Lomolomo apps respectively.

Heart Soars Like Hawk

"... my friend, when I see you my heart soars like a hawk..."


This is the greeting you will most likely encounter when you meet Darrell. His eyes will twinkle, a wry smile will curl upon his lips and you will immediately fall under his spell and be transported into DarrellWorld. 


That's what happens whenever I see him. The man is a dynamo... full of creative energy just bursting from his fibers. His child-like enthusiasm for just about everything is as disarming as it is contagious. If horses, art or low-powered firearms should be involved, then all the better even...


Darrell was my first real photography teacher. He taught an Introduction to Black & White Photography course an Maui Community College (now University of Hawaii Maui Campus) for several years back in the day. Before we were halfway through the first class session, I had already begun to think of him as a sort of Mr. Rogers on Acid, if one can imagine such a thing. I immediately liked him... found him to be very inspiring. 


Several years later, when I was a little more established in my career, we met again when Darrell was hired as the Director of the Schaefer International Gallery at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Since the time of our first encounters, Darrell had served as an Officer in the Coast Guard, deployed as a combat artist in Desert Storm, the first Gulf War. We've become friends and he continues to teach me... about art, about life, about how to get through the day... against all odds... with a smile and electric enthusiasm.


Darrell is a modern day renaissance man; prolific painter, photographer, genius installation designer, cowboy, sharpshooter, RC Model Plane builder & pilot, dispenser of charming, corn-pone humor & wit, sailor and stellar human being. Presently, he is assembling his past work, all while frantically producing more each day, to be exhibited in the very near future as a retrospective ( and other projects to come) of his creative life.


I recently had the opportunity to engage Darrell for a formal portrait sitting... don't know why I have never asked before. After the customary greetings (see above) we got down to business BEFORE I allowed him to lead me into DarrellWorld. Afterward, we celebrated to successful images with the customary firing of pistols, reviews of recent output, old Leo Kottke cassette tapes, the swilling of wine and a million laughs.


Watch for the coming retrospective. Details to be announced here & everywhere soon.

Stella Hates Black Backgrounds

... watermarks and some other stuff. Stella? That would be Stella Kramer, a Pulitzer Prize winning PE for the New York Times, Newsweek & People among others.


Over at the Photoshelter blog, Stella spends considerable time (just over an hour) explaining ways, in her opinion, to improve your, my, our online portfolios. Give it a look... the video webinar is embedded below.


Lot's of stuff happening to write about, good stuff! There's no time to get into it here & now... off to another assignment. 


I'll be back!



Build a Better Online Portfolio with Stella Kramer from PhotoShelter.com on Vimeo.

Wah-Wah Cry Baby

It's not what you think...

Website Updated...

More to come... stay tuned...