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...

More Meetings With Remarkable Men

It's been one of those weeks when everything works... everything! Creative juices are flowing, work I am very excited about and very proud to have made has been produced.


Things got off to a great start on monday with the privilege of working with Willie Kahaiali'i (better known around these parts as "Uncle Willie K."), master guitar virtuoso, walking music encyclopedia and an artist that has my vote as being Hawaii's preeminent entertainer. Willie, along with his wife Debbie, band members Kris Thomas (drums) & Jerry Beyers (bass), art director Sae, assistant producer Ashley all converged on a predetermined location Monday morning to produce media kits and promotional images for a couple of Willie's various projects. You can plan, scout, produce... organize every detail in advance. Then, sometimes magic happens and sometimes it doesn't. Magic happened. I so wish I could post a couple of my favorites from the edit here, but Willie hasn't seen them yet and it wouldn't feel quite right to put them up before he's had a chance make his selects. In due time...


An upgrade from Adobe Photoshop® CS2 to CS5 took place back in mid-December. What a difference! Much improved controls in Adobe Camera Raw processing has opened up an entirely new palette to work with. I've not even had time to explore all the new turd polishing filters, etc. in the software yet. ACR is so much better that 99% of my post work can be done there alone. Standouts are the much improved noise reduction controls, and the "clarity" controls. 


Yesterday afternoon & early evening was spent completing an assignment to make editorial portraits of America's newest Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize winning author, self-made arborist, protector of endangered palms, avid gardener and fierce intellect W.S. Merwin. 


Meeting us at his garden gate, Mr. Merwin, his thick shock of white hair glowing in the afternoon sunlight and a shy smile upon his lips, guided us briefly down an overgrown path thru some of the exotic palms trees he's planted from seed on his "estate", pointing to one... then another, describing each one's native region, peculiar growth and propagation methods before leading us to a cozy little chalet he built himself, nestled deep within the verdant jungle he has created. 


Once settled in on his cozy, sheltered lanai, surrounded by his current stacks of reading material, I began setting up camera, tripod as he sat at the small table and began to talk... quietly, thoughtfully... his views on our current President, the state of our nation & the world, Blake, Shakespeare's Hamlet, his opportunity to speak & read at the Presidential Inaugural, his house in France, literary criticism, his recent shoot with Jill Greenberg for O Magazine.... so many topics covered in a few short hours. He would pause briefly from time to time, generously taking little directions from me as I snapped away. 


Today, back at the studio editing workstation, I was blown away by the gentle, thoughtful, organic portraits captured while in his presence. Again... wishing I could post some favorites here, but must wait for the images to be published by the commissioning publication. I can, however, post a few images I made with the new iPhone on the way to the meeting and after completing the "formal" round of portraiture. Here's a few from the afternoon...

William's Books

Self Portrait

Roadside Jetsom

Entering The Jungle