The Good Old Black & White Portrait - People from the Past Year

New Direction

With a new place comes a new school and a new direction. I've taken the steps to depart from my more literal work and have tried to go in a more abstract direction. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, but everything needs time to develop.

Camera: Canon 50D

Lighting: Natural

Paint on Skin

Plan: Paint mid-tones, Highlights, and Shadows on the skin to create a living graphic.

Result: Not totally what I was looking for. The images don't look so graphic as much as just a person with paint on their skin.

Camera: Nikon D70
Lighting: 1 Hot Light

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What do you get when you put together some thrift store clothes, a frisbee, some golf clubs, candy cigarettes, and a Vernors can? 

A really fun photo shoot!

For Carol's last night around town we did a photo shoot. Actually we went shopping at a local thrift shop and then decided to go to the park. From there all hell broke lose. I'm not sure what exactly we were getting at with the photos, but regardless it was a blast.

Blueberries

Went out and picked some blueberries around Spring Lake. Delicious weather and even better blueberries!

Late Night Music

Last weekend Carol, one of Leah's good friends, came into town from Chicago to visit for the weekend. Carol plays guitar and it just so happens that Leah does too. Together they jammed and made some beautiful sounds. It was great to hear some original music from good friends. This also gave me the chance to play around with a little light as well. Back when I lived in Marquette I started playing around with long shutter speeds and popping off some light. Although I didn't have an external flash with me, I did use a white piece of paper to bounce the built-in flash off the walls. That helped to cut down on the harsh flash, but still left me with a clean image. Because the shutter speed was slow it allowed for some fun with light streaks from the lamps in the room. All-in-all it was great to do a little experimenting again.

Coastguard Festival

Grand Haven, Michigan is home to one, if not the biggest, festival celebrating the United States Coastguard. I didn't come into town for the week of festivities, but I did manage to make it in for the weekend. Here are some pictures from the parade and the boating party in Spring Lake.

Also, while on my short weekend vacation at Coastguard I ran into an old man sitting on the side of the road. I stopped to strike up a conversation and learned that he sits in that same spot every Saturday. When it's hot he moves to the shade and as the day goes by and two o'clock roles around, he returns to his home to shower and get ready to go out. His friends pick him up around dinner time and after eating out they head to the bar for a few drinks.

So far every Saturday that I've driven by he's been sitting out.