running to catch up...

It's amazing how far behind certain things can get if you get extremely busy! The last few months have proven to be some of the busiest yet for me...I've been shooting a lot of new photography as well as working on some new facets to my studio work.

I recently got a commission for six pieces to be displayed in an eyeglass boutique in downtown Washington DC with more work to be provided as needed! It's a great opportunity since it's an open ended gig, not to mention a great location and a great client. Anyway, I've been working on those pieces (as well as framing and matting) but I'll post when the work is up and I have some photos of the work in the space! I have a couple of articles that I'm pretty excited about but I won't promise when they'll be posted...just kidding!...I should have them published within the next two weeks.

To sum up, I'm still around so continue to check back for new stuff!

PhotoFortnight first place photographs

Well, it's been a while but I'm finally starting to catch up!

Theme#33 "Street": First place photograph



Title: I Walk The Line
Description: A candid street shot of a man set against a backdrop of horizontal and vertical lines
Photographer: Jonathan Morton (mort)
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Date: February 18, 2007
Technical: Canon 400d, Canon 17-40L, ISO 200, F9, 1/80 sec, BW conversion using channel mixer, levels and unsharpen mask.

Theme#32 "Line": First place photograph



Title: Drawing the line
Photographer: Greg Barry
Location: Mayo
Date: February 15, 2007

Theme#31 "Car": First place photograph



Title: Worn out
Description: This gem was found in an arboretum in Arizona.
Photographer: Jenn
Location: Arizona
Date: January 13, 2007

Theme#30 "Holiday": First place photograph



Title: Night
Description: Lit by a full moon, the Caribbean Sea shows off its colours on my New Year's holiday in Cuba.
Photographer: Jeope Wolfe
Location: Playa Lindemar – Cayo Largo, Cuba
Date: January 3, 2006
Technical: Canon Digital Rebel, kit lens, ten-second exposure with time-value mode; levels, sharpening and dodging in Photoshop.

Theme#29 "Speed": First place photograph



Title: Carousel Gallop
Photographer: Christopher Teske
Location: Spokane, WA USA
Date: November 26, 2006
Technical: Nikon D70s w/ Sigma 14mm ultra-wide, .5 exp. @ 2.8 w/ rear-curtain flash, tweaked in PS

www.photofortnight.com

happy holidays!

I'd like to thank everyone for their interest and support in my continuing efforts to make abstractLatte an interesting and helpful resource for everyone! Enjoy the holidays!

theme#28 "Urban": first place photograph

Title: The Wall
Description: The Berlin Wall
Photographer: Sarah-Marie McGuckin
Location: Berlin
Date: October 17, 2006
Technical: Samsung pro 815 digital SLR

www.photofortnight.com

PhotoFortnight first place photographs

In an effort to play catch up I have grouped all of the recent Photofortnight first place themes in one post. I apologize to the recent first place participants for not getting their shots up sooner. Anyway, here they are in all their glory starting with Theme 22 and ending with Theme 27:

Theme 22: "Work"
Title: "Overworked Designer"
Photographer: David Barry



Theme 23: "Blue"
Title: "Agapanthus"
Photographer: Steve Simpson



Theme 24: "Truth"
Title: "The Truth Shall Set You Free"
Photographer: Jenn



Theme 25: "Multiplicity"
Title: "dream spiral"
Photographer: pantone



Theme 26: "Fruit"
Title: "Lychees"
Photographer: Sarah O'Sullivan



Theme 27: "Autumn"
Title: "The Crow"
Photographer: Karen Chappell



On behalf of the PhotoFortnight editorial staff, I'd like to say congratulations and thanks for contributing such great work!

book review 10.06 - Windblown World

Over the past couple of weeks I read the book "Windblown World". It's essentially the journals of writer Jack Kerouac, composed and edited into one compilation by Douglas Brinkley. The journals cover Kerouac's day to day thoughts and activities while writing the books "The Town and the City" and "On The Road". It also covers Kerouac's many cross-country roadtrips as well as some of his personal insights into people, life, etc.

The book is an amazing read, Kerouac uses some of the most well constructed written descriptions imaginable that literally paint amazing pictures of what he saw or what he was going through at that time. I actually wrote down my favorite quotes in the back of the book and recorded the page number for future reference. Here's one quote I wrote down pertaining to art:

"An art dies when it describes itself instead of life-when it turns from the expression of man's feelings in the void, to a mere description of the void." Jack Kerouac, p.267

I recommend this book to any creative (artist, designer, photographer, etc) as another source of inspiration. There were times I couldn't put it down...there were also times I had to put it down because I couldn't figure out what he was trying to say! My point...you get involved with it and the writing challenges you to figure "it" out. Check out Windblown World and see for yourself!

new posts are on their way!!!

Sorry that my blog has been inactive for so long! I've been out of town and shooting a lot of photography, not to mention finishing up my recent quarter for my BFA in Graphic Design. Yes, I know I'm behind on posting the recent first place shots for PhotoFortnight...and yes, I know I haven't posted in Sugar Frosted Photos recently...and yes, I owe everyone some articles that I've talked about in months past.

But I'm here to say that all of those things, and much more, are coming soon!!! I'd like to say thanks to all of you who have been very patient and tolerated the lack of recent postings. I value everyone's comments to my various articles/postings and have truly appreciated comments made "off-blog", thank you to everyone for your continued support.

Again, more postings are coming soon!!!

theme#21 "No Theme": first place photograph

Here is the first place photograph from PhotoFortnight's Theme#21 "No Theme":



Title: orchid study
Description: I've been working on various flower studies, focusing on interesting structure and patterns.
Photographer: Caroline (Pantone583u)
Location: Toronto, Canada
Date: July 14, 2006
Technical: 1/30, f 6, 70mm, Nikon D70s, converted to black and white in photoshop

www.photofortnight.com

theme#20 "Self": first place photograph

Here is the first place photograph from PhotoFortnight's Theme#20 "Self":



Title: An Alluring Look Into The Soul
Description: There is nothing more personal than a look into someones' eyes.
Photographer: Tom Smalling (TSPD)
Location: Orlando, Florida
Date: June 8, 2006
Technical: Taken with a Nikon D100 with a bounced flash unit and a 105mm lens. ISO 400, F2.8 @ 1/60. Minor color adjustments in photoshop

www.photofortnight.com

"why design?"

Design, as with any career, can be a difficult job to deal with...it can be very frustrating at times. Since roadblocks are the enemy of any creative, I ask myself "Why Design?" in order to take a step back and re-focus when things get tough.

Why do I design? Let me first define the area of design that I'm involved with. Graphic design is all about communication...communicating everything from a quick message to a more involved philosophy. In order to communicate, the work needs to be interesting both visually and conceptually and both need to support each other...along the lines of the phrase "form follows function", but with graphic design a more accurate phrase would be "form follows content". So why do I design? If you think my answer is as generic as "because I have to!", you're wrong. I create graphic design because I enjoy giving a creative visual and conceptual look to someone's idea. I love to take something that's intangible and invisible and help others to see it, to interact with it. I get inspired by a good idea and create good ideas that will inspire.

I think the fast pace world we live in forces too many to willingly and unwillingly jump on the fast track thus forgetting the way things were before they jumped on. In some ways, it's easy to forget why we started something when all we're worried about is the next job/client...and keeping the one we currently have. Regardless of what creative discipline you are involved with, it is important to remind yourself why you got involved so that you can stay involved.