ha-ha-ha-HA-ha (Black Friday Spreads the Swine Flu)

Happy Thanksgiving.  I had to work.  In fact, I almost had to stay for the overnight due to a series of unfortunate incidents.  Thankfully, I left at my normal time.  I’ve been making some progress on the Flickr task while also working on new stuff, working on music, and getting some reading about those subjects in.  I had some fun last night working on this Woody Woodpecker piece.  I didn’t watch much tv as a child, and still don’t, but I did watch and enjoy Woody Woodpecker.  While working on some other images, a flash of creativity hit and this is what the muse produced.  I’m looking forward to not working tomorrow, the dreaded Black Friday.  My friend is going to be checking out some solid dslr cameras tomorrow, so perhaps I will have a new toy to play with.  Crisper images, I will of dream of you tonight.

Photoshoppin’ Away

Here are the most recent kaleidoscope ideas.  I’ve been getting into deeper layering.  I started going through a Photoshop book tonight, so I imagine I’ll have a lot of new tricks to use soon.  Anyhow, here they are.

It’s a Shame (How Small My Camera’s Digital Sensor Is)

Some more Photoshop fun.  These works are based on this image, which is part of a Flickr contest.

Based upon this image, which isn’t one of mine.  I submitted number two.

Today was a bit of a frustrating, .  Still, I got some work done on photos and music and came across some killer graffiti while delivering lounge cushions for the party tomorrow.  None of these are touched up (besides the above ones, but I don’t think it’s possible to post images without them showing up in the gallery.  Still, I feel like posting them even if they’re raw.  I hope to have a dslr soon.  The fuzziness of the point and shoot is really starting to piss me off.  I’m going a bit deeper into Photoshop with the intention of going through a book here soon to get some guidance on mastering it.  So far, everything has been the result of ignorant fooling around.  With a dslr camera and some time mastering Photoshop, I’m sure I can produce some amazing eye candy.  At times, I have to remind myself that I’ve only been doing this type of thing for a brief amount of time and that it is a journey not a dash for survival.  I’ve got work in the morning, so it is time to retire.

Rainy Day Slip Away

Fractal Geometry (Right Wing Insanity)

I’ve always enjoyed looking for patterns.  As I’ve become older, I’ve become aware of the thin line between genius and insanity and how pattern seeking is a trait of schizophrenia.  Yet if you think about it the way most Americans live, you quickly realize how mentally disturbed and deranged many of the humans living in this quickly deteriorating country are.  The teabaggers, birthers, born-agains, and Obama worshippers are only a portion of them.  Many still believe we can return to the standard of living seen by the previous generations.

People are ignoring the reaility that not only can the earth not sustain a whole range of international citizens wanting to live like we live, but it won’t even sustain us living the way we have lived.  Rightfully so, we have toxified our environment, food, and bodies in the name of cheap food.  Well you are what you eat.  There is a reason so many people in this country suffer from weight problems, diabetes, and many other illnesses.  In addition to being bombarded by all kinds of electromagnetic waves and all the pollution in our air and water, many people stuff their bodies with nutritionally dead calories due to poverty, laziness, and addiction.  Yes, food is addictive, especially chemically engineered food.  It is designed to attack the pleasure centers of the brain to get you high and hooked while also being horrible for your physical and mental health.

Anyhow, it is late and I have some things to do tomorrow.  Last night, I enjoyed a killer documentary on fractals.  You can watch it on the interwebs at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6917200224135375895&ei=GOoES-mMN6X2qAOt7bnICQ&q=fractals&hl=en&client=firefox-a#.  After watching it, I think I’m going to check out a book about fractal geometry.  The footage also gave me some inspiration for photography.  I’ve been working with fractals for a while now, but hadn’t done any research into the concept.  Like Benoît B. Mandelbrot, author of The Fractal Geometry of Nature, I noticed patterns in the structures of nature.  Here are two new ones.  My job interfered with work today.

Pho & Photos

Today was a wonderful day despite the fact the sun departed after a morning pop-in leaving behind a drizzly, gray day.  Checking out the Volunteer Park Greenhouse, Frye Art Museum.  Frye is always free and often has good special exhibits.  Last year, they hosted a killer Robert Crumb exhibit.  Right now and through January 3rd, Frye has Open Roads and Bedside Tables: American Modernism (http://fryemuseum.org/exhibition/3280/), which is also excellent.  Engaging and humorous, I enjoyed it enough to possibly check it out again.  With a chill in the air, it was perfect weather for hot, delicious, nutritious Pho (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph%E1%BB%9F).  Plus, I had enjoyable company to share the afternoon with.

I worked on my macro skills today in the greenhouse and came out with a few worthy shots.  I haven’t messed around with anyone of the pictures yet.  The backlog is getting larger and larger.  At times, my ocd slips from beneficial to a hinderance in regards to playing with the lighting and color levels.  Yet, I pushed ahead and got some work done.  Here are two images from today.  I am readying a few images for some photo contests and touching up some old photos that I feel would benefit from my improved skills.  Plus, I even got some good work done in ableton today and made a nice dinner with my friend.  It is nice to get back into the groove.

I leave you with one last photo.  I wasn’t entirely happy with the job I did on the original version of this.  I did a crop job and some altering to the area bothering me.  It’s not entirely done, but it is more pleasing to me at least.  And while I like sharing and selling my work, I still do it first and foremost for my pleasure.  I’m also driven crazy by the problems I find in many of my pictures.  Thankfully, my composition is improving as I become more thoughtful of what I’m doing, which is due to all the photography reading I’ve been engaging in.

The almost original.  Before cropping and morphing the white space, I cleaned up the overexposed area by covering up pixelation problems.

Striking Out

Here are my most recent works.  I’ve been busy uploading images onto Flickr.  Just follow the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/maggotronix/.  At this point, I will still post the images on the blog (and facebook), even though it seems stupid to separately post them when I could just do it all through Flickr.  I figure more people will see them if I continue to post them on facebook.  Flickr has a nice sense of community.  Plus, I’ll be able to better organize my work, which should make it easy for others to browse my work.

Today, I received money for the first three prints I sold, which paid me more than working an eight-hour shift at my low-paying job.  Having yet to get a substantial job that pays over $10/hr in my life, I am glad I discovered creative passions a few years back.  At this point, I have no interest whatsoever in going into social work, library science, or history.  I want to shoot pictures and video, write, play music.  I have good ears and keen eyes and no other enticing prospects, so an attempt to employ myself through art is worth the attempt.  Hopefully at some point I will be in a place where I will be able to provide creative opportunities to youth and do some mentoring.  I still have a strong desire to work with people, especially at risk youth, but through my own terms.  My experiences working with youth so far have left me with a strong dislike for the bureaucracy, politics, and policies involved when one works with government-supported agencies.

So if anyone feels like supporting me on my quest, you can always help out by buying a print or three.  The art prints have looked great at 16X20 and could potentially go larger.  Any photo as of now can only be enlarged to 11×14, although there are some that could work at 16×20.  I need to upgrade my camera to be able to do more.  My current one can’t even shoot in RAW format, which means I can’t submit photos to some stock photo agencies.  I’ve been doing research into different cameras and lenses and hope to have an improved setup by Christmas.  Your support only hastens the improvement.  Lastly, I even have a local printer to pass along some of the money to if you’re the type of person who likes to know where the money flows.

I feel like philosophizing some more, but will save it up for now since a Piston’s game is calling my name.  I’ve gotten through three Philip K. Dick books, a collection of Ansel Adams color prints with some of his writings about photography, and a good amount of an excellent photography book in the past ten days.  So I’ve had a lot of new ideas to feed upon.  I’ve been working on a story, but want to write about photography as well.  Anyhow, here are the images.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maggotronix/

Addicted to Light

Writing with light is taking up more and more time and mental energy, which is totally great; however, the different aspects (putting my whole portfolio on Flickr, reading books about composition and editing, researching gear, searching out jobs and opportunities, and thinking of new artistic directions to explore) of pursuing a career in photography have left little time or desire for editing the accumulating pictures.  One day soon, I will put in some hours.  For now, here are two pieces I worked on yesterday.   The above shot is one of my favorite pictures I’ve snapped.  I love capturing ghost images.   It is built on a photo I took yesterday at the Sculpture Park.  For mid-November, Seattle has been surprisingly clear-skied lately, allowing for lovely fall sunsets.  I hope to get out tomorrow and shoot some more.  Finally, I have a path I really want to forge.  Music is fun to work on, and I will continue to do so, and I hope to get into video real soon, but photography is the biggest passion, and bringer of bacon, right now.

I Like Contrast

Down below is a a new piece utilizing the above photo, which was taken last week at Magnolia Park.  There are some other nice sunset shots, but photo editing hasn’t been a priority this week.  I’ve been busy taking care of some of life’s responsibilities (laundry, looking for work, Pistons’ games) working on some music, and taking steps towards making photography one of the means of financially supporting myself.

Plus, I am reading books again.  Recently, I paid the fine on my library card down.  Thus, I was able to check out some Philip K. Dick books; Martian Time-Slip, Radio Free Albemuth, and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.  I’ve finished the first two and have made good headway into the last.  Each one has been impressive and thought-provoking.  Documentaries are another creative catalyst.  When I’m working on photos and the preliminary steps of making music, I often put on a documentary.  This week, I’ve taken in Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue and Vertical Horizon, which is about Camp Four, where a lot of mountaineering techniques were invented, at Yosemite National Park.

I got down on the boxes a bit the past few days.  My goal is to put at least three hours a day in on music, but I’m not disciplined enough (or just  doing too many different things) to do it everyday.  Still, I usually put in at least an hour each morning.  Making music after waking up is a great way to start the day.  Anyhow, that is enough for now since Stella cat wants some attention.  I have some stories from the different adventures I’ve been fortunate enough to have this summer and fall, but those will have to wait for another time.  Lastly, below is a photo of my current music setup (thank the universe for generous friends).

Photosynthesis 2009

Here is a whole gangload of photos from Photosynthesis.  There are still more to be edited, but this is what I have done so far.  Some of the shots aren’t the most exciting since I was capturing the building of the Novatron Lounge from the stage of nothing but piles of stuff.