Arizona

"Dogs are not our whole lives, but they makes our lives whole." -Roger Caras

Winston lounging in the backyard of our AZ home.

Arizona!

"I live in the dry dusty desert
Where we're always short on water
And even if the sun fell upon us
It couldn't get any hotter.
~Linda Solegato"

I have become obsessed with Saguaro cactus. I had never seen one until I arrived in Arizona. There's something about their methods for surviving, and the fact that they can live to be twice as old as I'll ever even hope to live.

Saguaros have root systems close to the surface, so while they are so tall, the support system isn't as sturdy as other plants their size. To counterbalance this, saguaros grow their arms to help the plant be more balanced and stable. Saguaros swell when it rains, increasing their weight by nearly a ton. They have flowers, but they only bloom at night. The Saguaro is also a house for certain bird species (you can see the holes in the trunk from these).

Sunset at South Mountain

Click here for more Saguaro Facts

Personal Assignment #1: Food

"Education must provide the opportunities for self-fulfillment; it can at best provide a rich and challenging environment for the individual to explore, in his own way."-Noam Chomsky

In the past 2 weeks, I've driven across the country, from North Carolina to Arizona to intern with Mark Lipczynski. As of now, he is still out of town working on an assignment, so I am getting personal assignments from him, as well as the opportunity to meet, assist, and "shadow" other photographers while he is gone.
For my first personal assignment, Mark told me to find a recipe to make from fresh ingredients, and then to shoot these in their natural state, in altered states (chopped, sliced, ect.), in the final dish, and then after partially or fully eating the dish. He told me to pay close attention to how the food changes throughout the process, as well as how the image differs when a suggested human element is added. I did switch out one image (the image of the final dish), based on Mark's critique of what I showed him.
I shot all the images in the kitchen of the house I am staying in, with a mixture of natural sunlight and a clamp light with a daylight balanced bulb. Needless to say, I am missing the studio; however, this was also a good lesson in doing the best you can with what you have.

Fresh Oranges

Rice

Fresh Ginger

Raw Salmon

Fresh Asparagus

Sliced Oranges

Chopped Ginger

The Final Dish

Devoured

I will try to stay as up-to-date as possible while I am my two internships.

Colorado Film (2)

"I love not man the less, but Nature more..."-Lord Byron

Here are some more images shot while Michael and I were in Colorado. They were all shot on 35 mm C-41, processed at school with the Colex C-41 dip and dunk processor, and scanned. The last image is my dog, Winston.

Colorado Film(1)

"If the day and the night are such that you greet them with with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal--that is your success."-Henry David Thoreau

I shot these in August 2010 on a trip Michael and I took to Colorado. The first two images were taken from Rocky Mountain National Park. The last one is Carmen waiting to leave at our last campsite in CO. All of these were shot on C-41 and processed in the school's lab on the Colex C-41 dip and dunk processor and then scanned.

The Mask

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."-Oscar Wilde

I took this picture last August. I just got around the scanning some film the other day, and this was actually one that I forgot I had shot. Michael was out mowing the grass with this mask on at the end of the summer, and I sat on my car and shot this picture when he stopped for a break.

This was shot on C-41 and processed in our lab at school with the Colex C-41 dip and dunk processor. (Thanks Kevin!)

The Alchemist (2)

Shot at f/4, 1/60, ISO 12800.

Here are some more production stills from the filming of the music video "The Alchemist" by Jeffrey Dale Lentz and Jason Nichols (Taurus). See previous post for more details.

Michael and Paul discussing the next shot.
Shot at f/4, 1/60, ISO 12800.

Paul shooting one of the final sequences of the night.
Shot at f/3.5, 1/60, ISO 12800.

Paul filming a transition sequence.
Shot at f/3.2, 1/60, ISO 12800.