Pantheon in Chalk

Here is the square I did for the 2012 Sidewalk Arts Festival. I was so busy all week with my thesis project that I had no time to think about what I was going to draw for the festival so in order to get some last second inspiration I started looking through some old photos of mine and I ran across this photo of the Pantheon ceiling I took back in the summer of 2010 while on the SCAD study abroad trip. When I looked at it I said "That's it!" Luckily I had an extra print of it so I grabbed it and went. Plus, just the day before I had my 3rd Thesis Defense presentation and it went very well so I felt that I needed to extend the good architecture vibes. I got a lot of good comments during the festival while I was drawing it out and most people picked up on what it was very quickly. A few others saw vastly different things, which was quite interesting. One of the most different things by far was that someone thought it was the The Large Hadron Collider at CERN. I don't see that one as much but oh well. The best part was that the co-founder and president of SCAD, Paula Wallace, stopped by my square and talked to me about it. She seemed to really like it and I was very humbled by that unexpected honor. I hope you enjoy it too! Thanks for reading.

Pancakes for Yeti

During the SCAD Sidewalk Arts Festival this past weekend my friend Phillip Jacobson did a square to help promote his new web-comic called "Pancakes for Yeti." It's about a simple guy named Chuck who is roommates with a Yeti and all the hi-jinks that they get into. Not only did the square turn out really nice, but the comic itself is really funny and worth a read! You should check it out and feel free to leave him comments about how the story is progressing and what you enjoy about it. To get to the comic follow the link!

SCAD Sidewalk Arts Festival 2012

This past weekend at SCAD was family weekend and as a part of this annual weekend SCAD hosts the Sidewalk Arts Festival in Forsyth Park. I have done it for the past 4 years and it is always a lot of fun. The entire park gets transformed into a venue for art and celebration. Sidewalk squares get reserved for current students, graduate students, alumni, and prospective students to chalk up and turn into unique pieces of art. I was able to get a square in the graduate student section this year next to 3 of my friends and we had a great time drawing and enjoying the nice spring weather. I really hope that next year I will be able to come back and do an alumni square. That would be a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy the photo. My square will be posted in another post so keep reading!

SCAD Permanent Collection

Hello people! I have exciting news for you! Just yesterday, Wednesday the 25th of April, I found out from a friend that SCAD put up my photo in Bergen Hall, the photography building. Most SCAD buildings have student work hanging that is part of the permanent collection but Bergen Hall - until yesterday - was not among those buildings. Kind of strange since its a building that houses a fine art program. It is probably because it simply does not have much useable exhibition space, but they found a place and its in the lobby! If I am not mistaken it might even be the very first photo (or piece of art from the SCAD collection) to ever be hung in Bergen! Now that is pretty awesome. Also, over the summer they put this new window wrap on the glass wall behind the security desk that uses the same aperture logo I use on my business card. Very funny since now they have my photo hanging up too! To read the original story of this photo follow this link!

SCAD Silver & Ink 2012

This coming Saturday (April 28th) is the opening reception of SCAD's largest annual photography exhibition - Silver & Ink! I was fortunate enough this year to make it in the show and several of my talented friends and fellow photo students made it in the show as well. If you are in the area you should come on by. I only have one image in the show, but there will so much professional work there that the show as a whole will be something you certainly won't want to miss! Saturday, April 28th 5:30-8pm at the Gutstein Gallery across from the Trustees Theater. - Also, on a side note, the original post for this photo can be found here!

GWO - Recap

What a great weekend we had! Shoot things, eat things, sleep things, eat more things, shoot more things, and enjoy in some fellowship things. So many things and so little time. I will greatly miss this next year since this is my last year of school for the foreseeable future, but it will not be the last time I see these guys and I am very thankful that I can share these memories with them. You guys rock! And before you leave, please enjoy this - Running Photo Animation

GWO - Guys Weekend Out 2012

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to go on a weekend retreat with my campus ministry at SCAD. It was the second annual RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) GWO - Guys Weekend Out! Just like last year we journeyed out to Hollywood Farms & Quail Plantation in Macon, GA and shot a lot of guns. We had a great time hanging out together and bonding over guns, ammo, and food. It was all overseen by Chuck Duggan who owns and runs the Plantation. He offered us professional gun training and expert advice to maximize both our safety and fun! To see the above photos animated just click on these three links! - Chuck - Eric - Hampton - It's Photo Magic!

Happy One Year Anniversary!

Hey folks! Guess what? It has been one full year since I started this blog! I just wanted to Mark (yes, pun fully intended) the occasion with a quick post and say thank you to those of you who have stuck with me for an entire year. And for those of you just joining us I welcome you to PHOTO REAL - a blog for photos and everyday observations. The door is always open for comments and conversations so please read on and feel free to share stories of your own. I look forward to continuing this blog for years to come and I am glad that I have an outlet to share my art and thoughts. I hope you continue to come back as I will continue to make more compelling and dynamic photographs and provide stories along with them. In the mean time - Keep it REAL!

Foods of New York Tours Photo Contest, March

While in New York my family and I went on a food tour of Central Village and SoHo. We had a great time and got a lot of good food samples along the way, as well as seeing a lot of cool places. One such place was Kenny's Castaways Pub (pictured here). At the end of the tour our guide mentioned that we should enter the photo contest they hold on facebook each month. Of course I perked up when I heard that and I submitted several images from our tour. The image I have provided here, I am proud to say, was the winning entry for the month of March! The winning photo earned me two free tour tickets. This is very exciting and well deserved since we have been on so many tours anyway, haha. But seriously, I am very excited to have been chosen. Thanks Food of New York Tours!

Art Takes Times Square

As a part of my Photo Arts I class I have to submit my work to a few photo contests during this quarter. So, when I found an e-mail sent to me by Artists Wanted about this awesome free art contest I just had to submit. The title of the contest is Art Takes Times Square and the winning artists will be featured in none other than Times Square, one of the most visited places on earth! I mean you better go big or go home with this one so I went big and submitted some of my best work and you can view it here. I need to look into it a bit more and if I find any new information I will be sure to post it, but this would be like a dream come true! For now go to the page and click collect at the top to like my work.

Back to What I Know

This is my last quarter at SCAD and I managed to slip in one last photo class. It will be quite different from most photo classes I have taken before. First of all it is a graduate level course and I am the only non major in the class as well as in the whole of the graduate photo program (kinda makes me unique!). Second it is a seminar class, which means that instead of the professor giving the students assignments it is up to the students to dictate what they want to work on for the duration of the class. I have decided that I want to go back to shooting architectural details like I did over the summer in my color technique class. The two I have provided are from New York and are of The Cooper Union Building and St. John the Divine.

The Grandfather I Never Deserved

My Grandpa Max regretfully passed away recently and I wanted to take a moment to celebrate his life. He was not actually my real grandfather, but rather my step-grandfather - but I knew him so well and loved him so much growing up that it never even mattered. He was everything you would want a grandfather to be. He was kind, happy, always enjoyable to be around, had the best laugh and sense of humor a guy could have, and always looked out for me. There were two things Grandpa Max would always do when he would come visit me at my house. One, he would always ask to see my room to make sure it was not getting too messy, and Two, he would always tell me to get a haircut no matter how short my hair was at the time. He also always had a full head of hair himself. And when I would visit him at his house he would always take me and my sister to all the Disney theme parks since he used to work at MGM Studios (now Hollywood Studios). My sister and I always had a blast doing that and I'm sure he had just as much fun too. I attribute my love for theme parks to Grandpa Max and also my love for fun! He taught me to be kind and considerate and never once did I feel uncomfortable or unwelcome around him. He was the Grandfather that I never deserved, but certainly the one I always wanted. I love you Grandpa Max and thanks for all the good times. 1924-2012. (Photo 2007)

Islands of Adventure Spring Break 2012

After I got back from New York I took a few days to enjoy being home and then had some friends from college come visit me down in Florida. Naturally I took them to Islands of Adventure. It's like the go-to theme park for me and ever since they opened the new Harry Potter themed part I have constantly wanted to go back. At first I thought they might have been a little too late with the Harry Potter park since it opened just before the last movie came out, but if there is any proof that they made the right decision it is that I have been there 3 times already in the last year and a half and am eagerly awaiting my next visit. This time I had 4 of my friends with me and 3 of them had never been to the park before, which is always fun. And even though I have been to the park so many times there are still things I have yet to do, and this time I was able to knock a few off the list. One being to try a frozen Butterbeer from Hogsmeade. It was sooo good! It was like a cream soda slushie! I also had the chance to go inside the Jurassic Park Discovery Center for the first time. It is a museum, store, café area that is modeled after the main museum in the movie. The one with the two skeletons in the center with the staircase around them that is also the location for the final scene with the Velociraptors and T-Rex. It was pretty cool but is already becoming a little dated. I think they are realizing that because I noticed they have started to up-date certain rides at the park so that they better reflect the cutting edge technology that the Harry Potter World has. For example the Spider-Man ride, which has always been my favorite ride, got a complete video overhaul. It is a virtual simulation ride with a moving car that has a 3D video portion to it. The video used to be in the classic cartoon format, but the new video is completely done with computer animation and they have new 3D glasses and it is so much more crisp! That ride was first designed 15 years ago and now with the simple video up-date it should last 15 more. It will be interesting to see what other parts of the park they up-date next. I guess I will have to look out for them next time I visit! - Also, the photos above are of the Butterbeer cart in Hogsmeade and the Incredible Hulk Coaster, which we rode twice! (another one of my favorite rides in the park).

New York Spring Break 2012 - Street Photography

As you probably have realized by now, taking photos of people is not my strong point. I am trying to get better at it though and on this trip I branched out a bit and did some "street photography." Usually when I think of street photography I just think of what it means for me, and what that usually ends up being is photography of buildings and architectural details. But what real street photography consists of is people interacting with their environments. These two were the two best ones I came up with. In the first one I love how the sign fell right between the two girls walking and it does a great job of mirroring their action. In the second one the girl is standing perfectly in the middle of the manhole cover, which pretty much completes the entire photo. This type of photography is very popular in places such as New York because of all the different people and I hope to explore it more in the years to come.

New York Spring Break 2012 - Bagels!

New York is famous for their bagels! This one place that is in my sister's new neighborhood is called Absolute Bagels and it is just that. It is absolutely the best bagel place ever. I mean just look at that kid! Does he not look like the happiest kid ever? Well, it's because he is about to get the best bagel ever! We ate here almost every morning we were in New York and I already miss it.

New York Spring Break 2012 - 9/11 Memorial

I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the new 9/11 Memorial on this most recent trip. I had read only a little bit about it before going and seen brief images, but when I finally arrived I was floored by the subtle power and dramatic statement it was making. For those of you who don't know the new memorial consists of two fountains that are the size of the footprints of the former World Trade Center towers. Each fountain flows down a 30 foot wall and disappears into a square "void" in the center. The sound of the water alone drowns out all the city noise happening around that you get sucked into the current moment. As you walk around you get a true sense of how many lives were lost during the tragic events of 9/11 and each name can be clearly read. There is also no discrimination in the names and you can see different cultures from all over the world being represented, which is also another powerful thought. The memorial is brand new but already is being well attended. I look forward to visiting it again when the entire complex is completed.

New York Spring Break 2012 - Bronx Zoo

On this most recent trip my family and I decided to do a few things that none of us had done yet. With that in mind we ended up going to the Bronx Zoo, which is a world famous zoo. We saw a lot of interesting animals in just as many interesting environments. Although, since it was technically still winter, there were a lot of animals that were housed inside so the zoo would be better viewed during the summer. Even so we all had a good time and here are just a few of the better photos from our visit.

New York Spring Break 2012 - Subway

As always, one of the most fascinating things about New York to me is the Subway system. I always have to take photos of it when I visit. There is almost a sub-culture that takes place within all the criss-crossing tunnels below the island of Manhattan. There are all types of people going all types of places and the clash of personalities can be both dynamic and intense. It is a most interesting place to make photographs.

New York Spring Break 2012 - Flying In...

So, as most of you know by now, I went to New York fro my Spring Break this year....well...at least for a few days of my break. This time my whole family was along for the ride and these two images I have for you are from the plane flying into LaGuardia. The last time I was in New York was for my Spring Break last year and one of the more exciting things I did was go to visit the site of the 1964 World's Fair. It was actually the very first thing I ever blogged about (which you can read about here!) and it was one of the last things I did on my last trip so it was almost like picking up where I left off in a sense. But to prevent myself from repeating myself too much I will just leave it at that. Please enjoy these aerial shots.

Experimental Inkjet Printing - Final Project

Hello Photo Fans! It sure has been awhile. Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I was busy with Spring Break! Now I'm back in the action and already a full week into my last quarter of school. Kinda scary, kinda exciting. To start things off I wanted to share my final project from my Experimental Inkjet Printing class that I had last quarter. I felt that this project turned out very well but unfortunately the photos I have of the pieces do not do them justice. As with many experimental techniques the results just have to be seen in person in order to understand them fully. Above is just one in a series of ten dioramas I constructed for my final out of black matt board, wood, and metal photographs. I pulled inspiration from shoebox dioramas and Japanese art and decided to use my black and white bridge series as the subject matter. It literally took me three weekends to make these dioramas. One weekend to prepare the metal, one to print on the metal, and one to construct the frame work for the dioramas. As I mentioned earlier they are better understood when viewed in person because you can see the depth in each piece better and how some of the pieces overlap and interact. This has to be one of the most ambitious photo projects I have ever attempted and I am very pleased with the results. To view the entire series follow the link.