day 093.2

holy flippin'-A i am happy! i worked on the Take-Out Box sample portfolio thing some more this evening. i put in the images i trimmed yesterday, added text and worked out a way to reinforce the box with a foam-core platform for the images to rest on and that also gives the box stability.

to be honest, i think the box works really well. now that i am thinking about it a bit more, i think the only thing i would tinker with changing now is maybe not making the images full bleed. instead giving them a border of some sort. when i was looking at the images strung up on my wall in order, it looked a little busy to me. maybe some white space will help alleviate that.

i will play with it tomorrow. as well as take some pictures of the final piece to show. i gotta admit, it looks pretty good.

day 093

the day isn't nearly over, but i wanted to toss up an image i was working on.

i have been scanning in slides from panama i took too many years ago.

day 092

today wasn't too bad. i worked on putting together some images for the take out box concept. ones that will hopefully work out pretty well. i went ahead and ran a few prints and trimmed them. i didn't have enough time to implement them into the box though.

i also went through some old slides from panama and korea so that i could scan them in tomorrow at the studio.

day 091

i know i sound irritated today.

i am not happy in this town. i am not sure if i ever was happy in this town. i feel no connection to where i live whatsoever.

it has now been a little over 3 years and i feel nearly as separated on as the time when i first landed here.

i have met some amazing people, i have made some drastic changes and i have learned how to drive in the snow.

but if i were to leave portland now, i don't think i would ever look back with any ownership of this town. i will not be spitting to others that i will meet later that have also lived or traveled to portland, that the east end "...was my hood!"

i am just not happy, and i can't really nail down as to why. i don't like the fact of not feeling settled even after three years of living in the same "here & now".

day 090

i actually didn't do shit for creativity today. i had the thoughts, but nothing was sticking. i wanted to play, but nothing would formalize itself for there even to be a beginning. i was dry. nothing but a void.

all i did was exercise and eat. the only thing new is that the kitchen is a wreck. at least that gives me something to do on sunday.

day 089

i didn't do much of anything. i tracked down the maker of the take out boxes i like. $80 bucks gets me a stack of 50 or them. a bit more than needed, but i don't know if i will be able to find a cheaper way.

day 088

it be's x-mas bitches!!!!!

i poured out some PBR for my dead Hommie with the capital "H".

the day was pretty pleasant. had a decent breakfast of biscuits, eggs and turkey. darn tasty!

then i pretty much just sat around, took bertie for a walk and watched more hulu.com.

but i was creative this evening. i made my noodles and started playing with the idea i mentioned a post or so back about actually sending out a to-go box that would house a sample portfolio. i made my noodles and snapped a quick shot of them.

i think the shot is pretty cool, but could definitely use some garnishing. not sure exactly what i would have put in there. maybe some protein of some sort, like a shrimp or something. a red chili pepper, some sort of greenery. nothing too fancy, because it is supposed to represent what you would be taking home from the restaurant, which is generally just scraped off your plate before you leave. i did try the idea of using chili paste to write my name on the noodles. but, i think it gets too busy with all the squiggly lines of the noodles and the competing lines of my name.

anyway, i snapped that shot and started playing with cutting it out to fit the into the to-go box. the opening of the box measures 4.125"x4.875" and narrow down to 4.25"x3.5" at the base of the box. that causes two problems for me:

a) total height of the box is 2.75". that would mean a fuck-ton of sample images to fill the entire box. definitely not what i want to do. so to salve that problem, i will probably use a small piece of wood or something light and solid to fill in for the void between the last image and the bottom of the box. on it would rest business cards, with the last card permanently attached to the box.

b) the second problem is that because the sides of the box narrow, that means that the trim of my prints must compensate for the tapering box interior. i ain't's too smart at math and such and geometry and figurin's outs how to do that mathematically, so i just figured i would cut all the images to the same size, that size being the measurement slightly deeper into the box after the tapering had already begun.

a third problem with the box idea is that if the images are to fit flush to the sides of the box interior, then how is a person supposed to pull the images out to view them? i decided to weave hemp thread through the images so that when the box is opened, you only have to pull the thread and the images will pull out and come into view. they are threaded together in an accordion fashion so that when they are pulled out, they are view flush sided by side.

so, here is my prototype. the final image would be one of the box empty with only the sauce and a few noodles remaining. i didn't do that tonight, because i only have one tog-go box to play with and didn't want to soil it so early in the game. (i said soil)

anyway, now i need to work on some new images for it. i think they should be somewhat themed. either all shot from directly above, to fit the viewing of the to-go box, or maybe all the same sort of dishes. i don't know, something more to think about.

day 087

it's christmas eve bitches!!!!! yeah, a lazy day to be had by all. i had a few ideas for the day, but shoveling took over.

that and hulu.com i didn't do shiz-nit today. it was great! and i ate at least half a box of frosted flakes. simply amazing day.

day 086

i tried working on the lisa pics again today. i feel better now breaking it out to three pics instead of three images in one pic. i cropped them all as square as well. i was hoping this would bring the images together even though they would be framed separately. let me know what you think.

i also worked on a new image to hopefully print and frame for the kitchen. just something to be kind of fun in the space.

i was also thinking about new portfolio presentations. some time back i have thought about using to-go boxes as portfolio mailers. the client would open the to-go box and there would be an image of food sitting in the box. so it would look like you were looking at the left overs you had taken home. then from there it would be normal pieces. until the last image which would be of the bottom of the box but with remnants of food. as if you had just eaten your left overs. and on the bottom of the box would be my contact info. maybe i can play with that this holiday break. i was also thinking about a way to use twine to keep the images pieced together as well. so they folded out of the box in an accordion style and would never be lost from the box.

i should play with it tonight.

it is still early in the day, so i may be able to write some more this evening and possibly with some new test pics.

day 085

we got dumped on last night. it took nearly 2 hours to clear the driveway enough to get the car out. aside from the back breaking labor, it was a beautiful morning. i was shoveling long enough to see the sunrise over the bay.

i made it into work and had the studio to myself today. it was interesting not having any company in the room. there were aspects of it that were great. i didn't have to keep an eye on where and what people were doing. i didn't have to cater to anyone. i didn't have try and cram other work into the 5 minute slots when models are changing. i didn't have to do anything for anyone except myself.

now i just had to figure out what it was i wanted to do. i spruced up the space a little bit. putting away some boxes that had been sitting in the way for too long. did a double check of backed up files. cleaned out my inbox, although there is still some work to do there.

there is also still some work to be done with sprucing up the studio. but i have a total of 6 days to get that done before production begins again. i need to spread out the work. that was the nice thing about shooting AV and having people in the studio all day. the day flew by, there was always work to be done and it never felt like time was wounded in battle and crawling to safety. that was more me after some of the more strenuous days.

i tried to work on a creative spread today. one of lisa that started by just showing pants being put on, then a close up of the hand in pocket, then a close up of the arm all tatted up. then finally a full body shot. i was hoping that all the previous images would read androgynous. and by the final image you would come to realize it was a female. but i couldn't seem to make it work. i wanted all the images to be on one spread, but while i am writing this i think they would work better as separate images shown on the same wall. i think with the borders, it would prevent the viewer from jumping to the end and ruining what surprise there may be. it wasn't gelling for me earlier, but maybe i will give it another shot tomorrow sometime.

most of my day has been that way. i have somewhat been anticipating nicole being gone. although i miss her being with me, her warm body at night and kissing her forehead in the morning. i was somewhat looking forward to this time alone. i wanted my selfish me time. i was thinking that this would be the time that i would really stretch my wings creatively. i would put to film/paper/whatever everything that had been boiling up inside since i started working so many hours.

not the case. not that i don't have the drive. it is more that i don't have the concept, the idea, the creative. i am just dry. usually when i exercise i get a rush of creative energy; not the case tonight. i ran at the gym and did weights, but nothing sprouted in my head.

i did snag a photo of what nicole's b-day present was. this is not the final. what is left to be is A) framing it, and B) writing the corresponding reactions. i'll explain:

A - what i would like to do is find an antique surface that i could mount the images to. i would mount them in the same way they are mounted now, with six point creating the angles. instead of push-pins i would like to use rusty nails or something metallic and weathered. the concept would be the same, with the same piece of twine running the entire length of the frame like shown. i would also take off the "handle" to the clips. by "handles" i mean the pieces of the clip you actually squeeze to open it.

B - the original idea was to hand write the corresponding reaction nicole and i were trying to convey in each photo. then i thought it might be fun for her and i to write out our own reactions in the photos. so, i am waiting fro her to get back in town and we will fill them in together.

i am going to play and maybe put something together creatively. good night.

day 084

it is nicole's birthday. it is also the day she flies out for florida. we had a slower start to the morning than expected. alcohol and dance the night prior can cause that. it was really sad, and i probably should not admit this, but i was actually sore this morning.

i wasn't able to finish nicole's b-day gift the night before like i had wanted. so i rushed downstairs while she was getting read to pull it together.

she liked it, or at least she said she did. i still need to frame it somehow, but i have a week or so to get that done.

after nicole split, it was lazy-ville. i didn't do shit. it was great, absolutely great.

so i was creatively productive for the day. and i will take a pick of the piece tonight and post it up.

day 083

all the fun to get done!!!!

most of the day was running around, shopping, baking and picking up last minute items for nicole's b-day present. that evening, we hit up two shin-digs and danced away.

nothing much on the creative end.

day 082

today's productivity has been pretty good. in what i needed to accomplish for work, what i needed to accomplish for personal prepping for the winter (snow tires!!!!!), and what i needed to accomplish creatively and for nicole's b-day.

knocked out some last minute image selects for the new web portfolio. split from work early and took off to so. po. to get some snow tires. it is winter #4 for me here in maine. this will be the first time i have had snow tires. OH MY F-ING GOD!!!!!!!! they are amazing. i plowed through an empty parking lot tonight with at least 5 inches of fresh snow, unplowed and even made it up a steep incline without any trouble. i tried to get stuck, and had no problems what so ever. it was amazing.

made it back home and worked on nicole's b-day gift. it is coming together nicely. i have a few more tweaks to make before it is finished. i will need to get a few things tomorrow for it, then i should be able to unveil it sunday morning. we'll see how it goes.

the problem with her gift is that i could not think of something appropriate to give until too late in the game. i like the concept i have, but it will be somewhat unfinished when given. but i can finalize it while she is gone for christmas.

it is the thought, right?

day 081

busy day in the studio. scrambling to finish up on a model and also get images out the door for the new website.

so what did i do that was creative? i had to deliver some new images to an AD for consideration for my web portfolio. he seemed to think that astro-turf and cups with a t-shirt was a bit too abstract and couldn't really wrap his head around it. he also didn't care for a B&W pic of some dinner plates being prepped in a restaurant kitchen (i will see if i can post the image later for reference).

this doesn't really offend me. he is expressing his taste and there is nothing wrong with that. the problem i have is that he is catalog-centric. and although catalog is a wonderful paycheck, it shouldn't be the only work we do. or at least not the only work we try and gain.

and besides that, we (i hope that pronoun is correct) are all artist who work for the company. we strive to be creative. we strive to be better, greater, stronger and most of all, more MARKETABLE!

although photography is fun, and although it gets the chicks naked, it isn't fun to do for free. and then you ain't got no money to spend on the ladies you get naked.

i don't think we should pigeonhole ourselves into being only marketable to catalogs. what is going to happen when we send a link to the website to an editorial client? we will be too generic, not edgy enough, and therefore not employed.

i guess i should actually say this to the AD. i think i will when we have another chance to chat.

anyway, i am posting a day late, but at least i am posting.

day 080

today was a scary day. i thought i was about to lose my job. i though nicole was about to lose hers. it was freakin' my shit out.

good news is, that as of 10:13 pm, we are both still employed.

it sparked a bit of a flame in me. i complain about not having enough time in the evenings to work on creative stuff when i get home, or i am too busy/tired come the weekend. the onl way i am going to progress in my career, and be sure that i am in a position to find work, is by puting aside my list of complaints and actually working on something.

an image request came across my desk today that was asking for some pics of blueberries. a good shot could land you a cover. a cover could land you an extra $1000. and regardless of the money, it gets your name in print, it gets your foot in the door of possibly showing a portfolio to a potential new client. and the cost is nill. a couples containers of blueberries, a little farm basket and my time.

luckily, alt views is coming to a close. more time will be available and more resources as well.

good news is that i found out my review will be in february, so i have an extra month to prep my port. that makes me feel a bit more at ease. it means i can get some new images compiled probably.

now i must run to bed.

day 079

the word of the day is "Trust".

trust in your friends

trust in your partner

trust in your employer

trust in yourself that was you are doing is right.

i questioned two of the four within the last 24 hours. not a pleasant place to be.

as for the creative aspect. well i worked on something. i can say that, but i can't say much more. i will explain why later.

day 078

first of, i am actually posting on the same day the post is referring to.

i got to go to the gym today!!!!!! yippeee!!!!!! that felt fucking great.

creatively today, notta' damn thing. work, then home, then gym, then home, then supper, then post, next is bed.

i am feeling a bit stale. i need to work on something, but i really don't know what.

i could work on the food photo layer collage. it is basically going to be similar in layering to the delta piece, but i am thinking about tossing in some raw meats and oils and such onto the glass and making it look like a sloppy meal. who the hell knows. something to play with this coming weekend.

day 077

today was another kittery day. crate & barrel had power and we went to pick up the desk. decided it was too small so i returned it and we shopped about a bit for another piece for the home. found some neat things but decided we needed a couch first.

back to the homestead and we had just enough time for me to clear the ice off the old jetta, install the new battery and snap a few shots of it so i can post it on craigslist and try and sell the damn thing.

then off to steve's b-day dinner and drinks with friends.

ain't a damn thing creative about today. but i was productive.

day 076

the first word for the day: Kittery - where nicole and i ventured off to first thing to pick up a desk my mom bought for me last time she was in town. remember that ice storm i spoke of in the last post? well, it also hit kittery, an hour south of portland. crate & barrel was without power when we arrived, as was the rest of the town.

back to portland and to the mall. i was needing to buy a new cell phone because i had just about had it with my current one.

second word for the day: iPhone - a little over $300 later, i had switched from sprint to at&t and bought a shiny new 18 GB iPhone in black. oh, what a shiny object!!!!

nicole also purchased one, so the rest of the evening was filled with her and i both playing with our new toys.

i did get some creativity going though. i was able to run a print of the Delta piece. i finally got it to print. i ended up having to use photoshop RAW to convert the image. it is done and it doesn't look that bad. now all i need to do is finish the goody box for pat and add the print and i will be done.

sorry for the belated b-day gift my brother.

day 075

i am 3/4's of 100 days old with this blog now!!!! isn't everyone as excited about that as i am!?!?!?, i mean fuck, who wouldn't be?!?!?!

but what everyone really wants to know is what did i get done creatively? well, not a heck of a lot. first off, i am posting the morning after, that says something. secondly, it was a crazy day in the studio. the southern maine area was hit by ice and sleet the night before and it made for a tricky drive in to work. it also knocked out the power to the hotel where the talent was staying. so everyone had a late start to the day. i also had a conference call scheduled for 11 am. i thought it would only mean that everyone would take an early lunch and it wouldn't really interrupt the day. which that would have been the case if there had been power to the hotel, and there had not been ice all over the roads. basically, had it been a normal day, my logic would have fallen true. so one conference call leads to another, then another then it is 1:30 pm and the first shot is on set. so we are working now, then the lights flicker, then they flicker again, then again. and i am talking about the fluorescent light fixtures in the room, not my strobes. then there is a puff of smoke and a fixture goes dead. then we are not shooting, then we are evacuating and i am scrambling to get the computer shut down, the camera in lock up and the hard drives out the door into the hall way in case the extinguishers decide to extinguish.

after my scrambling, and lock-away-ing and rolling my entire computer cart with external HD's out the studio into the hall do i realize that if the sprinklers spinkle in the studio, they will also sprinkle in the hall.

that all happened at 4:30 pm. that happens to also be the time we called the shoot.

fun day. but it did offer me a few brief moments to make jpegs of all the food images i have to date. grand total was something around 60 images. pretty damn spiffy for only shooting food for the past two years.

now i need to get the all saved off in a format that is appropriate for web viewing and laid out on the internets. so there is one thing of creative value for the day.

i also received a good critique of my book from my boss who recently showed it to a food client. when i say good, i don't mean the review was completely glowing. i mean that there was an actual critique there. something i have not had in a long time. i also got to hear about how a client responded to it while viewing other food portfolios and also without me looking over them. i need to input like this. i have to have a new portfolio made by the end of january so i would like to make it really pop. i guess i need to set aside some time to devote to the book creation as well as a good solid edit of new work, and also making prints.

so my goal will be to post all new work from the pas year online by next weekend. everyone (all 6 or seven of you) who read this can take a gander, and help me edit it down to the final images for show. when i post the link i will post all the other data stuff. like how many i need to cull it down to, etc.

the one thing i ask is that if you say to not use a shot, tell me why that shot does not work. i don't want to know that a shot isn't good, i want to know why one works and another does not. basically a critique.

the other thing i worked on yesterday was making a print for my madré y padré for x-mas. that part is done and i am ready to ship it out to them.

here is what i would like to get done by the end of the weekend:

• edit through the images of Lisa from too long ago

• finally finish and print the delta piece and send out to pat along with some boots and clothing.

• possibly pick out some frames for a series of pieces i bought about a year ago that i still have not framed and hung...i said hung!!!!!!!

time to clean the crack and head out the door.

day 074

i am getting really pissed at my delta art. i was able to print the file when i opened the RAW via photoshop raw. but when i processed it out from C1 pro it would not print. this is really ticking me off. i guess i just need to work the entire thing via photoshop and it should be fine. the only itch now is that i have spent all my time i have free and now i must sleep.

oh, and i also posted on craiglist.org under creative gigs that i was looking for a food stylist or a chef to work with for new portfolio images. my post was flagged and removed within a few hours of me posting it. i don't understand why. kinda pisses me off.

to be honest, there is very little right now that does not piss me off. i am just in one of those moods where you kind of want to be the asshole at the party. that isn't really you, but you are so fed up with being pushed around that you just don't give much of a fuck anymore.

sadly, the party is only in my head, but the people around me still s the asshole but now only out of context.

day 073

two things i want to share first and foremost:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUWONUpeTEw

http://www.timesrecord.com/website/main.nsf/news.nsf/0/1C3840E03193D8298525751B00619509?Opendocument

i'm kinda important

day 072

about the only thing worth mentioning from today is that i finally reworked a contract and sent it back out the door. hopefully that will come back with smiles and i an proceed to billing.

oh, and i did send off some images to Travel & Leisure today. so they will hopefully let me know which ones they would like to use.

worky worky worky.

day 071

just a busy boring day. i went straight from work home long enough to grab a new sweater then head back out the door to dinner with my mom and jerry. back home by 10 and straight to bed.

nothing bad, but nothing creative. i need to get some work out of my head and onto paper. i need to try out some new prints for all the blank wall space in the house.

i did realize that pulling out my books from the garage and pulling them out of the box and onto a shelf was inspirational. seeing the literature that i have, the art books and the images really inspired me. i need to dig back into them and start playing with the new studio space in the back of the house now.

on to sleep time.

day 070

just movin' crap, sweepin' crap, moppin' crap, overall cleaning. the apartment looks nice now...and a bit barren. really need to get some furniture, a sofa and a bookcase. i can do without the nicknacks to clutter the space though.

it has been nice to see an empty room with blank walls. it makes me want to create pieces specific to the wall space. like the stairway up to the bedroom.

we'll see what comes out of that inspiration.

day 069

what sort of jokes can be made about today?

today was a moving day. i ran up to the studio before my mom and Jerry had time to wake up. there i burned a disc of images for Travel + Leisure to hand over to Lola. back to the homestead and grabbing mother and jerry and nicole and off to breakfast.

from breakfast it was just moving shit out one door, to a truck trailer, in another door. this one goes over the balcony, this one can fit up the apartment stairs...unless we pull the fabric off. no still not working....unless we pull this wood brace off. no, still won't work....unless we dismantle it.

wow, great, that worked!

all in all, productive. not so much creatively, but still productive.

day 068

nothing majorly creative. wrapped up shooting in the studio a bit earlier today, so i was able to knock out some file management crap that i have been kneading to dough (hee hee, i made a funny).

i also received a new studio fashion fan in today and played around a bit with that. i wish i had longer hair though, it really would have shown better.

tonight we journeyed out to Springvale Maine to see a NWA wrestling bout. wow, that was amazing on so many levels. the choreography, the showmanship, the flare, the plum smuggling, and best of all the crowd itself.

we decided to create our own wrestling persona's and have a shoot in the empty living room next weekend. So, anyone who reads this and will be in the portland, me area next weekend, let me know if you would like to have your wrestling persona photographed.

oh, and i also dropped of a CD of Emilitsa images to Maine Home + Design. and i worked more of the Lola images for Travel & Leisure.

i leave now.

day 067

good news, found out that a restaurant i shot for 2 years back is being written up in Travel & Leisure and they are submitting some of my shots for the publication.

i also stopped by and spoke with one of the owners of the restaurant and we are going to get together on saturday to talk about possibly shooting some new stuff.

aside from that, there was nothing much else that happened today.

day 066

didn't do shit. really, i didn't do a damn thing. it was great. i split from the studio as quickly as i could, booked it home and did nothing, but eat bad chinese take out and catch up on a week without the lady friend around (i.e., sexy time!). both passed out in bed by a little after 9 pm. it was beautiful.

was just told of a new food friend for tugboat. a gluten free pizza company. this weekend, i shoot pizzas.

oh, and i am sending out my food portfolio to saratoga today for a showing with a potential food editorial/catalog client. positive thoughts.

day 065

only 300 days left in my blog-year!!!!!!

today was fun. we knocked out a good chunk of work in the studio, always a positive thing. the fruit shots were a hit. dinner was great, good company and good laughs and thanks to gregory for picking up the tab.

it is amazing what the effect of having someone tell you "good job". maybe not just someone, but someone that you want an approval from. someone that you hope to earn their respect, or prove that you are worthy of a challenge, etc. just two words can really make a difference. it is amazing to me.

i got that and i immediately felt good about what i had done, then i had an out of body experience and saw myself as a friggin' puppy wagging it's tail because it's master has approved a behavior. then i felt a bit stupid. doesn't matter, i did a "good job".


creatively, it was about the fruit today. they looked amazing. and source was very happy. that is what matters.

day 064

i am done with my day. i am done with this shoot. i am done with the studio right now


i need a break.

what did i do today: i worked on fruit. and i pulled together images for the Maine Home + Design story on Emilitsa.