Home

I have had the song titled "Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros stuck in my  head now for weeks.  There is just something about this song that absolutely moves me.  The connection between singer Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos is very June and Johnny Cash-esque.  I am also in love with Jade's voice.  If you haven't listened to it, you should check it out.

If you check out Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros you'll also see the amount of very cool art that accompanies a lot of the songs.  All the videos have an older feel along with the photographs as well.  This really inspires me to not be limited to a time with photographs... but to create a story.

Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my Ma & Pa Not the way that I do love you Holy moly, me, oh my, you’re the apple of my eye Girl, I’ve never loved one like you

Man, oh man, you’re my best friend, I scream it to the nothingness There ain’t nothin’ that I need

Well, hot & heavy, pumpkin pie, chocolate candy, Jesus Christ There ain’t nothin’ please me more than you

Chorus: Ahh, Home Let me come Home Home is wherever I’m with you (2x) La la la la, take me Home Baby, I’m coming Home

I’ll follow you into the park, through the jungle, through the dark Girl, I’ve never loved one like you

Moats & boats & waterfalls, alley ways & pay phone calls I’ve been everywhere with you

That’s true

We laugh until we think we’ll die, barefoot on a summer night Nothin’ new is sweeter than with you

And in the sticks we’re running free like it’s only you and me Jeez, you’re something to see.

Chorus

“Jade?” “Alexander?” “Do you remember that day you fell out of my window?” “I sure do, you came jumping out after me.” “Well, you fell on the concrete and nearly broke your ass and you were bleeding all over the place and I rushed you off to the hospital. Do you remember that?” “Yes, I do.” “Well, there’s something I never told you about that night.” “What didn’t you tell me?” “While you were sitting in the backseat smoking a cigarette you thought was going to be your last, I was falling deep, deeply in love with you and I never told you ‘til just now.” “Now I know.”

Ahh, Home Let me come Home Home is whenever I’m with you Ahh, Home Let me come Home Home is when I’m alone with you

Home Let me come Home Home is wherever I’m with you

Ahh, Home Yes, I am Home Home is when I’m alone with you.

Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my Ma & Pa Moats & boats & waterfalls & pay phone calls

Ahh, Home Let me come Home Home is wherever I’m with you Ahh, Home Let me come Home Home is when I’m alone with you

Video

Holiday Cheer

Holiday Greetings boys and girls!  It's that time of year.  Everyone is recovering from Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.  But maybe you didn't find what you wanted? Maybe you didn't feel like braving the crowds or logging onto your computer?  Not to fear citizen.  I've got the perfect gift in mind for you, for any friend, family member, or coworker. Nothing says Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah, or just I'm thinking of you while I eat a lot of Christmas cookies today...like a beautiful photograph.  So if you've had your eye on a photograph for awhile, now is your moment to snatch it up.  Maybe even keep it for yourself, I won't tell.

Here's the low down.

5x7s-$10

8x10s-$15

11x14-$20

Send your requests with the image# and the post name in a comment at the bottom of this post.  Once I receive the comment I will contact you through email for your shipping address and payment options.  This deal is only good through December 10th!  That way we have time to get everything shipped.  *Ahem, side note.  Unfortunately I cannot guarantee getting it there by Christmas since it depends on how busy the company I print through is.  But I will do my best, cross my heart.

Having trouble remembering what posts had those super duper pictures you are thinking of?  Here's a little jog:

For the Cow Lover in your Life

The Retro Lover

Kitty Lover, Again, and Again

And for all you nature and landscape enthusiasts, lots and lots and lots to choose from.

But I suggest just taking a little bit and look back through each post, that way you can decide what you really want.  Remember this is only good through December 10th so hop to it!

Caro's Senior Portraits

Finally!  The wait is over dear friends.  You may now spend hours gazing upon these photos, and you probably will too...there are a lot.  I had a great time at the UT Gardens with Caro.  She survived the camera being on her at all times, graffiti of people with lots of eyes, and even an encounter with a coffin...it was quite the day.   She was a great sport and the pictures turned out fabulous.

Friday Fields

It's Friday.  It's beautiful here in Knoxville.  So I decided to take a little walk around the neighborhood and enjoy the sites, and of course share them with you!  This is a great exercise when you can't decide what to shoot.  Just walk around!  To make it more interesting I try to plan a story board in my head and then just start snapping.  I was in search of some cows but it just didn't work out.  Happy weekend everyone!

The Twin

Two weekends ago, I went home for a busy weekend away.  While I was there I teamed up with my wonderful friend The Twin.  She wanted some lovely portraits done, so we headed to the river and had a grand ole time.  I even stepped in for a couple cameo shots with my best bud.  The Twin and I have been friends for a long time, so it really meant a lot to me to be able to do some portraits for her.  And here is the end result.  Happy viewing!

I love September

It's hard to believe that today is the first day of September.  Fall is upon us and I don't feel quite ready.  I love September.  It's my favorite month...also because it's my birthday month, and well, quite frankly I LOVE birthdays.  Especially mine.  But this year it has snuck up on me, and I'm not quite sure what to do with September. I woke up Saturday morning at my parents house, to a foggy field view.  (Thus all the pictures.)  To me, it's a magical time when the seasons begin to transition.  Everything changes, and seems full of mystery...and there is fog.  I love fog, it reminds me of fairy tale books for some reason.

But I woke up, eyes still blood shot and exhausted from the day before to this beautiful view.  I stumbled out of bed...found my shoes...mumbled something about photos as I passed my Mom and went out the back door.  While I shot, I began to wake up.  The cool crisp air made me realize that summer is gone...and somehow I feel like I missed it.

I am determined not to do the same with September.  Don't get me wrong, it's going to be a busy month.  I have two, possibly three, weddings to do with Rebecca Claire Photography.  I have to get my tonsils removed.  And I have several senior portraits lined up.  Not to mention just the day to day working.  Speed Racer also has a ton of travel ahead of him this month, so that just makes us busy.  So I already feel like I'm letting it slip by.

Usually by now I already have my birthday list sent out (at times I have sent it out in July...yeah, I'm that kid).  But I haven't done it yet, and each time I try to I just seem to get discouraged.  Speed Racer wistfully asked what I wanted for my birthday this year, and for once I said, "I just don't know."

Unlike most people who say that who are modest and not greedy people, I did not say it because I don't want presents, I think I said it out of exhaustion.  There are MANY things that I want, but none of them seem to come in gift form...or affordable gifts at that.  I want time away.  Just for me and Speed Racer.  I want to buy practical things that make dumb presents.  I want to figure out things.  I want to be surprised.  Stuff like that.

But the great thing about fall is that it always seems full of new prospects to me.  Unlike Spring, fall to me is a time to hunker down with a good book outside, and spend some quality time.  Even if this fall is busy, I know it's going to be a good one.  I'm taking fall back.

Vision

copyright James Chance What is vision?  What inspires us to take a closer look at what is around us?  Why do certain ideas grab us and take hold, while to others they hardly matter?

I ran across this article on pdnonline.com, about Photographer James Chance winning POYi's new Emerging Vision Incentive grant.  It's a $10,000 grant that helps artists achieve an idea or vision.  The idea is reviewed by a board and they determine whether or not it is deserving of the grant.  James Chance's vision was entitled, "Living with the Dead."

James Chance ran across an article about how poor people were living in Manila's North Cemetery in the Philippines.  Chance will use the grant money to fund several trips to continue working on the project and documenting families there.  Officials said that his project was chosen because of the depth of the project.  Not only did it speak of poverty, how countries handle poverty, but generational issues, and public health as well.  I think it's fantastic that we still have grants and other financial support so that people can pursue their visions.  ARTICLE

Vision is defined in the dictionary as:

1.the act or power of sensing with the eyes; sight.

2.the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be: prophetic vision; the vision of an entrepreneur.

3.an experience in which a personage, thing, or event appears vividly or credibly to the mind, although not actually present, often under the influence of a divine or other agency.

4.something seen or otherwise perceived during such an experience.

5.a vivid, imaginative conception or anticipation.

6.something seen; an object of sight.

7.a scene, person, etc., of extraordinary beauty.

It has been my experience that vision in the art world is an idea that possesses your soul.  So often I have ideas that flit in and out of my head about great bodies of work that I could create, but there are few that truly keep me occupied to the point where I think about them constantly...and those are the ones that matter.

I think the second part of vision is the ability to act on your vision.  It's easy to jot down ideas but to actually start to create is the hard part.  How long did it take James Chance to be able to go to the Philippines?  But obviously this idea was important enough to him that he realized he would need grant money to help fund it.  Making a vision into reality is something that artists have struggled with for years.  How can you make others see what you have seen, feel what you have felt, and experience it as you have?

The third part of vision, and this is under the belief that you want to share this vision, is relaying it in a way that it is important to others.  Ideas that involve crisis, or social-economic struggles of the human race are themes that everyone wants to care about and relate to.  We all struggle, we all have hard times, and we can come together through that.  More abstract visions are harder to get across, at least to me.  And sometimes they are good in the fact that different people might see different issues in them.  For example, for some time now I have wanted to do a series of pictures of older churches in the South.  Why, personally?  I'm not sure.  Maybe it's because I see them changing.  Little back water churches have been over run by the mega church, and are slowly failing.  But when I take those pictures, what will others see in them?

Think about your own visions today, whether they are photographs, stories, writing, personal, career, crafts, or visions you have for your family.  Vision really is about hopes and dreams, as well as goals.  What is your vision?  How are you going to make it happen?

Portfolio

Portfolio's are very important.  It's important to keep track of what you have accomplished over the years.  It's easy to get too busy to take a picture of something you've done, but make the time.  It will be worth it. In light of that fact, here is my portfolio from my Undergraduate studies until now.  It has a little bit of everything, sculpture, traditional black and white photography, photojournalism, digital, landscape, portraits, and weddings.

Camera Basics: Let's talk Composition

As in any art there are some basic rules that help you understand what is good and what is not good.  In photography there are some basic rules of composition that help you discover why the eye looks to certain parts of a photograph...what draws us to that point?  But really, for me, I love to break the rules.  And after all, they're just guidelines. One of the most famous rules of composition is the rule of thirds.   Basically you want to imagine that your photo is divided into nine equal segments by two horizontal and two vertical lines.  You want to put the point of your focus along these lines or at the points where they intersect.

Another example.  At times however, I feel it is fine to break this guideline.  Sometimes it works to have your subject right smack dab in the middle.

Another thing to remember in the rule of thirds composition is that if you do not want that sense of emptiness in the rest of the picture, it is sometimes nice to balance out the other space with other elements.

Another guideline of composition to keep in mind is perspective.  What are you intending the viewer to see?  This is one of my favorites.  Do you want to take the picture from up close? Far away? Above? Below?  Right on the level?  Anyone can just snap a picture but determining what is important in the photo is up to the photographer and your unique "perspective."

The human eye is also drawn to patterns and repetition.  You can draw the eye of the viewer by capturing unique patterns and where they end.

Another composition element similar to capturing patterns is the use of the natural line.  Our eyes follow lines, we follow lines all day long, so naturally we try to find the source.

Another interesting element of composition is the use of natural frames.  This could be a doorway, a window, trees, arches, or anything else that frames an interest.

Depth is also effective.  Here there are layered elements that keep the eye moving in the photograph.  First the field, then single tree, then tree line, mountains, and finally sky.  It would probably be even more effective if there was something more prominent in the foreground.

Cropping is the most direct compositional element.  You are simply saying as the artist, this is what I want you to look at.  Nothing else is important.  And it's quite effective.

Finally, the last composition element is background.  Having a simple, non-distracting background lets the viewer enjoy what is in the foreground.  Photography is a 2-D art, and so even though our eyes might easily separate what is in the foreground and background, it is harder for a camera lens to do so.  Get rid of the distractions either by focus or moving location, so that you can focus on your subject.

Those are some of the main composition elements to think about when you're getting started.  You can mix and match them, isolate them, or just plain ignore them if you'd like, but sooner or later they will sneak into your photographs without you even realizing it.

Sunsphere

I took a very hot walk around Knoxville the other afternoon, hunting up some photos for another project.  But as I was glancing around the horizon line my eye caught, as always, on the Sunsphere.  It's a pretty cool structure and one of the most famous one's in Knoxville.  I realized that even though I've been here for awhile now, I really don't know much about the Sunsphere.  So here is what I have learned, I'm not sure if all of it is true, but here it is all the same. 1. The Sunsphere was the symbol for the 1982 World's Fair.

2. It is 266 ft high.

3.  It was designed by the Knoxville Architectural firm, Community Tectonics.

4. The tower's window glass panels are layered in 24-karat gold dust and cut to seven different shapes.

5. It weighs 600 tons.

6. In the early morning hours on May 12, 1982, a shot was fired from outside the fair site and shattered one of the sphere's windows. No one was ever arrested for the incident.

7. On Sunday, May 15, 2000, nuclear weapons protesters scaled the tower and hung a large banner that said "Stop the Bombs." They remained on the tower for three days before surrendering to police.

8. It's really cool.

9. It's full of leprechauns.

10. It use to be a restaurant.

Like I said, all these MAY or MAY NOT be true.  But it's worth exploring.  And now you have some facts on your local landmark.