I value the creation of art with innovation. This is by far one of the most technically savvy uses of the iPad I have seen yet. Skill, genius, creativity, and thinking outside the box (literally) have come together to make something truly beautiful. Enjoy, my artists.

Yosemite National Park, CA.

So as many of you know, I ventured north to Yosemite National Park this last week for some much needed outdoorsy, shower-less stink action.  I had never been there but have always wanted to go.  Now that I live in LA, it’s a short 4 hour jaunt to the park’s entrance, then another 45 min. breathtaking mountain ride to the park’s main hub, Yosemite Valley.  It was here that we set up camp in the North Pines camping area.  Yosemite National Park pretty much ruined my life by revealing what could be the most spectacular place on earth…WITH PICTURES (click any to enlarge)!

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I'm not this pretty in real life. Laura is magic.

Just got my headshots done last Friday.  I’ve been needing new looks for various projects and expanding my portfolio.  So I had to do some research on photographers around LA that fit my criteria:  affordable (i’m WICKED broke), quality of service, quality of product (so many photogs charge so much for so little), and communication (treat me like a human, not another $).

It came down to a few photographers who’s style I liked.  Laura Burke not only got back to me promptly, but she did some research on ME.  It was a treat getting an email from her citing specifics from my website and previous work.  Needless to say, I gave her a call, hit it off immediately and scheduled an appointment.  Her rates are ridiculously affordable for what you get. I now have hundreds of photos of a number of looks all of which ROCK.  And those of you who know me or my work know I am no where NEAR as attractive as her magic camera makes me seem. Seriously, I’d blow myself!

Please, if you are an actor, in LA, and in need of headshots, use Laura.  You will not regret it.  You might even get the all-star treatment if you tell her I sent you.

If you’d like to see a small sample of the many shots she took, please visit my facebook headshots gallery HERE.  To contact Laura, go to http://LauraBurkePhotography.com

Out of 5 stars, I’d give her 7.  Boom.

Old Color Photo looks almost HDRI worthy

Every once in awhile, something comes along that leaves me pretty stunned.  These photos, taken between 1939-1943, do just that.  It’s not only because of the photos’ subjects and the baked-in nostalgia, but because of the COLOR.  Most photos I’ve seen from this era are black and white.  I only attach color to photos that were taken in the 60′s and on.  To look at these photos and try to place them in the early 20th century is hard for my mind to grasp.  It’s pretty amazing.  Not only that, but the dynamic range in most of the photos is RIDICULOUS.  Detail and color range that few modern cameras can attain.  Hell, the one I posted above has HDRI qualities to it most photographers spend hours in photoshop trying to recreate! Enjoy the few photos I posted here, but click HERE for many more.

This era always fascinated me. My grandpa never talked much about his childhood, but I remember going to his home during the summers as a child and feeling like I stepped back in time.  He built his home with his bare hands in the outskirts of Eugene, OR. and even included a woodshop where he could hand craft wooden music stands as a hobby (later a business).  I used to sift through his old photos and books imagining myself in his cuffed-up jeans covered in the soil of the middle plains or in the forest lumber yards of the NW.  These photos take me back to the same place.  I love it.

The fact that this photo looks like it was taken within the last 20 years blows my mind.

My improv team that I play with every week at iOWest, Kitty Porn, recently did a photoshoot. I had a concept on how I wanted the photos to look and was amped to add some new work to my portfolio, both photographic and graphic design wise. The following are the results. They make me hard.

iOWest's Mainstage Harold Team, "Kitty Porn"

The photographs utilized a technique called, “HDRI”, or High Dynamic Range Imaging.  I’ve messed with it before, but never to this extent.  I wanted to avoid the need to shoot 3+ photographs at a time so I opted to take one well lit still of each individual team member and rely on my photoshop tricks to give me a similar effect.