Friday, October 31, 2008

Surfing


Surfing, originally uploaded by mariekejoan.

Awesome fun, awesome photo.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

patrick


patrick, originally uploaded by tom.hoops.

Highlighted by D40 Student, this is from a Tom Hoops, a past Spotlight Seven featured photographer.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Spotlight 7 features Rod Monkey

[The following is courtesy of visiting curator bukutgirl.]

Rod Monkey


you can see the interview at Spotlight 7 here:
flickr.com/groups/spotlight_seven/discuss/72157608289757379/

Hi all - wanted to invite you to come and see this week's interview with Rod Monkey - He's a Scott living in London - who brings his fascination with modern urban landscapes to bear in his portraiture - Thanks again to Jake and Smoothdude for inviting me to guest curate again and of course to Rod himself!

Here are some teasers!

4) I know you have traveled all over the world to shoot - from Chile to the south west of America to Eastern Europe - what's the portrait you wish you'd gotten to take on your travels - the one that "got away"?
4. I'm going to cheat here and talk about a shot i did actually take, and I'm going to class it as a portrait, even though the subject was an inanimate object.

I took a shot of a toppled giant Moai on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) just after sunrise - he looked so serene, lying on his back in the warm morning light - totally relaxed and at peace. It was a gorgeous shot and I'm convinced it was one of the best shots I've ever taken. Unfortunately I managed to drop my portable hard drive with all my Chile images on it when I got home. This damaged the drive and meant i couldn't access the photos. I spent a lot of money to have the data recovered by a specialist firm and they managed to recover about 95% of them....but not this particular image. Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!! Oh well, it just gives me even more reason to go back to this amazing island!

5) In your recent year you've focused a lot more on people - what has influenced this movement?

5. I think I just wanted to try something different - up until 15 months ago, if a person was in my photo it was a mistake - they'd wandered into shot and I hadn't noticed. I think spending so much time on Flickr seeing so many wonderful portraits made me realise i was missing out, so I took the plunge and bought a small home studio kit - I have to say I've really loved the change of emphasis.


and More of Rod's work here:
www.flickr.com/photos/rod_monkey/

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Aaron surveys


Aaron surveys, originally uploaded by jakerome.

This is my brother Aaron, during our ride over to Family Camp this year. Aaron is lucky enough to run run his own wholesale silver jewelry business, WholesaleGemshop.com, which lets him get away for a week every summer.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Swing Shot


Heisman, originally uploaded by jakerome.

This is my nephew, king of the Ropes Course, enjoying the Swing Shot at Camp Lawrence Family Camp. I'm thinking this should be the new logo for Project Adventure.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Spotlight 7 Week 30 features merkley??? [NSFW]

merkley??? in Spotlight Seven.

Robin -  Quasi Fetal Positioned Red Head Freckled Jazz Singer With Barely Visible Green Square Arm Tattoo and Elbow Bruise In A Musty Old Suitcase On A Semi-Fancy Old Rug Of Unknown Origin

That's right, Krieger scored an interview with the one & only merkley???? Here's an excerpt from his interview-- which fits in perfectly with everything else I've read about this genius.

5) You don't care much for cameras but have you ever shot with a DSLR or something like a Hasselblad, or as I think you've named it, the "Hasselhoff" ? Would you play around with one if someone lent you one for a day?

Haven't yet shot medium format style but i absolutely would if someone lent me one, i'm not anti-tech by any means, i'm just anti the notion that it's required and i like to champion the notion of getting to work with what you have instead of endlessly making excuses about equipment.

plus i'm lazy and i like to travel light.

when most people talk tech they are really talking about turd polishers but all i can see are their turds, polished or not. the anti-tech "filmy" people are even worse. it's mostly those with no ideas that clamor endlessly about tech up or down.


i'd love to have a camera that would capture the resolution of an eagles eye and i can't wait until they are also that small. btw i have a dslr and i use it for official shoot type stuff, i just can't wait til it no longer offers me anything i need or want. that day is fast approaching.

i want small.

a good camera will never make a good picture, people with good ideas and work ethics make them.


Part of the genius of merkley??? is his unique communication style-- half promotional, half befuddled, half shocked and half bored. Which makes for, like, 2 merkley???s. And always interesting, of course. And good-humored, and proud yet humble at the same time. Go read his profile. View his photostream. Read his blog. And most importantly, buy his book! So in that vain, here's some more of his genius, taken from some follow on questions that merkley??? answered in his interview.

Q: How do you get the cats to cooperate?
A: now it wouldn't be fun to toss them if they cooperated now would it :)

Q: And finally, you say on your site that you don't have meetings to set up your shots but they are often very complex and occasionally seem to take inspiration from paintings (one I looked at reminded me very much of a fucked up contemporary klimt) so is this intentional? Does it take a while for you to get your muse for want of a better phrase or do you just go for it and see what happens?

A: I think I have heard the klimt thing before but let me google again to see who you're talking about. -- oh yeah, no -- he was never an inspiration, even in my painting days i always thought those images were kinda faggy -- which isn't really a bad thing but you know, i'm so effin MACHO :)

besides the infections i carry with me from the inspirations i list in my profile, i don't set out to emulate or base things on other works. i'm too insecure for that.

as far as the getting my muse thing -- for the most part my subjects are all excited about getting into the retarded spirit and having fun, occasionally i'll get stuck with a person that isn't as receptive to unusual ideas and that can hurt the spirit but at the same time something inside of me enjoys a challenge and even a really frustrating experience can turn into something rewarding. but yeah, sometimes it's easier than others and at no time is it ever as bad as having an actual JOB.



Erica - Sofa Sylvia - Simultaneously Flipping Her Hair and Her Sausages While The Dog Hopes For a Mishap and The Oven Laughs About Something Amusing Happening Off Camera Just Over Your Right Shoulder

Interview