Artists are flakes...well most are

Bare Cupboards, Bodie CA

I can't say all my peers are flakes but enough are. To my delight one of my fellow artists flaked and forgot about the show tomorrow and is not going to show up. I got the call this morning asking if I had enough to fill one wall. YES!!!

Now I have a chance to expand on the Arrested Decay series I started in Bodie and the HDR stuff I have been running amouk with for a while. Following the path of greated curiosity is what keeps one going. Having a tub of stuff stored helps when you get the change to do a bigger show.

Here is the additional items I will be showing at the Focus One Gallery. Installation is tomorrow morning. The whole group will up until the end of the year. The entire collection can be viewed during their regular business hours. The list:

Bare Cupboard, Bodie, Digital Photography

Silent Crib, Digital Photography

Colonial Oven, Digital Watercolor Photography

Old Faithful, HDR Photography

Siene Sunset, HDR Photography

Chapel of St John the Evangelist, Tower of London, HDR Photography

Tromp L'oiel Aeroplane, HDR Photography

Getting ready to hang again

Edgware Road Station, HDR Photography London 2007

It's been busy here in the space behind the garage. I'm going to be showing for the next 2 months at the Focus One Gallery here in Monrovia. The gallery is a very huge, nicely lit lobby whose space is donated to the Monrovia Art Festival artists by the Focus One Credit Union to show their work. The gallery is curated by Ken Hornbrook, vice-president of MAFA.

This show I'll be focusing more specifically on digital art with the majority on HDR and the potential it has for expanding our view of the world. My HDR work tends to run on two major themes, first is ultra real and the second into the surreal.

The pieces I'll be hanging until the end of the year:

Dead Caddy, HDR Photography

Not James Dean, HDR Photography

Monrovia Rail Station, HDR Photography

Edgware Road Station, HDR Photography

Shamrock Gas, HDR Photography

La Tour Eiffel from Pont de Grenelle, HDR Photography

Hen House Eggs, Digital Photography

Final Game Racked, Digital Photography

I love autumn.

Even in So Cal we get fall color, not always dramatic but its all warm and fuzzy as the sun is lower on the horizon. Nice trade off.

Took a very short walk before I got detoured by a new business owner in Old Town Monrovia. (It was meant to be a long walk around shooting, but never could turn down great conversation so that is how my day went).

I really have the bug to be shooting again. Today it was just not destined to happen.

Anyway enjoy these images shot in one tiny spot in Old Town. Lots of color, character and arrested decay. Its the alley's that are more entertaining sometimes.

All shot bracketed 2 stops each side from base, used Photomatix to create the HDR File then used their tonemapping for the final work. After that I converted to 8 bit and virtual photographer for the final finesse.

Boooooooooooooooooooooo!

It caught my eye in the rush to get out the door this morning. Sunlight streaming through the frontyard, backlighting the spidey webs strung about for Halloween. Finishing off the composition is a little orange japanese lantern. Happy accidents are all around if we look.

Art deco influenced everything!


The Art Deco period was amazing. Born of the glitz and excitement of the Roaring 20's it lasted up until the start of WWII. The industrial arts and design didn't escape and influenced many a car design.


In the early 1930's Edsel Ford saw the need to have a bridge car between the Ford and Lincoln line. The Mercury line was devised as just that bridge in the products to make them a full line auto manufacturer.


The Mercury started its life in the early 1930's as the country was beginning to come out of the depression and was started with a clean sheet. It borrowed design themes from the two existing divisions with a look to more luxury and drew heavily from the Art Deco movement with its flowing lines and heavy use of chrome to set it higher than the basic Fords of the time. It's best illustrated in the details such as the hood ornament and grill from this 1941 2 Door Sedan spotted at a recent car show in Monrovia.

Enjoy the bits.

Fauxtography...really fun stuff


My blogging pal, Will Campbell that I met through Blogging.la has this fun Flickr group called "Fauxtography". Its altered photos. Not pretending to be anything but. I've tossed a few up. In the end the group actually has tossed up some fun images.


Enjoy "MHS" that I added to the pool. I shot it with my new che-ez, 3rd one in as many years. I post processed it with Paintshop and Photoshop. Redid the sky only while masking out the school as safe then put it all back together again.



It's in the Flickr group but also is going to be the pic used in an article I will be posting shortly regarding the haunting at Monrovia High School. It will appear on Blogging.la next week sometime along with a few other local & LA haunts if I am lucky and find the time to write them.


Speaking of Blogging.la yours truly posted his 100th article this week along with the tag "annoying you one key stroke at a time". I am having fun so its all good.

It's Good to be Blown

Alexandra Rose

Pat Austin

Midas Touch

Now that I have your attention, Blown is what happens to a rose on its way to being spent. Roses go through their own life cycle that is interesting to watch. Sometime after peak blossom they become blown, still have their petals but are all lose and flowing instead of tightly wound around the stamen that it coyly hid at the beginning of the cycle.

Avoiding real work this morning I spotted a few of my roses that begged to be shot. It was a combination of early morning light which is very warm in tone and very contrasty as the rays come in low and skim across the edges. The contrasty light helps emphasize the saturated color in the shadows. Pat Austin and Midas touch were shot to take advantage of the contrasty nature of this type of light.

Alexandra Rose was shot in different lighting. It was shot in what is termed "open shade" or clear skies above with the subject in the deep shadows. In this case the rose is in the deep shadow of the north side of my house. This light is very soft and diffuse which helps bring subtle details in what would normally be very dark on the petals. The contrast in the image comes from the nearly black foliage and ground behind the rose. This contrast frames the rose yet allows subtle shading and details in the petals.

Thank gawd for the PC and photoshop. When you shoot in open shade there is a bluish cast brought about from the light reflected from the blue sky above. Digital at least does some color correction while it is being stored so the removal of the cast is not as difficult as with silver based films. Certainly is easier to take advantage of this situation and correct with the PC than the old days in your darkroom.

Enjoy, each of these will be with me at the Celebrate the Arts sponsored by the Monrovia Art Festival Association this weekend in Library Park.

Show prep...the reason for the extended silence! This is the time of year for the big crunch getting ready for the big Celebrate the Art's here in Monrovia's Library Park. Between printing, matting and helping to organize the show there has been precious little time for the good stuff...like going out and shooting.

Come see me! Come see the great art in the park, even take in all the goodies at the Festival which runs this weekend, October 6 & 7 in our Library Park located at the north end of Old Town Monrovia. This is a "Fine Art Event" so plan on seeing some really nice original art as well as talk with the artist direct.

This show is going to be one of the better in terms of the talent presented. Many of my favorites like Luke and Ginger Van Hook and Connie Towns are returning to the festival this year. Visit them in their "living room" set up at the north end of the park. We also have some really exciting new artists showing with us. One is pointillist Barbara J Carter, another is painter and author Rhonda Lynn.

Just in case you forgot, the Monrovia Art Festival Association is a non-profit organization based here in Monrovia that is dedicated to bringing art to the community as well as art education.

See you this weekend, and pardon the silence!