Art – Page 7 – Photogeek Blog

Finding Inspiration in my Earliest Influences

Advertising, Beauty, Portraiture, Studio Lighting

I was talking to my Mother tonight on the phone when the subject quickly turned to my recent work and more specifically, studio work. I mentioned the evolution of my style and approach. As a kid I was surrounded by art in general. My Mother was an office secretary at a well known NYC advertising firm. From an early age I’d take the bus or train in from Queens and meet up with my Mom at the office. I’d spend most of my time in the art rooms where art work, advertisements and movie posters were being made right before my eyes.

I met a lot of really amazing and creative people who would later have a major effect on my life and the direction I decided to go in. At home we scraped by but my Mother always made it feel like a home. There was art everywhere. Vargas posters and Marilyn Monroe prints throughout the two bedroom apartment and classic nudes in the bathroom. There was also a collection of art and photography books always within reach under the near by coffee table. To put it mildly, my Mother has so much to do with the person I am today. The way I think. The way I work and my crazy, unfiltered personality.

Lately I’ve been reminded more and more of those days and in particular the Art books that first captured my attention and imagination. As I was photographing my most recent inspiration the other day I noticed a few images that immediately brought me back to the beauty and overall simplicity of those images that first inspired this eight year old. Mixing those classic elements with somewhat of a modern touch excites me to no end. Finding people that inspire me to do this is essential.

You Can’t Tame My Monkey Style

Beauty, Studio Lighting, Uncategorized

Yesterday Jessica stopped by to shoot some edgy fitness and martial arts inspired images. Jessica is an absolute joy to work with. An actress, stunt woman and martial arts expert, she packs a lot of strength and character into her small frame. In the weeks leading up to the shoot I was hoping to include some of my friends custom combat knives into the shoot to add another level of intensity to the shoot. Unfortunately for us he was backed up on orders and had no back stock to send us. Lucky for me, Jess brought enough weaponry to scare the bajeezus out of me. During the session Jessica updated me with what she’s been up to since we last worked together and introduced me to the art of Monkey Kung Fu. Here are some favorites from that part of the session.In the future I’d like to add more fitness work to my portfolio while continuing to expand my body of work. Only time will tell.

LampLighter Magazine Makes Yours Truly Their Cover Story

Damion Photo, James Damion, Music

When I was originally contacted to be interviewed for the premier issue of Lamplighter Magazine I was more than pleased to be involved. I had known Patrick and Nadia (the magazines Editor in Chief and Director of Social Media) for a few months and respected their hard work in what they were attempting and had already achieved. Despite all my blogging and internet shenanigans I have a great deal of fondness for print media. The interview was very professionally done and I was really impressed with the questions their writer Laety Maireville asked. I was however freaked out a bit when Patrick told me that the interview, along with my seldom photographed self was going to be the cover story.

Throughout my history as a writer and photographer I’ve interviewed countless bands and artists. Yet it’s very seldom when the tables are turned and the focus on my life or work is the topic of interest. Being behind the scenes is something I find comfort in. As the cover of the magazine shows, I’ve always been uncomfortable in front of the camera. Always feeling that work and art should be my calling card. Getting my work out there, being able to share and expand my audience is important to me. I’ve felt comfortable and confident in my work for a while now and getting a little credit for it is a really special feeling. I’m humbled and grateful to be a part of Lamplighter and hope to be a consistent contributor to the magazine in the future. For now, I’m going to bask in the glory of my own five minutes of fame.

Extra special thanks to bruno bruyes of New York Newsday for taking time from his very busy schedule to photograph me.

Introducing Myself to an Old Friend.

Beauty, Friendship

Ruth and I have been cyber friends for years. We originally bonded during the My Space’s salad days in a Photography Chat Room. We both loved art and often talked about organizing a photography exhibition at some point. Since then we’ve kept in touch sporadically but never made the leap towards a face to face collaboration. That is until a few weeks ago. We started chatting again on Facebook and she mistakenly said, “We’ve been friends for such a long time.” I quickly jumped on the opportunity and returned with “No, we haven’t. But once we actually get together, we will be. I invited her to the studio and lucky for me, she said “Yes”. The day of meeting she brought her childhood friend and business partner Mayra and although it was short. We managed to have a great time cementing our long standing friendship.

Ruth and Mayra are both beautiful women in the traditional sense. There was a certain class and dignity about them that really impressed me. But it was Ruth that completely won my heart with her smile and youthful exuberance. For someone who is damn near close to my age. (Late 30’s) She looks like someone you’d pass on the Freshman campus of your local Ivy League school. I honestly wish I had more time that day to get to shoot and talk about art and life in general but within a short time they were out the door and off to a meeting. Ruth and Mayra have embarked on a new business adventure. One can only hope it turns out to be as successful and rewarding as their friendship. Time will only tell.

Where the Day Takes You

Beauty

The warm weather is the perfect tonic to awaken the adventurist inside me. It harkens me to start the day early and end it late. The longer days motivate me to turn that “To Do” list into a “Got it Did”. Though the Spring has yet to show itself in all it’s blazing glory. It has already inspired me to embrace every day like a new adventure. Though most people have their traditional “New Years Resolutions”, mine always come in the Spring. To revisit favorite places and find new adventures. I’m really looking forward to the season and the creative energy that “springing ahead” brings me year in and year out. This is my favorite time of the year and I hope to take advantage of every opportunity. To live in the moment and fully embrace the fact that it is the little things in life that bring me the most joy. I hope you meet you on the way.

Concert Lighting, Flash and Lenses.

Canon lenses and equipment, Finding Solutions, Fisheye Lenses

no flash 1178 — Canon 50mm 1.4 (w/o flash)

Though I would love to shoot all my concert photos without the distraction of flash the lens I normally use (Canon 15mm Wide USM) simply does not give me the speed I need to get the sharpness a lot of my work requires. A couple of years back I did a little research and found that Canons 50mm 1.4 had the speed I needed to get the job done. However, the fact that the bulk of my concert shots are taken in small to medium venues made for a lot of really tight shots. In bars and taverns such as Maxwells those tight crops were more like head shots.

Cropduster 1162 — Canon 50mm 1.4 (w/o flash)

So over the past weeks I did my share of tests with both the Canon 50mm 1.4 and the Canon 15mm Wide Angle USM. Shooting on Manual Mode and changing the settings to adjust to the light I was able to produce some interesting results. While using the wide angle approach I was able to get right in the eye of the storm and get some interesting and artistic results. Though most were blurred and disposable, I did find some keepers amongst the ruins. The next night I played around with the 50mm 1.4 and though I was able to get crisp image after crisp image, the distance from which I shot made me feel more like a bystander. There was really no comparing as far as I was concerned. Although shooting without flash adds a sense of intimacy and storytelling to my images. I felt the wide angle clearly gave me a the exaggerated vibe I want in my work. It gave me a sense that I was right in the middle of the action as opposed to the bystander element that the former produced. I’d love to hear from other concert photographers about their experiences and approach. I’m always looking to experiment and try different things as I move towards creating my own style. I look forward to the challenge.

no flash 1177 — Canon 15mm wide angle (w/o flash)

Creating a Comfort Zone.

Finding your Zen, Organizing

I’m often complaining that my apartment is too cluttered and there are too many things that are out of place or have never had one to begin with. Over the years I’ve often purged using the old TLC show Clean Sweep’s mantra of “Keep, Sell, Trash.” However, as I’ve learned, no matter how much I get rid of. I basically have the same size apartment. Being that I do so much work from home it makes the apartment feel even smaller. A living room that doubles as my photography studio and a second bedroom that doubles as an office. It’s a juggling act to say the least. If things are out in the open or out of place it creates chaos. Having to deal with that chaos means I get less work done while spending more time doing it.

So today I got up at the crack of dawn and started erecting my own little “Man Cave”. Moving furniture from one room to another while taking random frames off the floor and giving them the walls they have been missing for months. With a little hammering and finagling I created a wall Martha Stewart would be proud of. I cleared my desk to the point I could actually see the surface and created a little nook where everything was within reach. In the end, the only thing missing was a heaping cup of coffee just left of the keyboard. Though I’ll surely be tweaking it with different pictures and such, it is my little peace of mind that takes away some of the stress I feel when I’m sitting here doing what I do. Like the wise man said “Surround yourself with the things you love.” Soon we’ll be moving to a new place. I have visions of a room all my own with nothing but records, photography and all things geeky. A Geek can dream. Right?

Plug One, Plug Two

Canon lenses and equipment, Fisheye Lenses, Maxwells, Music

Considering how much concert photography has dominated my life as of late. I thought I’d take a moment to post some recent images I shot at what has become my home away from homes, Maxwell’s. While I’m here I might as well plug the blog and website I’ve been spending so much free and not so free time working on.

In the last year or so I’ve seen a lot of evolution in regards to my concert photography. Part of that can be traced to my purchase of the Canon 15mm wide angle lens. The shots I’ve taken with it have been my best by far. Though it requires me to get a lot closer and in the grill of some of the musicians it has helped to really feel the music on an entirely different level. I no longer a bystander. I’m right in the cage with the lions. Whether or not I get eaten up is up for grabs. I do however feel I’ve carved out my corner there. I feel that I’m getting more and more positive feedback lately ad it feels good.

All the Concert Photography you could possibly stand. http://www.damionphoto.com/Music/About.html

I started United By Rocket Science with my friend Dave back in May and have enjoyed every minute of it. Both Dave and Me have seperate blogs/sites that, at the time, weren’t giving us a lot of inspiration to work on. Combining forces really gave us the kick in the ass we needed. Since we started we’ve been focused on doing reviews, interviews and covering local music to our best ability. It’s been a blast exploring the vastness of the music coming out of the basements and beer halls of the tri-state and beyond. Check us out and help spread the word.

One more Music Blog can save the world. http://unitedbyrocketscience.blogspot.com/

Karma’s a Boomerang

Humor

The way I see things, There’s gonna be a whole lot of Reapin’.

Oh, How We’ve Grown

Record Collecting

Back in May I purchased the Canon 15mm wide angle lens from B&H with the explicit intent to incorporate it into my concert photography. I opened the box and attached the lens to my Canon 7D with the same child like enthusiasm and glee a kid who’s just come downstairs to see all of his gifts spread in piles under the tree gets. I searched every nook and cranny of the apartment in search for that perfect exaggerated view point. I took a handful of shots, one of which was the newish piece of furniture I had gotten from Ikea. At the time I had just started collecting/purchasing records again. It had been ten years since I sold all of my vinyl and cassettes on Ebay to help pay for a trip to Japan. At the time, I can honestly say it was worth it. However, as the years passed I realized I had put a monetary value on something that was very valuable to me emotionally. So in May of 2011 with a living room and a second bedroom filled with CD’s I embarked on rebuilding my vinyl collection.

It started innocently enough with a 7 inch here and a garage sale LP there. But has suddenly turned into an animal all it’s own. Now, I’m not complaining. No, not in the least. I really cherish crate digging and hitting my favorite vinyl spots with friends. I’m not worried about space either. I’ve got plenty of cubicles to fill thanks to Ikea. I am however amazed at just how much I’ve amassed in a matter of six or seven months. I started this blog in part to chronicle my history and progress as a photographer and of course an individual. Though this might not exactly be considered progress, it sure as hell can be referred to as growth.