Lake in the Hills, Illinois
I’m excited to be taking part in Creek Gallery hosted by Willow Creek Crystal Lake. Opening night is Friday, July 11 from 6-9. For more information please check out
https://www.xculturearts.com/creekgallery.html.
The piece that I will have displayed until July 27th is “Lights and Darks” printed on aluminum. If you have never seen any of my prints in person you owe it to yourself to check one out. “Lights and Darks” is a large stunning piece that deserves to be out on display. read more
Personally I think that the photography world is filled with too many blog posts that explain “how to”. Yes a how to is an important part of learning your camera, developing, your software and using gear, but shouldn’t there be more.
Why should I use a softbox over my strobe? Why would a reflector help my natural light photograph?
The answers you know are still really technical, what I find is missing is an explanation of why a photographer would do a certain technique. What emotion were they trying to elicit, what was the intent of capturing the photo. read more
“Alone on a Bridge”
Sometimes I feel alone.
I am a Puerto Rican born in Chicago, I am a Chicagoan living in the suburbs, I am a hispanic living amongst anglos.
Where do belong?
Art is a look inside the heart and soul of the artist. Sometimes I feel alone.
“Alone on a Bridge” was shown at the May 4th Fridays at the Starline Gallery in Harvard.
The black wooden framed metal print totalling 23″x19″ is available for purchase for $250. Viewing in person is highly recommended, a monitor can not come close to showing the dynamic range nor reflective surfaces.
Contact me if you are interested in this or any of my other work. read more
I am very inspired, the next month is going a very exciting for me especially concerning film photography. Two big things are happening.
The first one is this Friday the 4th. I am heading to see the documentary “Finding Vivian Maier”. It opens in the Chicago area on this day and I’m taking a fellow Maier fan, my 8 year old daughter. I have been patiently waiting for this to come out for a few years. If (and I don’t know why you wouldn’t) follow me on Facebook you know how much I am a fan of Ms. Maier. read more
Making the most of a snowy day by checking out my backyard safari. The squirrels were still out, while the humans are trying to stay warm inside. This guy hadn’t noticed the snow on his nose.
You never know when you need to have your camera ready, so mine always is. I just needed to swap to my long lens. This was shot at 400mm. You can see a larger version by visiting my 500px profile https://500px.com/photo/60077852
As promised in my blog post last week. I have finished a little set of photos from an empty elementary school. A great exercise in long exposure.
Click on the first photo to view a lightbox slideshow of them.
Teaching others the art of photography is simply one of the most enjoyable things I get a chance to do. Leading classes, workshops, conference presentations or one on one with my daughters; every time that I have taught my creativity is re-energized. I get inspired by students to shoot more, push my abilities and improve my craft.
Thanks to those who have taught me, and for those that I have had to pleasure of teaching!
Contrary to what most blogs and articles are saying I feel the future of photography looks bright and I’m glad to help make that happen. read more
Don’t leave your camera at home. Your camera should be an extension of your eyes, like a pair of glasses. Without it you should feel like you are missing a part of yourself. I know it is a pain to luge a DSLR with you every where you go, but why not a point and shoot, a film camera or at the least your cell phone. You never know when the opportunity to capture an exciting image will occur. I do my best to always have at the least my Canon G10 or a 35mm film camera with me. As an example of why, the photo above was taken at the Lake in the Hills Summer Sunset Fest. A few miles from my home, I went with the girls and grabbed my Canon on the way out the door. The sky was unique and resulted in a few photos that I love. So… read more
A few weeks ago I was offered the opportunity to shoot with a wonderful vintage camera, a Hasselblad 500C. I have learned a few lessons with this camera.
Take your time.
There is no rush when using a medium format camera. The 500c doesn’t have an onboard meter, so I used a vintage light meter to check the exposure. Then you focus and then pop up a little magnifying glass to get the focus just right. This while looking down, the image is reversed so you have to really be aware of the direction the lens in pointed. This process takes time, then you do it again to make sure the photo will come out. Remember a tripod is your friend. read more
Last year I decided to enter a competition. Not surprising-I’m competitive. What was surprising is that I entered a nature photography competition. I have never been one to stand and wait for nature to come to me, or really been a big fan of taking landscape or nature photography. The reason I entered the contest was to push my comfort zone. I know where my strong points in photography are, but how could I strengthen my weak points? Could I take excellent pictures of nature? This pushed me to go outside of my typical photography style and learn new techniques. I learned to use a super telephoto lens correctly, how to wait for an animal to “pose” for the portrait and how to compose nature and wildlife shots. After months of waiting and photographing different aspects of an conservation area, as assigned by the contest, I finally came up with this photo. I, of course, had to stalk this green heron for an hour before he or she “posed” for me. Proudly this photo of the Green Heron won second place in the competition. I am glad I went outside of my usual photography comfort zone, and became a better photographer because of it. read more
