tumbled

In order to help consolidate my online social media word of text blogosphere photo bombing tweet-like note-loving share-linking life, I've decided to start a tumblr.  An online blog where I hope to combine my photography, my thoughts, my occasional essays, and my influences.  You can find it at www.artbrandphoto.tumblr.com.  And feel free to follow me, leave a note, share a site, and let me know what you think!  

janie wedding :: full post

A little late, but I finally got them up!  

janie wedd - preview

I'll admit it.  I have neglected my blog.  I don't know what's been going on...maybe too much has been going on!  The real problem is that I've been shooting this entire time.  A wedding here or there, some everyday life stuff to fill in between the gaps.  Anyway, I apologize and to get me back into the rhythm of posting images I'll give you a little taste of a wedding I did-not so recently now.  Just a teaser...more to come!

brad hines and whiskey joe

So proud to be apart of another partnership with Greg White of SGstudios and Brad Hines-a local Fort Worth singer songwriter-and getting to have my photos on another album cover.  Brad's latest ep is not just about its hero-a bum called Whiskey Joe-but life, death, fathers, sons, faith, grace, salvation, God and His angels...well one angel in particular...

 

the moon...

This is tonight's moon, and it is pretty awesome.  Shot with my Nikon P500.  Impressive little guy.  That is all.

dustin perkins :: bag of bones tour

Now that announcements have been officially made and photographs on Dustin's website have been updated I can post an image I've been sitting on since the day we shot it.  The same day of Dustin's Words photo shoot we shot for his up and coming Bag of Bones tour.  Since his tour has a man-on-his-own-playing-guitar-on-the-road-vagabond sort of feel to it, we shot aiming for that same concept.  Dustin, being the good sport that he is, rolled around in a dirt pile before the shoot and stared right into the sun several times over for me.  As rigs flew by us and commuters wondered what the hell two guys are doing standing practically in the median of an interstate during rush hour in the middle of Texas June temperatures, we shot pictures hoping for something that seemed rugged and epic and movie poster cool.  I think we nailed it.

   
If you want your very own copy of this photograph you can go to www.dustinperkinsmusic.com and click on the link to help support Dustin on the Bag of Bones Tour.  A donation of $5 or more gets you a postcard from wherever he's at on the road.  The tour doesn't start 'til August 22nd, so don't forget.  In fact, set a reminder on your phone now and get Dustin to his next gig.  A big thank you to Dustin and producer Greg White for letting me be so involved on this album and tour.  It's been-and still is-a blast.  

location unknown

I tried and I tried to find this building on Google Earth and Google Maps...no such luck.  I know it exists though, I mean I didn't photoshop an entire building; it stands where I say it stands off of Lancaster just past downtown-heading East.  It is charming and lonely, much like I suppose most older vets are, and therefore the building also stands represented as a metaphor and not merely a photograph.  I wonder what it used to be.  I wonder what stories it could tell if it could talk.  A photograph speaks a thousand words...but I think I'll just stop here and let you think of the rest.

dustin perkins :: portraits :: promo

I recently had the honor of working with Oklahoma musician Dustin Perkins on his up and coming album "Words".  Not only was I in charge of the layout but I was also able to draw all of the artwork for the album's cover material. As if that wasn't cool enough they let me go even further and asked me to come up with a conceptual photo shoot that would have the same aesthetic as the album's cover. 

Working with Dustin is always great.  He's easy going, charming, and you can tell he really has a passion for his, what I'm sure is often difficult-career choice.  But it seems like he would never want to live a minute doing anything else.  His music and song writing is superb and I invite everyone to get a copy of his album.  It will be available on August 17th.  If you want to see more of Dustin click---->here.  But make sure you check his pictures out below first. 

Words album artwork, a collaboration of Dustin Perkins, my wife Ashley, and myself.

Polaroid taken during the promo shoot.  Literally only found here on this blog.

Official Dustin Perkins promotional photo.

 

 

 

crossroads III

820 & 30 :: crossroads II

I really think I may have been an urban landscape shooter in a former life.  Why do I love to photograph interstates so much?  Wasn't it Andy Warhol who said, "I like boring things." apparently so do I.

bent tree house

This house exists in a little run down neighborhood behind my local bank.  Either on the way to the bank or driving to work from it, I pass this house and always want to pull over get out and photograph it.  But, the neighborhood doesn't look too friendly and I never really know if it is occupied or not.  I finally got the opportunity with the holga 110.  I brought the car to a stop on a bright summer day, rolled down the window, took a quick small photograph, and then drove off.  Hardly noticed.  Even the house itself has already forgotten I was even there I was such a ninja.

 

crossroads

I'm just a little obsessed with the huge concrete structures that make up the design of our modern ways of travel.  Underneath them, looking up, I get a real feeling of scope and magnitude of how each one of us are ant-like among a thousand other ants and yet still have a pivotal part to play in the grand scheme of all things.  I don't know, it just helps me keep things in perspective.

cowtown :: a view

I recently bought some 110 film from the lomography store online.  Lomography is awesome and if you don't know what lomography is, google it and thank me later, because it is awesome.  But it is only awesome if you like old school photography and are a little bit nostalgic.  Okay, a lotta' bit nostalgic.  If you want to talk pixel size and megabytes and eff one four...you might not like what you see here.  But I digress.  So, I bought this 110 film and loaded it into a pocket sized holga spy camera which came all the way from Hong Kong and took it everywhere with me, and everywhere I went I took a picture.  What follows is the things I see on a daily basis.  My days in.  My days out.  My five day a week commute to the studio.  My mundane, boring, routine way 'round this good ol' West Texas life I lead-at least that's what I thought before I shot pictures of it with 110 film.  What do I think now?  I think life is beautiful.

what's new is old again

Recently the boss's daughter got married.  I happened to be there, and while there, I got to take a few pictures with my gorgeous Polaroid 100 Land camera, shot on Impossible Project Film, negatives air dried and later scanned with imperfections.  Love the look.  Reminds me of the old tintypes of yore.  

two words: grape. fruit.

If my lunch has anything to say about it, seems like summer at the studio is almost upon us. From my point of view it looks delicious.

my two geniuses

Okay, let me set this up for you: My wife and I had to take care of some business at our bank. To keep our kids occupied during our little meeting I gave my youngest my phone, mainly to play Angry Birds or Temple Run or whatever. As long as he stayed still and quiet, which is always the name of the game when in public. About half way through the meeting I ducked my head out to make sure they weren't destroying the place and they both were still quietly sitting in the lobby-engaged, though now they both seemed to be "playing" on my phone. That was this past Monday. Today, while scrolling through my phone's images I came upon some photos I never took, but more mysterious than that was that the images were little abstract works of art that I don't even know how they were taken. They are several images layered one atop the other-multiple multiple exposures of ill composed photos they have a sort of beauty after you look at them for a while. They remind me of the Beatles' White Album whose layered sounds can be discovered and rediscovered again and again upon each listen. I edited the pictures on Snapseed to enhance the layered images so one can actually see the subjects they photographed and to bring to the surface the texture and color in each photo. The results are absolutely stunning. I'd hang these on my wall any time.

 

a tree in greensburg

I sorta' became obsessed with this tree and photographed probably one time too many...with two separate cameras.  Its branches just stretched out so far away from itself, like it had been grasping at something just beyond its reach for a hundred years, never tiring, never giving up.  It's pretty awesome.  Shot with Canon AE-1, lomo lady grey film. 

city. view.

Downtown skyline of Fort Worth, Tx; circa Winter, 2013.  Shot with a Canon AE-1 and Lomography Lady Grey 35mm film.  Processed at Baron's Photografix, increased the contrast with Adobe Photoshop CS3.  Posted this morning on Blogger.com.  Taken from the North side view of downtown, more specifically, Yucca St. 

happy ever after :: polaroid

Shot on FB 3000b peel apart instant film and shot with a Polaroid 100 land camera.  Bride and her Groom, right before the ceremony.

iphoneography :: before the bride arrives

Shot this quickly at St. Aloysius Catholic Church before the wedding party arrived.  Edited on the back end using snapseed app.  Love it.

christina :: bridal portraits

I had to keep these portraits under wraps until after the wedding day.  Y'know, I didn't want to spoil the surprise for Dad or her Fiance; but now since the vows were exchanged as well as rings, the dancing done, the party thrown I finally get to share these with you.

 

 

natalie :: portrait

Natalie is a fellow photographer but moonlights as a super bad-A karate queen.  She works at a dojo most evenings and one day while on a shoot together I asked her if she would smash through a few boards for me for a portrait.  I'm sure you can guess what she said.

impossible louisiana

It's another wedding weekend down in South Louisiana, but before I left I wanted to share a shot taken on The Impossible Project's latest film.  I'll see you all after I get back into town!

portrait of a small town :: greensburg, louisiana

Ah, now this looks a little more like the good ol' Louisiana that I know and love.  Again: Canon AE-1, black and white film, super wide lens = awesomeness.

graffiti : hammond, louisiana

I started carrying a Canon AE-1 'round my neck lately.  Everywhere I go, camera on my shoulder or in my car-at least.  The results have been interesting.  There are so many things to photograph-may they never run out.

portraits : the boys

Shots of the boys in their natural environments.  Aidan, outside playing basketball; Ewan, in his room pretending. Shot on Lady Grey Lomo film with a Canon AE-1 24mm 2.8 lens.  Love the wide angle on this thing. 

virginia :: portrait

I've known my cousin Virginia her whole life.  She has a taste for the vintage, a love for coffee (runs in the family), and a good sense of what's going on around her.  But.  There are those moments when you know something else is going on underneath the surface but you just don't know what it is.  With that in mind I wanted to create a portrait that was very mysterious, almost confusing.  I wanted to photograph an image that the eye doesn't quite know what to do with, but upon a closer inspection you notice a small light gleaming in her eyes and you can rest assured she knows exactly what's going on.

high tops

Today Nike's got shoes that offer shock absorption, arch support, balanced cushioning, sole protection, a stylish fashion, and they'll cook you breakfast in the morning, but my dad-country through and through-went out searching for the shoes he "played basketball in" when he was in high school: All Star Converse high tops. I knew my Dad was country, but I didn't know he was cool too.

greg :: portrait

Friend and neighbor Greg White-also a music producer over at SGStudios-posed for me and my portrait series.  We actually shot inside his studio last week (or so) ago.  After I became friends with Greg, and ask anyone that has spent some time with him, you get to know this posture pretty well.  When Greg is at his most casual he's got a cigarette in his hand (held behind his back), a hat on his head that's seen just as many years as he has, and is surrounded by one of the things he enjoys most: music.  I thought this shot would be very apropos.

jessica :: portrait

After being a photographer for sixteen or so years-getting jobs here and there through word of mouth, the occasional freelance job, and pursuing my own personal projects-I figured it may be time to actually start putting together a real portfolio of work.  As I work through past photographs and edit them down and down until I choose which should be included in the portfolio I've also decided to start a new series of portraits.  Larger in scope, concept, and execution I plan to photograph these portraits and add them to my existing work rounding out the body of work I already have. 

This is one of the first for the portfolio.  Shot in Burleson, Texas on the football field of Kerr Middle School; Jessica is friend and co-worker of my wife and was awesome on the shoot as it was about 40 degrees outside with high winds, but she hung in there and if it weren't for her goosebumps no one would be the wiser.

sunrise over cowtown

During our recent spring break I was able to take some time out and capture a few images I've been dreaming about, one particular image involving a nearby neighborhood and the morning sun; more on that image when I get it back from the lab.  But, while prepping for that shot another one greeted me unexpectedly:  Good morning Fort Worth.