Sicily, January 2015

No matter how many times I go back to Sicily, I never seem to capture everything I want while I'm there.  There is simply too much beauty and wonder on every corner of the island that no matter how much you explore it and try to preserve it, you can never display or capture the feeling you get when you travel through the immense and gorgeous countryside or make your way through the narrow streets of its historic towns and cities.  I'll be posting pictures of the 10 days I spent there with Courtney during the second week of January throughout the next week(s), in an effort to show my love and respect for a place I am honored to call my second home.

Palermo Series

Finally got around to adding my Palermo Series to my Photography tab.  Kind of a minor update I suppose, but these are my absolute favorites out of the hundreds of photos and 30+ rolls of film I shot over the course of one week spent in Sicily with Courtney.  I am extremely proud of it and everything I learned and experienced throughout the process, and I can't wait for the next series from wherever we decide to go next.  

Old Salt Union // Loufest 2014

Had the pleasure of helping shoot Old Salt Union's set at Loufest this year.  They put on a great show and distracted me long enough to not notice that the sun was wreaking all sorts of havoc on the back of my neck.  Thank you Old Salt Union for masking the pain with your wonderful tunes.

For the curious, we shot this with a Canon 5D Mark II f/2.8 24-70mm, Canon 5D Mark III f/2.8 70-200mm, and a Lumix GH4 (not sure what lens, sorry!)

 


Hard in the Paint

Witnessed the annual flood wall makeover for the first time this year and documented a brief walk from end to end.  It was an interesting blend of art and cars simultaneously blasting the same Eminem song.

Kräftig Promo Shots

Recently took some pictures for a Kräftig project at Friendly's and thought I'd share some selects.  All were shot with a Canon 5D Mark III using a Canon 85mm f/1.2L and a 24-70mm f/2.8L lens.  Editing was all done using Lightroom.


Location Scouting

Went location scouting with Courtney recently to find potential spots for her to use for some portrait photography.  She's done some amazing work and you can see all of it over at her website.



Portrait Updates

I've taken over 250 portraits of different employees at my internship in the past two months and it's interesting to see the style of the portraits slowly change and evolve as I come closer to the end of the process.  Here are a few more examples of how they've been turning out.  It's been too long since I've shared anything on this blog anyway.

Backdrop Tests

Took some test portraits of Courtney in front of her sweet new set up.  Originally intended for them to be in black and white, but the mix in color temperatures ended up making a super cool gradient that I was "all about".

Periodically Double or Triple

The photo clerk at Walgreens just shook his head and said "I don't know what happened, man."

From Wisconsin

A brief selection of the black and white roll of film I shot while visiting my awesome family in Wisconsin during some hard times.  Except for the statue of Laclede, of course.  That was here.

Afterlife

As I share this last batch of photos of my recent trip back to Sicily, it's hard to believe that we only got to spend less than two weeks documenting our stay.  What felt like an entire summer was condensed into such a short amount of time that I never thought I'd have the opportunity to capture so many great memories and beautiful places.  Visiting my family and exploring Sicily with Courtney and my dad was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and it's one I hope to do soon for an even longer span of time.  Being able to use the ones that I love as my subject matter is something I'll never get tired of doing.  All I can do is give my eternal thanks to my dad for giving us the chance to go anywhere we wanted with no reservations and complete cooperation, and to Courtney for being the perfect partner throughout all of this.  As I grow and continue to fall more and more in love with photography I feel so lucky to be able to use locations like Sicily as a playground for my work, and I love being able to share snapshots of what I consider to be the greatest place on earth.  

I end this with the final roll of film I shot in Sicily, a roll I used just to take some random pictures on the way to my Uncle's house on the last day of our trip, not realizing we'd be going to one of the most gorgeous spots on the island once we got there.  Just another reminder that no matter how prepared you are, some things have to be enjoyed in person and aren't meant to be shared with the world.

Helicopter

Piledriver Waltz

A trip to the theater.

New Portraits

And now for a detour from all the Sicily posts.  I've been assigned to take black and white portraits of 300+ employees at my internship, and I've been very pleased with the results so far.  I decided to take them with the Mark III and a Canon L Series f/1.2 85mm Lens.  These are a few of the selections so far:

 

Crime

Yoshi Rock

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Into Eternity

More Erice.

Irene