The future looks bright

So I have begun a new venture with a great friend and now partner Joshua Buck called Consortium Productions, LLC. We've been talking about starting our own visuals company for some time, but never actually did anything about it. Life seemed to always generally get in the way. Now that I've finished grad school and he sees the writing on the wall with newspapers as employers we decided to ball ourselves up and jump off the ledge to see what we can do. Having the freedom to seek out the kinds of projects that are of interest and have potential for great things is a refreshing notion.

We don't intend on only doing photography. We've already lined up some multimedia work and some video projects as well as a website development assignment. Thus the "Productions" part. We plan to help create just about any kind of visuals needed. In knowing how important branding is we set up a separate division for our wedding and portraiture work with Joshua & Co. Photography. Essentially, we are going to do anything we think is possible. Now, if I could only get going on truly learning After Effects for some fun motion graphic ideas....and I'd really like to do some VJ performances too. So many things we want to do, just have to figure out ways to make time for it all.

I have to say, setting up a business the proper way from the start is difficult and sobering. But it is becoming more apparent that in doing everything properly from the start we will be in a better position to succeed. Though it's only been a few weeks, we have been able to drum up enough work over the next several weeks that there won't be too much time sitting around staring at the monitor and Lightroom tagging our enormous archives of images with searchable meta data, yet.

If you haven't gotten it yet, I'm really excited about what we have already accomplished and some of our visions for the future. It's going to be some fun. Stay tuned, I'll be sharing some of our adventures in visuals. Have a look around our sites when you get a chance. Thanks for looking

F in F5 is for Film

Ran an expired roll of Kodak Royal 25 through a borrowed F5 the last week or so. Just love the tones and romance of the film look. The flaws are wonderful. Digital is designed to be so pristine that it chokes the life out of an image at times. Also, with film there is much less ability to alter the tonality and range of the photos. I've been shooting a ton of RAW images and working them up in Lightroom 2.5, and while I'm assured of just about whatever tonality I would like the image to have it loses something.

These frames are just pretty much as they are off of the CD that I picked up from the Walgreen's One-Hour Photo lab. One or two may have a bit more exposure or contrast on them because of the scanning or camera misuse, but for the most part they are as is. My favorite is the scan of two different frames. I remember working at a photo lab and having to adjust the negs when a sun star in the corner of the frame blew-out the frame edge and fooled the auto neg carrier. It was always a pain, but this case was a fun surprise.

Just been jonesing to make something for myself out of desires of making something with tools that I feel confident and knowledgeable with. Grad school has been an awful lot of web developing and site building using languages and tools that are new and unknown to me. Which is not the kind of "making" I really want to do at the moment. The good thing is that I've decided on a thesis project idea that will allow me to blend many passions and future implications together. Making for a fun six or seven months of creation, learning and hard work blended in with a good amount of fun. We'll have to see if any of the content makes it here before the final creation of multimedia mojo. I'm just hoping it comes together well and a few others are ready to partake in some creation fun as well.

Enjoy...

Two years, still trying to find good things to post

I've been posting my visual ramblings here for two years, as of yesterday. Hard to believe what has happened in those two years. I'm grateful for it all really. Regardless of them being "good" or "bad" situations at the time. I'm still trying to learn and hone my version of the visual craft. I have a long way to go yet.

These are a few frames from the Intro PJ class venture along 16th Street Mall today. The light was flat and somewhat boring due to some clouds, but shouldn't stop us from making interesting frames, right? I was able to meet Mr. Claussen as he removed and then replaced some anti-graffiti film on the window of a bank. Great guy to talk with. Learned a new thing or two from him.

That's what I miss the most from working at a daily newspaper, the people. The people you meet on accident, or forced into meeting through an assignment or news event is the best aspect of the job. Everyone has a story, regardless of the news value, we should be able to share them all. Being social creatures we should be able to be more connected and educated by learning from and about each other. Just wish more people would buy into that idea. I know I will get back into a situation where I can learn of and meet more amazing people. Just have to make it through another annual blog anniversary and a few months more. In addition to countless other life events to gain more sense of myself from. But, until then...

Strong Second Half

So it's moving into the second half of the MLB season as well as my baseball team's season. The days are getting hotter. The air much drier. And my skin much darker. At least the exposed portions. The farmer's tan is coming along nicely, really.

I had the task of shooting Boulder's Connie Mack team play in the state tournament for the second straight day. Yesterday I didn't make a frame that was worth much other than the file photo pile. Today I decided to try and look for something else. The catch was that it was a true baseball game –ending with a 2-1 loss for the Panthers– and there was not much to really shoot. Only two or three plays and then the standard fare of pitchers and batters.

While I was baking I happened to see a fun frame or two near the end of the game. Nothing real storytelling for the game, but different from most of the other photos from the afternoon.

There's not many weeks left in my tenure at the Camera. I'm hoping to finish strong and not get complacent amid the gravitational pull of negativity growing in the newsroom. The bad news in the industry is rampant, but I don't want to finish like that. So much like a baseball season, I'm going to view the past week or so as the All-Star Break and gear up for a run at the pennant. I'm a few games back, much like our Bison in the NABA 28s. Here's to the coming weeks. It's time to rally.

A vision of things to come

It's spring and that means it's graduation time. Every year I shoot several graduations, mostly high school commencements. This year, for the first time in my tenure at the Camera, I shot the University of Colorado's spring commencement. It was a long and tiring ceremony of high contrast light. I originally was going to try and to a quick and dirty audio slide show but time constraints kept me from working up the audio and putting it together. I know, excuses. In some respects I was completely distracted in my mind.

While I was shooting photos of the graduates filing onto the plastic floor of Folsom Field I couldn't help but think forward two years to 2010. That is when I plan to be draped with a gown of crimson and gold, fresh off of completing the Digital Media Studies masters program and becoming a Pioneer in more ways than one. It will be a challenging yet fun two years I am sure. The journey is better than the end goal I know. But seeing thousands graduates spread across the field, all I could think about was how much different my life will be in two years.

Commencement: A beginning; a start. The word is more than just receiving a fancy piece of paper with your name and the school's name on it. In most respects it is the beginning of something more than the end. So, with seeing all those graduates I'm all about commencing a new beginning.

Mirror of reflection

ValveStem, originally uploaded by ©JL.

I was walking away from shooting an assignment in Louisville and happened upon a bicycle in Old Town. At first it looked like a trusty retro single-speed tomato-red frame with a basket dangling from the splotchy chrome handlebars. But in reality it's a poor old rusty prop with weathered flat tires on a photographer's porch.

This photo is a sort of reflection of my cycling right now. Just been a little too busy with all the things going on in my world that I haven't had the energy or time to get out on the bike. I know cycling and seem as though I've never missed a week of riding. When in reality I haven't been on the narrow saddle of concrete for months. I really miss the bike and traveling around Boulder County at 20 miles an hour seeing various things, places and people.

Several things are coming to a close in the next few weeks that will allow me to regroup and focus on ticking the pedals over and over 80 plus times a minute and regain some semblance of my cycling form. I better anyway – I'm one of the 3,500 registered to propel themselves over 10,000 vertical feet over the course of 120-plus miles on July 12.

Allez!! Allez!!

Stairway to a new world

Here's to hoping that hours and weeks of compiling information and reworking thoughts and words, with the help of two fabulous people, will unlock the door to a fun and bright new future. There are tons of opportunities out there. I can't wait to have a better understanding to capitalize on just a few of those possibilities.


Now it's just a waiting game. When I hear back, I'm sure you will know about it.

The start of the political storm

N0104OBAMA06c.jpg, originally uploaded by ©JL.

Let the games begin! In what could be one of the most pivotal election cycles of recent history. The ravenous media machine based on the up-coming presidential election is going to get tiresome I'm sure. Even more so when the Democratic Convention comes to Denver in August. It's going to be a hoot with all the parachute journalists and national media pushing the local media around and out.

I covered the Barack Obama Campaign party in Boulder tonight. They were gathered to watch the Iowa Caucus results come in, and they were very pleased to see that Obama won fairly handily over the crowded field of Dems. The election is not until November, it's the third day of the year, and I am already getting an uneasy feeling about shooting too much campaign coverage.

But here's to trying to shoot things in a respectful and honest way. Hopefully it will be better than I am predicting.

'Tis the season

N1217SANTA04.JPG, originally uploaded by ©JL.

Dear Santa,

I will argue that I've been a fairly good kid this year, save for a couple of my less than finer moments at the office. Having said all that I would like to ask for just a few things this Christmas. First of all I would like to be able to push through some of my own personal barriers and hurdles to continue to grow and advance in my life and career. Second on the short list would be continued health and happiness to my family and friends.

Now for the last couple things on my list. One of the greatest gifts I received last year was 10 inches of fresh, lovely, light snow blanketing China Bowl while having a great time with my brother, Steve. If I could get even half of that this year I would be very gracious. The last wish on my list is to be saved for January 8th at noon. If you could throw me a belated gift of having all the synapses in this twisted brain work in concert once again for about four hours. You see, I need all the help I can get to score much better on an exam that could decide the future of my career and other life events.

So you see Santa, there's not much there. I was thinking about asking for a mountain bike, but I'd rather ride road again this year. I know the elves may have a hard time building a couple of those things on my list, but I know you have some serious magic at your disposal up there in the Great North. Happy travels this year on your annual journey.

Merry Christmas,
JL

Caption: Alexis Pollicita, 9, types up an e-mail to Santa from a wish list in her notebook in the dining area of her Louisville home on Friday, Dec. 14, 2007. Pollicita's top wants for Christmas this year are a Nintendo DS hand-held video game and the popular Webkins interactive animals.

Free swinging

F1110RIVER11c.jpg, originally uploaded by ©JL.

To be young and free.

Soaking in the sun. Laughing as the wind blows through your hair. Twirling like a pinwheel. Scrambling across a rope with your bare feet. Getting filthy for the fun of it.

No preconceived notions of the world. Just giggling as you get dizzy from watching the clouds spin in the denim sky.

Remember it? If not go re-live it.

A year older, more technology to learn

Well, I made it. I made it another year in life. But in that year things have changed drastically in my field. This blog is one example.

So for this post I'm trying something new. Only problem is that I should have posted this right after I got back from my morning ride. We're not in the land of publishing about the same time everyday. All this new technology allows us to publish at any minute of the day.

It will be interesting to try and stay on my surfboard with this continually growing wave of new forms of publishing and technology.

What will be happening a year from now? That will be figured out I'm sure, but I better still be pedaling.....



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Reflection of times past

I made my annual trek to Glenwood Springs for my vision check-up again earlier this week. As I was starting my return to the east side of the divide I had a demanding urge to stop in Glenwood Canyon to visit a very personal area.

Grizzly Creek is an easy trail that winds north from the rust colored waters of the Colorado River. The canyon walls ascend nearly straight up in portions to the southern area called the Flat Tops. The at times rocky path flows alongside the creek filled with boulders, fallen trees and the clearest cool waters I have felt in a long time.

This place is very dear to my heart. I spent countless hours either hiking the trail for fun, for photographs, pedaling a bike, or for personal solace while a student at Colorado Mountain College. But the last time I was in this place I was shouting at the expense of my lungs and vocal chords in rage about the cycle of life. I had lost two souls very dear to me in a very short period of time. That was over 10 years ago.

So with cameras and fixed lenses in tow, I hiked. Wearing flip-flops that have bottoms as smooth as the sands of Cancun. I didn't care really. I knew there was a reason for the urge to walk through the canyon of memories. As I walked I felt lost, as though I had never been to this place. With the cool spring breeze blowing and cotton candy clouds drifting by I noticed a tree exploding with blossoms about 25 yards up the east side of the trail below a scree field. It's early in the spring season and the weather has not been very kind to plants. Staring at the electric white blossoms against the neutral browns of the canyon cliffs above I wanted to make a photo. But I had only brought two lenses. A 14mm and an 85mm. The flip-flops made footing a little dicey. But after a couple rocks rolling over my toes and ankles I made a handful of photos as best I could.

After surfing my way back down to the trail I continued wondering up the trail. Trying to think back to all those times I had been there. All the while just snapping photos of this and that. These were a style of photographs I had not made in many years. I've been shooting journalism, abstracts, promotional and industrial photos mostly the last few years. I nearly had forgotten how to approach nature with a camera. I didn't make many great photos, but I sure had a lot of fun and a lot of peace in my mind.

As I arrived back at my white land rocket I looked over to see a sign stuck between the monolithic canyon walls. It was a metaphor for the thoughts racing around in my mind just as the clear spring runoff was cascading near the trail. Life keeps on moving and you must as well. I have learned much since those naive days, but not nearly enough. It's good to touch base with your past and reflect in a way that allows you to learn and grow. Screaming at those walls 10 years earlier was mostly because I didn't understand the cycle of life.

Just like the cycle of seasons– things are born of spring, they grow to fruition in summer, age with the change of autumn and return to the earth with the weight of winter– we experience cycles of emotion and persona.

It’s spring again.

Busy, busy

Technology is supposed to make our lives much easier. But, the fact is that it only allows us to cram even more into our already limited time. Rushing from job to job, task to task. Every so often you have to force yourself to stop and see the world around you.

One of the final lines in the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" sums it up the best:
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

So here I was, running late to teach my class at Metro State and I look up and just felt the need to take a photo. I made three photos and returned to my brisk walk.

All of a sudden you look at the calendar and you realize it's been eight straight years of hard work and dedication to get to this point in your career. There have been several sacrifices, several indulgences and a lot of everything in between. I'm in the midst of a creative surge. I have been seeing my world differently everyday. Whether or not I create interesting visuals from that doesn’t matter to me. A veil has been lifted.

I’ve been able to see things in a different light. I’ve been able to exercise my creative muscles. I’ve been enjoying manipulating a piece of technology to express moments and feelings to people. I am grateful for all of that, because I am about to embark on the future of my career.

Adding audio to still photos to create a message is unique and it works in many ways. The still image will always be the most powerful way to send a message, if done correctly. The viewer is forced to see a frozen moment of time and reflect on the impact of that moment. Adding the audio creates another layer for the senses. Now I must take the power of the still image, the impact of audio and blend it with the dimension of time to create video.

I can’t wait to see and document the world in yet another creative way.

Why?

What is a blog, really?

It's an outlet to say what's really on your mind.

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Does it matter what you say or who will read it?

No. There are so many outlets for people to express themselves now that it may get lost in cyberspace.
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What will this allow you to do?

Show photos that allow me to say what I truly feel about this world around us.

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Freedom to depict without worrying about what others think.
A stairway to a new world.