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Showing posts from May, 2013

Photographer Jonathan Hanson

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A few days ago, I met Baltimore photographer Jonathan Hanson (and a few other people) at a happy hour. He's a professional freelance photographer based in Baltimore and New York, having worked with clients like Bank of America, Maryland Arts Council, and the New York Times. Recently, he shot some promo photos for the Animal Planet show,  ''Call of the Wildman,''  as well as an upcoming Adidas footwear campaign. We exchanged information, and he gave me one of his promo calendars (new this year). Check out some of his work! Jonathan Hanson (photo by Kristian Thacker ) "Call of the Wildman" promo shoot A selection of photos from his portfolio : all photos  © Jonathan Hanson

The Rosebud and The Bee

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A few days ago, my mom was dismantling a bouquet of flowers to rearrange into potpourri, and I snagged the opportunity to take some pictures of the roses...when I encountered a bee: "Demure" "Folded" "Petal Teeth" "Unpeeled" "Rose Kiss in a Petal Wrapper" Then, I look over on the windowsill and there's a yellow jacket! I used to be afraid of bees, but now my first thought was to swing the camera around and take some pictures, hoping it'd stay still. The bee did some odd things on that window sill, starting with crawling between the salt and pepper shakers and wiggling its tail end. It made no attempts to fly away when I got close with the macro lens, or when I removed the salt and pepper shakers. Finally, I got a clear plastic cocktail cup (the kind you'd see at a gallery opening) and a piece of paper destined for recycling and I lifted the bee off the windowsill onto the counter. Only then did it

Street Artist Banksy Attacks Advertisers

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The words of Banksy , the artist most famous for being anonoymus and putting art on buildings and signs around the world, appeared in a graphic textual ad recently. The quote, in the shape of a Coke bottle, attacks the world of advertising, claiming that they "re-arrange" our world so that we can see their products, so we don't need to ask permission to use their imagery or content to our liking. This statement can go either way: Advertisers definitely don't want you pulling content off of their websites or billboards or copying text or images and attributing them elsewhere. On the other hand, you can see the ads as inspiration and use the ideas (with creative interpretation) as your own work. Aren't we meant to be inspired by the world around us? Public advertising makes ideas readily viewable and up for interpretation. Note via designtaxi.com : This quote was originally attributed to an essay written by  Sean Tejaratchi , a graphic designer, in 1999.  If Ba

Burger Progression

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the progression of my burger from lunch yesterday... -toasted bun -ketchup/mustard -avocado -pickle -beef patty Post your best burger ingredient combination!

May the Vertigo Be With You - SkyWire Live on Discovery

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Do you remember the guy who walked aross Niagara Falls untethered  (with nothing keeping him from falling to his death)? Well he's about to attempt another astonishing feat. High wire artist  Nik Wallenda   is preparing to  walk across the Grand Canyon this summer! This spring, photographers and producers from Discovery Channel went to the Canyon to create this 3D interactive so that you could walk the line, simulating the experience of high wire balance. Check it out! If you have an iPad, you can view the Grand Canyon panorama by tilting and moving your device up, down, and around. You can also change your viewpoint! Walk the Line :  http://skywire.discovery.com/360.html Be sure to tune in to watch Wallenda attempt this incredible feat on SUNDAY, JUNE 23 at 8E|5P on Discovery Channel or DiscoveryChannel.com. See more videos on Discovery.com

Wooden Pinhole Cameras

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I would LOVE one of these! These are handmade, sustainable, wooden pinhole cameras that are fashioned for several sizes of film. It is the simplest way to take a picture, relying on timing and light alone. Since there is no lens, the camera is best used with a tripod or placed on something stationary. To take a photo with this camera, simply open the shutter and close it after a certain amount of time (depending on how much available light there is). Artist  Elvis Halilović  and his brother make the cameras by hand and have surpassed their fundraising goal on Kickstarter , and hopefully the cameras will be produced in June of this year. ONDU 135 Pocket Pinhole Camera and photo "I t has a pinhole size of 0.20 mm, a focal length of 25 mm, and it comes with a standard tripod mount." ONDU 135 Panoramic Pinhole Camera and photo "It can shoot the regular Leica format in 36mmx24mm or panoramic double frames at 72mmx24mm image. It also hosts a 0,20mm p

Coachella Festival Double-Takes

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The Coachella music festival takes place in California every year; a three-day extravaganza during which people travel from all over the county to immerse themselves in beats for a full 72 hours. People camp out at the festival grounds and gather with friends to go see the multitude of bands.    LA Times photographer Jay L. Clendenin documented the festival not only digitally, but also in film. Using a Canon EOS 1V 35mm film camera, he employed the technique of multiple exposure to manually capture two frames in one. The technique is as simple as not winding or advancing the film before you take the next shot. Most manual cameras will allow you to do this, and to achieve this effect digitally you can just pop both images into Photoshop and merge, use HDR (high dynamic range), or use the multiple exposure setting (not many cameras have this). Below are some of his multiple-exposure shots: photos  ©  Jay L. Clendenin via framework.latimes.com

Unconventional Art Materials: Leaves

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I admire how much patience this guy has to create these masterpieces. Artist Lorenzo Durán  creates leaf cut-away art as part of his "Naturayarte" series. "Using a natural environment as is the blade made me realize that maybe I was faced with the opportunity to reflect my respect for the environment. Personally, my life has always been linked in one way or another to nature. My fascination with animals and plants developed in me the curiosity to them, seeing them as an indispensable part of our life.  On the other hand my love of the mountains made me realize how insignificant and important we are at a time in this great game of life.  For me a plant is a complex mechanism of energy synthesis and a simple mysteries hidden blade that only time will reveal." - Lorenzo  Durán photos  © Lorenzo  Durán via thisiscolossal.com

BodyWorlds: PULSE at Discovery Times Square

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This weekend, I was fortunate enough to visit the BodyWorlds: PULSE exhibit at the Discovery Museum in Times Square, New York. This amazing exhibit of more than 200 preserved human specimens included at least 10 full bodies and several dozen individual organs, organ systems, bones, and tissue.  The process how the specimens are preserved is called " plastination ," which entails replacing the organic body fluids with a hard plastic solution and dyes. The process was created by German anatomist and scientist Gunther Von Hagens in 1977. the "kneeling lady" plastinate, about halfway through the exhibit from left: exhibit info card, "kneeling lady" souvenir postcard, exhibit ticket, "football players" plastinates souvenir postcard BODY WORLDS: The Original Exhibition from Running Subway on Vimeo . Before we entered, the docents allowed a small group to gather and then led us into a small room that played a two minute introduct

Body Imprints

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Whenever you meet someone or want to publicize a product, you want to leave a mark. The products below literally do just that: leave a temporary mark on your body.  Marketing campaign Superette This clothing retailer installed reverse-text plates on city benches, so that when people got up from the bench, their message would be imprinted (temporarily) on the back of the person's thighs. Neat way to have people "wear" your brand. via imgur.com and adoholik.com   Jewelry Imprint Ring, by artist JungYun Yoon the words or shape is raised on the inside of the ring so that it presses into your skin when you wear it  images from the artist's website via urbanoutfitters.com blog **Note, if you wear this ring for long enough, the shape or message will actually become permanent**

Human and Human-Looking Animal Eyes

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"We are science, connected." Nautilus , a blog about relatable science, posts an interesting topic each month and posts an article about that topic each Thursday. The section of the blog that I found the information below is entitled "Facts So Romantic: BIOLOGY." Humanizing Animals with the Most Human Eyes black rabbit chimpanzee lark photos by Suren Manvelyan via Nautilus.com and the  NationalGeographic.com  blogs More photos from her website: guinea pig  crocodile  llama human eye  human eye Some of her other work: Ballet of Ghosts                  Frost                                                        Old Armenian Doors