Still in Love with Polaroid

Yesterday was the first of a three-day online live-streaming course presented by CreativeLIVE and photographer Joey L. Sign up to watch it today and tomorrow FOR FREE!  http://www.creativelive.com/courses/commercial-portraiture-joeyl Here's what I got out of Day 1: Joey L., 23, is a commercial portrait photographer who has been shooting since he was 12. He has worked with clients the likes of National Geographic channel and History channel, many different print and digital productions, and celebrities. The course he is teaching this week is on portfolio structure, start-up photography advice, and techniques of "cinematic portraits" in any location. I've heard most of the "beginner" advice before, but here's some selects of his adviceStructure your portfolio in a nice flow:  Images should logically follow one another. Don't jump from dark to light, action to dramatic portrait, etc. Use color, tone, mood, and subject matter to string together...

 Candian portrait photographer and photojournalist  Joey L. recreated a Salvador   Da lí  painting using self-proclaimed "Zombie Boy," Rick Genest, and several heavily-tattooed women. This skull arrangement of people has been used for several movie posters and recreations since its creation in 1951 (see the original below). image: Joey L. This image was used as the cover of Rebel Magazine recently, and the editors cleverly added lingerie to make the photo more press-friendly. One of the most ingenious and mind-bending artists of our time, Salvador  Da lí , was a master at creating surrealistic paintings that were illusions or had multiple meanings. He is most famous for his "Persistence of Memory" melting clocks painting, and his severe moustache, and wild eyes.  Salvador Da lí , painter image: Mibba His painting of naked women making up a skull formation was recreated and photographed by Philippe Halsman in collaboration with the pain...

Israeli artist Ronit Bigal has created beautiful mixed media prints using photographs and massive amounts of ancient Hebrew scripture. She takes close-up, abstract photographs of people's bodies, makes a print, and then applies the text in black India ink directly onto the print. She places the text deliberately, following the curves of the body part in the photo. It's interesting that she uses the tiny words of the holy Scripture, as well as floral designs, to decorate the naked skin. These images were part of the exhibition "Body Scripture II," which was exhibited in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2010. photos: Ronit Bigal via CraftGawker app and Saatchi Online

Indian graphic designer Kapil Bhagat created these minimalist type posters that celebrate the minds behind science's greatest discoveries. Do you know each one?   images Kapil Bahagat via  flavorwire.com see also  here

Artist Jason Freeney created one-of-a-kind sculptures from giant toys for his exhibit, "Choice Cuts," shown recently at 101 Exhibit . He uses the actual oversized toys, cuts them open, fills them with foam or clay, and then sculpts and paints the material to look like proportional anatomy for the figurines. photos: Jason Freeny Below are some process shots of the Lego men, courtesy the artist, and reposted from thisiscolossal.com See how it's done:

Canadian photographer Benoit Paille 's "Alternate Landscapes" series features a hanging square of light in the middle of various landscapes. By adding this bright light, it transforms a picture of a regular landscape into an experience. Though his captions and some of his point-and-shoot photos are quite crass, his work is wonderful, and worth a look. "I hate lanscape. So i decide to stage my own vision of lanscape. I create an art light  installation for poetic space/time purpose." - Benoit Paille, on Flickr photos: Benoit Paille

Happy Earth Day, world! Check out these camera gardens by Brazilian artist  André Feliciano  who creates realistic garden installations using tiny camera figurines.    photos: Andre Feliciano via designyoutrust.com To truly understand how much this guy loves cameras (see below), take a look at his site .

Just took some photos this morning of a bunch of seeds that started growing within one of the squash that we brought home from the grocery store last week. Let me know what you think! © Amy Hefter Photography

Traditional 4x5 film cameras are large and bulky, set on tracks and a tripod, and use multiple movable parts to focus and compose a shot. Taking a photo with one of these required a lot of time and patience, but the photos usually come out sharp and you could adjust the focus planes any way you wanted (see below).  Operation of a Shen Hao 4x5 field camera, courtesy science.uvu.edu I came across this Kickstarter campaign today for a company called Wanderlust Cameras that pitched the idea to manufacture a $99 portable, lightweight version of the traditional 4x5 camera. It comes in two versions: a 90mm and a 65mm. It features a 4x5 film spring back, three cold shoes, a port for a remote shutter, and the option to use no lens for a pinhole shot. Travelwide 90 with optional accessories a 4x5 negative (large format)    pinhole image on the Travelwide 65 images via Wanderlust Cameras

In my experience when entertaining guests, using a few folding chairs is a lot easier than grabbing bulky, mismatching chairs from every room in the house to accommodate your guests. But what if you could pull your chairs off of or out of the wall instead? It would certainly save space and add to your decor. Check out these modern seating ideas: Japan's Studio YOY These pieces are made from wood and aluminum frame and screen printed canvas and are hung from the wall. When you unhook the piece and lean it against the wall, you can sit on the stretched canvas. images:  yasuko furukawa via  designboom.com New York's  Studio Dror This "Pick" chair hangs on the wall as art, so just pull it off the wall and let it fall into the chair shape when you're ready to sit down! Check out Dror's Product Design page for more innovative designs.