Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter

“Alice in Wonderland” has always been a bizarre story in a bizarre world on it’s own, and coming from the head of Tim Burton, it’s difficult to know anymore what exactly to expect. All I can say is any Tim Burton fan would be almost maniacally eager at this point about the film.

[Images via Huffington Post]

“I’ve been fascinated with urban exploration since I took a B&W photograph class in college. While everyone was taking pictures of pets in backyards I was exploring abandoned factories. I like focusing on things that most people would overlook and I try to bring beauty out of a decaying location. [Come] Discover the beauty of abandonment.”

What I find so fascinating about this project is that with our current economic condition as terrible as it is, it’s great to see someone photographing architecture that is the result of our economic expansion. Below are some screencaps from the website Rejected Memories. Make sure to pay the website a visit if you’re interested in seeing more of Bob’s amazing photographic work.

A few good tips:

1.Exploit, Exploit, Exploit

Whatever you are photographing exploit the natural. Exploit what is already there, the surroundings, the light, the subject, the shadow.  How you exploit depends upon the situation. Find what is appealing to you about the subject, find what makes this subject so unique, that gives you the “wow I want a picture of that” attitude. Find that and focus on it.

2. Shoot, Shoot, Shoot

Like writing a paper or a book, photography requires multiple drafts. If you have not used all your film you have missed most of your subject. You need to shoot from different angles, even if those angles seem absurd or make you look like you’re off your rocker, heck stand on a rocker and take the photo. At the very least you will get the juices flowing and the creativity going allowing you to take a new perspective on your subject.

3. Sit in Time Out

It is essential to take a time out. Do not delete your photo’s right away just because they do not look right. Wait, sleep, eat, have a few drinks, date around for awhile but don’t settle no matter how big her bank account is (instead give her my number). Like with any art piece, taking a bit of time away will enhance your perspective and give you a clearer look, a discarded photo could just turn into an overlooked gem.

4. Patience Young Padawan

Ok I know that’s lame, but you need to have patience when taking photo’s. Sometimes it will take forever to get a shot you like, sometimes you need to wait for something to happen, while other times things will just happen and you might get lucky, but we don’t want to be lucky, we want to be good and consistant. Consistancy is what makes a good photographer good. So be patient, do what needs to be done, put the pieces in play, wait for what you want. A little patience will bring results. But in the same lieu, remember to take as many photgraphs as possible, even while you wait for something, take photo’s of everything bringing an extra clip of either film or memory.

5. Focus, Focus, Focus

Focus on your subject, in this day and age it is so hard to focus, but you must. Pick a point, a place, a special place on, or in, or about your subject you want to focus on.  Keep that idea, that point, at the center.

6. Remember Your Audience

Who do you want to see your photo? Who is going to see your photography? Are you trying to be absurdest? Cubist? Minimalist? What is your intent? What is the feeling or emotion you want others to feel? Or…is it just a nice picture? You need feeling, just a nice picture is typically just that. You need depth,  most photos are 2D but to really shine you must make them 3D by adding depth and feeling.

7. Have Fun and Learn (Even the experts don’t know everything)

I know I know, every guide every tip says this, It’s true though, the more you enjoy something the better it will be. In the end you need to be happy with you. You need to learn from everything you do and from everyone you can, whether they are “not as good” as you or a million times better. Remember to also reflect upon your own work learning from your own photography and experiences.

That’s all I have for now, but if you have anything else to add, or if you even wish to disagree with me, please feel free to comment.

Patterns patterns everywhere… though this has slowly turned into a ridiculous idea of mine, mainly because it has taken so long to compile, I hope that it really isn’t so ridiculous. Possibly slightly helpful? or inspirational? Who knows. So now that this post is complete…what exactly is it? This isn’t a post about patterned wallpaper found in your Nanna’s bathroom. This post is a celebration of sorts, of patterns and artists and designers who create them and create with them. So here’s a list of different pattern resources that I found.

Steven Meisel

[Images from http://www.artandcommerce.com/AAC/...]

These two images are from a series by Steven Meisel is actually what inspired me to do this crazy post. A brilliant set of photographs for a Spring issue of Italian Vogue, though I’m not sure about when the issue came out, it may have been in 2007. The human form and organic shape created by the clothing all blend together into an optically exhilarating flow of patterns and prints.

The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones, edited by Maxine Lewis

[Images from http://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Ornament-Owen-Jones/... ]

This book is a great little resource for inspiration, and as a reference to the basic characteristics of cultural ornament. And if you’ve been wondering what history behind it is it offers that as well. I bought it for the pure purpose of visual inspiration a while back and it has proved to be very helpful in times of creative blocks.

The book can be found on Amazon here.

Helen Dardik

[Images from http://www.oneluckyhelen.com/index.html]

These are just a few of a bunch of playful and colorful patterns, and there were oh so many great ones to choose from. Observing the details of each one of Helen Dardik’s patterns is absolutely necessary.

Pattern by Tricia Guild and Elspeth Thompson

[Image from http://belindaschneider.wordpress.com/2007/04/03/tricia-guild-pattern-book/]

This book has received great praise from pretty much everyone who owns it. It showcases bold patterns and their wonderful homes having been incorporated into decoration, a difficult task. Here’s just a little snippet of the product description offered by Amazon:

Tricia Guild is known for her bold and original fabric and wallpaper collections and her extraordinary ability to use colour and pattern in decoration. She is inspired by fabrics, techniques, motifs and designs from all over the world and from every period of history – brocades and damasks from the Far East; the rich history of botanical illustration and flower painting; checks, plaids and stripes from northern Europe; vibrant ethnic prints from India and Central America; painterly designs from Chinese and European porcelain; the bold abstracts and geometric patterns of contemporary painters.

The book can be found on Amazon here.

Rick Leong

[Images from http://rickleong.carbonmade.com/projects/25547]

This artist is based in Montreal, Canada. His many imaginative paintings have a softness to them, the same kind of fuzzy effect that appears in watercolors or painted silk.The patterns that emerge in his work are nature inspired, relating to the ocean… like waves or underwater landscapes, and lush magical forests.

Design*Sponge

[Images from http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/05/welcome-julia...]

Ever wondered how you could turn that wonderful illustration into your own repeating pattern? Design*Sponge offers a little step-by-step tutorial by guest blogger Julia on how exactly you can do this. A very useful guide and definitely something to read through if you don’t already know how to do this.

Sølve Sundsbø

[Images from http://community.livejournal.com/foto_decadent/1907831.html]

The photo series entitled “Bloom” from an edition of V magazine is photographed by Sølve Sundsbø and captures patterns and texture in extreme movement. The billowing plumes of floral fabrics create spectacular effect, each image featuring a stunning compostion that features body and garment as art.

dchan on DeviantART

[Images from http://dchan.deviantart.com/]

Another set of illustrated patterns that really benefit from a close up. The vibrant illustrations include blob monsters, Mexican wrestlers, music-loving cheese burgers, and dancing condiments. With the wild clash of activity in the patterns it all kind of looks like Paul Frank on acid.

Tatiana Plakhova’s Wrapping Paper Collections on The Behance Network

[Images from http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Wrapping-Paper-Collections/90569]

Though these aren’t downloadable, Behance has a good number of wrapping paper designs by Tatiana Plakhova, all beautifully illustrated. Each has its own unique geometric design ranging from the basic pinstripe, to the 70’s floral, to the very ornate optical illusion.

Patternhead

[Images from http://www.patternhead.com/]

Patternhead is a good place to find some crazy pattern tiles designed by John Rawsterne. There are a number of patterns available for free, and other detailed, high quality downloads available through the Patternhead store.

MEANNORTH: work by Naja Conrad-Hansen

[Images from http://www.meannorth.com/index.html]

This was an especially exciting find because artist and designer Naja Conrad-Hansen has a spectacular and broad collection of work. Her pattern work is more a combination of fashion illustration and an overflow of pattern, sometimes with a hint of photo-collage-like influences. Some very wonderful work here.

Web Design Ledger

[Images from http://webdesignledger.com/freebies/200-beautiful-seamless-patterns-perfect-for-web-design]

Finally, the popularity of using patterns is growing in webdesign, moving into the other parts of the website anatomy, no longer kept only in the background. There’s a long list of different patterns from Web Design Ledger. These patterns were pulled from deviantART and have a variety of uses.

SHOTS Magazine’s call for entries is nearing its deadline. For photographers with unpublished work, this is a great opportunity for self-promotion. Unlike Communication Arts’ which tends to feature photographs that are more commercial in nature, the work in SHOTS still lean in the direction of art photography.

“Shots Magazine is an independent, reader-supported, quarterly journal of fine art photography in its 22nd year of publication. Shots is known for its democratic presentation of work by a variety of photographers from around the world. Often described as a “photographer’s photography magazine”, Shots reaches a wide audience that includes not only photographers, but also educators, gallery directors, museums and others interested in photography.”

- SHOTS Magazine

The latest call-for-entries subject is Water, to be received by February 2nd to make the magazine’s spring issue. So if you have a few great water photographs take a look at the guidelines here: http://www.shotsmag.com/shotssubmission.htm

Good luck!

Artist: Yehrin Tong

http://www.debutart.com/artist/yehrin-tong/work/2341

http://www.animationarchive.org/2008/08/illustration-gustaf-tenggrens-grimms.html

http://ilikepencils.blogspot.com/

http://www.chuckkimmerle.com/

http://www.olofsdotter.com/

http://www.oliververnon.com/2008/07/24/2008/

http://www.naotohattori.com/home.html

http://www.koldobarroso.com/

http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/bamboolove/

http://www.gallery21.com/

http://www.sterlinghundley.com/

http://www.zuzafun.com/surreal-pictures

http://www.vladimirkush.com/home.php

http://www.graphic-exchange.com/archives/home_2008_10.html

http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vexhibit/_PHOTOGRAPHER_Carl__Chiarenza_01/1/0/0/

http://polarulv.1x.com/

Yet another post on fashion photography (sorry to those who don’t enjoy looking at it as much as I do). I’ve always been a fan of the Benetton ads. There’s just something about the clean images with the bold colors that grabs your attention. After seeing one of their ads in a magazine, I was curious to find out who the photographer was: David Sims.

“David Sims began working as a photographer in 1989 after a number of years assisting. His first editorial stories appeared in The Face and I-D and his defiantly casual ‘grunge’ style soon became recognized. It was at this time that he shot what was to become a very influential campaign in his career for Yohji Yamamoto. This lead to the signing of a one year exclusive contract with Harper’s Bazaar (USA) in 1993 and the commissioning of his first campaign for Calvin Klein.”

~ ArtPartner.com

The above ad was one without a photographer name, so I did my best in comparing the photographic style and composition to the other Benetton campaign photographs by Sims, and I assume that Sims was the photographer (if I’m wrong please let me know).

Looking at his other images, however, Benetton’s new campaign resembles their 2006 winter campaign (observable below) which I thought was kind of interesting. Both ads were photographed by Sims, but the newest ad displays a fresher, edgier color combination with more movement, for an all together less serious campaign than in 2006.

Going beyond the Benetton ads, Sims still demonstrates a photographic interest in movement and texture, with a focus on capturing the clothing, with the silhouettes and the sculptural forms that the garment creates in relation to the body.

Below, more of David Sims’ 2006 photographs, but for Paris Vogue and Vogue Italia of model Alexandra Tomlinson (via http://models.com/oftheminute/?p=1314).

Images from:

http://www.artpartner.com/

http://www.benetton.com/portal/web/guest/ai2008/woman/fashion#gallery_top

http://www.benettongroup.com/40years-press/index.html

http://avantgarde.blogsome.com/2006/09/29/david-sims-hollywood-parade/

..As you can see I went a little image crazy..but many more photographs can be found at:  http://www.hedislimane.com/fashiondiary/index.php

Other images from:

http://www.hedislimane.com/diary/

http://www.vmagazine.com/blog.php?a=3

I’m back from my Hiatus with a cup of coffee and motivation the likes of which this blog hath never seen.  Today I have the pleasure of finally writing about Douglas Hill: print designer, father, artist, and programmer.  Douglas originally contacted us to take a look at his work to review and comment on.  Well I must say that after a thorough review, we decided to get back to Douglas and a few back and forth emails later, the staff here at Creative Fluff was completely convince that Hill was an artist that deserved a thoughtful review.   I personally find that the best way to talk about an artist is to describe their background; luckily Douglas wrote us an autobiography and below is a short clip from his bio:

“During the development of TILER, I discovered that outside of the world of COBOL report generation, programming was pretty interesting.  So, degree in hand, I went out into the world to earn a living as a computer programmer, and geometric patterns went into abeyance for years as I got married and raised a family.  Though I mainly worked on embedded systems (printer mechanisms, medical devices, audio workstations, motion controllers and the like) I always took advantage of any opportunity to work on the image generation portion of a project, if there was one.  Developing test patterns and color halftone patterns for inkjet printers, for example.

My daughters both have artistic abilities and I thought I’d provide a model for them of how to make an income from art as a sideline.  Ha!  Some model.  A mere babe in the woods I have been.  I learned how to print, mat and frame.  I’d take these things around to craft fairs, which is a pain and a lot of fun.  I loved being part of a creative community, having a foot in the art and craft world, seeing how other people solved (more or less well) their problems and found a way to keep going.” (http://patternsofreflection.com)

This short clip gives just enough insight into Douglas’s background to emphasize his creative spirit and motivation for seeing what patterns lie beneath the surface in our every day lives.  Below are the samples that were sent to our local designer, Katherine:

Simply stunning aren’t they?  Douglas managed to translate his patterns into successful print design pieces that are easily levels above what is sold in most print boutique shops around New York City (and trust me I’ve been to all of them).  The patterns that Hill has managed to take from objects in the real world and translate into art would function on paper, on the computer, even as wallpaper for children’s rooms and as fabric designs on quilts.  I personally feel as if these could easily be sold to fresh fashion designers as ideas for their own projects.   If you haven’t already headed over there, I suggest you go to http://patternsofreflection.com and go through the rest of Douglas’s work, and check out his online shop

(I really want more of his stuff for our work space).

Comprehensive Dynamic Lighting Tutorials:

1. http://psdtuts.com/photo-effects-tutorials/add-dynamic-lighting-to-a-flat-photograph/

2. http://ebin.wordpress.com/2007/03/21/how-to-turn-your-photo-into-movie-like-effect-using-photoshop/

3. http://www.vanilladays.com/hdr-guide/

4. http://www.photoshopcafe.com/tutorials/HDR_ps/hdr-ps.htm

5. http://backingwinds.blogspot.com/2006/10/how-to-create-professional-hdr-images.html

6. http://www.planetphotoshop.com/dramatic-color-effects.html

Artistic Photography Tutorials:

1. http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/or/cubism.html

2. http://www.photographyforums.org/photoshop/709-city-globe.html

3. http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/panographies/

4. http://pinkzap.com/?p=390

5. http://www.photoshopstar.com/photo-effects/eery-eye-photo-manipulation/

6. http://psdtuts.com/tutorials-effects/create-a-powerful-mental-wave-explosion-effect/

Commercial Photography:

1. http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/sunglasses/