25 Days Of Christmas (Photos)

Christmas is past, but I have a fun idea that you can use next year.  My wife decided to start getting our Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving this year.  At first I thought it was crazy, but it really helped bring back some of the childhood excitement that surrounds Christmas.  That isn’t the idea, this is —> Create a Christmas countdown calendar with photos for the following year.  This year I decided to create a new image every day of December and post them on Instagram, culminating on Christmas Day – 25 days total.  It was a fun creative exercise that helped me get into the Christmas spirit.  I love the twinkle of Christmas from the lights, garland,  glitter, ornaments, to sun shining through falling snow (unfortunately I don’t see that very often since moving to VA) and wanted to capture it.

Finding Freedom In Other Forms Of Creativity

Misty Morning Lake, 2012

There is something freeing about expressing yourself creatively outside of the realms where you feel comfortable.  Tonight I pulled out my plastic bin of paint supplies to find a creative release on a rainy day.  I had a photography session scheduled today that was cancelled by the weather.  Like most photo sessions, I stress out about all the details that I want to accomplish until the shoot is behind me.  I know that I am expected to pull out all the stops for every shoot because it is my profession and something that I understand really well.  I cannot say that about painting, but  that is also what I find freeing about working with paint – I have no expectations of doing it well.  Why?  Because I know nothing about the techniques involved and can create without knowing the bounds I am supposed to work in.  I have the freedom to try whatever I want.  The more we know about techniques and the “proper way” to use our equipment and tool, the less we try to find creative new ways to use the tools we have and we begin to keep doing the same things over and over – our knowledge actually begins to limit our creativity.

In an effort to release the stress and preparation from the cancelled shoot, I went to the garage and pulled out my bin of art supplies that have not found a home since we moved.  After thinking about ideas that I wanted to accomplish with my limited Acrylic paint supplies, I realize that I need to create texture on the canvas with something more than the paint.  As I opened the bin of paint supplies, I found my wife’s embroidery thread inside and had an idea – glue the thread to the canvas before applying paint.  I couldn’t find a good way to adhere the thread, so I used some spray adhesive to affix it and a piece of a magazine I had crumpled for more texture.  For good measure, I sprayed a few globs of paint hoping that it would create another element of texture to the canvas and it did.  From there, I just had fun blending color and trying to create movement with the strokes of the brush.  It felt great to have freedom to create and I cannot wait to get it on a wall.

Let me encourage you to try something outside of your usual creative sphere to free yourself to have fun and break free from the walls are built when we rely too much on techniques we’ve become accustomed to using.  The more I learn about photography, the more I begin to feel like I have to stay within the bounds of those techniques.  Allow an exercise like this to remind you that you can be creative when you know nothing about technique or limits and take that freedom back with you to your normal creative sphere and start to create again.

Making of 316:LOVE Project – Take Love Global

This past week we launched a new 316 Valentine’s campaign at Operation Blessing. It was an incredibly fun process of collaboration by our media team. It started with a brainstorming meeting where we came up with the idea to make 316 a symbol of love. This symbol came from John 3:16, “For God so loved the world.”

From that dialogue I created a script that developed the concept seen in the finished video. There were a couple levels of adaptation as it went through editing and approval processes. Once it was approved, we had about 48 hours to get the physical money in multiples of 316, shoot the stop motion, draw the cartoon intro, edit, animate, find music, record the voice over and upload for distribution.

An iPhone Captures New York City

All images contained in this book were taken with an iPhone 4S. It was my first trip to New York City, so the images captured reflect my desire to see as many popular spots as I could during my brief one day and a half in the city. They are wide shots that show the larger context I was seeing as I took it all in. I’m sure that my photographs will be completely different the next time I visit the city and zoom my focus to show more of the people, lifestyle, textures and movement of New York City.

As a photographer, I knew I wouldn’t be able to see and capture as much of the city as I hoped to if I was weighed down by all my professional gear. I also knew there are already thousands of stunning shots of the city taken by photographers who live in the city and can shoot when the conditions are just right. I decided to focus on taking stylized images with my iPhone and SX70 with Polaroid film. This book contains the photos from my iPhone.

All but seven of the photographs were taken using the Hipstamatic app using the Loftus Lens and Rock BW-11 Film. I did not use a flash in the app. Because I was in the city and wanted to capture the huge buildings that were right on top of me, I was using an Olloclip lens that slips on the iPhone to give me wide angle and fisheye lens options. I am totally enamored with the Olloclip and the settings I was using in Hipstamatic.

I have seen the beauty of iPhone photography since I boought my first iPhone when they were first released. You can see more of my work at www.iPhonelomo.com

I hope you enjoy the artwork contained in this book.

 

An iPhone Captures New York City by Tony Cece | Make Your Own Book

Buy An Original Tony Cece Fine Art Polaroid Series.

“Summertime Roses” is a triptych series I shot on a Polaroid SX-70 on Silver Shade film from The Impossible Project.  It has idiosyncrasies and imperfections that make the photos have vintage character minutes after they eject from the camera.

I love art. I like looking at photography and filling my home and office with fun images of my own and other photographers. My blog is usually a place to talk about the work I’m doing or the fun I’m having with my kids and my camera.

I’m going out on a professional limb and offering to sell some of my art so that one of you can hang it in your home or office.  It has already been a tough new road – once I saw it framed, I wanted to keep it and hang it in my dining room.

I am offering this framed fine art piece to one buyer who will take ownership of the one-of-a-kind original images for only $150.  Readers of my blog have the first chance to purchase it.  Payment will be made via Paypal.  Please contact me using this form and be the first to let me know that you are the one who is hip enough to hang this in your home, office, or place of business.

See a larger scan of the images below to see the softness, warmth, and imperfections that give these photos character:

Rural Images From The City

These photos were taken at the same time and location as the photos in the previous post. The editing process (color, softness, and dark exposure) are all based on the original intent to put these in a frame that has a vintage oval styling.  These depth of field available using my Canon 50mm f/1.4 adds to the vintage softness of the medium to large format cameras that produced the vintage photos that I envisioned for the frame.  I’m still not sure that I have captured the image I want for the frame, but I definitely captured the look I was going for.  I’m still thinking about the subject that I want before I spend the money to print the large photo.

It Is Not The Camera. It Is Vision.

Yesterday I was finishing up projects around the house and saw my new picture frame sitting the floor in my closet. While I worked, I started thinking about photos that would look good in this oval frame. I bounced between the idea of a clean letter “C” or an aged looking photo. My mind started visualizing an older part of town that has rusty factories, fences, peeling paint, and overgrown weeds. I thought it could be a potential photo location for this frame or at least give me some new stock images and prints.

With my camera slung over my shoulder, I jumped on my Vespa and headed out while the rest of my family took naps. In my head the shot called for limited dept-of-field (DOF), so I put the 50mm f/1.4 on the camera and my 85mm f/1.8 in top-case of my Vespa. As I drove the streets around the factories, I came across this particular fence and set off weeds that really grabbed my attention.

I struggled with a series of apertures and settings on my 5D, but really wasn’t getting the look I wanted. It didn’t feel like the image I envisioned in my head. I packed up with several shots I liked, but  was a bit disappointed.  I had a scene I really liked, but wasn’t able to capture the image in my head. As I strapped my helmet on, I got a call from my dad saying that he was on his way to my house. Just before I put the phone in my pocket and headed to meet him, I decided to grab a few shots with my iPhone to use on my iPhonelomo site. I looked at the screen and realized that this was the image I had been trying to achieve. After snapping it, I used PicGrunger to give it a vintage feeling and Photogene to slightly crop and enhance the levels. I may not use it for the frame, but I was able to walk away achieving the vision that I had set out to capture. Many thanks to David DuChemin for publishing great e-books that have helped me refocus and get beyond the gear and shoot with vision.

Before & After Editing.

Humanitarian Inspiration from the Song: “Faint Not”

Today was a day filled with travel and a search for inspiration as I made my way back to Joplin, MO to meet up with the Operation Blessing disaster relief team that has been hard at work since the tornado turned the city upside down. My life has been very busy and it feels like I just left Joplin a couple days ago. Our team is working on several exciting projects that I can’t wait to reveal. Until then, I am trying to prepare myself to be a good listener, ask the right questions, be sensitive to needs, and use my eyes to capture stories in a way that engages and properly represents dignity in the face of adversity.

I have found that music has been a great source of inspiration for me this year. As I have done on every one of my trips this year, I went back to a husband and wife duo that I just learned about this year – Jenny & Tyler. Their song “Faint Not” has been the soundtrack of my journeys and a source of inspiration out in the field and in the office when I’m doing post-production. The album version of the song is available for free download on their website, but you can also watch the video or listen to more songs. “Holding on to Hope” and “Love Through Me” are two other songs that help me get in the right frame of mind as I interact with the people I meet and work to properly tell their stories. It helps me be able to push through some of the suffering I see in order to see the people for who they are and focus on their needs. Many are in need of great help, but also just want someone to listen to them and value their life and needs.

If you are looking for new ways to be inspired and motivated to action, I highly recommend putting on headphones and focusing on the melodies, harmonies, and lyrics of “Faint Not.”

hwww.jennyandtylermusic.com/

Faint Not 
Music and Lyrics: Copyright 2010 Tyler Somers (BMI), Jennifer Somers (BMI), One Eyed Cat Music (BMI) 

the problem’s not a gun, not a color, not a hundred dollar bill
we think the struggle can be won with simple thoughts like ‘come together be good willed’
the gap between the rich and poor is spreading out all the more or so they say
we ignore the claims

o my soul, faint not, no
faint not | o my soul, keep up, up
in love

it’s not that we don’t know or we’re not shown the proof of poverty
it’s not that we don’t have the tools to go to break this yoke of slavery
we quit because it’s not an easy fix and then forget that they are even there
we forget to care

o my soul, faint not, no
faint not | o my soul, keep up, up
in love

where there is hatred, let me sow love
where there is injury, let me pardon
where there is darkness, let the Light come, come

o my soul, faint not, no
faint not | o my soul, keep up, up
in love

o my soul, faint not, no
faint not | o my soul, keep up, up
in love

faint not
faint not

Location:S Range Line Rd,Joplin,United States

Samer At Bethlehem Mosaics Is An Example For Us All

I’m really excited to be sharing this video and photoblog about a wonderful livelihood project that Operation Blessing is helping with near Bethlehem. Why am I excited?  Because the project started because a young man named Samer decided to put others before himself.  How, you ask?  Samer is a very talented mosaic artist who decided to leave his job at a shop he had worked at for 9 years, take a pay cut, and with the help of Operation Blessing, start his own shop that teaches disabled people his craft and offers them an opportunity for employment that is, otherwise, very hard for them to find.  An older man, Ahmed, has a Master’s Degree in social work, is a skilled watchmaker, worked as a teacher, and for the UN before finding himself unemployed for 7 years.  One young man had received a business degree that would allow him to work in hotels but couldn’t find work and a woman had been a teacher before needing to have hip replacement but lost her job while she was recovering.  Listening to the stories of each of his workers and seeing the beautiful pieces of art they are now creating was very inspirational for me.  What a testament to the heart of compassion that God instills in each of us.

I was so inspired by their work that I came home with several pieces for my home.

See more of their work at www.bethlehemmosaics.com

8 of 9 Art Pieces Are Complete

8 of the 9 art pieces are complete. I’m really happy with 6 of them and am ok with the other two. They could be someone else’s favorite, because we all have our own style that we prefer. This has been a really exciting project that has brought me out of a creative mold to try new things. It is a new way to look at the photos I take and a hands on way to manipulate an image without Photoshop. Because this is all an experiment, I feel like there is not a right or wrong outcome – they are just new techniques to use or avoid on following works. And really, it is the imperfections that help convey the stories of each of these children I photographed around the world. Their lives are rough around the edges and they have been through so much in their short lives. I look forward to unveiling them if/when I find a local gallery, coffee house, airport that will accept the exhibit for a short period of time. After that I will work on getting the display online as well.