moab pool

i went hiking in southern utah (moab) when i lived in salt lake city. i took several photos of the incredible red orange rock structures that are dominant in the area. that is what you see in the above photo.

on the day i came back from salt lake city to milwaukee, my friend (right in photo) hosted a bbq at his apartment. it was a lot of fun! him and a few others were playing pool and i was snapping photos as usual.

i took the photo above and transformed it appear as if they were actually in moab shooting pool. you may ask, why these two? well, the guy on the left was in the salt lake city rotation before me and the guy on the right was in the rotation after me. they both had the same opportunity as me to live in such a phenomenal state.

enjoy and share your thoughts!

thanks!

bright chucks

i wanted to test the features on my big boy canon camera when i purchased it in salt lake city in july 2008. i didn’t have people to practice on so i decided to take shoes, shirts, jeans, and what ever else i could find to try various techniques. this particular piece reflects a pair of grey and white trimmed in red chucks i own.

as you will tell by various pieces in this blog, i love my dress shoes and chucks.

please look forward to future posts.

thanks!

not your typical graffiti

i worked in salt lake city for six months in 2008. i love the area a lot, really miss the people there, and truth be told, i would go back to live long-term. while i was there, i became really good friends with this young lady that worked in the same company as me…we are still really cool til this day. we would go to liberty park almost every day after work to exercise, enjoy the warm weather, watch parents play with their kids, see dogs catch frisbees, and converse about family, friends, life, etc.

one day, i decided to take my big boy canon to the park. i came across what I would describe as three big metal boxes (which probably have the park’s electrical units stored in them). these boxes captured my attention not because they were enormous, but because they had red graffiti spray painted on them. now, if any of you know about salt lake city it’s one of the most picturesque cities in the u s of a, the streets are clean, it’s safe, the mountains are incredible, and you never see graffiti (at least around the streets i traveled). this was the only instance i spotted it . when i saw this it, i reached a state of shock. i wondered who would do such a thing! i took two photos despite the fact i was bewildered.

i forgot i took these photos until last night when i was thinking about creating something really bold and cool. i automatically thought about the three metal boxes with red graffiti.

i call it “not your typical graffiti” because the photo was taken at liberty park, a place where a person would never expect to see such a thing. the red graffiti plastered on the three metal cases stuck out like a sore thumb.

note: photo was transformed to reflect a mirror effect

please enjoy! thanks!

empty jack & coke

one of my friend’s drink of choice is jack & coke. this story must be told…

two of my friends and i went out on an abnormally warm winter night in milwaukee. i'd say the temperature was anywhere between 40 and 50 degrees; that's a heat wave for this part of the u s of a. we ate dinner at maharaja, an indian restaurant (the food was excellent as always), and went to café hollander to chill, have a drink or two, and eat sweet potato fries. yes, my friends are fat kids, especially jb. we get to the bar at café hollander. jb orders a beer, i order a double maker’s mark & diet coke, and em orders jack & coke. once we have our drinks, we are seated after waiting about ten minutes (not too long). at the table, my friends are laughing at me because the bartender filled my glass with 90% maker’s mark and 10% diet coke. they both thought the drink was going to take me under, but it didn’t; i’m a champ!

i take my camera with me everywhere i go; never leave home without it. i started taking photos of random things (i.e. beer glasses, salt and pepper shakers, etc.). while at the table and jb says, “dom, you know what would be cool?” i reply, “what’s that?” he continues to say, “you should take a photo of the empty jack & coke glass with only the ice and straw in it.” i respond, “okay.” so, i positioned the empty glass against the mahogany wall, took the shot using the macro camera setting, and it came out great. i photoshopped it the next morning and the result is above.

i dedicate “empty jack & coke” to eric (em), one of my friends that hung out with us on that abnormal winter night. he absolutely loves his jack & coke just like a newborn loves his or her warm enfamil…there’s no denying that! you rock, buddy!

thanks and enjoy!

monster

he has a sweet face, a charming smile, and some swag...a good boy, a mama's boy. however, looks can be very deceiving. this is the case with my nephew or "monster" as his father calls him. i guess many of you are wondering, why call this innocent looking child "monster?" well, i can give you a laundry list of reasons why; however, i'll only name a few. it could the time he put his toy in the microwave and said, "mommy, mommy, truck on fire!" or, the time making his mom wonder where he is only for her to hear a ringing door bell and devilish laugh...ahhhh, she found him! this "monster" snuck out the patio door, walked around to the front of the house, and obnoxiously rang the door bell. or, the time when he was in the bathroom playing with his toy in the toilet and nearly flooded the bathroom.

now, i pose the question, should we call my four year old little man by his name which begins with the letter "i," or should we call him "monster?" you decided.

please provide comments on this piece i call, "monster." let me know what you think.

i love you little man!

thanks!

mama's boy

i absolutely love kids! this piece, "mama's boy" was inspired by my friend's son. i visited one of my friends from high school when i was last home in baltimore. i hadn't seen her in six years since we graduated from high school in 2003. it was a really good reunion. she has a three year old son that stole my heart; i melted. we all ate dinner, which by the way was delicious, and chilled until it was time for us to say our goodbyes. i told my friend, as we were putting on our coats, that i must take a photo of her son...i did just that.

i call it "mama's boy" because her son is definitely a mama's boy. the relationship that the mother and son has is truly amazing. it's filled with lots of love and happiness...i sensed it from the little time we spent together.

i hope you enjoy this piece.

thanks!

shirt & tie

i like to wear a shirt and tie from time to time as part of my expression and style. this piece was taken one day when i was taking random photos in my apartment. i hope you enjoy it. please share your comments.

thanks!

joe

i was in baltimore, my home town, in early february. i took photos of my best friend on the day i was flying back to milwaukee. my mom was outside washing her car (which it was rained on several hours later) and joe and were messing around with my camera. i gave him a mini photo shoot and posted the photos on facebook.

yesterday, i decided i wanted to enhance my adobe photoshop skills and selected a photo of my best friend to edit. i developed the piece, "joe" (see photo above) after about an hour or two of editing and making sure the colors and layout were to my satisfaction. i e-mailed the piece to my best friend and he loved it. he loved it so much that he is going to make it his facebook and myspace profile photos. i sent it to my mom, brother, and another friend; they all loved it. please share your thoughts on my first digital design entitled, "joe."

thanks!

the beginning

thank you for visiting my blog. this blog,the developing artist, was created to share with everyone my quest in becoming a digital photographer and artist alongside my finance profession. please share your thoughts and feedback on anything you see in this blog. i encourage you to join me on my journey and look forward to future blogs. again, thank you for visiting!