Packing for Guadalajara

On Saturday I'll depart for a week in Guadalajara, Mexico as a participant in the Truth With a Camera Workshop. I've eagerly anticipated this week for about three months and packing time is finally here.
For those of you who have visited my blog these past months, I hope that I can keep posting while I'm in Guadalajara so that you'll have some new things to see. For those of you unfamiliar with my pending trip... here's a quick update.

Truth With A Camera is an annual workshop that sends photojournalists to various spot around the globe to hone their photography skills by photographing the work of local NGOs. During the week I'll be photographing the amazing work of CODENI. CODENI provides direct service to over 100 children and adolescents who rely on the streets of Guadalajara for their survival through social-work, street outreach programs, and education. In the evenings, I'll have the priceless opportunity to learn from fantastic photojouralists like Chris Tyree, Faith Cathcart, Dave Ellis, and Josh Meltzer!

Please check back in the next week to get a glimpse of the work I'll be doing!

Boston T Series... Coming Soon!

A few months ago I snapped this close-up of the side of an old, weathered T car standing idle at Government Center.
In the next couple of weeks I'll attempt to duplicate this shot for all the lines on the Boston T map, creating a Boston T Series. Check back in a couple weeks to see the poster!

Creative Departure

During this past year, my creative interests took a surprising turn... I found myself drawn to urban art. This interest was definitely born from following Shepard Fairey's influence on the Obama Campaign. From Fairey I learned about the work of Banksy, Ron English, and Sam Flores. Oddly, I was hooked. I started looking at graffiti as art, I collected a few rare screen prints, and I found myself secretly wanting the over-sized graphic t-shirts worn by urban high schoolers. I know, I know... I too am relieved that this new interest did not leave it's mark on my wardrobe.

Yesterday though, this rural kid made his first attempt at combining the aesthetic style of urban art with photography. Here is the result in low-res quality. To get a better view, click on the image.

The above image started as 12 vertical photos stitched together. Because yesterday's overcast weather was less than optimal for photography, the sky was completely washed out, leaving a natural blank white background. Noticing this, I thought that this photograph might make a great candidate for some experimentation. I then ran the composite image through multiple Adobe processes. After about 5 hours of tweaking and editing, I arrived at the above 200 MB file. If I ever learn screen printing, this would make a really sharp print. I don't expect this to be the direction that my photography takes, but nonetheless it was a fun creative departure for a day. Let me know what you think!

Downtown Panorama: View from Bay Village

As neighborhoods go, Boston's Bay Village is an incredibly well kept secret. Nestled between the Boston Public Gardens and I-90, the streets of Bay Village offer the quaintness and old-world feel of Beacon Hill and the North End, minus the foot-traffic of meandering tourists.

The real jewel of Bay Village however is found on its buildings' roofs, not outside their front doors. My friends Pete and Sarah are two Bay Village residents who experience this on almost a daily basis. Yesterday morning I got out on their roof deck to capture the view they enjoy.

The photo above was taken at about 10:30am. Though it was an overcast morning, I was quite happy with the results. Please click on the image and larger version will open up in a new tab. The detail is really remarkable.

If you have a great view from your home/apartment in Boston and want it photographed, send me an email.

Boston Marathon 2009

Today marked the 113th running of the Boston Marathon. While over 25 thousand remarkable athletes exercised their bodies and minds through 26.2 grueling miles around Boston, I decided to exercise my new Canon 5D and head down to Beacon Street to capture some of the action.
This was the first time I witnessed a marathon, and frankly it was much more inspiring that I expected. For me, it wasn't the remarkable speed of the elite finishers that stuck with me. Instead it was the ceaseless 5 hour tide of runners that blew me away. I stood at the 24 mile mark, and seeing so, so many runners nearing their inevitable finish made me realize what a personal accomplishment the Boston Marathon was to these people. It sounds odd, but I almost felt privileged to be a witness to their success. There's a lot of photos here, so I hope you all enjoy!
Pictured above are the elite women runners who placed in the top 3. Kenya's Salina Kosgei (leftmost runner) wound up winning the race, while Dire Tune of Ethiopia placed 2nd. USA's Kara Goucher (pictured in front) placed 3rd, only .09 seconds behind Kosgei.
It's no surprise that this shot is poorly composed... Deriba Merga was flying! Merga, of Ethiopia won the elite mens race with a time of 2:08:42. It sometimes takes me that long to finish my morning coffee... for real.
Daniel Rono of Kenya placed 2nd.
Ryan Hall of the United States placed 3rd, only .98 seconds behind Merga.
Pictured above is 3 time Boston Marathon winner Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya. Cheruiyot finished in 5th place. This is one of my favorite shots from the day.
The most inspiring two seconds of the day came with Richard Whitehead of Great Britain ran by.
This dude may not have won, but he did win Best Mustached Marathoner of the Day.
A view of the Boston Marathon from the Green Line T.