Twin mountain

Back in June me and two friends set out to hike 4,000 feet up to the summit of Twin Mountain. It was a 9 mile hike to the top and of course 9 miles back. We left Long Island as the sun rose and drove 4 hours into the heart of the Catskills in upstate New York. We started hiking by 10 o'clock and after 5 hours reached the peak. The hike was grueling with a 2,000 foot elevation gain in under 2 miles but the view waiting for us was well worth it. We had lunch and hung out on what seemed like the top of the world for hours admiring how beautiful the world surrounding us was. 

Steel Wool

When I first entered the field of photography, I began looking through hundreds of images on the internet looking for anything to get the creative ball rolling. I stumbled upon something I didn't understand at the time. It turned out to be a picture of someone spinning steel wool. It was amazing, I couldn't understand how it was done and that's what intrigued me. I started looking at more and more and  I began seeing these magnificent images people were coming up with. I knew I had to give it a try. After getting the basic concept down, I took to the night to try something I never knew would become my favorite type of photography. To me these aren't just pictures, they are creations of my mind. Visions only seen when the shutter closes and the camera processes what has just happened. When I first began it was very simple, drawing letters and simple shapes but I realized that it was not necessarily the steel wool that made the images appealing but the background and how certain surfaces reflect the light and are illuminated by the burning of the steel wool. During an assignment in Digital 2 Professor Cyr asked us to do a final project that would be a small body of work which had to have meaning behind it. I was puzzled as to what I could do with my steel wool pictures while also bringing meaning to them. We talked and he asked me what the significance was of me being in the photos and I wasn't quite sure. I realized that I would weave myself into the background or foreground somewhere sometimes easily noticeable other times not so much. So I decided to go ahead and make my project based around how an otherwise boring photograph could be changed drastically with the introduction of myself and what I bring with me.

One of My first Steel Wool shots 

One of my Final images from intro to Digital 

Another Shot from the early days

Photo Plus

I was lucky enough to be able to go into the city to check out the Photo Plus Expo the Friday before last. I was looking forward to seeing Chris Burkard a Sony photographer who has had a large impact on my photography speak. Unfortunately he was speaking until 12:30 and we walked in at 12:32 I thought I had missed my chance. After walking around checking out all the booths set up I decided to go back to the Sony booth. I'm glad I did because when I walked in Chris Burkard was standing directly in front of me. Rather than just hearing him speak I actually got to shake hands with him and briefly speak to him. Meeting him was something I never thought I would have the chance at but for some reason we both walked back into that Sony booth at the same time and our paths crossed. Overall I thought the expo was awesome, I was in awe at the new technology that they had brought out and everything new in the photography world. I really appreciated the Sony and Zeiss booths in particular as I use and would recommend their products. 

Me and Chris Burkard 

The Sigma booth

A picture of a picture made up of pictures