Un-Scene at The W...

There I am, standing next to the top dallas photographers and thier elected art for the Un-Scene(Wall Kandy) exhibition at the ULTRA MEGA SUPER DUPER hotel W. This place is like 11 stars out of 5! The whole place is extravagant! I love pulling up to the valet with my Honda, complete with fresh bird poop all over the door and hood! The Humvees, Beemers, and various Italian named cars were cringing when my dirty rice burning chariot arrived. I could hear the snickers of the dozen of Paris Hilton-like dingbats as they joked about my ride! That's ok, as soon as I stepped out, with my blacked out sunglasses, rocking new slacks and wicked black, pin striped shirt, fresh hair cut and polished shoes...they quickly shut up. :)

I grabbed my camera and went inside to meet my buddies who were exhibiting their wares. One of which is my good friend Dave Koslowski from DallasPhotoworks! Dave rocks! His HDR shots kick butt! He's a deviant from the norm and it's great to see someone of his caliber up against the mainstream art snobs. In the end, another friend of ours, Wade (flickr fellow!) won the show, but Dave came in honorable mention right after Wade. Great job to both of you!

While Dave was hob knobbing with Dallas's art elite, I took his daughters up stairs to the pool and we had some fun! Here's a few shots of that event! (please click to see full size shots, sooo much better than thumbnails!)

The wicked setting! 16 floors up!

Hey! Don't get water on that crane!

The all important shoes!

More kicking of water!

Lazy Lazy Lazy girl!

I love this shot!

This one too!

Ok off to bed! See ya!
-Mark

Smoke + Helmet + Skull = Ghost Rider

Once again, I'm setting stuff on fire, or smoking out my house while experimenting... Here's my latest fun with my old motorcycle helmet and some real smoke - all shot in my home studio...and a dash of horror! :)


Play! (especially in Photoshop)
-Mark

Good Morning!

I thought I would share with you a little (about 4 inches in diameter) visitor I saw walking my dog early this morning. And yes I ALWAYS have my camera with me when walking my pooch...You just never know what come up! I missed taking a great shot of a 4 - 5 foot Texas rat snake, who decided to show himself only after 10 minutes of practically standing ontop of him while composing these shots! Thanks for scaring the lungs out of me! I'm not afraid of snakes, bugs or creepy things, but when a serpent of his size just pops out by your right foot, sniffs you and slithers off unexpectedly, one tends to orally expel ones own organs rapidly...He was too too fast for me to take a shot... Maybe next time :)

Enjoy!

Smoke

Some smoke shots... I've been playing with my studio lights and trying to figure out the most optimal positioning to capture simple incense smoke. Here's a few shots. also check out my flickr page to see some other cool stuff like this :)







Play!
-mark

Taste Of Dallas

Yesterday I was contracted to shoot the famous Taste of Dallas event. It's basically a bunch of food vendors trying their best to entice you with their culinary excellence.

I Want You for the Taste of Dallas!

Dancing the night away...

A Brazilian girl visiting Dallas poses for am impromptu portrait.
I've found Brazilians to be one of the friendliest cultures. Although she couldn't speak much English, we chatted for a bit. She is from Sao Paulo.

One if the many tram lines in Dallas.

This little one was trying desperately to cool off!

Hmm maybe this way will cool me off faster!

Some really cool bands were playing!

A local Texan enjoying the show.

A quick pose, for a thought provoking moment.

Saddest thing I seen all day! Poor guy had no rear legs, but was the happiest thing there! Everyone stopped to check him out! He had no problem getting around and could lift his front end like a wheelie on command!

What Secrets an Old Town Holds...

Today my buddy(Agent Orange) and I went on a little trip... Our mission, to discover the secrets of an abandoned factory in a undisclosed location. Rumors for over 50 years in this little town have recently surfaced regarding an abandoned military factory. The intent of which was unknown. The only known fact is all ex-military and contractor employees died within a year of the facility's 1945 closing. The gates and doors are all sealed... Hours of internet research, rumors, Google Maps and planning went into this endeavor. Do not try and find out where we went. The secret to this place is not for the faint of heart and what we found will never be revealed...

We begin our mission here...at the power panel.

As an electronics geek, it was my task to get power to the elevator. After some testing with my voltmeter I was able to find the correct circuit breaker.

I lookd at Agent Orange and gave him the signal to hit the start button.

The old elevator creaked and groaned. Amazing, the old electric motors still worked...Perhaps they were used more recently than we had thought?? The elevator lifted us straight to the roof.

Agent Orange immediately surveyed the area for signs of anyone else.

Agent Orange trying to find a way out of this location. We knew we had to descend through a roof tunnel to enter the old facility.

What the hell is down here?

(Your's truly..trying to act tough ;) )

At the bottom of the facility, I found the knob I need to turn... I knew this would open a door below. The original building diagrams do not show a final "basement" level...

Preparing my self for what's down there...

We quietly climbed down the old ladder. We may have been the first people in this room in decades...I hope...

This is the look in Agent Oranges eye's as he fully absorbs what we saw down there... This is the last photograph my camera would take that day...

I'm not sure if Agent Orange or I will ever forget the sight. Both of our cameras seemed failed to operate and the room temperature RAPIDLY dropped to below freezing. (todays weather was in the 90's). We both dove back towards the ladder as quickly as we could, hoping we would make it out alive, sane or atleast in one piece. I cannot say for certain if it was alive or a mechanical abstraction breaking all the laws of physics down there. All I know is...I'm not going back.

It's your turn...if you dare!

Painting With Light...On Trees!

On the 4th of July I had delicately balanced my camera on a log while my friend swiped each tree with 1 second from a monster Maglight! I then dragged the resultant RAW file into Photoshop for some sweet digital lovin'... ;)

Play!
-Maark

Be a Famous Wedding Photographer!

http://trashthedress.wordpress.com/2007/07/05/reality-check-attention-wedding-photographers/

Hey guys, check it out! If you’ve seen “Dog, The Bounty Hunter”, or “Work Out”- these guys are creating a simlar Reality Show based on the everyday life of a Wedding Photographer… I hope they show all of the late nights we stay up editing, blogging, and designing albums, as well as the fun we have doing what we love doing. This should be interesting…

Casting Wedding Photographer for New Reality TV Series

TV Production Company is seeking a male or female wedding photographer with
a BIG, outgoing personality for a new reality tv series. Age late 20s to
early 40s. Series will have cameras following you around in your everyday
life, chronicling the highs and lows of being a wedding photographer.

If you are interested in being considered, please submit the following by
July 20, 2007.
- resume/bio
- a photo of yourself and other people you work with
- a 5-10 minute tape (mini-DV, VHS, DVD) of you telling us about yourself,
your business, other people in your everyday life, your experience and skill
as a wedding photographer (feel free to brag!), a memorable story that
happened on the job, and anything else you think will make you stand out.
Remember, personality is key so show us yours!

Send all materials to:
NorthSouth Productions
134 West 26th Street, Ste 710
New York, NY 10001
Attn: Wedding Photographer

We will contact those we are interested in. No phone calls please.

Thank you.

AWESOME 4th of JULY!

This 4th I went to a friends house to party it up a bit! I brought my camera...not expecting all sorts of cool stuff to happen :)
This spider was about 3 inches in foot to foot width!

Spiders are sooooooo cool!


This is a shot gun with a flame throwing flare round!

Tracers rapid fire from a revolver!

A balloon, acetylene gas and a light makes for a nice BOOM!

Hydro-Electricity :)

So there I am, in a construction site, standing in a pool of water with electrical cables running through it... Yeah I know...

Anyways here's my HDR shot. So funny to get this shot. I had to flip the center rod on my Manfrotto tripod upside down so that the ball head was under the tripod instead of above it. I then mounted my camera...upside down and lowered the legs of the tripod so that my camera was 1 inch above the water :) It took some serious yoga skills to get the bracketing/composition just right for the 9 shots. Enjoy!

-Mark
Play is good...just watch out for electricity :)

The Shadow

"Taking it in its deepest sense, the shadow is the invisible saurian tail that man still drags behind him. Carefully amputated, it becomes the healing serpent of the mysteries. Only monkeys parade with it." - Carl Jung (1938)