Super Blue Blood Moon

 Added to January 31, 2018
Jan 312018
 

First, let’s be honest, this is far from the greatest photograph I have ever taken. It’s awful in fact, but it exists!… I woke up at 6:45am and looked out the window to see a strangely large moon just about to set. Something was off about it. It was missing a small slice, but I knew it was supposed to be full. I then realized I was seeing the beginning of an eclipse! I ran to grab my dSLR but the moon was quickly slipping away, so I used whatever lens I happened to have on, pushed the ISO, and snapped this blurry pixelated image.

This is no ordinary lunar eclipse, it is a combination of three lunar events called a “Super Blue Blood Moon”. Let’s break down this impressive name: A “Super Moon” is when the moon is at its closest orbit to the earth, the perigee, and therefore is actually visibly larger. A “Blue Moon” is when there is a second full moon in the calendar month, but no, it will not be blue. And a “Blood Moon” is fitting name because while the moon is in the Earth’s shadow it will give off a red glow.

Sacred Smoke

 Added to January 22, 2018
Jan 222018
 

I really wanted to make a photo about smoking, but the topic always comes off feeling a bit gross to me. I wanted the image to feel uplifting, like more of a sacred and spiritual ritual. I decided on the pose, but now I needed the smoke. Cigarettes are not healthy… I ended up buying a cheap vaporizer and flavored juice. It was perfect. It didn’t hurt my lungs and I was able to get a thick smoke-like effect. After creating the image I read an article about cancer and other lunch issues linked to vape juice and I threw the whole thing away. It served it’s purpose!

Indulgence

 Added to January 19, 2018
Jan 192018
 

I have been working on this series of self portraits since January 2017. The one aspect I always forget to address is the challenge of creating these without any assistance, and this image (“Indulgence”) really shows the struggle as well as the payoff.

It’s not easy using yourself as a model when you are all alone in the studio, but I enjoy that challenge. I set up lights, my camera, and control all of them with a wireless remote. I tape the floor to mark my feet, then put an object in place of me so that I can get the focus right. After that I set the remote to shoot a picture every 4 seconds, and the rest is just acting the part!

Gaming Keyboard

 Added to January 3, 2018
Jan 032018
 

Since Photoshop is not only my hobby but also my job, I decided that I deserve to have a nice new keyboard. The problem is, I am awful at decision making, so I had spent a few hundred dollars on 3 different keyboards to see which I like most… I decided on this SteelSeries gaming keyboard that lights up, partially because it lights up, but mostly because it comes with 26 extra keys. I can assign functions in photoshop to them or custom macros. Now I wonder how I lived without all these extra keys!

The Dreaming State