Looking to get back to normal soon...

I am so looking forward to getting back to work taking photographs.  December has not been my friend so far but thats ok. I have finals this week and I am so looking forward for school to be over...  here is one of my images I've been working on while sick....

I am so looking forward to getting back to work taking photographs.  December has not been my friend so far but thmages I've been working on while being sick I am going to have to revisit this image for I think it could use some more work but I like the direction it has taken...

SUPER SICK THIS WEEK SO PLEASE COME BACK NEXT WEEK .....

Whats up?

 I will say there is a challenge the next two weeks with school work and work.  I am looking forward to the challenge. Sunday I took my dog for a walk along the greenway and an idea popped into my head.  When you walk along the greenway there are little creeks and marshes and wetlands far too often though you will see just how polluted the water is from humans being reckless. You can literally see the chemicals and such sitting on the surface of the water. It is more disturbing when you see wildlife swimming and bathing in the polluted and toxic waters unknowingly they are putting their life at risk. So today I will shoot some of the water surfaces showing the pollution and applying it with my new technique....  I will post a test image later this week.

Tony

Stars of the Universe...

  I am still working on part two and three of the Italian Mammas and should be done by the end of the week.  I am a little behind on this post as well but when the creative side of you hits you must follow and continue till your ready to fall asleep.....

  So saturday night was a beautiful clear night with the breeze keeping the pollution and clouds away. I had a beautiful view of the stars from my driveway and here is an HDR image that I took: 

First HDR Image Test

HDR Image Test 2 my favorite.....

We are all made of stars..............

Holy Angels presents "Tutti a Tavola"

  I am a little late on this blog post but thats because I had a very interesting weekend.  Last week I was able to pick up a gig for Chef Martin at the school for a chance to possibly shoot some food network stars on sunday from 9-5  and I said yes because I didn't have anything to do on sunday.  I arrive at the school and meet with Chef Martin.  He said I wouldn't need my tripod because I would just be taking pictures but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  They had just begun to set up the dinning table and prep for the clients attending the cooking school.  My face lit up with excitement because I knew it would be a fun and exciting day to watch the " Italian Mamma's" in action sharing their passion of cooking in the kitchen and their love for food...  This is part one of three blog posts...

Essence of Soul Photographer Tony Russo with chefs Franca  and  Mimma.

  I head into the kitchen and begin to take snapshots of the students and chefs from the school preparing some appetizers for the guests that would soon be arriving for the cooking school and boy were they busy:

A student of the Art Institute Culinary program prepares appetizers  for the arriving guests.

Chef Cathie prepares: Torta Salata di Zucchini ( Zucchini  Pie)

What did I forget?

Head Chef prepares the desert: Pere al Vino Rosso served with Zabaglione  ( Pears cooked in wine with Zabaglione)

Even Chefs have to wash dishes.

 

Developing some new stuff this week...

So last week was a bit rough for me starting a new job, still trying to figure out indesign for a magazine layout kinda deal. My creative block as lifted but its very interesting how I am working on a project and  
constantly I get new ideas and concepts that may or may not go with my current project but provide new work to work on after my project...  Tomorrow is monday and i am still sick due to getting some kind of bug.  A win last week was getting the images to one of my clients that was quite rewarding. I have four more entries into the the photographers forum that I need to submit and I need to start working on my Addy Awards competition piece as to what route I want to take will be the challenge.  I am looking forward to it....  So I leave you with this little halloween treat:

"Phantom of the Camera"

So this weekend I worked on a report for my midterm in Indesign and then also began to play with my new technique in photoshop that I developed. Take a look:  

The photographs were created using a custom brush that I designed in photoshop and with some tweaks here and there well you get the idea. It gives me a lot to play with to design wise which is awesome.  The creative options that open up to you are pretty sweet.  Well its getting late and I need to run. I have a busy week ahead...

Here is my custom watermark I created this past weekend. Its pretty sweet. I created it using my unique logo type design redo that I had to do for digital publishing class....   Its kinda hard to see but isn't that the point of a watermark?

Keep taking pictures, 

Essence of Soul

So today I finally got Photoshop 6 installed on my laptop. I am so excited I can work on my images at home finally....  here is a preview of what I have been working on : 

Also for a class assignment I am having to redo :( I should get extra credit I am designing three business logo types and lets just say in four hours I was pretty creative though the last one I created was just random funk.   I used some of my photographs for the backgrounds in all the designs and then used three different font styles for my initials. I used my base images as kind of a guide for the custom brushes I created using my initials and created some unique designs. So I have the torch created with the famous fountain at Grant Park in Chicago and then I combined the steel wool to the top of the image for an interesting point on top of the fountain and then I used my custom brush to create what looks like a lit torch. In the second design I took an image of steel wool that I shot did some photoshop work and inverted the image and then tripled the heart two more times for a total of three and then used curves, and then turned the image into the negative and adjusted my curve levels. For my second font I created a new brush for it and then added it to the image and the end result was a cool man design made out of my initials. The third image I used was from a recent trip to Chicago and the backdrop for this logo type design is of the big bean in Chicago. I took a combination of all three crazy custom brushes that I created to create well lets just say interesting.  I've got to still work more in indesign with home work and a lot of reading. I think someone should really create some awesome tutorials for you tube most of the ones on you tube are simplistic but kinda hard to follow due to poor resolution.  I must also say on that note reading the huge book on indesign is fun ...... Not Really.  Special topics is going to be a bit of a challenge she wants me to keep things simple  versus complex. If I am ever told to put my camera on continuous shooting mode to take 300 photos to get a few I think some one has yet to see me work. I prefer to take test shots and dial in and then let the creativity flow and design my images. I admit sometimes having an assistant would be a big plus but at the same time when I do all the work myself I get some of the most interesting shots... In digital illustration two quarters ago I literally had to create most of the shots myself due to cancellations caused by scheduling issues. I found it really rewarding though because with a few suggestions of my teacher on locations I proceeded to make due on my own. I even purchased some multi-led small hoops for props to work on my light painting series.... By the end of the quarter I surpassed my own expectations and instead of producing 15 images  I was able to produce 25. I concentrated mainly on adjusting curves and lightning and selective darkening skills, and also concentrated on the blending modes and layers.  I must say once I got the ball rolling in that class I began to rock it like a rock star.  Well I am going to bed I have a lot of work to do.

Peace,

Tony

                                                       

Here are some of my Youtube videos: 

Feel free to comment as well.....

So yesterday I started collecting data for my special topics class project. I am going to produce 12 compelling images that may tell a story. My concept is pretty sweet and the research I am doing is awesome. I am asking people to give me the first word that pops into their head when they hear the words and they must be in order. The words are Live, Create, Believe, Dream, and Love. The responses have been quite interesting and even some of the responses have come from the darker side. Mediums I will be using will be steel wool, glow sticks, fake blood, wooden words and letters, flowers, candles , matches , lighters, and I will also make  a custom  dark room for some of my shoots in the design stage. One of the reasons I picked these words is because they are powerful and yet have many definitions. Here is the scope of the project I am working on :

The definitions of these words vary depending on who you talk to. The dictionary has the basic definition but how do these words relate to your soul?  Your soul has a far deeper definition of these words and those definitions are waiting to be released. Let go of the boundaries set forth by your brain and listen to your soul it might just change your life.

While researching the words I stumbled on this :  Http://www.bigdreams.com/devine-elements/  the words I am using are linked in the father to son poem to what is called the divine elements.  

“ Dream, Believe, Love, Create;    these are the Devine elements, and what connects innovation with the world within.”   such a powerful quote......

Took some test images with the steel wool and got some interesting results I will post those on this blog tomorrow afternoon.  I have a long day creating my own font and I do not know if I will be as creative as I would like to be for it so I am a little worried about that assignment. I will get it done.  

Essence of Soul Photography

  Well hello there. My name is John and I am a photographer. I started Essence of Soul Photography back in 2011 when I caught my first cloud to ground lightning strike.  Essence of Soul's motto " We put the soul back into photography."  This is my first blog and here you will get updates to what I am feeling and also trying out as I experiment with different types of photographic processes. Since I went back to school in 2011 at the Art Institute of Charlotte I have gained a lot of experience and have seen a huge increase in my skill level. The teachers at the school are passionate about their field of work and strive to help you the student succeed  by all means possible.  My first quarter at the school one of my light painting photos was submitted to the school magazine and it got published and my teacher gave me some sweet words of advice to continue in my journey.  Oppurtunities began to appear for me as a photographer :  Getting to shoot the Manifesto Film Festival which showases students work in film, shooting the red carpet for the Addy Awards, helping take pictures of the animals at the local Humane Society to help the animals get adopted. I made the right choice by going to back to school thats for sure.  One of my most recent oppurtunities that I recently helped with was for Bigg's Camera's Smile for Life fundraiser for Camp Care and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I spent the day getting to shoot about 5 families with kids. It was absolutely amazing to put smiles on  the kids faces by letting them be just kids. I ripped my pants in half and also put a hole in my shirt while working and that was an added plus for it means I have achieved success. Everyone that I worked with was pleaseant and awesome and I look forward to helping Biggs with this event in the future. I have grown professionally and for that I am truly thankful. In my blog you will see photographic posts and stories about my journey.  Here is a sample of some of the things I like to shoot :



All photos are copyright protected and belong to Essence of Soul Photography all rights reserved 2012.