Matthew Dear – In The Middle (I Met You There) [feat. Jonny Pierce]
[Please visit the post to listen to audio, it will be worth your while.]

More photos from my test run with the Hasselblad 503CX on New Years day! Did I mention I love this camera? I shot two rolls on the 503CX and am really happy with the results of this expired Agfa Optima 100 film that was kindly given to me. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I love the saturation of the greens. In general I find myself shooting more black and white in winter because everything is a bit gray anyway, but am pleased that I chose to shoot the Optima film this past balmy New Year’s day.

Note: Matthew Dear + Jonny Pierce (of The Drums) makes me super happy. I’ve had this track on repeat all day. Pick up his latest EP here!

Clark – Com Touch
[Please visit the post to listen to audio, it will be worth your while.]

Hello and a belated happy 2012. My new year started off with a delicious brunch and a walk through Oak Hill Cemetery. Although I would love some snow, I can’t complain about the 60 degree weather on the first day of the year that allowed me to comfortably explore and test out the Hasselblad 503CX, which was kindly lent to me for the weekend. I am in love with the Hasselblad even though it takes some serious adjusting of the brain cells to get used to a waist-level viewfinder. It took a frustratingly long amount of time to line up photos and make sure they were straight, but it was a fun exercise and it gets easier with each shot. Here are a few photos I took on black and white film. Color photos coming soon.

Note: A new Clark album is coming out and this first track is available to download here! Super excited.

M83 – Midnight City
[Please visit the post to listen to audio, it will be worth your while.]

It’s time to say goodbye to 2011 and welcome the beginning of the end (or the beginning of more of the same). 2011 was a bit all over the place and I am looking forward to what will likely be a lot of changes in 2012. Here are a few statistics for 2011:

• 3 weddings
• 2 Polaroid exhibits
• 100+ photos of old barns across four states
• 1 ostrich egg decorated for Easter
• 2 county fairs
• 1 run into Lake Michigan on New Years day when it felt like -8F
• 13 concerts (not including Moogfest)
• 18 bands seen at Moogfest
• 0 days of snow in December

All the best for a great new year and please do a little snow dance. This 50F+ degree weather on the last day of 2011 is a little ridiculous.

Warm Ghost – G.T.W.S.
[Please visit the post to listen to audio, it will be worth your while.]

There is something about bare trees and telephone lines that I am consistently attracted to, especially when shooting black and white film. I think it’s the crispness and graphic nature of the lines that makes them so appealing. This photo was taken a little over a month ago while I was walking around finishing off a roll. I usually don’t expect much of those photos but this one is now my favorite of the bunch.

Speaking of telephone lines, over Thanksgiving weekend I saw the Harry Callahan exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. There are some really great photos in the exhibit, including one very clean photo of telephone lines that I quite enjoyed.

Deru – Peanut Butter & Patience
[Please visit the post to listen to audio, it will be worth your while.]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was recently commissioned to make two cloisonné pieces as Christmas gifts. This is the second one which was inspired by this pendant for my cousin, but made larger and given a filigree look to it. That’s it for cloisonné in 2011.

Tobacco – Hairy Candy
[Please visit the post to listen to audio, it will be worth your while.]

As it is starting to get a bit chilly outside, I thought I’d post some photos from the Arlington County Fair I attended when it was hot and muggy just a few months ago. Nothing says a county fair like corn dogs, piglet races, squealing animals (both porcine and human) and vomit-inducing rides. The piglet races were definitely the highlight even though I couldn’t help but want to take a bite out of their haunches. The black and white photos were shot with my Mamiya m645 (R.I.P.) and the color photos were shot with my Holga.

Balam Acab – See Birds (Moon)
[Please visit the post to listen to audio, it will be worth your while.]

Earlier this autumn I was asked to create two cloisonné pieces as Christmas gifts. Here is the first, which is also my first cloisonné brooch. Below is a photo of the piece right after it came out of the kiln, when the colors were yellower. I might have to find a way to replicate those colors because I always like the transparent colors best when they are just out of the kiln.

Grimes – Vanessa
[Please visit the post to listen to audio, it will be worth your while.]

I am in love with the wooden spoons made by Allegheny Treenware. They have a tent set up at the Waterford Fair every year and I always want to buy one (or ten) of these ladles and use them as bowls, perhaps for oatmeal. This photo was taken with my Polaroid SX-70 using the The Impossible Project’s “poor pod” film.

Note: Normally not into babyish voices, but I do like this Grimes song and it gets better as the song progresses.

Anika – No One’s There
[Please visit the post to listen to audio, it will be worth your while.]
Anika – Officer Officer
[Please visit the post to listen to audio, it will be worth your while.]

This weekend I am at Moogfest in Asheville, NC and although I have been slacking on the updates I could not miss the blog’s four year anniversary. Sadly I wasn’t able to catch up to what should be post #209 (eep!) but I do have ambitious hopes of catching up at some point. There are a number of bands I am excited to see this weekend and thought I’d share this one because she is new to me and her eerie voice suits the Halloween weekend quite well . . . have a listen to Anika.

It doesn’t seem that long ago, but it’s been two years since I etched this piece along with three other copper discs. It has been sitting in my toolbox all this time waiting for me to do something with it and I finally decided to make it a brooch.

Crystal Stilts – Departure
[Please visit the post to listen to audio, it will be worth your while.]

My friend Dirk moved with his family to DC from Luxembourg three and a half years ago for a temporary work assignment and this past weekend his stay here came to an end and he moved back to Luxembourg. I met him two years ago when I was getting more interested in photographing abandoned places and have really enjoyed getting to know him and going out on photo-excursions with him. He will be missed but I fully intend on making it out to Luxembourg sometime to visit.

As a going away gift, a group of us decided to make him a t-shirt. There were several design ideas going around, but the one we settled on was a graphic of his face in a comic book “kapow!” style. Here is the original design I created and a photo of Dirk wearing the shirt. We had the design printed at CustomInk and were really happy with the results.