m. baldwin photo blog

Daily Update

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 14:59:00 +0000

I thought I would link a couple of my cell phone photos here, as of course the work on my DSLR won't be ready for daily updates, however the cell phone stuff is much more accessible, so it's easier to throw those updates in and keep people up to date with what I'm doing.

Hustle Up! (Jan 2)

And today's (because I'm up early and I wanted to test a new app, which I didn't end up using)

Breakfast (Jan. 3rd)

~ Mike

New Years Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 16:48:00 +0000

So like many people, I'm here trying to be more creative and get work out on a consistent basis. I'm not looking to be hired, I'm looking to visually record. I think photographs are one of the best ways to remember what the world is like from the past. They mark significant memories, and they are really unique to the photographer.

Right now the subject I have most handy to photograph is my partner, Carlton. So of course on the New Year, I photographed him on our 1 year anniversary in The Proximity Hotel. We had a very fancy night, with a great dinner and a nice brunch the following morning. I like the above photo as it just seems quiet and peaceful, and like a good start to a new year.

I want to try to do a photo a day, though I may not post all my photos each day here. I'm going to do one on the phone, and one on my D90.

This was just part of the hotel room, and those chairs are amazing. (Also you'll notice through the links, I keep my cell phone photography on one Flickr and my SLR work on another. Follow me there for more images than what I'll post here.

~Mike

Happy New Years Eve!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 20:55:00 +0000

Tomorrow. I start a new project. I pls. To document the year in two ways. One through my cell phone and one through my camera. So starting on the first I will be back, blogging more and sharing photos.

But tonight it's party time in a great hotel room. Hope your New Years celebrations are great!! ~Mike

Updates!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 01:31:00 +0000

Whoa!

It's been a little while since I've really posted on my main photography blog. I feel as though I owe you a brief back story.

Since you last heard from me, I have had a LOT happen, and I fell into the world of lofi cell phone photography. It's on my main site if you want to see it, and some featured on my personal tumblr, but it's more of a personal blog, so I usually don't share that as much anymore. If you want it hit me up in the comments so you can see.

Lately I've moved out of town, in with my partner and have started to take my alternate photography methods into a new light. I am using a Linux computer and trying to edit my photos with all open source software. I have a website I'm starting for that too. That site is to help other photographers and artists realize that open source software can be a beautiful thing to use and create. Developers need artists to help make tools that can truly inspire creativity, and artists now more than ever need to understand and work with developers on these early projects to influence where software and computing go for our industries. It also means more posting here for my work, and more work in my main passion, photography.

I wanted to share with you some test photos I've taken. Back to the photography of it, I've gotten rusty with my camera, so I think it may be awhile until I really feel empowered by my own work again. It's like learning how to see all over again.

These are mostly test photos, so that I can get a workflow developed on the new system, which we're still building, however I'm very happy with what I am working on. With the open source software, my work feels hands on and inspired. I am really enjoying myself so far.

~Mike

Belly Dancers by the Bonfire

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 02:40:00 +0000

This past weekend I had the opportunity to come to a party my friend invited me to with another group of belly dancers for a great time around a bonfire. It was such a great evening and no one seemed to mind me taking photos. Here are a few moments captured from the evening. I really consider the first one my favorite. Click through the images to go to my flickr where more images are.

Bagoas - portraits of a belly dancer.

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 02:58:00 +0000

Bagoas was a lot of fun to spend a day with and get some photos done. My work tends to focus more on fine art, composition and space. This is my first time working with a dancer or performer as a subject, so I was able to try a lot of new things. He did a great job seeing my vision and helping to create these images. His attitude in front of the camera and on stage is that of a rock star. He knew the persona he had perfected and it's truly captivating.

More of Bagoas can be found at his website.

Bagoas photo essay coming soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:48:00 +0000

Yesterday I got to work with a long time friend. He had a show in Greensboro, NC last night and most of the day was spent with me, hanging out and shooting a few photos.

So there will be a photo essay up soon featuring him.

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 07:14:00 +0000

Keep your head to the sky.

~Mike

Dixie Classic Fair

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:35:00 +0000

So I've been going back through some photos that I had not taken the time to edit, and made a few lists of ones to take care of. The first set is my set from the Dixie Classic fair this fall. It was a lot of fun, and I tried my hand at photographing more people, so I've included a few here.

And a final, always overdone... shot of the ferris wheel!

Stay tuned, the next set I'll go through will be some I took in Knoxville when I went up to visit my friend Daniel.

~Mike

Website Redesign and New Portfolio for 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:38:00 +0000

I've redesigned my website and chosen a new portfolio for the year. I would appreciate any comments on the new work.

~Mike

Christmas 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:42:00 +0000

Happy Holidays everyone! I've been slow to upload photos here. I have been a pretty busy iphoneographer though. (Check here for that work.) However this year for Christmas, Santa had the decency to bring me a nice 50mm lens. So I took a few shots of our Christmas tree, then headed out to the Bog Gardens today to take a few test shots. So far, so good.

The branches from the Bog Garden are amazing and quite inspiring for a few black and white photos. Also the depth of field this lens can produce is absolutely amazing.

And toward the end of the walk, there's a (tiny) waterfall!

~Mike

Return

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:05:00 +0000

It's been a little while. A lot has happened, and I've been very busy. I've somewhat dropped the photo a day project, though I still think I've learned a lot from what little bit I accomplished. I do have a ton of photos on hand, so I'm working on them as I have time. Here are my latest three.

Not too bad for making a comeback.

~Mike

NODA Shots

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:30:00 +0000

A couple of weekends ago I visited a few friends down in Charlotte. (Actually I've been spending an increasing amount of time down there lately as my friends down there rock.) I grabbed a couple of cool shots when I went to brunch one morning with my friends Megan and Nick. We also had the best crepe's ever. The shot above is one I love. The bright text on the sign and the skaters in the background make me really happy. Also I saw a car with eyelashes on it.

In more technical news the photo above is the first processed with Topaz Labs' new Black and White Effects which so far has NOT disappointed. I've always been strongly attracted to black and white photography, and am very picky when I do post on a photo that I want in black and white. So far it's been easy to use and given me great results. I doubt anything will ever come as close to what it looked like when I used to print my old black and white's in the darkroom though. But hey, this is a close second. ;)

The one above is just a minimal sunset peeking through the clouds and power lines. Lately I've still be caught up in power lines and their relation to clouds and what not. It's not the most beautiful work, but it's important for me to see where this line of thinking takes me.

Also the image below just reminds me of every rainy day at home I've ever spent.

~Mike

Wedding in Kitty Hawk

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:56:00 +0000

So I mentioned i went to Kitty Hawk, NC for a wedding. Here are a few shots from the wedding. I went with my coworker Chelsea who invited me, and we had an absolute blast. Sara is definitely a beautiful bride, and the wedding was absolutely the most fun.

And finally some great beach scenery. I miss the beach, and hardly ever go, so I loved it.

~Mike

Dinosaurs!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 04:07:00 +0000

So I'm getting started on getting caught up on my "photo-a-day" project. (The photo below is Day 18.) But you have to know about the dinosaurs.

This is Chelsea in the photo below. We went to Kitty Hawk for a co-worker's wedding. (Yes I took photos of that, however I've not edited them yet.) We're at the end of the FIRST 5 hour drive to the beach, and we drive by JURASSIC PUTT. It was all destroyed from Hurricane Irene.

Chelsea starts yelling "OMG THERE ARE DINOSAURS." and I'm all, "yeah... "

and she's like.. "HOLY SHIT MIKE THERE IS A T-REX ON A ROCK.. PULL OVER!" and I'm like.. "Really?... Pull over?" and she's all.. "YES... OMFG HOW ARE YOU NOT AS EXCITED AS I AM."

So we pulled over and this is how we have photos of dinosaurs.

Thanks to Chelsea.

Alternate of the above image here.

I'm Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:43:00 +0000

So I've been busy lately doing things that aren't as important. Sometimes it's important to lose focus of what really is important in life. This shows me exactly what I need to focus on. I forget the freedom and positivity I feel when I create. I always have done photography to show how I see the world, because I do believe we all look at it differently. Anyways, I'm leaving behind the posts where I number the days. Instead I'm just going to post what I feel like are some of the work I'm most proud of.

Also it's important to say that the photo above, I hated. After pulling it off my camera and seeing it large, it's turned into one of my favorite shots.

I gotta say I love the color and how it plays out so well for the subject matter in the one above. Thanks Karl for wearing that bright green shirt. :)

~Mike

Some days, some nights

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 04:15:00 +0000

Day - 12

Day 13

Yeah, I'm very VERY behind on editing these photos. The past few days have been some good shots, and a few where I have been JUST getting by. I suppose we all have those days. As my favorite new quote goes, "I've always believed inspiration was for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work." It makes a great deal of sense to me. Things don't happen while you wait most of the time. You have to put forth the effort and work for things to happen. If anything this month I've gotten GREAT at some cloud photos.

~Mike

The sky.

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 02:39:00 +0000

Day 11 -

I've really been thinking of the sky lately. It's been about the most interesting thing I've seen daily. Not to say I couldn't go pound pavement and find more, and I've had to during this project, more than I think. However I also want to make sure this project is me looking objectively at what I see daily and thinking about it in a new way. Lately it's just been about clouds and the sky, and our relation with it. We seem SO small compared to the sky and clouds. In a way, we really are.

Day 12 -

Day 12 was chosen because it was very different from what I've been doing. I like adding variety into the set. Below are some more clouds. In a way, think of the lights as our version of clouds. :)

~Mike

20th and 21st

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:10:00 +0000

Day 9 -

Day 10 -

I somewhat broke the rules for the top post, and the one from yesterday where i shot inside of my petsitting house. However, it's not inside MY house. So I'm going to keep with the theme and only not shoot inside my own house. ( Please note, this leaves my yard! :P )

~Mike

18th and 19th

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 20:14:00 +0000

Doing a few more updates for the next few days on this project.

Day 7 -

Day 8 -

The clouds lately have been AMAZING. I'm interested in their relationship with powerlines and all that "junk" that we usually crop out of photographs. So in this shot, I just make that junk the centerpiece.

There's something nice in the juxtaposition of the clouds and the junk.

~Mike

August 16th and 17th

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:10:00 +0000

Day 4

Day 5

It's tough doing a daily photo and still finding the time to edit everything if I get busy. I have a folder for each day and I'm working through them slowly. So we'll see how everything goes and how often I update. :)

Also here is one that almost made it for day 4, but didn't quite make the cut:

More updates soon!

~Mike

Street Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:10:00 +0000

I can already tell this challenge will reap greater rewards than the self portrait project, and I can already tell this one will be tougher.

Day 3 comes in two parts:

Day 3(a)

Day 3(b)

These were going to be a diptych but after stacking them, I really felt they both deserved their own canvas and not to share one. The amount of detail in each one, especially the top, gains it's own canvas for each. All in all in a gallery event they would hang one over the other like they are displayed here.

Day 4: Blind

And finally I saw the below image today and couldn't help myself.

I pretty much support Butch as well, and would like a bumper sticker proclaiming as such. :)

~Mike

New Project

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 18:30:00 +0000

So I'm going to start a new project. Well okay, I STARTED a new project on Friday. 365 Street Photography. Basically here are the rules:

One photo must be taken a day.
I can use any camera to take the photo.
It must not be taken inside my house, and if at all possible it must be taken in public.
I don't have to make a post everyday about it, but I do need to make them available for viewing.

So here are the first two photos:

Day 1

Day 2

Other than that I have taken a few photos around. The whole idea of this exercise is to get me taking photos every day again. I loved the feeling of it plus the pressure of it when I did my 365 Self Portrait project, and I hope it gets my creative juices flowing.

Here's a few other photos, since I've not posted in awhile:

I love my coworkers, and my job. I must say that through the past few weeks I have had a LOT going on. They've really came through for me.

Self Portrait in Car Window

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:28:00 +0000

Alright, so my idea here is to just shoot at least one photo daily until I'm back into the swing of things, which means my blog will be a little more active as well as my flickr account. I like these 1 photo a day challenges, because though I don't produce the best work, I do improve in post a lot.

Happy Tuesday everyone, let's hope it goes well. Also if you're not a fan of my facebook page yet, hop on over and click the like button!

~Mike

Stagnation...

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:54:00 +0000

So I'm not sure what's been going on with me lately. I know to work on some projects for other people, I've put off doing my own work, but now that I'm free to get back to it, it's almost as if I don't know where to start.

My plan right now is to just carry my camera with me everywhere, and eventually something will come along. Meanwhile my cell phone photography has really taken off. If you've not seen it, I've included a few examples below.

Check it out if you've not seen it. More of my iphoneography found here, here and here.