Blank Line Studios

There is a famous photograph called The Pond-Moonlight. This is my homage to it. I took it at a park just down the street from my house.

This is my second THSFno/100 photo of the day.

I wanted to shoot for an older photographic look for these. I’m really interested in doing some old-school techniques someday. For now, I’ll have to use digital manipulation to get the look I want.

This is a gift from my 7 month old nephew, Cian. My brother didn’t say whether or not he picked it out himself, so I’m forced to assume he did.

While, yes, this is a quick “oh no, the day is almost over and I haven’t done a picture yet”, I was planning on getting a picture of this sooner or later.

On an unrelated note, I need to get my monitor calibrated. Both on this and my Mac. Pictures are looking vastly different, which isn’t helping me.

I noticed that when I uploaded my THSFn/100 (how’s that for and abbreviation) a definite theme had developed already within my first three images.

The first day was a picture of raindrops on a glass window.
The second day was an empty water glass.
The third was…ice, but it looks like broken glass on the ground.

I didn’t consciously set that up, but the coincidence of it was interesting to me. Out of curiosity, I did a quick Google search of what glass represents in dream interpretation.

“To see glass in your dream, symbolizes passivity or protection. You may be putting up an invisible barrier to protect yourself in a situation or relationship. If the glass is dirty, cloudy or discolored, then it suggests that you are not seeing something clearly. You need more clarity in a situation. To dream that you are drinking from a glass, is an omen of good luck.” Quote taken from DreamMoods.

Coming from a Surrealist influence, I believe that art can reach for or touch the subconscious. Your true, inner self can be fully expressed in your artwork. Art is a way of removing the filter between you and the world.

Without getting to technical here, I can say that the part about “an invisible barrier to protect yourself in a situation or relationship” and “it suggests that you are not seeing something clearly” speaks volumes about some current issues in my life.

Part of me is a little disappointed that I found this out so early. Now I’m going to be aware of it. On the other hand, this project is going on for a year, so it will be interesting to see what other themes develop from it.

This is an empty glass. It represents how many ideas I had for a picture today.

You can follow my Three Hundred Sixty Five and no/100 project here.

I have a love/mildly irritated relationship with the idea of doing a 365 Project.

A 365 Project, if you’re unfamiliar with it, is a personal project a lot of photographers take on. They commit to create at least one image every day for one whole year. Some people only do self portraits. Some try to work in specific themes or elements. Some people…well, some people are weird.

I’m not entirely against the idea. I would love to think that I could commit to something like that. But, knowing myself as I do, I probably won’t. Case in point, I took this picture yesterday…didn’t think it was worth anything and almost deleted it. Since I uploaded it today, I’m one day behind on my project. But I’m not really one day behind. Because it’s for “one year”, I can just say I started it on the 2nd, and then end it January 2, 2011. However, since I took this picture yesterday, it could be argued that it doesn’t really count for the project if I’m starting it today.

Maybe I’m over thinking this. I’ve been accused of doing that in the past.

For what it’s worth, this is my first image for a project that I’m going to pretend to participate in. I will make every attempt to get something done every day, but fully expect to fizzle out and lose interest about mid-January.

Happy New Year!

I’ve been working on this image that I took over Christmas vacation for a couple of days now. I initially tried HDR. I like HDR, but it hasn’t ever really worked for me. So I played around a lot with multiple layers and layer masks in Photoshop.

This is my first version:

And here is my second:

Which do you prefer?

I was always nervous about going out and doing any street shooting. However, I’ve discovered that even if the pictures you walk away with aren’t the best, you still get a story.

I was trying to focus on this young man when someone walked in front of me and blocked my shot. I had to recompose and by that time, he saw me pointing my camera at him. He stuck his tongue out at me. He continued to keep his tongue stuck out at me well after I had lowered my camera. He continued to keep his tongue stuck out at me as he walked into the mall.

Today a fellow photographer, Tyson, and I went downtown to do some street photography.  I’m not well versed in that particular genre of photography, so I felt a little out of my element.

After a few minutes, with no one taking a swing at me after pointing my camera at them, I loosened up and was able to really look for images.

Here are some of the first pics.  I’m still doing some editing, so expect to see more.

The last few days have been rough.  When times are rough, I usually take some time to get away with my artwork.  I wanted to do do some photography today, but I wasn’t feeling the shutter bug.  So I finished a piece that had been floating around in my head for the last few days.

But then I decided to take a picture of it, so I guess I win either way.

I’m hoping that this will eventually be seen by people other than my friends.  In working towards that, I figured I should introduce myself and my philosophy towards photography and art.  But first, let me explain the name.

Blank Line Studios came from a conversation with my brother.  I was saying that I didn’t want “McMullen Photography” or, really, to have Photography in the title at all.  This is because I’m not a photographer…I’m an artist.  My first love was traditional arts (painting, drawing, sculpture), and came to photography when I realized it combined all of the other disciplines I had studied.  I said “I want something like, I don’t know, __________ Studios.”  He replied “I think Blank Line Studios is a great name.”

So it is.  Because that blank line can be filled in with whatever is needed.  Family portrait?  Advertisement?  Fine art for the living room?  Give me your vision, and I can make it happen.

I love art.  I truly believe that a picture can be worth a thousand words.  I want to create art that tells a story, or keeps a memory alive.  I want to bring a unique vision to the ordinary or the mundane.  Your regular family photos can and should be an expression of you, not just a snapshot.

I invite you to take a look around the site and see what I see.  Share your vision with me, and let us make it happen.