NEW website

Hey all - I can't believe that I never posted on here that we have moved to a new web space! If anybody is viewing this blog and thinking that we aren't updating it - please redirect your browser to www.clarkcreativewi.com

We are taking things to another level. No longer just a blog site, we will be offering our products and services as Clark Creative, LLC based in Waukesha, WI and serving the Greater Milwaukee Area with such things as; custom design for save the dates, wedding invitations, wedding stationary, birthday cards, baby announcements and holiday cards. We also specialize in wedding photography, family photography, children photography, baby photography and portrait photography.

Get in touch with us on our new page, we look forward to working with you!

One Fell Swoop

Good evening all. It's been a quiet one, listening to The Spill Canvas... taking me back. I'm currently sitting in front of the computer staring at an unfinished bathroom project - far from finished. I also have a very cluttered basement. I also have a plaster issue to address in the upstairs bedroom. There are also multiple holes in my chimney that need to be patched. All of these things to do, yet I can't peel myself away from taking/editing photos. So, bonus for your eyes, or not - depending on how you feel about my photography. Here are some photos I took of Jessica a while back experimenting with light. I wanted more of a hard light directed onto her. So, after cutting up a dog treat box and wrapping it around my flash I had my hard light source.

On a side note - I haven't been happy with the picture quality after uploading to blogspot... does anybody out there know whether or not the photos keep their resolution? I may be looking to switch - hold tight for updates on that. Anyhow, the photos... I'm pretty stoked about the last one after painting it... it'll be blown up and on our wall soon enough. Perhaps the 2nd one as well... I'm digging black and white way more than color lately!

Old Man

This is Grandpa Clark. I had the chance this past weekend to visit with him, it's been too long. I brought my gear along and wanted to get some shots. I always remember my grandpa with a cigarette in hand sitting by his desk in the garage, tinkering on and off with whatever car happened to be in there. I wanted to capture that. One light to work with and an impatient model... Grandpa says to me, "Hey Mikey, do you remember when I used to blow flames past your head?" *Laughs* "Do you want a picture of that??" In my early teens I spent most every afternoon at grandpas garage. He liked to sneak up behind me and blow a butane flame past my head and scare the eff out of me. So I agreed, good idea!

I'm happy with how they turned out - I did a bit more experimentation with post processing on these images... too much? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Time Warp

Tonight I bring you a photo that I made back in June of 2007. This was about the time I purchased my first DSLR - a Nikon D80. Not the slightest idea how to use the thing... I was one of those people that thought a good camera made you a good photographer :) At any rate, I had a concept in mind. Too many people go through life at a hectic pace, seemingly unable to catch up. People tend to look, but not see; hear and not listen; touch and not feel... This is the photo that came out of it. Essentially a challenge to change the way you perceive things through everyday life - in a "stop to smell the roses" kind of way :) It was fun to make - Jessica couldn't stop smiling/laughing so we had to re-tape a couple of times. All I had was a desk lamp set-up camera left for light. Most of the contrast was added in post and I was very pleased with the results. Anyhow, hope you enjoy!

Chaos Theory

Good evening Clark Creative fanatics. Jessica and I have been searching for ways to decorate our home with original art for a long time now. We are always on the lookout for custom and unique pieces. Although this may not be unique (we stole the idea from a movie ;) it certainly is custom. We recently watched a movie titled "Chaos Theory" and we noticed this cool portrait art of the couple hung above their bed. It was 4 different photos of each person making some goofy, serious, whatever face. So Jessica and I jumped on it and took some goofy, serious, whatever photos of ourselves and hung them above our bed. So that's it, just thought I would share! It's easy to make custom art for your home, if you're feeling inspired or have an idea you'd like to live out then let's talk about making it happen!

Sometimes

So yesterday was the lovely Jessica's birthday. We celebrated in grand fashion by attending a concert in Chicago. We went to see City & Colour, again. You see, back in my headbanging days I fell deeply in love with a band called Alexisonfire. They scream a lot. However, there were these ridiculously lovely contrasting vocals to all of the screaming - that's where Dallas Green comes in, the man behind those vocals. This is his solo project. I've seen Alexisonfire three times and met Dallas at two of the shows. As you can see by photo number one below, he was extremely excited to be meeting me as well (ignore my sleazy look by the way, I just got out of a mosh pit people). Story goes... tiny venue in Chicago and my friends and I hang back to meet the band. Dallas is on stage packing up as we stand there hoping to get a picture. I ask, "Hey Dallas, can we get a picture?" Dallas says, "Sure, no problem."... a couple minutes go by and he continues packing. So I say, "Hey Dallas - picture?" and get a very disdained response of, "Yeah, give me a minute... *bleep*". Needless to say I was a bit excited to have the chance of meeting him but only ended up annoying him. Cool. Second time, Jessica and I go see Alexisonfire at The Rave. Same scenario, we hang back to meet the band. Dallas comes walking by and I reach out my hand to shake his and say hi. He stops to chat. Jessica proceeds to embarrass me by saying, "He's like your biggest fan." I respond, "Well no, I'm not your biggest fan." Face red, awkward silence... Dallas, "Well, it was nice meeting you." Looking back, it went better than the first time, right?

Anyhow, this has been our 4th time seeing City & Colour and he never disappoints. Opening acts included Daniel Romano (in the City & Colour band) and Gord Downie from The Tragically Hip. I was told that there is a strict photography policy at the venue, no DSLR's, no detachable lenses, point and shoot cameras only. Ok, bummer. We get in and how many flippin people had DSLR's??? They were everywhere, strictly enforced... We got second row and I had to shoot at ISO 800 with a Canon point & miss (thanks seppy!) Who knows how many shots I missed. Below are what I deemed worth sharing. Enjoy! AND go download all of these bands - you will not be disappointed.

...14 hours later

So this year hasn't exactly gone the way I would have liked in terms of photography so far. I began by attempting to keep up with Project 52 and shooting an assignment per week but that just proved to be too much with all I have going on in life right now. I had fooled around with my lighting before but had just been out of inspiration on what to shoot. I've been itching to shoot on white seamless for quite some time, but just don't have the room for it. So, there my camera sat...

In comes David E. Jackson with his Breaking The Rules workshop. This workshop essentially taught me that I need to shoot, and shoot some more... and then, shoot more. Not only shoot, but THINK about what I'm shooting and to innovate and shoot in unexpected places. It was great to meet such kind souls during this workshop. Below are some shots I took throughout the day. They certainly aren't perfect... I underexposed, I overexposed, I cut off elbows, I cut off fingers, but I left inspired and rejuvenated. Also, Zack Arias is right about the 50mm 1.8 - it really does look like butt on the white seamless. It left me with a blue/purple haze on all photos forcing me into a high contrast black and white. Yet another lesson learned!

save the date

Mike and I were lucky enough to have our friend Seth (www.sethalwin.com) spend an entire day with us taking our engagement photos this past summer. I had an idea for one in which Mike and I would walk towards each other and kiss when we met. Seth was able to capture my idea more beautifully than I ever imagined and thus giving us the perfect image to use for our Save the Dates! I wanted to emphasize the moment we met and kissed, so by making the background black and white and ourselves in color, we were able to really stand out. Since my design philosophy is clean and simple, that's exactly how I wanted the end result of these "save the dates" to turn out. I'm looking forward to designing as many things as I can for our upcoming wedding from invitations, table names, place cards and the programs. I'm going to be one busy girl:)

Project 52

Happy 2011 everyone - The first month of the new year is nearly over already! Let's hope everybody is living up to their resolutions ;) If not, now is a good time to reflect and reinforce those changes you want to make for the new year. I know that personally I've needed to re-visit some goals of mine as this past month has not included ANY photography for me. That is, until I discovered Don Giannatti and his Project 52 website. This essentially boils down to 52 photography assignments in 52 weeks. I'm a little behind already but plan to catch up shortly. First assignment, create a "vision" statement and shoot something around your house that captures what you're trying to say. So, without further ado...

"I enjoy the challenge of creating meaningful images using a combination of unusual angles, lighting and lens options."