Gear Shift
Base: Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm. Insert: Courtesy of Google Images.
I made this photo for my brother just for fun. The image of the gears was a very small file which made it tricky to match them. I'm hoping to find a better source for inserts. Perhaps buying them off a stock photo site or taking them myself. The higher quality will add to these projects significantly. In addition, the shading around the edge of his head needs some work. But overall, I thought it looked interesting and wanted to share.

Brand
Base: Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm.
This is another typography piece. I'm experimenting with fonts, opacity, and structure in blending pictures. It's a fine line between what blends or contrasts artistically and what clashes or looks cliche.

The sky here in New Mexico is expansive to say the least; it naturally offers the feeling of freedom. Add a flag and what better way to anticipate Independence Day? Kelly was such a trooper for this spur of the moment shoot. We waited for the sun to reach a certain point, drove to the mountain, hiked up, and shot when the sun came out from behind the clouds - while being devoured by gnats. The timing had to be right and we could not have asked for a more beautiful sunset. 

Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm.

Ironically, in my last Photoshop post, I talked about the idea of pictures being worth a thousand words. I promise I was not taking that literally when I worked on yesterday's pieces. I love graphic design centered around typography. The effect is often crisp and innovative as it uses a letter or word to be an image - a fascinating tribute to the brain in and of itself. So, below are my first two attempts at incorporating words with images. 

Hope
This image was created from scratch in photoshop. The concept is no where near original. People have been making words inside words like this for quite a while now to awesome effect. I simply wanted to make my own to learn more about the process of generating "word images" and I liked the design. The hardest part was typing, sizing, fading, and selecting the font for each individual word.

From the Blessed Trees I Grow
Base: Canon 5D Mark II, 50mm. Insert: Courtesy of Google images.
The original image was overexposed out of its mind, which I've found can make for some interesting double exposure effects. I love what some people have done with trees and faces. Here is my minuscule contribution on that front.

Brain Paint
Base: Canon 5D Mark II, 50mm. Insert: Courtesy of Google images.
The base image is the same of that above. The insert was originally the inverse of the color seen here. Many of the beautiful paint photographs are done with black backgrounds so the colors pop the best. That wasn't working for my white base. I think, when I've played around with it more, I will try to move the paint splatters to his facial construction and make his face really appear as if it's exploded into a rainbow of colors.

Ocean
Base: Canon Rebel XT, 17-55mm.
The inserted image used to create the letters is the same image flipped upside down. The rock in the center of the "O" can be found in the bottom right corner of the image. I've seen some work like this before where the same image is used or even separate images to create words (Hillsong's Zion Album cover is a beautiful example). I like the idea, but I will continue experimenting with it. 

Wanderer
Base: Canon G15
This is the very beginning of an idea to use words or letters as characters in a image. I would like to experiment more with the concept to create more intentional pieces that communicate a message more that just the word spelled.

We went to press Monday night and have published our issue for this two-week period, presenting news about new art exhibits, festivals, restaurants, books, films, and music events all relevant to New Mexico. Four of my pieces were put into this edition, one was a collaborative article surrounding must-do activities in New Mexico (I covered White Sands National Monument), two shorter exhibit announcements, and one longer article featuring the newly opened location of Stone Age climbing gym. I have learned so much from iterating for iQ just because I've gotten the change to write and do so much on my own.

It occurred to me yesterday that after this many years of photography, I should consider creating a watermark. I took inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien's initials on the spines of his books and created it out of my three initials, K.K.O. 
Here is how it looks on actual photographs.