Photo Discovery

Lately I've been messing around with the camera on my iPhone 5S and then tweaking the photos in Camera+ (iPhone app) or Instagram. It's been very enjoyable. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the entire photography process, especially the "darkroom" process. 

I actually worked in a darkroom both in highschool and college. In highschool I was one of 4 school photographers. We were the only ones allowed to carry a camera anywhere on campus anytime. I was assigned to the newspaper. Each photographer was responsible for his or her own developing. We rolled our own film and did all the negative work.

In college I took an art photography class and there too we did all of our own darkroom work. What a blast it was. Hours of messing around with developing photos. The only thing we weren't allowed to do was crop photos in the darkroom. It was all about framing the shot in the camera. 

Of course today analog darkrooms are nearly instinct and it's all digital. What I can do on my iPhone is just amazing. I can take the photo, crop the photo, edit the photo, process it any number of ways and then share it with the planet in minutes. In 1992 when I took the photography class in college I don't think I could have envisioned doing all that on a phone. 

Photography is just relaxing, fun and challenging. I'm no Ansel Adams, but I do enjoy taking photos of just about anything. The fun then is not just in recording that split second moment as one might in "news" or "event" photography, but in illustrating a feeling or finding a new way to present that image. In taking risks in how it looks. Great photography is more than snapping a photo it's art. 

Here are a few examples of my recent attempts at iPhone art photography.  

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A friend playing pool

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Macro shot of yet unbloomed flower

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Just a lonely park bench

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A delicious cup of coffee

Hot Car - Too Much?

While walking Gracy this morning I came across this very cool car. Way out of my reach, but I sure would look good driving it! Ah, my Ford Focus treats me well and doesn't cost a kings ransom to own. 

Time Lapse: Paris In Motion

Paris in Motion (Part 1), a timelapse, hyperlapse and stopmotion serie about city of Paris, France Paris in Motion is a serie of stop-motion time-lapse (hyperlapse) videos about the city of Paris (France). Filmed frame by frame with manual camera movements, composed of more than 50.000 photographs it allows you to visit some of the most beautiful monuments and human activities of the French capital in a few minutes. Please check all parts here: http://www.akpovi.com/portfolio-posts/paris-in-motion/ SHOT LIST (5 videos) : – Les Invalides – Le Pont Alexandre-III – Eglise Saint-Eustache – Place de la Bastille – Funiculaire de Montmartre – Montmartre – Pont de Bir Hakeim – Trocadéro (Palais de Chaillot, Tour Eiffel) – La Défense (Esplanade de la Défense) – Le Louvre (Pyramide du musée du Louvre, L’Arc de Triomphe du Carousel) – Tour Montparnasse (Paris vu aérienne, Tour Eiffel, etc.) – Pont des Arts (Vue sur la Seine au couché du soleil) – Champs de Mars (Feux d’artifices de la Tour Eiffel) – Les champs Elysées – L’Arc de Triomphe (Place de l’Etoile) – Pont de Neuilly (La Défense, Grand Arche de la Défense) – Gare de Lyon – Bir Hakeim – Le Petit Palais – Porte Maillot – Palais des Congrès de Paris – La Défense – Métro Hôtel de Ville – Pont des Arts (Institut de France) – Quartier Bercy – Place de l’Opéra – Place Saint Michel – Trocadéro – Avenue de New York (Tour Eiffel by night) – Hôtel de ville – Place de la Concorde (Fontaines et l’Obélisque) – Porte de Saint Cloud – Gare Saint Lazare – Versailles – Berges de la Seine – La Géode (Parc de la Villette) – Place Saint-Sulpice (la fontaine et l’église Saint-Sulpice) – Place de la Nation – Jardins de Luxembourg – Centre national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou – Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris – Pont du Garigliano – Place des Innocents (Fontaine des Innocents) – Le Grand Palais – La Rotonde de Jaurès – Les statues du Musée du Quai d’Orsay – Place de la République – Le Panthéon – Chateau de Versailles – Île aux Cygnes (Statue de la liberté) – Métro Gare de l’Est – Galéries Lafayette – Galéries et passages de Paris (Galérie Vivienne, Passage Choiseul, Passage des Princes, Passage des Panoramas, etc…) – Rue Montorgueil – Le Palais Royal – Les Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design – Roland Garos – … Shot & Edited by: Yenoukoume Akpovi --- © akpovi.com 2012. All rights reserved. We are a creative little agency. Here is a selection of our Latest Works. Please don't repost or use our artwork without any permission. Thank you. Licensing, project quotes or questions please contact us at: www.akpovi.com

If you like me love time lapse photography then you are going to enjoy the video below. It's of Paris, but done in a way I don't see often. It jumps from location to location as well as day time to night time. The artist also uses movement. At times forward movement through a location. At times horizontal movement across a venue. Finally at times, he lets the lens sit still while action happens all around. To me it's masterful work of a genre of photography that few truly master.

Check out his Facebook Page: Mayeul Akpovi

Tonight is All Hallow's Eve. Don't walk...

Tonight is All Hallow's Eve. Don't walk down any long dark hallways, don't walk alone in a big empty field and to my teenage friends - don't make out with your eyes closed. For heavens sake, if the soundtrack to your life starts getting all spooky - don't lock yourself in a room with only one way in, that's also the only way out!

Any resemblance?

Any resemblance?

Letter to Dogs & Cats

I did not write this letter. I received as an e-mail. One of the funniest things I've ever read. I posted this on my blog as well (blog.kellysworld.net) but for ease of laughter and sharing it's all here. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE PETS, THIS IS A TRUE STORY. FOR THOSE WHO DON'T, IT’S ALSO A TRUE STORY.

The following was found posted very low on a refrigerator door.

Dear Dogs and Cats: The dishes on the floor with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate does not mean that it is suddenly your food, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest. The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Racing me to the top of the stairs is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king-sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space that you are taking up, is nothing but sarcasm.For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the door. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - canine/feline attendance is not required. 

The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough.

Finally, in fairness, dear pets, I have posted the following message on the front door: TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND COMPLAIN (1) They live here.... you don't. (2) If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it “fur”-niture. (3) I like my pets a lot better than I like most people. (4) To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted sons/daughters who are short, hairy, walk on all fours, and don't speak clearly. Remember, dogs and cats are better than kids because they: (1) eat less, (2) don't ask for money all the time, (3) are easier to train, (4) normally come when called, (5) never ask to drive the car, (6) don't hang out with drug-using people; (7) don't smoke or drink, (8) don't want to wear your clothes, (9) don't have to buy the latest fashions, (10) don't need a gazillion dollars for college and (11) if they get pregnant, you can sell their children.....