I was playing around with the iPhoto export feature late last night. An unbelievable simple way to make some music videos using live performance photography. Just need to figure out how to get the right imagery at the right place in the song.

I’ve uploaded to Facebook, and the image quality is quite nice. Facebook’s transcoder is amazing.

This week my brother-in-law and I went and photographed my son’s fourth grade class outside the classroom. We directed them to make “larger than life” expressions and poses to create some unique class portraits. 28 students, 1 teacher and 700+ frames later, we were ready for some coffee.

Next I spent some quality time with the images. Chose the most dynamic poses and expressions, then went about removing the background. My intention was to spend about 1/2 hour per person, as I like to get these projects done as quickly as possible. It turns out girls with long hair posed an unexpected problem: no hair showing where their neck was, and long hair hung down way too far for the tiny bodies.

So, now we have a couple of real world word math for your fourth graders to solve:

1. Nels had 29 photos to retouch. There were 16 boys and 13 girls. Boys and girls with short hair took 1/2 hour each to retouch, and girls with long hair past their shoulders took 1-1/2 hours each. If there were 10 girls with long hair, how many hours did it take Nels to complete his project, if he also spent 2 hours creating a slideshow presentation?
2. If it takes 7 minutes per page to print 29 archival posters for students, how many hours does it take to print all of the posters?

Use the comments to submit your answers.

The students really enjoyed the Keynote presentation that used the photography project to help explain what I do for a living, and how I went about creating the artwork. There was raucous laughter as each image came on the screen, and that made it all worth while. Each child was presented with an archival poster print.

Click on the image above to view a slideshow of all 29 portraits.

What do you think? (leave a comment)

Download wallpaper, portraits, high-res and groups.

Last weekend I completed “Spring Fling 2011″, a photo collage art project featuring all 27 of my son’s first grade classmates. Just before Thanksgiving my brother-in-law and I photographed the children in the classroom. I explained my job as an art director for advertising, and told them that they were all “Talent” or “Models” for my project.

This morning I went back to unveil the final product via a big screen projection complete with music. I described the “client presentation” process, and told them they were the clients. They were very good clients, since they liked everything. I gave them each “leave behinds” of an 13 x 19 archival giclee (archival poster print suitable for framing) and a personalized 5×7 image with a link to this post. It is really fun how excited the kids are when they see themselves on the screen for the first time. They were very well behaved, though, as Mr. Grass, the principal, sat in on the presentation.

This is the final installment of a 4-part series. Last year I created a fall scene named “Fall Fun 2010″. Two years ago I did a summer scene called “Summer Break 2009″ and three years ago a winter scene titled “Snow Day 2007″. Each artwork featured a castle to represent the school name, Castle Heights.

Files for download –

Right click link FULL RESOLUTION PHOTO and choose “Save link as…” or “Open link in new window” to download a copy of the full resolution version.

Right click link EMAIL FRIENDLY SIZE PHOTO and choose “Save link as…” or “Open link in new window” to download a copy of the email friendly version to send to grandma.

If you are having problems getting the video to play, DOWNLOAD A 110 MB ZIP OF THE VIDEO.

What do you think? (make a comment below)

The other day on a transcontinental flight to NYC, I was playing with some of the imagery I created for the Drum Workshop Kitbuilder 2.0 project that launched in January.

The result was this set of twelve high resolution 512 px Mac OS X icons that look (and sound) killer in the dock.

My friends at DW were also gracious enough to let me distribute these icons. Let me know what you think.

Download Kit Icons Vol 1

I had a pleasant surprise a week ago, when the poster I designed for my son’s cub scout pack won the grand prize for the 2011 Lakers Pride Contest. This was a regional competition sponsored by Staples and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Staples sent each competing Scout pack a poster kit that consisted of 24 white squares of fabric, a bunch of colored markers, and a gift card for additional supplies. I created a modular design that allowed the various den leaders the ability to have their Scouts work on squares independently of one another to contribute to the big picture. The final results were stitched together with ribbon and submitted to the competition. Now that’s team work!

At the award ceremony, Lakers player Lamar Odom met with the pack, and presented them with the $1,000 prize. The poster will be on display at the Staples Center for the remainder of the season. click here for a slideshow

Now, if only Kobe can stay healthy, we’ve got an excellent chance of winning the NBA Championship for another three-peat. Go Lakers and Pack 91!

The Emotions project is now a book. I was digging this little widget tool from Blurb. The fullscreen and thumbnail pagination views are very nice. I’ve added a new “hipstamatic” film light-leak style image for each student.

If you haven’t used Blurb, I encourage you to make your own book. Thier Booksmart application practically does it for you — with templated styles to choose from. Order it with the paper upgrade. The quality of printing is fantastic.

Yesterday morning I completed an “Emotions” photography project for my son’s 3rd grade class.

Last Thursday, I went to speak to the class about advertising. We discussed modeling and making emotional expressions with our faces. We brainstormed a lengthy list of emotions, and then stepped outside to take some pictures. Fellow class parent Kelli Martin and I photographed each child doing various emotions in a marathon session yielding hundreds of photos.

I selected nine images for each student, and then cropped/retouched into an 8×10 grid for printing and framing. Four fun versions were created: color graded, distressed, gradient map illustration, and cartoon.

I returned yesterday morning and presented the imagery to the class in a fun Keynote slide show that included their images, and a clip of video showing several of the students doing their expressions.

In addition I supplied each student with a printed poster of their classmates, and links for digital copies to share with their families.

What do you think? Here are a few more samples.

THIS IS THE TEST AREA FOR SLIDEPRESS.

1. This is using the standard code for lightview: Emotions Slideshow

Monday night I completed “Fall Fun 2010″, a Gap-like art project featuring all 23 of my son’s kindergarden classmates. Just before Thanksgiving I photographed the children in the schoolyard. I explained my job as an art director for advertising, and told them that they were all “Talent” or “Models” for my project.

It was challenging to fit so many people into such a small space. Blame that on the state budget. Number two son, Miles, is featured jumping into a pile of leaves.

Today I went back to unveil the final product via a big screen projection complete with music. I described the “client presentation” process, and told them they were the clients. They were very good clients, since they liked everything. I gave them each “leave behinds” of an 13 x 19 archival giclee (poster print suitable for framing) and a personalized 5×7 image with a link to this post. It is really fun how excited the kids are when they see themselves on the screen for the first time. They literally vibrate with energy!

This is part III of a 4-part series. Last year I did a summer scene called “Summer Break 2009″ and two years ago a winter scene titled “Snow Day 2007″. Only one season left!

Right click the image above and choose “Save link as…” or “Open link in new window” to download a copy of the large version.

What do you think? (make a comment below)

Sunday afternoon I completed one of the most rewarding projects this year. A Gap Ad-like art project featuring all of my son’s second grade classmates. A couple of weeks ago, my brother-in-law and I photographed the children in the classroom. I explained my job as an art director for advertising, and told them that they were all “Talent” or “Models” for my project.

Today I went back to unveil the final product via a big screen projection complete with music. I described the “client presentation” process, and told them they were the clients. They were very good clients, since they liked everything. I gave them each “leave behinds” of an 13 x 19 archival giclee (poster print suitable for framing) and a DVD rom with images and the presentation movie. They were soooo happy, it left me with a stupid grin on my face all day.

This is part II of a 4-part series. Last school year I did a winter scene titled “Snow Day 2007″. Only two seasons left!

Right click the image above and choose “Save link as…” or “Open link in new window” to download a copy of the large version.

What do you think? (make a comment below)

I’ve been hacking away at the Slideflow demo by Christian Becker at Beckr.org and using images from my favorite fractal designer Blatte at ExotericRoach.org. Pretty cool stuff, eh?