Saturday, November 14, 2009

Homemade Meatball Sandwiches

How to make your fiance happy: homemade meatball sandwiches and the cowboys game.


Tuesday, September 29, 2009

A lull in production brings forth creativity

There has been a lull in my production of pictures lately. However, not a days goes by that I don't think about my photography. Lately, I've been grappling finding my artistic voice. I am no longer satisfied to just take candid street shots. There is nothing wrong with candid street shots, there are plenty of fantastic photographers out there that are success with this type of shooting, but that is not how I want to define myself as an artist. My latest interests are night photography, specifically light painting and strobes. I like how desolate the city can feel at night, especially in Astoria. I want to use my art to connect other people. This is where I feel like my social work is going to come into play. How can I use my skills as a social worker, psychologist, and photographer to help others? I don't have the answer to that question...yet.

I have recently found motivation in watching TED talks. If you haven't discovered this website yet, you need to do it now. RIGHT NOW! The talks are typically 15 minutes and cover an array of topics. I have started to find most of my inspiration for my photography from other art forms, such as literature, poetry, sculpture, etc. I just haven't quite figured out how to translate this into images. Even though I haven't been shooting much, I have actually enjoyed this part of the creative process. I am asking why? Why am I shooting? What am I shooting? And what am I trying to say?

Here are a few of my favorite TED talks so far:
Vik Muniz: Art with Wire and Sugar
Olafur Eliasson: Playing with Space and Light

Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Go, go, go...

"Things are going to start happening to me now."
-Steve Martin, The Jerk

I recently applied to the Aperture portfolio contest and the Critical Mass contest. I feel that I've come to a point where I need to start putting myself and my photography out there. I have several projects in the works and am very happy with the portfolio I submitted to the most recent two contests. I will post more about that project in the near future, since I am not ready to put the project online yet.

After a short break, Dennis and I have picked back up with the David Del Tredici biography. We are meeting Joel Conarroe for the second time tomorrow morning. He has decades worth of letters, postcards, and reviews for DDT. Joel is an amazing and interesting person. He has been warm and welcoming to Dennis and myself by opening his home and life to us. I am looking forward to interviewing Joel in the upcoming weeks.

I am in my second summer session in school and wrapping up with my first internship. It's hard to believe that I've been working at the Supreme Court for 6 months and that I will be done there in 2 weeks. I have a few weeks off from school and work in August and early September, but will be very busy with other activities. My matron of honor, Nicole, is coming to visit with her little boy, Hunter, the second week in August. She has never been to NYC, so I'm excited to show her around my city. Near the end of August, Danny and I are taking a trip to Santa Fe, NM to start planning our wedding. It will be a semi-vacation, but our time will mostly be spent looking at venues and meeting with wedding planners. I am definitely ready to start planning our wedding. I can't believe it's already been 6 months since we got engaged.

That's all for now....

Sunday, May 31, 2009

NYC Photography Workshop Book

I am very proud to announce the completion of my first group book.  "New York City" is a collection of photographs taken by members of the NYC Photography Workshop.  I am also very excited that this book has made it to Blurb's Bestseller list!


Check out a preview of the book here:  New York City


Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Chris' TCU Graduation

My little brother graduated from TCU a few weeks ago.  I am so incredibly proud of everything he has accomplished.  I can't wait to see what life has in store for him.  We are a TCU family no more.  We are now a family of alumni forever indebted to TCU (both financially and educationally).  Congratulations Shishtopher!

Pictures from Chris' graduation:












Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Mr. Asher

I was home this past weekend for my brother's graduation from TCU and to spend some time with the family.  I had a great time playing with my nephew, Asher.  



 

Monday, May 4, 2009

Overdue Update

Life has been busy these last few weeks.  I finished my first semester at NYU, which included four final papers due all the same week.  It's hard to believe that I will be done with my MSW in almost exactly a year.  

Dennis Tobenski and I continue to interview David Del Tredici every two weeks for his biography.  A few weeks ago, we had our first interview with someone other than David.  We interviewed Tison Street, a composer and violinist, and long time friend of David.  The interview with Tison went very well and I also snagged a few pictures.  Tison and David are the first two subjects in my long-term photo project on American Composer.  

For more recent news, today I purchased my first macro lens.  I am the proud owner of a Nikkor 60mm 2.8 micro lens.  Pictures with my new lens to come soon.  For now, I leave you with a few pictures from a car that caught fire on our street.


Saturday, April 11, 2009

Good Friday at the MoMA

I spent Good Friday, and my day off, at the MoMA and making new friends in Central Park.  I was incredibly excited to practice some of the new techniques Joe Bug taught me during our meeting on Thursday.  I decided to only shoot with my 50mm and to really focus on the composition of all the pictures I took.  I was very pleased with how my pictures turned out.  More to come soon...Happy Easter.


Monday, April 6, 2009

Pillow Fight, NYC 2009

Old friends, new friends, and lots of laughs.  
Pillow Fight, 2009, Wall St., NYC


Friday, March 20, 2009

San Fran and Back

Danny and I returned last night from a wonderful trip to San Francisco.  Ms. Erin Stone was our personal tour guide for the trip.  The first day we spent walking all over the city.  We saw Lombard Street, Pier 39, Russian Hill, and various other parts of the city.  More importantly, we ate a brownie sundae at the Ghirardelli Factory and drank a beer and ate pizza at a great dive bar in Russian Hill, and heard a guy from Jersey yell at the conductor of a cable car.  

The next day, we headed to Golden Gate Park.  We strolled through the Arboretum and visited the De Young Museum.  The most impressive part of the museum was the "Warhol Live" exhibit.  The exhibit consisted of 4 rooms that made you feel like you were part of the Silver Factory experience.  As we made our way through the massive exhibit, we noticed that there was a whisper going around.  It turns out that the famous glass artist Dale Chihuly was walking through the exhibit at the same time we were.  He was pretty hard to miss, besides the entourage of artisty folk following him, he was wearing an eye patch and black boots covered in splashes of vibrant paint.  Of course, Erin and I had to find his book in the museum store.  We were both quite impressed with his work.

Our final day, we spent cycling across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito.  The fog was heavy by the time we reached the bridge, but we were lucky enough to catch little breaks every now and again.  We had planned to bike always to the Redwoods, but thought that lunch and lying in the sun sounded better.  When we got back to the Ferry Building, Danny and I grabbed a beer and a crab salad and then met up with Danny's Aunt, who happened to be in town at the same time.  It was the perfect ending to the perfect afternoon.  All in all, our trip to San Fran was amazing.  I was so happy to spend time with old high school friends (Ethan and Erica) and their significant others.  Danny and I will definitely be back to visit the great state of California. 

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

A little Snow

We got about 6 inches of snow on Monday.  
The whole neighborhood was sledding by Monday afternoon.


Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Interview I


Yesterday, Dennis and I had our first of many interviews with David Del Tredici.  I have to say upfront that David's apartment is beautiful.  The walls are covered with wonderful art that he's collected over the years.  I'm not going to give away too much about this project right now, but I will say that we are working towards something big.  I came along to the interview primarily to take pictures, but ended up being very involved with David's interview.  I felt that David was very easy to talk to and very honest about his life.  I ended up taking something like 10 pictures because I became so engrossed in his story that I just put down my camera.  I appreciate Dennis for first, allowing me to come along, and second, for allowing me to help with the interview.

I cannot wait to see where this project takes us.  More to come...


Friday, February 20, 2009

Reminiscent

One of the first pictures I took that got me interested into photography


I'm in a strange mood today- kind of contemplative, a little withdrawn, and becoming more reminiscent.  I blame a majority of this mood on the weather.  We were starting to have nice days with temperatures moving into the 40s and 50s, when SMACK, we are hit with wind that makes it feel like it is 3 degrees outside.  I really don't mind cold temperatures and I actually like winter, but I do not like being caught off guard by the weather and going from beautiful temperatures to below freezing.  I'm hoping that this is our last cold front before spring starts to emerge.  

I am quickly moving forward with both my photography and career in social work.  I might have a few upcoming (paying!) photography gigs and I'm starting to think ahead to my next internship in the fall.  So, all and all, life is good, really good.  But every now and again I get in these moods that are really hard to shake.  They don't last long, but they always get me thinking.  Thinking about where I am, but mostly thinking about the past.  I'm hoping that I can start to use these moods to my creative advantage, I just have to figure out a way to do this.

Sometimes you have to look to the past before you can move forward.  

Love,
kt

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

You've got to love getting an email from Darth Vader.  I guess I've gone to the dark side....

Monday, February 9, 2009

Two words: Comic Con

I am not ashamed to say that I spent a majority of the weekend at Comic Con.  I didn't really have any idea what it was all about until I showed up Saturday afternoon.  The event sounded like it would make some good photos, so out I went.  I had such a great time that I went back again on Sunday.  I was lucky enough to score a free ticket into the show Sunday afternoon.  This was pretty sweet since I wanted to go in, but wasn't planning on buying a ticket because they were $40.  I wandered around for quite awhile, mostly just people watching.  There was a great energy at the event, it was hard not to have fun.  My only regret is that I didn't talk to many people.  I was a little reserved, because I was new to this environment and felt out of place.  Next time, I will definitely talk to more people.

On another note, I've been a huge slacker with my blog.  I plan on trying to post regularly again.  Check back soon for more updates.  For now, I leave you with a few pictures from Comic Con 2009.  Enjoy!