UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – January 10, 2012 – Comedian Tone Bell earned top honors at NBCUniversal’s eighth-annual “Stand-Up for Diversity” comedy search held recently at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood, California. Hosted by comedian Kevin Shea, the event concluded a five-city outreach to find the nation’s funniest diverse comics.

My photo looks pretty good over that NBC logo dontcha think? Maybe they’ll think so too.

See the post on his website.

NBC Link

My girlfriend and I recently took a trip up to New Orleans. She’s been there many times and had friends up there we could stay with so we took a long weekend and drove up.

I had only passed through NOLA in the past and was excited to see the French Quarter and eat and drink anything good I could get my hands on. We were successful on all counts.

New Orleans definitely has a feel all it’s own. I compared it to Savannah, Charleston and suprisingly Jacksonville rolled up into one. The food was amazing and the weather was beautiful. We gambled a little and ate seafood. Drank coffee and ate beignets. We discussed the state of New Orleans with the local homeless (“New Orleans is the toilet of America but everyones got to take a use the bathroom sometime” he told us) and Jess had her palms read and fortune told with incredible accuracy.

We spent most of our time in the French Quarter. The undefeated LSU Tigers beat undefeated Alabama that Saturday and the Saints won on Sunday so the city was buzzing.

We stayed with some of her friends that had rebuilt after Katrina. It was very interesting to hear the story about the devastation, the clean-up and also the rebuild that could still be seen throughout the city. I tried to imagine what it must have been like during that time while we were walking around and it must have been another world.

I had a lot more photos but they were all way over-exposed.
I took some shots in a voodoo shop that I wasn’t supposed to so I am blaming the over exposed photos on black magic.
Lesson learned.

Definitely want to get back and explore and stuff my face with the amazing cuisine.

Check out some photos below. Flickr set here.

New Orleans News






Mother’s Restaurant . Had an amazing sandwich here. Great home cooking . Expect a wait here too. Used to be a locals spot but it’s blown up into a tourist spot now. They brag about having the “world’s best baked ham”. I smirked a little at that but I had some on a sandwich with roast beef and “debris” (all the roast beef goodness that falls into the pan when cooked). Didn’t have a chance to get a pic of the food before I devoured it. So good.



Cafe Du Monde . They only serve coffee and beignets and they do both of those extremely well. Expect a wait but it’s move pretty quick and it’s totally worth it.



Cafe Du Monde . Coffee Machine

St. Patrick’s Cemetery . Amazing Light.



St. Patrick’s Cemetery . Amazing Light.



St. Patrick’s Cemetery . Amazing Light.



St. Patrick’s Cemetery . Amazing Light.

Malia was playing in the Fall leaves and I had to get some shots. The light was perfect with the sun setting behind the trees.

My girlfriends daughter, Malia, was playing in the Fall leaves and I had to get some shots. The light was perfect with the sun setting behind the trees.

Some of my photos documenting The Living Walls Conference this year have been used on the official Living Walls website. Head on over the LivingWallsConference.com to check them out and see some of the walls I wasn’t able to get.

Click to visit the Living Walls website.

Click here to view the Flickr set from this year.

Click here to view the 2010 Flickr set.

Click to see a map of the wall locations.

Star-Life Clothing recently contacted me about shooting Oglethorpe University architecture photos for them to use for their website and print collateral. They wanted their photography to support the “academic and youthful” feel of their brand. I was happy to explore the campus architecture; it’s almost castle-like, constructed out of big, grey brick. I was able to get shots of both the athletic facilities and the exterior of the buildings in one really hot day. The library was closed that particular day, but we’ll be returning to capture more ‘academic’ images of the interior.


Check out Star-Life’s website >
Star-Life’s Twitter >
Star-Life’s Facebook Page >


Click image to view on flickr.

Street artists from around the world traveled to Atlanta in August 2011 to take part in the second annual Living Walls Conference, which allows the legal painting and wheat-pasting of walls around the city.

This Flickr set features photos from the event at The Goat Farm, and nearly every wall painted by the 2011 artists.

Last year there was certainly a ‘buzz’ around the city for the first annual Living Walls Conference. Everyone was excited to see how this diverse group of international street artists would leave their mark on the city, as well as how the event, show and lectures tied it all together.

This year was no different.

The number of legal walls nearly doubled this year, which allowed more artists to participate. It took amazing talent to pull it all together, and everyone involved did an amazing job.

The conference brings together like minds, and it was interesting to discuss the issues surrounding street art and its place in our society.

Everyone involved was passionate about the role of street art and how it affects us in our every day lives.

Below are a few highlights from the conference.

Click here to view the full Flickr set.

Click here to view the 2010 Flickr set.

Click to see a map of the wall locations.

The Goat Farm on Facebook.

Click to visit the Living Walls website.



Sharktoof







Never . Hider







Sam3 – Broke the record of World’s Tallest Mural.







Sam Parker







LNY







Christopher Derek Bruno, Benjamin Niznik & Drew Tyndell







ROA







Feral Child & Russia







Entes & Pesimo







Escif







Jaz







PLF Paint







Jason Kofke







Doodles, Gaia & Nanook







Freddy Sam & Ever


Click here to view the full flickr set.

I recently acquired a 50mm, 1.7 lens for my Minolta Maxxum 35mm and have been fascinated by its super shallow dept of field and insane bokeh at 1.7.

I found some old rusty cars on my explorations of Clarkston and decided to see what I could get.
Below are some of the photos that turned out. See more on my Flickr.