December was a very very busy to say the least with the end of my second to last semester of undergrad. It was spent with changing my focus in seminar with putting the architecture stuff to the side for now, and diving in to what i started in Adv traditions and making that my main focus for the rest of the year. I got high praise from the the panel to keep going with that and just make a ton of work and just keep going and don't stop. They said i really have come in to work that really shows me as a person and a photographer which is something really nice to hear from teachers and fellow artist, a very big confidence boost. The first two pictures on the right are what my studio looked like in the first few months of the semester.

Winter break came and it was quite the break and it was really needed with the the amount of work for seminar and my other four classes as well as an internship. it was great to be home for the semester and take a break and just relax and recharge mentally and catch up with my family and sleep. I did some photographing with polaroids when i was home just to stay in the shooting mentality (can be seen on my flicker).But for the most part winter break was use to recharge my batteries for my last semester in undergrad.

Theses three pictures to the right as a glimpse in to what i am doing for seminar and are a product of Adv traditions, all of the, are 11"x14" silver gelatin warm tone prints and i will be greeting around to putting on my website i have to photograph them because they won't fit in a scanner. my plan is to make more prints and continue shooting around Boston and the streets. But hopefully ill be able to after Juno the blizzard came and shut everything down. The picture underneath those two is what i did in my mono printing class and it is the most abstract work i have ever made. the work was really discovering mark making and exploring. The four closest prints to the bottom are printed on failed polaroid positives which i have never seen anyone ever do before and its something that i really want to explore more of because it was nice loosely tying photography and print in one.

the last three pictures are of my studio currently and i have a bunch of 5"x7"s hanging up because i don't want to hang up my final prints in there due to the humility and i don't want them to get dirty. On my desk are a few contact sheets of shoots i went on the the last time i was in boston as well as some new polaroids hanging up which is going faster and faster. this semester is going to busy as shit but its going to be a great one since its my last. that pretty must it thats happened in the last two months more to some more post and more work.

November has been an interesting and busy month to say the least. All my classes have picked up steam and its a race to the finish line to get everything done, including finishing portfolios for Mono Printing and Adv Traditions as-well and doing a switch from what I'm doing in seminar. The work that i have been producing so far in seminar i have loved and its a project that i have been doing for almost two years on an off has me losing interest compared to my Adv Traditions final project. In that class i have been creating dramatic photographs consisting of hard shadow and shape and line with a person emerging in the highlight. That project and making that portfolio has really consumed me and that why i want to tackle it head on and a bigger scale.

Thanksgiving is coming up in less than a week and i get to go home in less than that and it will be a sweet relief from school and this chaos. Even though i will have about two papers to right one due when i get back and the other on Friday, i have to also put together two presentations as well as one take home test. To think thats not enough on my plate i decided to have a crack at 4x5 camera and a "fresh" pack of polaroid 4x5 black and white film (expired in 2007) . The Camera that was loaned to my by the school and my seminar teacher, he said "if you can find it, you can have the film and shoot it.

The camera is a Graflex Speed Graphic and i found a Polaroid 4x5 back for it as well as a Polaroid 405 back to take 3.25x4.25 Polaroid or Fuji Fp-100c/3000b. It took me and hour to find the camera and the the backs but i was in business and like using a new camera the joy of Photography came shooting in to me. Since film has really consumed my life this year and Polaroid has been in my heart for the last 3-4 years it was only right to be happy and tackle this on in the middle of finals. When i got some i was so excited and opened her up and pretty much self taught myself with a little help from (Mijonju video on youtube) and set her up in my living room. When i finished focusing with the help of a pillow case as my cover to look at the ground class to focus i loaded the 4x5 pack with the first instant sheet film and took the picture and shot it at box speed and waited ever so patiently, bitting ym nails and passing back an forth. I finally cracked it open and nothing. I was so gutted to see that it didn't work, so i loaded another one to see if the whole pack was dead and i got this

I was so happy, and just wanted to go out in the rain and shoot as much as i could but i waited till the next day to go out and shoot. I got up early for work and packed my bag with the camera and a Cracker box filled with three shots and went to the beach and took two shots and wasted one like a moron because i didn't devise a plan to tell spent roids from non used roids. but i did get some great images when i was there.

And i did a double exposure by accident because the cable release fell out and wasn't sure it it tripped the shutter so i did it again.

This picture i love so much the shine off the water and the the tones in the sand and water are down right beautiful. Even though its a little dark it looks great for me.

After taking those pictures i sealed the film in a zip lock bag and wrapped up the box in a plastic bag and store for none until i can come up with something that i want to shoot with it. Since the film is not being made anymore and it is going for big big bucks on eBay, i want to do right by the film and make a series out of it and maybe it will compliment my Adv Traditions/ Seminar work but how knows. I also ordered two packs of Fuji Fp-3000b to use the 405 back and get more aquatinted with the camera and not at the cost of my 4x5 film. This for me is torture because the film is waiting for my at home to give it ago.

And thats pretty much been November for me and i will but up a following post to this one about the 4x5 madness I'm doing. But it defiantly seems like I'm stepping up my blogging game with all the pictures and what not. I will b back with more posts and images when finals start to die down and i get time to scan some of my print and post them on here.

( to see fill res of the 4x5 head over to my flickr page)

December and January

November so far