May 29, 2012

A crumbling piece of visual art


If you live in Sydney, Australia you're in for a treat during the Vivid LIVE 2012 festival now through June 11. For the rest of us, this video gives a glimpse into an innovative art installation by the German art collective URBANSCREEN. According to the Sydney Opera House website, the Lighting the Sails piece has takes the "art of light projection, video mapping and motion graphics to extraordinary heights." I'd have to agree!

Here's a behind the scenes interview with the artists about another amazing installation combining public architecture with visual art. I dig the temporary nature of these works of art - it's all about the experience!


Shout out to my brother-in-law Greg who sent me a link to the video! 

May 28, 2012

Color - Radiolab Will Blow Your Mind

Behind the Scenes - Mark Wallace Speedlights 101 on creativeLIVE

As photographers we pay so much attention to perfecting our colors when post-processing our images. And yet how do I know that those "perfect" colors to me are the same to you? We don't. Consider the child's question, "Why is the sky blue?" I just listened to an episode of the podcast Radiolab - Color - and hope to entice you to share my newfound addiction to the show. 

"If a dog and a human and a sparrow were to be staring at a rainbow, would they be seeing very different things?" "Yes." Humans see seven colors in the rainbow. A dog's rainbow is limited to blue and green. The sparrow's rainbow expands from ultraviolet from extremely red - starts earlier and ends later across the color spectrum. Then there's the mantis shrimp, who have the most complicated visual system of anything we know, yet do they have the ability to see the beauty in this crazy expansive world of color? Take a colorful exploration of the mind with these ideas and more in this episode:


I recently discovered Radiolab when photographer Mark Wallace was in Seattle for his Speedlights 101 workshop at creativeLIVE. His enthusiasm when talking about the podcast and everything he has learned had me run home and start downloading episodes. The episodes take you through incredible mind journeys. As Mark said, just as you think you've understood where they are going, they take you through twists and turns down a rabbit hole. 

On Radiolab, "science meets culture and information sounds like music. Each episode of Radiolab is an investigation - a patchwork of people, sounds, stories and experiences centered around One Big Idea."  Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich. Check out the podcast on iTunes. Follow Radiolab on Facebook and Twitter.

As Mark Wallace told me, Radiolab will blow your mind. Thank you Mark for sending me on a new educational exploration - far beyond the world of photography! I'm officially addicted.



Apr 3, 2012

There's Nothing Hidden Under That Cowboy Hat

Don Giannatti & creativeLIVE producer Celeste Olds

I'm pumped for Don Giannatti's 3-day free live online Lighting Essentials workshop this Thursday - Saturday on creativeLIVE. But I'm excited in a very different way than I had been before today. I'm always eager to learn steps to take my lighting skills up a notch. Don, a.k.a. @wizwow, arrived in Seattle this afternoon and I now realize being with Don this week will push my own self-reflection much further than thinking about where, when, why to light a subject or an image in a particular way.

In the past few hours as we were getting Don situated and comfortable at the creativeLIVE studio, we had a long chat about life, sense of place, photography, family, education, writing, music, dance, fine art photography masters, advertising and much more.

Don has a warmth and sparkle in his eye when he talks about how he genuinely loves being a teacher. It's his legacy. Don is strong, opinionated and proud of it. He's not hiding anything underneath his trademark cowboy hat - he's laying it all out there. As many of you know, I love when creativeLIVE workshops touch me so deep that I tear up, on camera, live in front of (and along with) the world. When I somewhat jokingly asked Don if there would be tears this weekend, he said perhaps not on his part. Then he suggested I read his latest blog post and that I might therein find tears. Well, you got me Don.

I'm moved by Don's brilliant writing style in this post - it's ripe with emotion in a way that I had not expected...  A Drive Through Northern Arizona on a Sunny Day 

Don's post also reminds me that I miss writing. It's an artform that I have not made the time for in my life of late. Thank you Don - for sharing, for inspiring.

I invite you all to sign up for three days of learning about much more than photography and light with Don Giannatti April 5-7th. It's free online during the live event. I'll be there to ask Don your questions from anywhere across the globe! 

Mar 15, 2012

Grateful to share on Photog.TV

When Eric Doggett and Dustin Meyer asked if I'd be a guest on photog.TV I excitedly said YES! Then the nerves sunk in. Sure I'm on creativeLIVE and chat live with tens of thousands of you around the world, but that's about creativeLIVE or the educator or the weather. It's not about me. I'm the one who asks the questions, not the one being asked for answers. That interviewer-question-asker role is my comfort zone. So turning the roles around and being on the "other side of the microphone" was a leap. And a leap that I'm grateful I was offered. Feel free to jump to ~ minute 9:30 in the show where my interview starts... ; )




Thanks Eric & Dustin for giving me an opportunity to share my story and for reading me so well. Travel + photography + karma are subjects I can talk about all day long. Let's do it again soon!

If you love discussing photography, be sure to circle photog.TV on Google+ where their show is broadcast using the G+ On Air live streaming every Thursday 12pm Central!

Jan 25, 2012

2012.01.25 Retrospective. Soweto, South Africa.

This one goes back to my black & white film days, before I jumped on the digital train.

2012.01.25 Retrospective. Soweto, South Africa.

Jan 21, 2012

Teotitlan, McLeod Ganj & Srinigar. Daily Retrospective.

2012.01.19 Retrospective. Teotitlan, Mexico.

2012.01.20 Retrospective. McLeod Ganj, India. Home of HH Dalai Lama.

2012.01.21 Retrospective. Srinigar, Kashmir.



Jan 17, 2012

2012.01.17 Retrospective. Indonesian Cremation Ceremony.

What an experience to witness a celebration of life and death in the northern beach town of Lovina in Bali. I inquired whether it was okay to photograph the cremation ceremony taking place on the public beach. I was grateful that the answer was yes. I was mesmerized and captivated in moment after moment after moment. You know that feeling when everywhere you look feels like the potential for a magical photograph, and yet you want to really BE there too? At some point I had to just put the camera down. It was an experience unlike any I had seen, smelled or heard - ever. Of course that was before I traveled to Varanasi.... Feel free to browse more images from this series.
2012.01.17 Retrospective. Cremation Ceremony. Bali, Indonesia. 

Jan 15, 2012

2012.01.15 & .16 Retrospective

2012.01.15 Retrospective. Three Generations. Jocotenango, Guatemala. 

2012.01.16 Retrospective. Olympos, Turkey.

Snow Day, Beach Style!

Quite a Sunday. Snow on the beach. Crazy kayakers & wake boarders take on the snowy waters. Spotted two orcas in my front yard (sorry, didn't get any pics). Fun photographing & processing on my iPhone with new-to-me app Snapseed. The subtle feel & sound of snow crunching on sand is a bit like walking on marshmallows (after being toasted over a bonfire, that is).










Jan 13, 2012

Jan 11, 2012

2012.01.10 & .11 Daily Retrospective

2012.01.10 Retrospective. Floating village near Siem Reap, Cambodia. 

2012.01.11 Retrospective. Ritual pre-funeral head shave. Varanasi, India.

Jan 8, 2012

2012.01.08 Daily Retrospective. Varanasi, India.

Varanasi is a sight to be seen, a culture to be experienced, an insight into ancient rituals, sounds and smells that pop, a vibrancy of senses like no other.

2012.01.08 Retrospective. Varanasi, India.

Jan 7, 2012

2012.01.06 & .07 Retrospective

Sharing an image daily from my archives...

2012.01.06 Retrospective. Rajasthan, India. 

2012.01.07 Retrospective. Antigua, Guatemala.

Jan 4, 2012

2012.01.04 & .05 Retrospective

2012.01.04 Retrospective. Banos, Ecuador

2012.01.05 Retrospective. Zabljak, Montenegro

Jan 3, 2012

2012.01 Daily Retrospective

Happy New Year! This year for my 365 Project (or perhaps one of them), I'm digging into the Kenna K Photo archives to share a retrospective photo a day. Thank you for embarking upon this journey with me! Have you jumped aboard Google+ for it's super strong community of photographers? If so, I invite you to circle me to follow my 365 there!

2012.01.01 Retrospective. Methodist Sunday Service. Near Caqalai Island, Fiji. 
2012.01.02 Retrospective. San Pedro, Guatemala.
2012.01.03 Retrospective. Election Day in Pokhara, Nepal.