Damian McDonald Photography

In Flight Service

2011-11-07T23:01:00.000-08:00

hand on shell - grateful - accepting the initial ascent

bolt bound ribbing between the seats - iron pinions forward

hurtling through space and time - cardboard coffee

coming down now - hard friction drag

welcome to chicago

Wait less

2011-10-31T01:01:00.000-07:00

3 25 11

Inky

2011-10-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

3 21 10

Night Walk

1.2 days before first quarter

Catching up with myself

2011-10-15T00:30:00.000-07:00

I don't normally like setting deadlines for my personal work but I really need to catch up with myself. I've got quite of bit of work filling up my hard drives and I really need to start processing it and getting it out there. So, in the coming months I'm going to try to post at least once a week. Some of the work actually goes way back before my last post in June, Yikes! But as they say "Better late than never."

Plus, I've been busy doing a lot of great things. Family time, travel, teaching a bunch of awesome students (who are teaching me a ton as well!), art show, coordinating a photo installation and of course taking tons of photos.

Let's see if this affirmation will actually make things stick. It usually does.

The Cellular Level

2011-06-10T21:35:00.000-07:00

Blackberry Curve 8520

School Pics - Take 2

2011-05-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

As we all know with kids' school pictures, the results can be hit or miss. This year of course the quality was fine, but the look wasn’t authentic. So, I decided to do a few different set-ups and try to capture the character of my partner’s daughter.

Now Evelyn is the type of girl who will definitely let you know when she doesn’t want her picture taken, but with this shoot we had a lot of fun, and overall, I think it was a great success.

Spring Cleaning

2011-04-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

2011-04-22T23:11:00.000-07:00

2011-03-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

2011-03-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

HOPE

jUxTaPoSeD

2011-03-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

Boy do I love curves...

2011-03-09T20:11:00.000-08:00

and brick bokeh.

The In Between Times

2011-02-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months...since my last blog post. I've been working so much lately that I haven't had any time to post here but no matter how busy things get, I always find a way to take photos during the in between times.

I came across this plant type thing on my way home from work back in September. I was really drawn to it's spiky quality and the way it looked like it was projecting forward. I brought it home to the studio for some "lights, camera, action." A neighbor says it could be from the onion family.

"together one more time"

15 seconds, me, my camera, my tripod, a sculpture, a garbage can lid, and some street lights make for a very enjoyable self-portrait.

Trust me when I say I don't trespass for photos. For this one I was...um, standing in the alley, holding a 20 foot pole with my camera attached the end...yeah...um, that's what I did. I can't believe I got the framing just right. It probably would have been much easier to walk into the yard and set up my camera and tripod and take the photo but, you know, I wouldn't do that.

I love crispy, creepy, old homes that look and feel abandoned...but are not. I always hope to come home and later, in post, discover a scary face looking out one of the windows. No luck here but I love the self-portrait. Standing there at 30 seconds a pop got my heart racing and packing up my gear right at the time a car pulled up in front of this place was priceless. I love when the timing is just right like that.

I would have liked to post more tonight but I got half way through this post about an hour ago and accidentally erased the whole thing so now after the second time around, I'm sort of burnt out. I promise I will have more to come soon.

A presto!

She puts up with so much from me...

2010-11-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

Wow...Life is going full speed right now.
About three weeks ago I starting teaching on top my regular job so I've been averaging 60 to 65 hours of work a week. I haven't had much free time for photographs so I'm posting a series of photos Adrienne and I collaborated on back in September.

I also have a few other shoots I did in October that I've yet to post and will try to get those up soon.

The camera angle and one of the compositions was obviously inspired by Annie Leibovitz's famous photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono taken on the day of John Lennon's death. I hope no offense is taken...it is meant as an homage to all three of those amazing artists.

I will be adding the set-up shots to this post soon.
Check back to see my rigging.

*note* As for the back hair, I added that in Photoshop *end note*

Set-up Shots
(added to post 11.18)

I don't normally do the "set-up shot" thing but I'm giving it a go for now. It may or may not stick.
Enjoy.

The Darkroom

2010-09-09T00:42:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I took some darkroom classes at a local print shop. The whole experience was so great and so very humbling. I learned so much from the classes that my head is overflowing. Plus, I have so much more of a greater appreciation for those who still work with film and do their own printing. Long story short, I'm absolutely hooked.

Of course I'm not giving up digital anytime soon but I have to say that film processing just feels so much more rewarding. Really, on so many levels, digital and film are almost incomparable.

On the other hand, I've also gained a much greater appreciation for many Photoshop tools that I took wildly for granted...like pretty much all of them. The stamp tool is just pure genius.

Yeah, yeah, I know...it costs more, requires lots of space and is much more time consuming but in my opinion, having your hands in every step of the process is just so worth it. And as I've said before, anything that slows me down a bit is a good thing.

Below are the two prints I came away with at the end of the classes. They both required some burning in and of course there are some flaws but for my first go at it, I'm pretty stoked.

The camera I used was a Pentax ME Super with an SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/2 lens. The film I used was Ilford FP4 and the paper was 11x14 Ilford Multigrade 4. With the first image I used a Multigrade #3 1/2 filter and the second image I used a Multigrade #2 filter.

Not sure if this info helps at all. Bear with me, I'm a newby.

Oh, and thanks so much Walt for opening the door. I am so grateful.

Spain & Italy 2010

2010-08-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

A delay here and a delay there...but all for great reasons...
I finally finished processing a set of photos from my vacation.
It was a great trip, but damn does it all go by so quickly.

The places we visited were Barcelona and Madrid in Spain and Procida, Italy. It was my first time in Spain and I loved it.
Especially, Barcelona because it's right on the ocean.

Procida, well it was my 6th trip there and it's pretty much my second home. Mi mancate tantissimo Franco e Florian!!!

Here are a few of the photos:

To see these photos larger and the rest of the bunch,
check out this link below:

Spain & Italy 2010

I'm not sure how long I will leave the link active

but when I decide to make it inactive,

I will make the changes here as well.

Enjoy.

Re-entry takes time

2010-07-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since my last post.
I apologize for my absence.

I was on vacation for 3 weeks and I was busy the week before
locking things down at work and home.
Plus, I'm moving in 5 days so the weeks after the vacation
have been pretty full as well.

I took plenty of photos while I was away so I promise
to post some of them somewhere.
Either on my website, here on my blog or on my flickr site.
I still have a lot of processing to do but it's going smoothly.

Things have been really good these days.
It just doesn't stop getting better.
I'm very grateful.

Oh, and you probably have noticed...
I changed my blog header image.
Yay!

Grandad's Camera

2010-06-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

About two months ago, I inherited my Grandfather's camera.

It's a Voigtländer Vito II.

Specs:
Manufactured in: Braunshweig, Germany
Built between: 1949-1954
Lens: Coated Color-Skopar 50mm f/3.5
Focal range: 3'6" to infinity
Shutter: Prontor-S
Film type: 135
Meter: none

The camera is pretty much in mint condition.
The only thing I noticed is that the shutter speeds below 1/50th of a second stick open. I took it to the local photo shop and had them take a look at it. They said the cog wheels get gummed up over time and that they'd have to send it out to have it serviced.

I thought about it and decided to give it a spin
before sending it away.
Over the last month I shot a roll of film through it to see if it would work. Sure enough it did, as long as I stayed above 1/25th of a second.

I had the negatives developed and out of 27 exposures,
only about 4 or 5 were poor.
(Mostly due to my laziness and not using a meter or tripod.)

To meter, I used an old Sekonic AUTO-LEADER L-188.

For blog sake, I had the photos printed.

I didn't post all of the images because it was a test roll and I felt several of the compositions were boring. I just tried to shoot in as many different light conditions as possible to see how it performed under different exposure values.

Short story long, I don't think I'm going to worry about the lower shutter speeds for now. 1/50th and above seemed to suit me fine.

I'm so grateful to have this camera and to keep it going.
Grandad would be so happy.

Springtime...

2010-05-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

is so full of life...

and death.

More Fun with Film

2010-05-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

Camera: Pentax ME Super
Film: Fujicolor Superia 200
Lenses: SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/2 & Sears 70-210mm f/4
Developing/Processing: Evergreen Film Service Eugene, Oregon

I'm not very religious...

2010-05-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

but at least we have something sort of in common.

*click on image to see larger version*

-Film Version-

Camera: Pentax ME Super
Film: Fujicolor Superia 200
Lens: SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/2
Developing/Processing: Evergreen Film Service Eugene, Oregon

?

2010-05-12T23:47:00.000-07:00

Night walk # 156

2010-05-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

is why I get up in the morning...

and take pictures at night.

“How the hell did we end up here?”

2010-04-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago I had a very hard time falling asleep. At about 3am I gave up and decided to go out and shoot a location I had spotted days earlier, on a walk with my girlfriend.

I had gone out the previous night, at about 11pm, to shoot the spot but the angle I wanted for the composition made the placement of my camera a bit dangerous. I had it on a tripod, in the bike lane, of the major thoroughfare that the house sits on and it was lightly raining.

I decided after about a half hour of jumping in and out of the bike lane, as cars whizzed by, leaving my camera to the gods in hopes that it wouldn’t be clipped by a lazy driver, that the shot wasn’t worth my life or my camera’s.

So, since it was 3am I figured the traffic would be lighter and I can try some new angles and possibly set up the camera in one of the lanes of the road.

I came away with this self portrait that I’m very happy about.

30 seconds @ f8.0 - 200 iso

So here is the juicy part…

After taking a few exposures I started adding myself to the image. I was walking slowly across the frame and stopping at the far left to look back at the camera. On my second attempt I turned to look back at the camera and saw a hooded figure only about 15 feet from my camera with two other decent sized figures following.
Yay!

I turned and approached the person quickly and got between him and my camera, with only a foot to spare. We were standing face to face.

He asked me if what I had set up was a speed trap and I tried my best to explain to him that I’m artist, working and don’t have too much time to talk. Funny enough, after some back and forth discussion about it all, it came out that this guy is from Lakewood, New Jersey…Of All the F-in' Places in the World! You see, I grew up in New Jersey and I lived only 40 minutes from Lakewood. Crazy. I told him that and he said “How the hell did we end up here?” Then it came out that he is a part of the Oregon Vagabond. It’s a news paper created by the homeless, here in Eugene. I told him I wouldn’t forget about the paper and that I would post it here. I gave him my card and he walked off with his buddies.

Here is the link to learn more:

Oregon Vagabond

The guy on the home page of the site is the guy I was talking with that night.

Oh and yes, there’s more.

I got back in the zone and decided to rethink my placement in the shot. After taking the posted image above, I repositioned myself sitting on the side of the garage. When I was checking the shot a patrol car quickly turned head on into the lane I was set up in and turned on his lights.
Yay! Take 2

I calmly stood there and slowly moved my camera and tripod to the sidewalk. The cop asked me what I was doing and I explained it to him and showed him the photos I shot. At that time, another cop rolled up and put his lights on. He realized the scene was safe and joined in and checked out my photos as well. They both thought it was pretty cool.
Sweet!
I gave one of the cops my card and they left me to continue shooting.

All the excitement was enough for me and I figured it was a good time to head home. I got the shot I wanted and the only thing next on the list of things to happen was probably me being abducted by aliens. So I headed home and as I lay in my bed, exhausted, I looked at the clock and it said 4:22.
That was the time I was born.

The End.

9 more blocks

2010-04-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

I had my second roll of "walking to work" film developed this weekend.

Camera: Sears KSX-P Dual2 Program

Film: Fujicolor Superia 200

Stock Lenses: 28-70mm f/3.5 & 70-210mm f/4

Developing/Processing: Dot Dotson's Eugene, Oregon

Came across this little plaque, nailed to base of a tree trunk.

Danny is not my rat.

R.I.P.

Danny

Danny was the most precious rat I've ever had.

He lies here to Rest in Peace.

We'll miss him so much.

Danny died of cancer in his chest.

He died on Saturday, May 13th 2006.

*some extra shots*

Moral of this story...

Film Is Fun.

9 blocks

2010-04-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

In the middle of March, I decided to start walking to work, rain or shine. I figured it would be good exercise since I spend most of the day sitting down. Plus, I only live 9 blocks away so it doesn’t take me too long either.

To change things up a bit, I’ve been taking one of my film SLRs with me for the trip.

Just recently, I developed the first roll film I shot and came away with a few images I can appreciate. I figured, even though they aren't the best, I could be driving my scoot and not taking any photos at all. That's enough for me to keep it up. Plus, summer is coming and soon the rains will be gone.

Camera: Sears KSX-P Dual2 Program

Film: Kodak MAX Versatility 400

Stock Lenses: 28-70mm f3.5 & 70-210mm f4

Developing/Processing: Dot Dotson's Eugene, Oregon

*note*

The film I used was over 3 or 4 years old so there may be a slight color shift which I think goes along with the mood of the photos.

Using film slows everything down for me. Digital can be so fast at times...maybe even too fast. I like the idea of having to wait. I'm a high strung person and I thought that waiting would make me anxious and in fact, it brought a calm about me that I usually only experience after making love.

CB, NJ

2010-04-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

I grew up in a small town, on an barrier island, off the coast of New Jersey. I really miss living a block from the beach.

"No Diving Or Jumping Off Bridge"

Yeah, right.

Down By The River

2010-03-10T21:44:00.000-08:00

The other night my good friend Ralph suggested we go on and impromptu photo shoot.

We headed down to the river to see what we could find.

I found a great time with a good friend, outdoors, shootin' the night away.

La Bottega de le Ombre

2010-02-21T18:49:00.000-08:00

During the fall of 2007 I studied abroad in Italy. The program was located in Macerata, a beautiful town in the center of the Marché region.

I lived with a sweet woman named Maria Carla and her 14-year-old dog Pulker. During the first week of my stay, I met many of Maria Carla’s friends and family members, including her daughter Margherita.

In the evening, Maria Carla’s daughter, Margherita, rehearses and performs with a local theater group called La Bottega de le Ombre. The group performs in the traditional theatrical style of Commedia dell’arte and donates all their proceeds to Maria Romero Children’s Home in Nairobi, Kenya. It’s a home/school/orphanage for children who come from abusive situations and those with terminal illnesses.

One evening Margherita and her family came over for dinner. Margherita spoke with me about the group and asked me if I’d like to come and watch a rehearsal. Without hesitation I said, “Yes!”

That next Wednesday I went with her to the rehearsal and met the rest of the group. Everyone was so kind and welcoming. By the end of the evening I was so overjoyed and so grateful to be able to have such a wonderful experience after being in Italy for such a short time.

For the next two weeks I continued to go to the rehearsals. Then, two unfortunate incidents occurred. First, one of the members got in an accident on his motor scooter and would be out for several weeks. Then, another member had to fully drop out due to a heavy load of classes at school.

At the next rehearsal Sante Latini (the writer and director of the group) asked me if I’d like to fill in for one of the cast members. I was asked to play Cucco the tamborino (drummer boy). He said the character had no individual lines except for a few scenes where I would speak or chant in unison with the rest of the group. I was blown away by the offer. I wasn’t going to deny the incredible opportunity and again said, “Yes!!”

The whole experience was amazing. I continued going to rehearsals twice a week until the actual performance in the middle of October.

On the night of the performance, the theatre was absolutely full and some people were even standing in the back. I was so nervous and so excited. The performance went great. The crowd was laughing the entire time and the applause seemed to go on forever after the show was over.

To add to the incredible experience, Sister Rosaria (one of the women who runs the school in Nairobi) happened to be at that specific performance. After the applause ended, she came on stage to thank us for all of our hard work and blessed us in front of the entire crowd. It was such a privilege.

After the show we all piled into Fabrizio’s car and went out for drinks and appetizers at a nearby restaurant. On the way home Sante thanked me for helping them out and expressed his appreciation for all of time I spent with them. He then reached into his bag of handmade Venetian masks and gave me the one pictured below. I couldn’t believe it! I was so shocked. He said it was a gift, not only for all of my hard work but also to mark the beginning of a new friendship. I was so honored and truly speechless. I will never forget those people or that experience. It was so life changing.

I took the picture of the mask to show my appreciation for the group and what they all did for me.

Thank you so much Maria Carla, Margherita, Sante, Fabrizio, Tatiana, Alessandro, Sabina, and Andrea. You are all so wonderful and so kind. I miss you all and hope to see you soon. Abbraccioni e bacioni!

top row: Fabrizio, Sante, Alessandro

bottom row: Margherita, Tatiana, and myself

not pictured: Sabina and Andrea

To learn more about La Bottega de le Ombre click the link below to check out their website.

La Bottega de le Ombre

To learn more about Commedia dell’arte click the link below.

Commedia dell'arte

Ma ghee-tar

2010-01-31T12:08:00.000-08:00

The other day, while playing my guitar, I had a thought that it might be about time I consider buying a new one. Of course the first site I hit was Taylor...then the drooling ensued. While perusing pages and pages of incredible craftsmanship, I glanced over at my guitar (a Washburn D12-SCE) and a feeling of sadness overcame me.

How could I replace my guitar??? It's been with me almost half of my life!!

I closed down the site, picked it up and began right where I had left off.

11 years and counting...

Thanks old buddy.

Happiness

2010-01-30T16:58:00.000-08:00

I met Adrienne a year ago today.

That was the greatest day of my life.

Happy One Year Anniversary Lover.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-15T21:20:00.000-08:00

Almost 2 months since my last post. The holidays, travel to the homeland, and the New Year seem to have cut into my blog entries significantly.

Well, I have to say 2009 proved to be a fantastic year. I went through so many good changes and there was so much personal growth. I'm exactly where I want to be right now. 100% content.

So...even though I've been away, I have a ton of posts coming up. I'm really looking forward to all the new and exciting challenges ahead in 2010.

Life is good...really damn good.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

???

2009-11-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

Keep your hands away from this thing.

The protective oil that the outer membrane secretes is

highly toxic to humans and reacts with skin violently

...or not.

Damn, OCF is so much fun.

To view this photo without the watermark visit my website.

OCF

2009-10-31T23:08:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad a colleague of mine had been so persistent about pushing me to get my flash off camera. About two weeks ago something clicked, and I decided to head to the local photo shop to pick up what I needed. Now I understand. I've been having loads of fun experimenting with it all and even started creating some DIY light modifiers.

Below is a photo I really enjoyed, so I thought I'd share it. I suppose it can act as a marker for the beginning of my OCF exploits.

As always...to see the photo without the watermark, please feel free to visit my website.

Oh and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

A few of my favorite things about photography

2009-10-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

So I've been trying to turn my attitude around these days. I've realized over the course of the last few months that I had been falling into depressive moods way too often. To relieve my anxiety, I started going for walks at night and bringing my camera along.

So far the walks have proven to be a success. Not only do I feel better, but I've also come away with some pretty enjoyable work from every walk.

But I'd like to talk about the photo below because it pretty much sums up my favorite aspects of straight photography.

(No artificial light, no fancy equipment, just me, my camera and the environment around me.)

I come across this ladder, tree, rope and swing often. It's just a few blocks from my apartment. I had been meaning to take some photos of it for a while and in the right light. This shot was taken at about 11:20pm on a Tuesday night. The neighborhood was dead quiet, just the way I like it, and the nearby street light was giving me the exact light I was looking for.

I framed the shot and took 3 exposures. I was really satisfied with the photo and wanted to take a few more. But right after my 3rd exposure I heard someone coming out of the house next door. At that moment I determined that I probably only had about 30 more seconds before I'd have to defend my rights as a photographer. I told myself I should just try to get one more exposure. As I'm about to take the shot, out of the corner of my eye, I see a white cat dart across the street. I know it's going to walk right through my frame, so I wait just a moment, and as soon as it steps between the tree and ladder, I let it fly. Amazingly, the shutter sound scares the cat and stops it dead in its tracks. Perfect!

Then, I look up from my camera only to see the person taking their garbage cans off the street. The cat ran across the street because that person was its owner. Also, I had been standing there so still that the cat didn't even notice me.

So the point of my story is that I never could've planned that situation or created it. I captured that moment in time, and now it's over.

There's a flow about it all, and afterward I feel a wonderful sensation circulate throughout my body...as if the gods were there and had their hands in it.

Those moments make the hair stand up on my arms with excitement.

I love photography.

Oh, and here are two other night walk shots.

To view these images without the watermark visit my website.

Some days are harder than others

2009-10-02T17:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't ridden my bicycle in a while.

It sits in my house like a ghost.

I love my cat.

2009-09-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

Pino aka Zampanò

September 22, 1977 - 4:22 pm

2009-09-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

"Bearing a tiny seed that will produce a mighty oak,
the acorn reminds us that great results can be born of humble beginnings"
(source unknown)

September 22, 1977 - 4:22 pm

How thankful I am for that moment and how thankful I am for this moment.
So far...32 truly wonderful years!

I want to express how fortunate and grateful I am to have met Adrienne.
Our bond is so beautiful and great, and my heart is filled with so much love for her.

Adrienne, thank you for loving me the way you do and supporting me in everything I do.

I love you so much, and you bring so much happiness to all of my days.

Last Table post

2009-09-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

Table...In action.

Table done! ...for now.

2009-09-14T22:47:00.001-07:00

But I'm still not sure if i want to put bands on the legs as well.

It's always a good day when a Shots Mag shows up in my mail box!

To know more, check out the link below.

shots magazine

Paint It Black

2009-09-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I decided to paint my kitchen table.

I love black.

I'm going to paint a simple design on it as well.
A few bands of neutral gray on the top
and a few bands of the same gray on the legs...I think...

2 coats on the entire table and 3 coats on the top
Tomorrow I'll get to the gray.

kicking and screaming...

2009-09-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

I remember one day I really REALLY didn't want to go to school. And I'm not sure why my mom was dropping me off there because I normally took the bus. Well anyhow, as we walked through the front doors of my elementary school, I threw a fit. I was crying and literally kicking and screaming as my mom dragged me past the main office. Unfortunately, the principal of my school got caught in the wake of my fury, and I kicked him...a few times. Not good.

That's truly how I feel some days. Like I want to throw a fit and have it all just stop.

I felt that way when I thought about posting a photo on here today....then again...while browsing photos on flickr, another quote caught my eye, tapped my core and brought me here.

"If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up."
-Richard Avedon

exposure 13

2009-09-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

9 - 9 - 9

I worked. I cleaned...now laundry.

Chicken Scratch

2009-09-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

I took some photos this morning and after looking at them, I felt that they were all worthless.

With that, I decided I wouldn't post anything and went on with my day. Well, about an hour or so ago, I stumbled upon a local photographer's blog. Under each of his photos, there were quotes about photography.

This one resonated with the feelings I had earlier in the day:

"Once the amateur's naive approach and humble willingness to learn fades away, the creative spirit of good photography dies with it.
Every professional should remain always in his heart an amateur."
-Alfred Eisenstaedt

..and it inspired me to go forth and post the photos despite how I felt about them.

Day One

2009-09-03T20:24:00.000-07:00

Testing, testing, one, two, three...Testing, testing, one, two, three...

Normally I would make a long winded disclaimer about what I'm trying to do and what I'm not trying to do here, but I think I'm going to skip all that nonsense and just see what happens as the days go by.

It is what it is.