Mangos and Peaches

Alice, originally uploaded by Sienar.

View it on Black
Painted in Photoshop. No reference. Used an old photo for background color samples.

Tinkerbell, originally uploaded by Sienar.

View on White

Painting in Photoshop from memory.

Vancouver2010, originally uploaded by Sienar.

Howdy! Just stopping by the old blog to keep it somewhat updated. I received an email recently which I have received before asking If I still painted and did artsy stuff outside Photography. Well the answer is yes indeed I do! I love all that artsy stuff!

Granted most of my free time has been dedicated to photography and that’s mainly due to the large amount of photos I have taken the past few months, but the rise in the amount of workload I have taken on has also had a significant effect on my drawing & painting time
Most of my digital paintings have been commissioned work that I don’t share online. Sorry! Only my clients get to see the artwork they request and it’s up to them to share the work with whomever they want.

Still, I do keep a sketchbook that I update on a regular basis. I can never go more than a couple of days without sketching or doodling something on a piece of paper. That is how I get ideas out of my head, even with photography I’ve been getting into the habit of sketching out a few ideas I’d like to execute with the camera.

Anyways the top image if you don’t follow my Flickr photostream is a quick Photoshop painting I created while watching the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

And on a random note:
I have come to realize why I tend to neglect actually posting new content here. This used to be where I shared links and other interesting stuff I find on the web and twitter/facebook took the place of that by offering a streamlined method of sharing content with the masses. Why would someone visit a webpage if all they need to do is log into facebook and get a condensed stream of everyones content? No real need if you think about it. For me I never have to log into my blog, all I have to do is post a link on twitter and everyone has access to it while Tumblr & Flickr offer easier methods of sharing my images.

However, I feel that this new method of experiencing the internet, which is being consumed by the masses, is resulting in literally, information overload.

- Too much (more updates than are really necessary)
- Too fast (real time updates make everyone who is away from a computer for a day or two feel outdated)
- Lack of quality (I don’t play Farmville, don’t care about getting updates on that)

So far we’ve been offered relatively limited tools to control what updates we see and information filtering considering the amount of information that is generated on a daily basis. I’m eager to see what is developed to solve this situation.

I’m keeping this site going because It’s mine. Plain & Simple. On this site I try to collect content that is worth archiving (at least for myself). It’s a great place to write long posts like this one. I still try to collect my content across the other sites I use and keep them linked here somehow. And even though the website & content has changed I’ve been keeping this site updated for a few years now. No reason to stop.

Sorry for the rant. I think and type fast without really thinking if that makes any sense.

Normally, I try to stay away from flash photography. In a Studio setting off camera flashes however are intriguing. They add a new dynamic to photos that is fun to experiment with. LolyPix just acquired some new studio flash equipment and we were eager to try it out. Nothing terribly exciting about some portraits with a flash, but this is a first step in a new direction. Well, I like to think that I am constantly taking a step in a new direction. Or a step in several directions, but that is besides the point. The point is that we now have lights that do not have to be aimed directly in the direction the camera is facing and that opens a whole new world.

Farmville Sunset, originally uploaded by Sienar.

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Great thing about working in Homestead is you don’t have to drive too far to get away from the world. Out where all you see if farmlands and fields of green away from the muted colors of the developed world. So the sunsets here are pretty sweet and very colorful. I like driving out here because there is no noise and there is nothing to block your view of the sky. Clouds were wonderful on this day so I tried to grab as much of it as I could in a photo.

Been sitting in front of my computer consistently for more than two weeks now editing Europe photos so it’s not like I’m exactly looking for an excuse to photograph something else, but the colors in the sky were too good to pass-up. If you’d like to see all the Europe photos i’ve completed just visit this link: Eurotrip.

Enjoy your weekend!

A video that is both informative & entertaining.

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, originally uploaded by Sienar.

While I was editing this photo I couldn’t but be inspired by the masterpiece I had photographed. I know that actually knowing how these sculptures were made helps you appreciate it even more because you understand the time and effort dedicated to every aspect.

This is something that started as a solid block of marble that was chiseled down to created the forms and figures that exist today. And it’s not like the artist had the help of any machines to assist him or speed up production, this was something that was done manually with care so as to not crack the stone and ruin his work.

I’ll be honest, seeing all these things and knowing what they are and mean makes me want to pull out my old art history notes from school and go over the descriptions I wrote while studying. Something I didn’t think I would ever do after graduating… Studying.

Ciudad De Las Artes Y Las Ciencias, originally uploaded by Sienar.

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Finally back home, but you probably already knew that. Arrived two days ago very tired, but happy to end my travels on such a high note. FInal photo count was 8,644. I have my work cut out for me as far as photo editing goes. The photo above is one of my favorites from the trip.

I was looking forward to photographing the buildings in this area from the moment I decided I was going to Valencia. It’s one of those things that no matter how many times you see a photo of it online or in a book it still leaves you in awe when you’re actually there standing in front of it. I’m going to go ahead and say that most of my feeling during this trip was like this. You just cannot understand some of these things by looking at photos. I tried to photo graph as much as I could to try and show you how amazing everything we saw is.

This photo is actually only a part of the “City of Arts and Sciences” as it is translated in english. The center building is the Príncipe Felipe Science Museum and the large blue building in the background is still under construction. No idea what they have planned for that structure. The pools in the center are surrounded by streets and walk-ways that are open to the public at all times.

After walking through cold and rainy weather in Barcelona we were welcomed with this view in Valencia. Our hotel was a block away from this magnificent area of the city. We visited the Largest aquarium in Europe which is located at the far end of the city. I shot numerous photos during the day and at night as well. The architecture in this area is extremely imaginative and a photographers dream!

As always, I will be uploading photos as I finish editing them. Bear with me as I ease back into the workflow. I have stuff that I need to get caught up on and I will be editing the photos with care. No need to rush these things.

We’re in Rome right now, just got off the plane from Spain, trying to stay awake because our flight to Miami leaves in an hour. It’s been a fun ride. The consensus is that everything was simply amazing. Just when we thought we had seen it all we come across something new and unbelievable in another city and country. It has been very special for me because I have seen priceless works of art that I studied and read about all throughout school.

Right now I am le tired. It’s been a busy two weeks and I have my work cut out for me as far as photo editing is concerned. So I’ll leave you with these photos, the last that I will be editing on this trip. The next set of photos will be developed with time and patience to my Flickr account so check there if you’d like to see everything (and I mean everything) we did. If you’ve been following this blog you have a pretty general idea of what we’ve seen and experienced, but you really haven’t seen anything yet

Everything was perfect on this trip. Thanks for the good times Europe, we’ll be back soon!

It was a cold and blustery day in Madrid. The snow never let up and there were several cases of trench-foot among the troops. But we pressed on and took a tour of the Royal Palace and saw a slew of other things that left us impressed.

Looking forward to tomorrow!