Tags: The Good, The Bad, All Ugly

     When I was in high school and just starting to decide what I wanted to do with my photography as a career I would look thru magazines for inspiration from different photography careers. Rolling Stone, Playboy, National Geo., Circus, American Photographer, and the like. I'd thumb thru looking at composition, lighting, trying to understand darkroom techniques and figure out how and why an image made it to the pages of whatever publication was in my hand at the time. I always noticed the small print usually in the lower corners of each image by the border that would read  "photo by, Insert Photographer Name". I thought to myself, man, that is where I wanna be. Right there in small print on the corner of my image. That was the top of the hill. The summit of the mountain I was climbing. 

     Cut to twenty some odd years later and the digital age (I wont go into the discussion that we all have about the backside of digital photography and how many people who picked up a camera last week who now attach the title of Photographer to their Vista Print cards) what with Photoshop being the digital darkroom of choice there are so many options to creating an image the one prevalent theme is to slap ones name to every image produced. I will admit that if you go to some of my images online I am guilty of this as well but have not practiced it in some time. Personally, I find it to be one of the worst trends in the art form. I do not understand putting in hours of work to create an image just to muck it up with a bunch of text and a logo. And some of these logos, well lets just say that if I were a psychologist I am sure I could have a paper published on the direct relation to logo size and ego size.

     I know that this is probably not the most popular stance I have taken. I also know that I have friends in the industry who, if they are reading this now, are thinking, "Hey man, you're talking about me!".  Maybe, but  I am not writing this to criticize or down anyone's work or choices. I just think that there should be a better way. Perhaps thru metadata or EXIF .
     Yes we need recognition for our work. Yes we want credit for our work. I would just like to see it take another form so when we show our work we don't find it necessary to soil it with some sort of brand recognition. Ultimately what I want is for someone to see an image unclouded by Myriad Pro font and say, "I know that photographer. That's 'Insert Photographer's Name '." But until that time if you need to find me, I'll be  in the corner. By the border.

Less is more (or how I put all my eggs in one basket)

Ive been trying to update the webpage for a couple of weeks now and every time I do I seem to end up with no update and a fist full of hair. I believe it is because I am looking to others sites and trying to reverse engineer their style. Recently I have come to the conclusion that I am working harder and not smarter. Today I am uploading, (as I type) the revamped SkyCrab Images site. 

The site is now an all inclusive one page link fest to flash galleries for photography, graphic designs, social networking sites and contact information. All things concerning S.C.I is found in one place. no need for complex navigation, Kid. Less is more.

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Also, today, we have created a new gallery for Mitch Hollingsworth.com . The new gallery is  CSS based  and allows his paintings to be displayed properly as well as their titles and dimensions. This gallery has not yet been uploaded but should be viewable by the end of the day or early in the A.M.

SkyCrab Images brings you, Mitch Hollingsworth, Artist

     Being in Key West, what was once a bohemian artist community that is now flooded with cheap lithographs, poster.com reprints, and framed crap that isn't fit for a Motel 6 wall, I truly value the artists in town who actually have a unique vision and style. Not all artists and galleries in town are geared for the banal mainstream status quo but there are a lot. One of the artists who rises to the top is, I am proud to say, a very good friend.

     Mitch Hollingsworth has been a resident artist in Key West since the mid nineties when he moved to the island from Illinois. In those years his ventures have been many. From selling the art created in his studio 'Chicken Shack Gallery' in Bahama Village, faux finishing some of the finest homes on Key West, Sunset Key, and Little Palm Island, to his most recent display which can be seen in the Milwaukee Art Museum's "Día de los Muertos" starting Sunday, October 23, 2011.  Mitch's medium is primarily oil on wood.

     Mitch recently returned from a 5 week hiatus in which he took time to see the "Día de los Muertos." display. After talking with other artists he realized he needed some web presence and called upon SkyCrab Images to do the job.  MitchHollingsworth.Com is the result.

     Mitch's website is a simple one. A standard front page with an adjoining flash gallery with 20 or so of his pieces. At this time there is a link for an info/bio/about page which will be up soon.

But I don't have Photoshop... Not an excuse anymore.

(Attribute this post to boredom and a necessity to discover things I don't need  .)

     While doing my early morning surfing which usually is a standard E-Mail, Facebook, Huffington Post mish-mosh of diversion while I have my first cup of coffee, I fell into the whirlpool of what I call Web-Nosis. [Web-Nosis] : the act of traveling unconsciously from one page to another via links in what was going to be a fully read article.

     During this particular day I stumbled upon something that I am surprised to find out has been around since 2008.  

Photoshop Express . This is, described in Wikipedia, as a
      'Flash-based image editing web application from Adobe used to directly edit photos on blogs and social networking sites, so that users do not have to download or upload images' .
In short, it is an online working Photoshop program. Granted it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that I am used to but if you're looking to make that point and shoot picture pop, then this is perfect.

When you sign up for a free account you get:

• 2GB of free storage
• Online tools to edit, create, and share
• A personal gallery and profile page
• Slideshow templates and creations
• Video storage and streaming

I loaded a picture into the beta myself and can say, if you're looking for something quick, free and PRODUCTIVE then you have Photoshop at your disposal.

I always end up back in the kitchen....

I don't know why. Is it because I am Italian? Is it because I was (and am still to some extent) a picky eater? Is it because my first job was bustin' sudz in the kitchen of Gaetano's restaurant back then, a lifetime ago, in Mattapoisett? It is possibly a question for a philosopher, but I seem to always find myself entwined in the Food and Beverage industry no matter what I do in life. Sure, I'd love to bang out my own ideas but I don't pay myself a respectable wage whatsoever. So I take the work that is given to me and rent is ultimately paid.

That being said, things have been up in the last few months. Key West Food To Go, a restaurant food delivery service, has been established and given a presence thanks to yours truly. Their logo and sight design is 100% SCI. The logo was a quick make due to time.


More recently, we have been creating menu, table tent, & coaster designs for Pat Croce's Rum Barrel. Most of the design work has been done using their existing logos and basic design principles.

Where has the time gone???

It has been some time since I wrote anything. Over a year to be exact. At this point in the game I have been doing a whole bunch of nothing but doctor/lawyer stuff and it seems to be getting better. Well on the law side of things anyway. But back to that in a bit. I am deep in the middle of revamping skycrabimages.com .The site will have a whole new look and feel with new galleries (OK, not NEW galleries but a new style). I haven't shot anything since my accident so content will be pretty much the same. A new section will be added to the graphic arts section that will showcase print work (i.e. booklet, brochure style work)in a manner that will convey the finished product. The changes should be up shortly
As far as my accident. Well, we will be picking a jury for the criminal trial and if all goes smoothly we will start on the 8th. My civil case is going rather slowly. At this point I am awaiting the slow churning bureaucratic system to do it's thing so I can see a hand specialist to determine weather or not it can heal properly. Wish me luck on that.

Hungry???

Well readers, it hasn't been all recovery and pain for me. This week after months of revision and change the first issue of Rob Ayr's "We Deliver" menu has finally been sent to the printer. Rob had asked me several months ago to help him with a menu design that was both informative and visually appealing. I took a look at his current menu booklet and to be honest he could have gone any number of routes (including writing it all up with blunt crayons) and it still would have been an improvement from what he got from his previous graphic artist. After a battle with spell check, researching restaurants that did or did not exist anymore, recreating and creating logos for local restaurant menus (most were stolen from existing businesses across the country) I have finally come up with a product that Rob feels will do "We Deliver" a great service. This first issue is in greyscale and has only a few select menus (and a list of 38 other restaurants of which to order from) but once production becomes steady "We Deliver" will have a full color menu filled with menus on the streets of key west listing all restaurants and their cuisines that can be delivered right to your door.

Click on "We Deliver" for a .pdf of the first run menu.