As Halloween and the rest of the holidays get closer I am trying to get my creative thoughts going. Recently I have worked with a new model named Matt and he has done an awesome job. We have been testing things on a couple of different concept shoots, the most recent was a Devil in Hell series that has been very cool to work on. We had someone doing hair and helping with makeup, the end results showed how planning makes a big difference. Check out my gallery and see the different images with Matt and Blue Eyed Devil series.

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Happy 2008!!!! The New Year brings with it new ideas and new projects. I have recently picked up a new camera phone and think it might be fun to create a deviantART account to show case images taken on it. I have played around with cell phone cameras before but the results were pretty mixed. This time the camera is better. I am using a Blackberry Curve 8320 with a 2 mp camera that takes excellent images. No they are not as good as my Nikon, but that’s what makes the challenge interesting. To take a simple camera and use some skill, and hopefully a bit of luck and get some awesome new images. It should be fun.
I am also working with some new people on my different projects so I will be adding new material on here. Plus I will be adding some different images from the Blackberry phone. So should prove to be an interesting new year. Everyone has been very supportive about my past submissions, so I plan to work hard to keep up the effort from this end.
My goal for this year is to upgrade my camera to a D300. I would really like to get one, but will have to see how the funds go. Wish my luck in making that happen.
For everyone taking the time to read this, I truly hope your new year is a good one. May your dreams come true, and goals be reached. Best Wishes to all from Navarre, FL

Shawn

Wow, today when I was not looking my views passed 50,000. I can tell you I was pretty excited. I have been working on different projects that I will be sharing with everyone on here in the near future. In the mean time, I have pulled some older work out to add on to the gallery on here. I want to thank everybody who takes the time to view my work, and for those who have offered such great support with comments and making the images their favorites. Along with those watching my progress on here, I have the different friends here putting up with me, and my camera. I am sure many of them hate to see me pull it out. Even though not all my work gets to be displayed on the gallery here, there are so many more who have posed for me to work on my art. They deserve so much credit for the final product you see here. Even if their images are not displayed, it has helped me continue creating and the end results are better for every ones efforts. Over the last year I have done pictures for weddings, businesses, private shoots, the Air Force, and a lot of nudes. Yesterday I was out taking pictures of ducks and Florida Blue Herons with a new friend. My work is everywhere, and that’s what makes me want to do my best in each genre, taking pictures of the new Air Force CV-22 one day and a wedding another.

I bought my first camera at the age of 7. It was a Kodak pocket instamatic used 110 film. Along the way I have had several different cameras and with each one I learned a bit more. My first SLR came in seventh grade it was a Minolta XG-7. In high school I was a photographer on the yearbook staff and learned a lot of tricks in the dark room, and more important how to better use a camera to save work in the darkroom. To be really lazy you try to do it right the first time. I wonder if the school ever knew how many nudes were taken and had the film processed in the yearbook darkroom. Trial and error made me better. Art classes in college helped too. Even using the camera on my cell phone has taught me to work around the limits of the camera, and improve my own skills. Joining deviantART was an eye opener too, seeing so many with talent sharing their awesome work. It humbles you to see their work on here, and it challenges you to try to do better with your own work.

I wonder what the next year will bring with my work on here. Where ever it goes I hope all of you will stick around and keep driving me to continue to do better. Thank you to everyone for the awesome support you have given me.

Check out I have joined it and submited some of my work there.

Update on life things and creative work.

I would say I have returned, but the truth is I never left. It seems life has had some really busy events going on for me. I have been working at a slow pace on rebuilding my home from Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis. I am a creative person so it is not a simple job to bring a project like this to a completed phase. In the beginning, I designed the house to be built and I am resigning parts of it as it gets redone. It is a work in progress, with me doing much of the work myself. In the rebuild process I acquired two vintage Airtream trailers. They are awesome, but have added to my workload; as I have decided update them as well for use on my future adventures.
I recently took the time to submit six new images of a friend taken a few days ago. His name is Jonathan and he had decided after seeing some my past work he wanted to be the subject in a photo shoot. So on two minutes notice we headed off to the beach to capture his image in some sort of unplanned way. Grabbing my Nikon D100 and a scrap of white silk cloth we walked up the beach to an abandon federal park project (thanks to the above mentioned hurricanes). Even though it is a public beach area we were able to get in the different shots we were trying for. It will be interesting to see what comes of our next photo shoot with some planning. After submitting the six different images I went off to bed and figured I would check their numbers sometime the next day. About 12 hours later I logged to a pleasant surprise. In a time span of about 12 hours I had close to a thousand views of my work on here. It made me feel good to know that not only were the new images being seen, but my older work as well. I want to thank everyone for such awesome support. It is always nice to see results to efforts made. I will be adding more images of Jonathan from our recent shoot as I can.
I am trying to go through older images to see what I would like to add on here. In time I will add what I can. I am still on the look out for a good Eve to continue the Adam series. I know what I am looking for in the right Eve, and even though I have had nice offers the look was not right to continue that series.

Keep checking back.

In my own way I enjoy making the most of what is around me. As I look around, I see so many wonderful things to capture on film or digital. I learned a long time ago, the art I create is more for myself to express ideas bouncing around in my mind at the time the art (or image) is put into a form to share with others. Expermental ideas get worked on, different people share in the process, and in the end the results get shared by one method or another. Being part of deviantART has been a good thing for me as it has allowed share my work and ideas. One of the best parts with that, is being able to bring my own ideas in with other artist, to blend ideas. Most recently I met a new friend named Kory, he has been a good spark to my creative side. We have spent a lot of time bouncing ideas, and working on some of those same ideas. From a good friendship I see much more coming from my inner artist. I would suggest for everyone reading this to stir their creative juices by sharing some creatie time with others. Although not all ideas are ment to be altered by others, sometimes the ideas from those around you inspire you to think outside of your mind created box.

Don't forget, numbers are not everything. As I look through my own gallery, I see some images that have great numbers on views, and others with only a few views. That is ok, because this whole process starts with me. It is about what is going on in my mind the second in time I captured the image. As I return to view my own work, it brings me back to when the pictures were taken. So high numbers or not, I still love so many of these pictures. Each one brings different emotions. They are after all a record of my own journey. So where viewers here and elsewhere, may see a decent image they like, I see so much more. I see the time spent with friends like Kory, or the emotions I had when I saw a sunset. So thank you to all for being a part of my journey.