Sunday, December 30, 2012

Botanica - Part Eighteen



It's the final blog post of 2012 and we end the year with a detail photo of an orchid plant we received in memory of my father-in-law's passing.
     I hope everyone takes a few minutes to remember those who are no longer with us and have left us with a longing in our hearts.
     May you find peace and strength in the many memories of the times we were lucky enough to have our loved ones by our sides.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

SOLD

Nine photographs from the 2009 exhibition, When Is A Barbie Not A Barbie?, were sold this month to a private collector. Thank you Bruno David Gallery for showing my work and making the connection that enabled this sale.

Happy Holidays to everyone!


Sunday, December 9, 2012

Benchmark



Unfolding
2012
© Larry Torno


Whenever I'm creating art or when I'm viewing art, I always have a mental benchmark that I apply to each work. Whether it's a painting, drawing, sculpture or photograph, I consider this guiding principle — Tell me something I don't know.
     In each case, I review what I've done, or what someone else has done, and try to determine if they've taught me anything, or if I've taught myself anything.
     Someone once said that the majority of photography today is merely a pretty good record of what was in front of the camera. But I want to know more. I want to know what the artist is seeing that I didn't consider.
     I know what a handball court looks like, but what does it look like on a clear winter day with it's high walls casting shadows that create repeating angles, like a piece of origami unfolding itself.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

In the News - Found Landscape



One of my photos, Found Landscape 13, is part of the group exhibition, Blue - White - Red, at the Bruno David Gallery. The show opened November 30, 2012 and runs through January 19, 2013.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Composition - Part Two




On October 28th, I posted a new idea I was experimenting with. Today I'm sharing another photo in the series.

IN THE NEWS - On Exhibition

Recently the website Lenscratch included one of my images in an online show.



Surf over to http://barbiedollportrait.blogspot.com/ to see the latest Barbie image from my exhibition, When Is A Doll Not A Doll.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Snaps - Part One



I found myself stuck at a railroad crossing and since I had my camera with me, I looked for a photo opportunity.
     Outside the driver's window was this cinder block building. I liked the way the sun backlit the sign so I composed an image, then overexposed it to turn the sky white and render the colors as pastels.
     In early 2011, I also found myself waiting for a train to pass and caught the following image.


Sunday, November 11, 2012

Paved Paradise - Part Five



Line and Composition
2007
© Larry Torno

An image culled from the archives of the Paved Paradise series.

Surf over to http://barbiedollportrait.blogspot.com/ to see the latest Barbie image from the exhibition, When Is A Doll Not A Doll.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Archived

I didn't have time to shoot something new this week, so I went back into the archives and searched for interesting work. I found these two photos shot on the evening of June 20, 2007.
     I positioned myself on the upper level of a hospital parking garage and waited for the sun to set. The first image of the strange clouds was taken at 7:21. Thirty minutes later, at 7:51, I saw the moon appear and composed a shot with the two tree tops in the lower right hand corner. I was amazed to see the variance of colors in such a short time.



Sunday, October 28, 2012

Compositions





Experimenting. Always experimenting. Thinking a possible title for the series would be Big Nudes.

Surf over to http://barbiedollportrait.blogspot.com/ to see the latest Barbie image from the exhibition, When Is A Doll Not A Doll.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Focal Point - Part Eight





This week's Focal Point images continue the series in a slightly new direction. I'm experimenting with creating compositions, rather than finding and recording existing layouts.
     I began the Focal Point concept in the last quarter of 2010 and am always looking for ways to extend the series with fresh ideas, observations and explorations.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Recent Work - 2012.10.10



Architectura
2012
© Larry Torno

The thing about this blog is that it keeps me working. Knowing that I have a self-imposed deadline of a weekly post keeps me shooting all the time. Sometimes I make mistakes and sometimes I have successes but I'm always learning with each new photograph.

Surf over to http://barbiedollportrait.blogspot.com/ to see the latest Barbie image from the exhibition, When Is A Doll Not A Doll.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Recent Work - 2012.10.1




This work is about as recent as you can get. A few weeks ago I posted some new Focal Point images and my friend Lynn commented "Please do more of your focal point series." She called them "breath taking" and "breath giving" - a nice compliment, indeed.
     That was enough incentive to get me motivated to start creating some additional work. Only this time, I tried digging deeper with the Focal Point concept and came up with these two compositions. As I told someone the other day, I never really reach a goal; I just keep pushing the boundaries further out.
     At their actual size of 20" x 30", these photographs encourage you to take a closer look and explore their hidden landscapes.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

In the News - Worldwide Photography Gala Awards

I recently had 2 photographs receive Honorable Mention in the Worldwide Photography Gala Awards exhibition, Urban and Country Landscapes. The online show selected 41 winners out of 282 artists from 46 countries.
     Last year I also received an Honorable Mention in the WPGA exhibition, Interregional.
     Both photos are available as limited edition prints at Bruno David Gallery.


Sunday, September 23, 2012

LTP | VISION Magazine - Issue 3





ISSUE : 3
Welcome to Issue : 3 of LTP | Vision Magazine
     Recently I was asked to show some new work in the Focal Point series, so I put together an issue of LTP | Vision Magazine to highlight the most recent images. Like most of my photo series, I continually work on expanding the portfolios. 

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Recent Work - 2012.9.2

Response to last week's post of my experimental photos was so favourable that I went back out and shot some more. I'm doing this in preparation for my entry into a landscape themed exhibition, simply defined as "open to interpretation".





Surf over to http://barbiedollportrait.blogspot.com/ to see the latest Barbie image from the exhibition, When Is A Doll Not A Doll.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Recent Work - 2012.9

I'm always experimenting with my photography and recently created these dreamy landscapes.





Sunday, September 2, 2012

Short Stories - Chapter One Revealed

I asked for it and I got it.
     Last week I posted a photo and asked you to tell me the story behind the image. You were creative and sent in some very perceptive scenarios. I enjoyed the imagination, attention to detail and verbal interpretations.
     As a creative writing experiment, this was great. But what's more interesting to me is the in-depth personal observations each of the entrants created. A perfect example of how to look at and appreciate a fine art photograph.
     Here's the photo and some of your short stories.



1. She had seen the truck parked in the same spot, off and on, for the past three weeks. The man sitting in the front seat seemed to be staring at her.

2. (It was a dark and stormy night) but typical of the rainy mess we’ve suffered on previous Happy Harvest celebrations. The blue Chevy coasted to a stop outside the auditorium door. I froze in my very realistic oak tree costume cursing my brother for taking so long to get into his overalls.

3. It was a dark and stormy night down in the old Gaslight Square. A suspicious blue pick-up truck circled the block a few times, then pulled over and parked. Only the occasional glow from his cigarette broke through the darkness inside his truck. A scantily-clad lady of the evening approached the driver on the passenger side. “Hey, Daddy.  Feel like goin’ for a spin?” She climbed in. He started the truck, threw his cigarette out the window, and they disappeared into the dark night.

4. We went to bed early that night, leaving a window open to catch the unseasonally cool breezes of a late August summer in the Midwest. Before long, I was stirred awake by the sound of heavy raindrops beating a steady rhythm on the roof above. I stumbled out of bed but stopped short when I noticed a reflection from the streetlight of a wet footprint on the oak floor below the windowsill. We were not alone in the room.

5. If I ever wear these infrared glasses again I’m going to apply some Rain X on them. And what is it with them making me wear this Men in Black uniform; I never did understand that. Damn I just realized I’m on the wrong block, the truck should be in the back! 

6. The truck had been there since just after dusk. Jen had said that she wasn’t feeling well, and that she was going to bed early, and that she would talk to him in the morning. What really hurt, what really stuck in his craw, was that he really didn’t even love her. Then why the f*** was he here, at three o’clock in the morning, watching her place, wondering if the guy in the truck was going to spend the whole night there, and how many times they would f***. No, he didn’t love her. But he was damned if he was going to let her end this on her terms, end it with a welder from Torrance, who drove a shitty pickup and brought her take out Chinese so he could slip between her sheets.

7. He stood in the shadows shivering. Not from the cold rain but rather from what was parked across the street of his home. Wasn’t that the same truck he saw near the grocery store yesterday and then two days earlier in the office parking lot? Charles began to question the secrecy of the Witness Protection Program or was it those seemingly harmless tags on Facebook. His gut told him to run.

THANK YOU to all who entered. We'll do this again sometime.

Surf over to http://barbiedollportrait.blogspot.com/ to see the latest Barbie image.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Short Stories - Chapter One



It was a dark and stormy night . . . so goes the quintessential opening line to a fictional story that I'm sure involves some inky shadows.
     Today's post, and maybe some more in the future, was inspired by the notion that a picture tells a story. However, in this case, I need you to be the author. I'd like everyone to send me a sentence or two (or three) that I can put together as a story written by all of you. BE CREATIVE.
     Send your thoughts to larry@berkeleydesignllc.com. If we get something good, I'll pass it along in a future post.
     Help me write the story behind the photo!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Observe, Compose, Create

Always in search of opportunities to express my creativity, I ask the question, "Is Art here?", wherever I go.

In these cases . . . 
. . . is it in the white-washed window of an abandoned building?
. . . is it in a downtown parking structure?
or
. . . is it in an evening storm about to roll in?





Sunday, August 12, 2012

Midwest Cliché - Trio




Cars, Wanted
2012
© Larry Torno

Today I'm adding a new image to the Midwest Cliché series and pairing it up with two previous posts.





Sunday, August 5, 2012

In the News - In, Out, K


Occasionally I do a Google search for my images and discovered that I had a photo appear in Black and White Magazine (B&W) online. The 2009 post was of my photo, In, Out, K, from a series of parking lot images called Paved Paradise.

Surf over to http://barbiedollportrait.blogspot.com/ to see the latest Barbie image.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Observe, Compose, Create

Not everyone understands what I do. Here's a chance for me to try to explain how an observation turns into a photograph.
     I see something that catches my eye. In this case, a still life in my office. The color photo shows my observation (from left to right) – a section of a cream colored mat with gold frame, a hideous green painted wall (thank you previous owners), the angled edge of a leaning maple wood frame, a dark shadow caused by the slanted frame, the sliver of another hideously painted wall (yellow this time) and the surface of the last hideously painted wall (blue). What you don't see (thankfully) is the remaining pink wall.

I see this composition as flat and geometric shapes, convert the image to black and white, experiment with exposures and create a photograph that abstracts the essence of the original elements but presents them in a new and interesting vision.


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Inspired



© Larry Torno

Our friend, SJ Hammack/painter+, dropped by with housewarming flowers. It was a nice visit, a thoughtful gesture and an inspirational gift that spawned the image above.

It's time for another Barbie post on http://barbiedollportrait.blogspot.com/

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Composition Study





Anyone that follows this blog knows that I consider myself an observer first, and a photographer second. The camera is a means for producing the images I discover and the compositions I create.
     These three recent photos were part of a study of form and composition. The content follows my basic theme of simplicity in nature and rendering the subject in terms of shape, texture and pattern.

I N  T H E  N E W S

My photo, Evening Storm, was featured on the French website Le Journal de la Photographie.

Last year they posted some images from my Focal Point series. http://lejournaldelaphotographie.com/entries/3999/larry-torno-something-never-seen-before