Tag: photography

Socializing Over Social Media and Art

k150_17heel iconIt was one of those California days when the sunshine made the city sparkle, bright and full of promise. It was the perfect setting to gather at the Getty, with its spectacular hilltop views across Los Angeles, and meet a group of social media enthusiasts to share ideas, tips and Twitter handles, take in some amazing art exhibits – and of course have unlimited Instagram moments. They came to be social about social, meet people face to face, and see what unfolds when as life imitates Tweets. This was the Getty Social.

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Kastle at the Getty @StilettoCity

Put together by:

This unique “Tweetup” didn’t have a set agenda other than to meet like-minded Socialistas and revel in our current engaging and ever-changing social culture. It was an in-person and online mix of stimulus as people talked and pecked away on their smart phones simultaneously.

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Beverly Macy @Beverly Macy

The highlight of the event was a keynote speech by Nic Adler (son of music producer Lou Adler and actress Britt Ekland), a band manager, promoter, and restauranteur and owner of the Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip, best known to this group as the man who got the Sunset Strip to go social with by taking the Roxy venue’s social media strategy into the stratosphere.

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Nic Adler @NicAdler

Some highlights of Adler’s talk included the story of how the Roxy really started listening to what their customers were saying about the venue on social media and how making little changes and becoming engaged with the community lead to building a large and loyal following.

He then encouraged us all to turn and snap a photo of the person sitting next to us and share it. So here’s a pic of my pal Jon, social superstar in his own right, who I know from attending UCLA’s Social Media Marketing class.

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Jon Burk @MrJonBurk

After, we were turned loose on the Getty to take in some of the exhibits and spectacular views. I enjoyed the “Farewell to Surrealism” exhibit, soaked up the gorgeous black and white photography of Robert Mapplethrope, and was particularly moved by the city scene compositions of photographer Ray K. Metzker. My how photography has changed with phone pix and Instagram as we capture real life moments more than ever!

Check out some of the photos and tweets of the day by looking up #GettySocial on Twitter and Instagram.

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View at the Getty @GettyMuseum

Tweet up people!
Kastle

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Tag: photography

Falling for Fall: Leaf Peeping

I love fall. It’s my favorite season – the weather turns cool, the leaves change to a bonfire of colors and drift from the trees to give me the delight of crunching under my feet like potato chips. I get to bundle in groovy jackets, stylish scarves and boots, and I just have more energy to go out and be adventurous.

I recently got to escape the relentless 90 degree weather of LA’s late summer go to to Eastern Europe where the weather was in the 40s-60s and I couldn’t have been happier, especially when we stumbled upon a gorgeous park in Warsaw Poland covered with a blanket of orange leaves gently touched by perfect sunlight. I just had to stop and play!

Read about my adventures in leaf peeping last year in Vermont in the interior design blog I contribute to HERE and on the Lomography site HERE.

(Look for a full report on my recent travels to Warsaw, Budapest and Amsterdam coming soon!)

Hooray for fall!
Kastle



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Tag: photography

Who Shot Rock & Roll: Rock Photography Exhibit

Rod Stewart once sang, “every picture tells a story” and he wasn’t kidding. If you haven’t gotten around to the “Who Shot Rock & Roll” exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography, I urge you do so before it closes on October 21st. I went a couple of times, for the exhibit and for the lecture series. I took the audio tour and got to hear the photographers tell amazing stories behind photos of The Clash, the Ramones, John Lennon and others. It was so great to get a look a music legends from the past that I’ve missed and those that have inspired me from my childhood to today.

The Thursday night lectures have been total sell-outs and it makes for a mesmerizing evening of hearing the first-hand stories of how photographers such as Ed Colver, Bob Gruen, Roberta Bayley and Ebet Roberts got their famous shots – it’s not all fun and glamour – oh the stories they can tell! If you missed some of the lectures and can’t make it to the remaining ones, luckily, you can check out the recordings on the website HERE.

But if you’re a fan of rock ‘n’ roll and photography, this is one show you won’t want to miss – so get out there.

Long live rock!
Kastle



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Tag: photography

Lomography: My Journey In Rediscovering Film

The first time I walked into a Lomography store was for a party – the night featured an Italian theme to launch a product called the La Sardina, which I discovered was a funny little camera shaped like a can of sardines. When I entered the space, I couldn’t help but notice a large table in the middle of the room covered in candy-colored cameras laid out buffet-style, beckoning me to pick one up and ask, “What are these?” Party guests and store workers swirled around me taking snaps with cameras of all shapes and sizes but you couldn’t see the digital image instantly on the back, no, this was film. Film? Do people really use that anymore?

My questions weren’t uncommon, neither was a party in a Lomography store…read the full story.
(Note: this story was is no longer available online, please pardon the missing images on the PDF.)
Example of Lomography
Every picture tells a story,
K.
Photo by Kastle, taken with the Lomography Diana F+



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Tag: photography

Lomography School

Every picture tells a story. It’s one of the reasons I’ve always loved photography. I did some photojournalism a few years back and would go wherever and whenever to get a great shot. It was a major creative rush. But I fell out of doing artistic photos when easy point-and-shoot digital automatics came along. There was no art to it, just capturing the scene in perfect focus, perfect lighting – and perfectly boring. Recently (as many who follow this blog know) I’ve fallen for Lomography – experimental analogue photography using plastic cameras and film, yes, film to completely deconstruct the perfect photo into moody, textured, inspired works that play off happy accidents of light leaks and double exposures.

Sure there are now apps available on your iPhone for that. But nothing is more fun than getting a roll of film back to see what you got. It’s like a prize inside the Cracker Jack box – sometimes you love it, sometimes it’s disappointing, but usually there’s at least one or two shots that draw pure excitement.

Mind you, my first few rolls were complete crap as I learned to work with my camera and started remembering to check all the manual settings. But if you ever need help, the super friendly and supportive staff at the Lomography store In West Hollywood is standing by to show you how to work the camera and recommend films to try for different effects. I love going in there, I always leave feeling part of a community of total enthusiasts just nutty for these colorful little cameras.

I was lucky enough to get a Diana F+ camera for my birthday last month and the Lomography store just happened to have a workshop on how to use it. During a brief session in their upstairs “classroom,” we learned all about the different lenses and backs you can try for endless possibilities – way beyond what you can do with a little digi automatic. I tricked out my camera with a 35mm sprocket back and splitzer lens and we took stroll down Santa Monica Boulevard to shoot what inspired us. Here’s a sampling from my roll.

Click below to see the slideshow:

Lomography Diana F+ Workshop

 Thank you Lomography – you’ve got my creative juices going!

Smile for the camera,

K.

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Tag: photography

A Lesson in Lomography

In my last report, I raved about discovering the Lomography store. Well, I made a little shopping trip to purchase a Fisheye camera. I’ve had great fun practicing using the circular framing technique that works best when you get REALLY CLOSE to your subject – much to the dismay of a my best supermodel, my cat!

I went back to learn some expert techniques including double exposure and other tricks at the Dina Mini workshop, one of the many Saturday offerings at the store. We were given a brief presentation on different ways to shoot, a loaner camera and a roll of film. Then it was off to practice. The six strangers in the class became instant friends taking pix of each other and we couldn’t wait to get the roll developed to see what surprises awaited. The fun thing about shooting analogue is you never know what you’re going to get on your film and it’s the unexpected that makes the most powerful photos. I walked out of there with yet another camera and great excuse to shoot a couple of friends in the park the next day. Take a look at my results:

Click the photos below to see the slideshows

Lomography Diana Mini Class

Friends in a skyscraper park

Until next time – shoot first, ask questions later!

K.

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