Wes Powell Films

2012-01-30T20:12:00.000-08:00

2012 has been rocking and rolling so far. After taking a few months off at the end of 2011 to recharge my batteries, I am finally motivated to start creating again. February will be a busy month working on some projects with friends as well as shooting some new ideas that have been sitting on paper for years. At the beginning of January, I got to shoot in the Fox Theater which has been a goal of mine living in Atlanta. Such a historic place and was interesting to be able to have the freedom to carelessly wonder around the place.

Currently shooting a TV show which seems to be in the middle of a hold for various reasons. My friends Almost Kings just won a contest last week to play the Grammys this year which is huge. You never know whats going to come from something like this but its super nice to have VIP travel to the event for a few days. I am psyched for them and as you can imagine, they are getting slammed with media and fans. This past week, they made the front page of the Grammys site with a photo of mine I took earlier last year. Huge publicity for both teams since millions of industry people will be visiting the page. Last Sunday I participated in Show & Tell at Eyedrum. Eyedrum has a new location in Castleberry Hills and they allowed new artists to come in a present their work for future shows. It was a great experience and hopefully things will continue with them.

Today I won a black and white photo contest on phlearn.com which is a site dedicated to photoshop lessons from the master Aaron Nace. The photo submitted was my Grand Canyon photo. I get a free pro lesson of my choice so I am eager sit down and learn some new fancy stuff.

One month in for 2012 and hopefully the chaos will continue.

2012-01-29T18:03:00.000-08:00

New Kid Zoom. Amazing talent.

2012-01-06T22:30:00.000-08:00

Over the past few months, my interest in art has expanded into other mediums. I watch a lot of videos now covering almost anything that has to do with art. I am trying to learn how to paint and have been working with acrylics. Gained an interest in street art (have not participated) along with other various things. I was joking the other day saying that the best videos to watch are the ones where the artist is wearing a hoodie. It has been a pretty good way to quickly browse on youtube to find appealing videos. Here is one that I just came across that im amazed with. Artist Max Zorn makes multilayer stencil art using masking tape and a razor. I guess its not really a stencil since he is cutting it free hand. Very very impressive though.

2012-01-02T17:06:00.000-08:00

Madc was interviewed and featured in the latest Source Magazine. She has been one of my favorite artists for a while now. Here is a video of her doing a piece at Molotow headquarters with neon colors. Bonus points or always using a paint respirator too.

MadC goes Neon from Molotow on Vimeo.

2011-12-28T07:48:00.000-08:00

I previously posted about an artist named Kid Zoom about a month or two ago and how he was quickly gaining popularity in the art scene. Recently he made the top 20 important artists of 2011 list at number 15 I believe. It's interesting that nearly half of the artists were street artists. Anyway, I came across this awesome video of him painting in his studio. Its hard to find good quality videos of this type of work. His technique is pretty awesome, especially at 2:33. The photo realistic work with spray paint is unbelievable.

KID ZOOM process from KINGBROWN Magazine on Vimeo.

2011-12-23T20:50:00.000-08:00

Two photos that have been sitting on a hard drive for years and never were posted.

2011-12-21T20:28:00.000-08:00

I am a little late on the news but saddened by the loss. Artist Bob Cassilly passed away in a bulldozer accident in September during the construction stages of his new park called Cementland. Bob was the creator and owner of City Museum in St. Louis which is probably one of the top three coolest places in the US I have visited. Best museum in the world I have seen so far. City Museum is a massive indoor / outdoor recycled art playground that had me speechless for hours while visiting last May. I had to put my camera back in the car to finish exploring the place. It will have you crawling, jumping, bouncing, hanging, sliding, running, swinging, riding, climbing on everything. Its a must see place.

Bob Cassilly

Video from our visit last May

City Museum

Cementland

2011-12-13T17:44:00.000-08:00

Pretty neat!

Taken from streetela.com

"Many of you are not old enough to remember the days of JJ of LA when hand painted store signs were the norm across Atlanta. Well we are happy to say that those days are back. Whether it is the guys from Howdy Nater Signs, our friends over at ABV or the prolific Signs for Dimes dudes, this is a trend that we can get behind. It is good to see Atlanta’s small shops putting local artists to work and keeping the storefront original. If you have a store that needs some art work, let us know and we will connect you with a great artist."

2011-12-11T15:25:00.000-08:00

Recently came across this video of Atlanta's street artist / illustrator / gallery owner / man of many talents Greg Mike. Video highlights a mural on Flat Shoals Ave for the company Rebook. Check out his gallery ABV (A Better View) if you are ever in Atlanta. One of the top galleries in town.

2011-12-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

Its been a crazy year for some local music friends of mine. I remember meeting all three of these artists when I first got into the industry and they were all at different stages in their career.

My close friends Almost Kings have been on an uphill climb since forming the band. They have continuously played over 200 shows a year from local to regional and national tours. They are probably the hardest working band I know and known for their amazing live show. Here is a clip of the last home show they put together. That is a big crowd for an unsigned local band.

Kyle Lucas joined Outkasts label Purple Ribbon a while ago and was featured on Big Boi's last album. He successfully juggles his band Vonnegutt along with his solo projects. Im digging some of the solo stuff he is doing with Captain Midnight from Seattle.

Most recently Yelawolf has exploded. I remember seeing him in the most hole in the wall places in Alabama and always saw the talent he had. Eminem just took him under his wing and signed him to Shady Records. They have some similarities to their life and I am sure its the biggest honor to be walking next Eminem.

2011-11-25T07:03:00.000-08:00

Shepard Fairey just created a new Hope poster for all the occupy protests that have been happening. Pretty great considering the history of original image.

Original of his.

2011-11-21T21:08:00.000-08:00

I recently got on tumblr.com as an experiment for a side project of mine. You can find some neat pages on there. My cousin posted this one called "1001 Rules For My Unborn Son". They have only posted half of them so a lot more to read in the future. Here are some of my favorites as well as the link to the page.

http://rulesformyunbornson.tumblr.com/

501. Never shake a man’s hand sitting down.
496. There are plenty of ways to enter a pool. The stairs ain’t one.
492. In a negotiation, never make the first offer.
470. Don’t play the ace if you can win with the king.
461. In battle, all cover is temporary. Keep moving.
450. If the enemy is in range, so are you.
409. A handshake beats an autograph.
368. Just raise your glass. There’s no need to clink with everyone at the table.
335. If you’re good at something, never do it for free.
267. Sit for a portrait.
220. Until you are a doctor, never answer your phone at the table.
150. Don’t get all fancy about your beer or coffee.
99. Nothing good ever happens after 3 am. I promise.
82. The most expensive restaurant is NEVER the best.
32. When in the woods, be quiet.

2011-11-18T12:31:00.000-08:00

Bought a Polaroid land camera a few weeks ago and have been messing around with it a good bit. Kind of expensive to shoot with these days since film is hard to come by. Its great though because it makes me shoot completely different than I am use to. Seems like only specific things come out looking useable and landscapes is not one of them with this camera. Hopefully I can get a scanner soon as I just took pics of these with my digital to post online.

Some things I find with this camera.
1. Fuji fp-100c sucks compared to what others say about it but I have never been a fan of colored film in the first place.
2. Fuji fp-3000b rocks
3. I dont find the 3000 iso to be that grainy even though its suppose to be
4. Shooting far way objects is a waste
5. Closer objects lend to better results with sharpness and exposure
6. Subjects are all about the contrast
7. People complain about the pull tabs tearing often. I have the pull tab for the dark slide tear almost every time however the regular white tabs pull fine. If the white pull tabs are hard to pull, you can fix it. The camera is just squeezing the film pack too hard.
8. Fuji fp-100b is discontinued and that makes me sad.
9. The view finder is off and that is a common problem.
10. I bought Polaroid model that has a tripod socket. Smart move on my part and suggest you do the same
11. Get the battery compartment converted. Dont waste your time and money trying to find the 4v batteries.

2011-11-15T22:24:00.000-08:00

I feel like life is going backwards lately. Sorry for the lack of posts for a bit.

A friend and I exploring northern GA this past weekend

2011-11-10T17:18:00.001-08:00

One of the things on my to do list while in New Orleans was to visit David Harouni's gallery in the French Quarter. His work is internationally known and fits well with the New Orleans vibe.

2011-11-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

A few posts back, I talked about a street artist by the name of Kid Zoom. Currently he has an exhibit going on called "Home", where he recreated a life size replica of the house he grew up in. He then used that as his canvas. Would be neat to see in person and you can go inside for more art. Awesome warehouse too!

2011-11-06T18:55:00.001-08:00

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have."

– Steve Jobs, Wired, February, 1995

2011-11-04T23:32:00.000-07:00

The climbing/yoga company Prana recently released a video profile on Fred Nicole who was an inspirer of mine when I first started climbing. A very quiet guy who paved the path in the sport for many years while staying away from competition and media. A well made short video profile which I wish showed more of him.

2011-11-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

Back from Nola and trying to recover. So much walking..... plus escaped in time of the tragic shootings that occurred on Monday night. Crazy for those involved. It happened about 3 blocks in between our hotel and Bourbon St. which is probably where I would have been if we stuck around.

One of the pleasures I had was seeing the work of Banksy who is probably one of the smartest, successful, and most elusive artists right now. A little back story on the work put up in New Orleans.

Anti-graffiti campaigner by the name of Fred Radtke was going around the city covering up all the street art with a paint roller and grey paint since 1997. You can see it everywhere and it looks extremely horrible. Locals call him the Grey Ghost. Banksy came down to visit in 2008 and put up 16 pieces which is a lot for a small trip. Some to pay tribute to the 3 year anniversary of Katrina and a few to ruffle up Fred Radtke. Only 6 of the 16 pieces survive today. A handful of them where cut out of their walls and sold in auction. Others were either covered up by the Grey Ghost or the buildings were bulldozed due to decay. Funny thing is the anti-graffiti campaigner was arrested due to wildly painting on peoples property without asking for permission and was charged with criminal damage to property which is a felony. Just like a graffiti artist, he was told to never touch a wall again. Its fun to document something that might not be around for long. The neat part is where he put the work. Pretty wise locations and shows how much he looked around before placing them. Here are the pieces in order of visiting them.

Grey Ghost paint

This one was only a few blocks from our Bed & Breakfast on Saturday. The figure is the Grey Ghost with paint roller in hand covering up graffiti. There use to be sunflowers that the figure was covering up but someone came and buffed the flowers. It was then put behind plexiglass to protect it from further damage.
The second one we drove to and was sort of off track from the rest of downtown. It was on the side of a building, behind a fence and behind a garden. The property owner was there and I asked him if I could go behind the fence to get a pic. He was super cool about it and we chatted about some of the others in the city. This too is behind plexiglass and shows the Grey Ghost murdering a stick figure.
This is probably one of the better known pieces and has gotten a lot of abuse. People have tagged over the plexiglass a good bit and the owner keeps cleaning it. The wall to the left of the piece had R.I.P. Banksy in huge letters. I had a couple of guys from the neighborhood follow me a few blocks after I took this photo. Luckily its close enough to the maze of the French Quarter to get lost.
Walked to this one and its sort of in a shady part of town. This one is behind a fence with no trespassing signs. Being tall made getting a shot pretty easy.
Drove to this one since its off the beaten path. Probably the most well done piece and cleanest. I am really surprised it is not behind plexiglass or painted over. I still cant tell whether the lettering was done with stencil like the rest of it or with a paint marker.
This one is definitely in a shady part of town on an abandoned building. Surprised this one was not cut out and sold in auction. Not sure how much longer the building will be around either.

2011-10-27T22:29:00.001-07:00

Bustin down to New Orleans for a handful of days. Going to be fun spending Halloween in the voodoo city. Staying in a Bed & Breakfast and a neat loft style hotel in the French Quarter. Probably going to camp out in the swamp one night too. I have a big list of things to do while down there so I'm pretty excited. Here are a few funny Remi Gaillard videos while im gone.

2011-10-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

Just came across the artist Kid Zoom who is gaining some popularity. Recently did a gallery event in NYC called "This City Will Eat Me Alive". Some of the most photorealistic work I have seen with spray paint.

2011-10-21T22:13:00.001-07:00

Currently working on some stuff for a band in Atlanta. Have not edited much of what we shot yet but here is one that I messed around with and like.

2011-10-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I took a trip up to Boone NC for my friend Jonathan's bachelor party camping / climbing extravaganza. We took 3 Honda Elements which made me feel like an Outward Bound group or part of the Jurassic Park tour from the movie. Ended up working well with having the amount of gear and guys to lug around. Got to the Grandfather Campground around 1:30 am to setup tents in the rain. Everyone else brought smaller two person tents while I brought a 4 person tent. Its probably more like a 6 person tent since I can stand up in it and I am 6' 3". It ended up being a bad decision due to the weather that night. Extreme gusts of wind roared through the campground and destroyed my tent. I spent a good hour that night trying to wait it out while standing inside the tent and holding it up against the wind. Lacking sleep and exhausted, I bailed and took my things to the car. The following day we went to Lost Cove since it dries pretty quick compared to other areas in Boone. I pulled my hamstring on a warmup and spent the rest of the day taking photos. The next two days we visited Grandmother Mtn which is the main place in Boone I guess. Overall it was a great time with great people at a great campground with great food. Lots of great.

Jonathan tearing up Beasley's Face.

2011-10-10T23:25:00.000-07:00

People at the gallery event were asking me about certain photos so I figure I should talk about them a little bit on here. So, a little description on how they came together. I apologize in advance because I am not very good with talking about my work.

Last September (2010) I drove past a sunflower field and thought how great it would be to shoot. Doing some quick research online made me realize I was about 2 months too late for the season. Most of the sunflowers were near death. I made a note to plan ahead in the spring to find another sunflower field. The goal was to take someone down there and incorporate a person into the shot. However, there were no fields close to where I lived this year. The closest and best option was the Sunflower Farm Festival in Rutledge GA. Its about a 2 hour drive for me. There is a time period in June where they allow photographers into the fields before the big event July 4th weekend. I wanted to visit at that time because I was afraid of how the foot traffic might affect the fields. It wasnt until the weekend after the event I was able to drive down there. I walked around for about an hour taking photos without getting anything great. My motivation quickly lowered. The sun started to set and a gorgeous sky came out of nowhere. By the time the sky looked good, the field was already pretty dark. I knew I was going to print whatever shot I got so I didnt want to boost the ISO settings in camera. There was a slight breeze blowing the sunflowers so I couldnt shoot at a slow shutter without getting some motion blur. So I had to bump down the aperture to 2.8 in order to get a decent exposure. This resulted in the shallow depth of field but had to take what I got. I shot two exposures, one for the field and one for the sky then blended the two images in post. I tried to shoot HDR but with the wind blowing, I got some ghosting in the final image.

After traveling to Europe a few times and seeing the lovely Cathedrals overseas, I wished there was something like that closer to home. Most of the churches in the southeast (and USA) are pretty boring architecturally. Randomly two years later while browsing the Georgia Government website, I found the Monastery Of The Holy Spirit near Conyers GA. Took a trip there one Sunday afternoon to get a shot. I left my camera in the car and walked around to get a feel of the place first. The monastery was open and empty, perfect. Got my camera and setup my tripod. The acoustics in the monastery exaggerate any movement or sound. Unzipping my bag was loud. Even the shutter of the camera taking a pic is really loud. As soon as I setup, someone came in and sat down. I waited in respect. Then another person and another. I realized there was about to be a service so I packed my bags and drove home without getting a shot. The following weekend, I came back after looking at their schedule online. I again shot for a HDR image but ended up editing a single shot. Every window is stained glass which makes for interesting colors.

A couple friends and I have a "secret" swimming spot at a nearby lake. The person in this image is my friend James who originally showed me the area. We took a group there one evening to have fun and swim. I brought along my camera without having much of an interest to shoot. I am pretty bad about bringing my camera but never having a goal of shooting something in particular. My friends were diving off this rock and I decided to pull out my camera to see if I could get a frame. There is a tree stump below the water so we made sure where not to jump first. I was pretty close to James while taking this photo and in the water with the camera. I exposed for the sky with a 11mm lens.

Two years ago, my girlfriend was living in Los Angeles and was about to move to Atlanta. I flew out to visit for a week before helping her move across country. During one of the free days between packing and other various things, we drove out to Malibu since I had never been there. We planned to eat at a well known restaurant called Neptunes Net but I was not really feeling it. We walked across the road to sit on the beach while the sun was setting. There were a good number of surfers catching waves at the time so I brought down my camera to goof off and shoot. After sitting there for about 15 minutes, a guy came down from the parking lot and walked past us heading up the beach. The beach is really rocky which makes it difficult to walk. His focus on trying not to break his ankle caught my attention to take a photo.

2011-10-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

Had a great night with the gallery opening of Nine with Atlanta Celebrates Photography at PB&J Gallery. Thanks to all who came and supported. I was impressed with the overall quality of all the photographers work. Pretty uncommon to find that.

2011-10-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

Finished all my printing and framing today for the Atlanta Celebrates Photography event this Saturday night at PB&J Gallery. Should be a fun time. Looking forward to meeting all the other photographers and chatting with viewers. Make sure to swing by.

Sorry for the short post, wanted to make a final announcement about the event.

2011-09-26T14:28:00.001-07:00

Interesting documentary for Sundance 2011. Have not checked out the movie yet but is an weird story about messages embedded in the streets all over the United States along with a few in South America. The messages are called "The Toynbee Tiles" in which most read:

Toynbee Idea
Kubrick 2001
Resurrect Dead
On Plantet Jupiter

No one knows who placed them or what they mean. They have been popping up for over 20 years.

Check out the trailer

2011-09-16T13:19:00.001-07:00

Came across the street artist Daim the other day while browsing online. His 3D style is amazing. Half the time while looking at his images on google, I cant tell if its a photo of a wall or a wallpaper made in photoshop. Pretty realistic shading.

2011-09-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

PB&J Gallery just added me to their site for the Atlanta Celebrates Photography event. Check it out.

http://www.pbjart.com/artistdetail.php?a=wes_powell

2011-09-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

Im officially part of Atlanta Celebrates Photography this year with PB&J Gallery downtown. The first half of 2011 I spent researching galleries for another project. I kept PB&J Gallery in mind for ACP this year and they have been more than generous in welcoming me along with other fellow photographers. Each photographer will be displaying 4 images. Be sure to check out the work and come to the opening night if you can. Saturday October 8th 7pm -10pm.

Here is the link for more info. http://festivalguide.acpinfo.org/listings/view/725

2011-09-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

Convicted forger A. Schiller was serving his time in Sing Sing prison in the late 1800s when guards found him dead in his cell. On his body they found seven regular straight pins whose heads measured the typical 47/1000ths of an inch or 1.17 millimeters in diameter. Under 500x magnification it was found that the tiny etchings seen on the heads of the pins were the words to The Lord's Prayer, which is 65 words and 254 letters long. Of the seven pins, six were silver and one was gold - the gold pin's prayer was flawless and a true masterpiece. Schiller had spent the last 25 years of his life creating the pins, using a tool too small to be seen by the naked eye. It is estimated that it took 1,863 separate carving strokes to make it. Schiller went blind because of his artwork.

2011-09-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

Here are 15 oxymorons to tickle your pickle.

1. virtual reality

2. original copy

3. old news

4. act naturally

5. pretty ugly

6. living dead

7. jumbo shrimp
8. rolling stop

9. constant variable

10. exact estimate

11. paid volunteers

12. civil war

13. sound of silence

14. clever fool

15. only choice

2011-08-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

A tv program called The Antics Roadshow aired in the UK this past Sunday. Its about "people who have taken on authority and brought chaos to the streets, but in a good way". From stopping genocide with a hammer, to real life Mario Kart. I highly recommend watching it. Has 4 parts. Its a little not safe for work.... unless you live in the UK or.... I guess most parts of the world. Lame America.

2011-08-10T17:06:00.000-07:00

"Six months after the atomic bomb “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima, three American photographers and one Japanese photographer shot panoramas from five different locations to document the devastation."

Hiroshima after the Atomic Bomb (3 of 5) by Harbert F Austin Jr in Japan

Hiroshima after the Atomic Bomb (1 of 5) by Shigeo Hayashi in Japan

2011-08-04T00:27:00.000-07:00

I have been asking around lately who people think the greatest male singer of all time is/was. It has sparked up some interesting conversations. One name brought up a lot was Chris Cornell. I like his music but I dont consider him an amazing singer. I dont think he is even listed in any top 10 male vocalists list... Rolling Stone or Time. My vote was Michael Jackson. His range and control was top notch. Some pretty hard songs to sing like Beat It. Then there was a person that slipped my mind till someone said it...... Freddie Mercury. Been a while since I have heard any Queen so I did some youtubing. What a very interesting person from life to death. Sad to have lost a great at an early age. I cut my facial hair into a mustache tonight in tribute to Freddie. Im leaving for Florida tomorrow. Probably going to rock it on the trip. I will take a photo.

Pretty dead on performance. Plus this was nearly 30 years ago. Technology has come a long way since.

A little more rockin if needed.

2011-07-31T19:12:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I was forced against my will to see the new (and last) Harry Potter movie. Going into the movie I had never read any of the books or watched any of the 7'sih? movies prior to this. As you can guess, I was a little lost. During the 30 minutes of commercials at the beginning, they showed a dozen or so Sharpie advertisements. I was pretty excited because I had a Sharpie marker in my pocket. I pulled it out, waved it in the air and made laser noises like it was Harry Potters magical wand. This was to psych myself up along with the other hundred plus people in the theater. One of the more exciting Sharpie commercials highlighted an artist who I guess was sponsored by Sharpie. Found it pretty interesting so here is the longer version of the clip they showed.

Cheeming Boey

2011-07-27T22:57:00.000-07:00

I mentioned before the website TED.com or Ted Talks which has great presentations about various things. I just noticed they posted a presentation back in June with a fascinating savant by the name of Daniel Tammet. Daniel has a really great blog and also a few books out. I was turned on to him by an old climbing friend years back who told me to watch the Discovery special called "The Boy With The Incredible Brain" which is a must see video.... maybe even before watching this one. I then read his book "Born On A Blue Day" which tells about his upbringing. I dont even know where to begin when explaining how amazing he is. Daniel memorized and recited Pi (the never ending number with no repeating patterns) to 22,000 decimal places and learned the Icelandic language in a week. I guess that is a good start.

In the video he explains how he has a color and shape for every number. When doing multiplication, the 2 numbers (which are shapes) form a 3rd negative shape in between which turns into the answer. So his brain is doing math without even having to really think about it. Crazy

Ted.com - "Different ways of knowing"

2011-07-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

I know I know, another music posting. I will switch it up. Just started to get the itch for another Papa Roach concert and guess what city they skipped over for 2011, Atlanta. Thanks so much.

Needed to express my anger.

2011-07-24T22:47:00.000-07:00

Came across this artist from Atlanta last year, Shawn Mullins. Im a sucker for deep raspy voices while still maintaining a good vocal range. Also hard to find people that sound like they do on their recordings live. Wish they turned up the guitar a bit though.

2011-07-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

Posted this on my facebook but some of you followers are not on facebook. Here is a simple acoustic video I shot the other week. Enjoy.

2011-07-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

Came across this while browsing someones blog. It is displayed in the store window of Cuz's Antique Center in Lebanon Tennessee.

The Creature of Sugar Flat Road

The sign says:
Is this an Alien?
Ran over by car on Sugar
Flat Rd. in Lebanon, TN
Jan 5th 1989 - Never Identified

2011-07-14T00:43:00.000-07:00

Tula Art Center in Atlanta hosts a variety of gallery / studio spaces under one roof. I went gallery hopping with my girlfriend and her dad about 8 months ago and came across this place. I knew there were a few photography galleries at Tula and I went to the first one I saw. My girlfriend and her dad decided to go the gallery across the hall. I quickly scanned the photography gallery and lost interest. When I went to meet up with them, they were staring at these big paintings with their mouths open. I think that is a pretty common thing when first visiting the gallery of Alexi Torres. The man has talent to say the least. A lot of the canvases displayed in his gallery are around 5 to 8 feet which really hits you in the face. A few of his series stick to a certain style. He may choose feathers and paint an entire piece just using that as the texture and shapes. Others may include leaves or basket weave. Alexi also paints murals around town for companies. My girlfriend lives right next to Der Biergarten Restaurant and it took me a while to realize that the murals painted on the walls are Alexi Torres pieces. His work is a must see if you are out and about.

2011-07-13T18:43:00.000-07:00

The main reason I like this guy is his ability to get his hands on anything and create meaningful art with it. From spray paint, to paintings, statues, video editing, animatronics, etc, he owns. Takes it to the streets, galleries and even Sundance Film Festival and makes a statement. Plus no one knows who he is which is exactly the opposite of what artists try to do these days. The very short clip of him painting the monkeys inside Parliament.... amazing.

Banksy

2011-07-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

My friend Dave Berzack created the "WonderDome" last year. Dave and I worked on 3 music videos for the Adobe Max Conference last year and he is always doing something new and unique.

"WonderDome is a geodesic structure that pulses in colorful sequences.
It's lined with fur and filled with hundreds of stuffed animals, for a uniquely wonderful experience. It doesn't really emphasize the fairy tale spellbook (@ 0:27) that controls the light effects, using buttons concealed beneath the opened page."

2011-07-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hometown hero Kyle Lucas. He is doing it big now. Like this video. Hits close to home,

2011-06-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

Always a fan of this guys voice, Sam Sparro. The video of him doing Night Fever live is classic. Stayin Alive is also on youtube. Really good range as you can tell from him talking at the beginning of the first video and him singing Bee Gees.

2011-06-27T20:14:00.001-07:00

This makes me laugh. The pacman noise can get annoying though.....

Real-Life Pac Man Terrorizes People - Watch more Funny Videos

2011-06-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Recently joined 500px.com which people are calling the new flickr. We shall see how well the site turns out. I noticed there has been a big surge in popularity lately with the site and I am worried it might start getting flooded with crap. Currently there are a ton of amazing photos on the site.

My 500px profile. Click here.

2011-06-16T22:45:00.000-07:00

"The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists.. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little." - Banksy

2011-06-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

French artist Space Invader recently celebrated his 1000th piece on the streets of Paris with a gallery event highlighting his career.

2011-06-08T13:53:00.001-07:00

Michael Bolton just found a new place in my heart.

"And I wrote this big sexy hook I think you going to really dig"

2011-06-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

The video attached to this post is NSFW in an artsy farsty way. I usually do not post anything that will jeopardize the browsing of my sites but this is a really good video by CNN.

I was not really a big David LaChapelle fan when I got into videography / photography. For some reason I had a false picture of who he was as a celebrity photographer. I might have read the wrong articles or somehow formed thoughts about his work without learning more behind the photos. CNN had a series of shows on for a while (might still have them) called "Icons". The episode featuring David LaChapelle came on a few months ago and completely changed my view. LaChapelle who was one of the top photographers in the world in the late 90's called it quits during a music video deal with Madonna.

From interview:

"When, in the middle of a telephone call from Madonna, the singer began haranguing him about a video the two were planning, Mr. LaChapelle suddenly took the mobile phone he was holding away from his ear and snapped it shut.

“My agent was shocked,” he said. “ ‘Did you just hang up on Madonna?’ It was a pivotal moment in my life, because it was the first time I said I don’t want to do this anymore.”

2011-06-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

Abduzeedo which is a design site that featured one of my photos last year has started posting neat architectural designs. Some interesting houses showcased from around the world. Some of the posts have interviews and "behind the scenes" of the building process. Im amazed sometimes with how cheaply some of these cost to build. More within the site if you search around.

http://abduzeedo.com/flight-birds-house-bernardo-rodrigues

2011-05-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

Been needing to buy a new Mac. Still deciding between a laptop or an iMac. Probably go with iMac this time. Waiting for all their products to have the solid state memory and Thunderbolt connection without having to upgrade. Didnt really realize how good Thunderbolt is until I heard a press release say that in a few years, it will be able to transfer 50 gigs a second. Amazing.

2011-05-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

Recently Cindy Sherman's photo broke the record for most expensive photo ever sold. So here is her photo and the most expensive painting ever sold.

Cindy Sherman - $3.8 million

Jackson Pollock - $140 million

2011-05-17T12:57:00.001-07:00

Ah what people will do for fun these days. So who wants to plank for me?

"Planking"

2011-05-16T17:34:00.000-07:00

Had some rolls of film laying around waiting to be scanned. Was going to do it when I send in my next rolls to get developed but the project being shot on my 120 camera is taking forever to complete. So I made a DIY scanner out of a shoe box.... cause I just bought some shoes. I like the result even though a real scan would be cleaner.

2011-05-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

Awesome! "Look at him he is playing to a baby"

2011-05-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

Pretty cool

Taken from streetela.com

"Charlie Brouwer has brought his public art project Rise Up to Atlanta for the month of May. He relies on ladders lended by individuals and groups across the city, creating a large, temporary structure in a public park. The ladders are ID-tagged, and will be returned to their owners at the end of the project, or donated to Atlanta Community ToolBank if desired. According to the artist: “Each ladder represents the hopes and dreams of its lender, and bound together, they will create a work of art that is a metaphor for the aspirations of the community as a whole. Each ladder plays an essential role in the final sculpture, just as every person plays an essential role in the life of a community.” The sculpture is in Freedom Park, where Freedom Parkway dead-ends into Moreland Ave. Check it out sometime in May if you can!"

2011-05-03T21:14:00.001-07:00

Let ya in on sort of a secret site that is good for browsing used goods. I call it secret cause when I first came across it, there was hardly anyone on there. If you are a fan of thrift stores, Goodwill has an online site where you can buy and bid on items like ebay. I was told about it due to the camera equipment section but it has everything from vintage typewriters to jewelry to old Nintendo 64's with GoldenEye! Some new stuff too so you never know what is going to pop up. I have not really used it for a while so it has just been sitting as a bookmark. Might as well share it to those that are interested. Not sure how popular the site is now.

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/

2011-05-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

Bruno Mars is playing the Fox theater next Tuesday. Some of his stuff is too poppy for me but some other stuff is really good.... well its all good because he is one of the few natural talents right now in the music industry. Everything he touches, he pawns. Guaranteed you have heard him somewhere in the past few years. He is all over the place.

Here he pawns Tina Turner, Eye Of The Tiger, and Michael Jackson.

2011-05-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

I may be late to find out about ted.com so this may be old news for some. Its a wonderful site with "riveting talks by remarkable people". The first speech I saw was about a photographer and then recently someone else posted this. Going to sit down and watch a few more tonight. This speech is about how schools kill creativity. I was going to turn it off about 2 minutes before the end but glad I didnt. Solid and funny the entire time. Kinda long but worth it.

2011-04-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

OBEY

2011-04-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

A new photo of mine that I was going to hold off for a while with posting but its in photo contests and hanging in the coffee shop. I put it as the main image on my site too. Will be posting a few more from the place on flickr within the next week. Everyone keeps asking how much the photo is altered. The blues are real since all the windows are staind glass. The only thing I edited was a fire extinguisher on the wall.

2011-04-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

I was going to say "too much time on this persons hands" but with the details of 100,000 toothpicks over the course of 35 years, I guess that is obvious.

Video

Scott Weaver's Rolling through the Bay from Learning Studio on Vimeo.

2011-04-24T23:43:00.000-07:00

Came across this video recently and was blown away with the amount of talent. Must watch if you respect the art of painting.... even if it comes out of an aerosol can.

Artist: MadC
Her rundown of the details
"And for those out there who like numbers a lot: some days I went up and down
the ladder more than 500 times; fell off the ladder 4 times; counted in days
I painted more than 4 months every day at least 10 hours; I used 1489 cans;
158 different colours; 600+ caps; 3 different kind of caps, 100 liters
primer; 140 liters exterior paint; painted at temperatures from +2C° to
+38C° in sunshine, rain, storm, day and night; painted my biggest and
smallest piece so far and overall painted my name far more than 100 times on
this wall."

700 Wall - Final Update from Molotow on Vimeo.

2011-04-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

In February I decided to take some time off.... the reason things have been slow lately. Why is a long story but I have been focusing more on the business side and trying to find ways to get my work in front of more people. There are plenty of photos of mine that havent had the opportunity to get much light. Been trying to get a few gallery events moving forward and been entering a good number of contests. With all my sites and email addresses, I have 27 pages to update. Its overwhelming but have been able to increase my page views by 10x. With this process, I am learning what is working and what is not. Probably going to cut down on some of those pages here soon. I have a few new projects that will get started this year and a lot of changes coming. My camera has only shot 2 projects since February. It feels like I am going to be starting from scratch again since I dont have a steady flow of images coming in. That is exactly what I need. Will keep things updated here as much as I can. Probably post interesting things I come across that deals with art in one way or another.

2011-04-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

Success on the shoot yesterday. Probably the best possible conditions for the place too without being really picky. It will be a while before the photo is online but I am printing it as we speak for a new installment at the coffee shop this week. Here is a close up of just a fraction of the place.

2011-04-17T01:06:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am heading to a location I have been itching to shoot for a while now. I went about a month ago with the goal to finally capture the place. Drove 2 hours, did my preshoot ritual by walking around the location to get the overall feel for the photo, and grabbed my equipment from the car. I found the perfect spot to set up all the gear. While waiting around for the right moment to shoot, I took a quick cell phone pic. Unfortunately due to some circumstances with timing, I had to pack my things and leave without taking a single image on my Nikon. So for weeks I have had this photo on my phone taunting me. Its horrible and I might possibly walk away again tomorrow without a shot.

Been slowly putting some stuff on Flickr. Check it.

2011-02-20T23:52:00.000-08:00

After the large Grand Canyon sold, I decided to make another print that matched the other 16x20 on the wall. I went with this summer field shot. It was printed at 10x20 however with the white matte that was used with the frame, the viewable area is 10x18. I picked a very country wooden frame to go along with it and thought it came out really well. The photo was taken in the heart of downtown Atlanta while a friend and I were out on a casual stroll.

Going up in the next few days is another 11x14 that will take the place of the fire shot that sold. This image is of a mountain range in Alaska. Printed in black and white on metallic paper and custom framed.

2011-01-14T13:40:00.000-08:00

Coming in at print number 3 is John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. I wanted to have one music photo up cause it has been a large part of my photography over the past 5 years. Its hard to decide which music photo to use since I have photos of every genre. I decided that this photo reaches a wide range viewers of different ages and musical tastes. Led Zeppelin of course being one of the best bands to ever hit rock and roll. I shot this at the Tabernacle in Atlanta earlier this year and it was amazing watching him perform. I printed this photo at 16x20 and had it professionally framed.

2011-01-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

My second image is of the Marriott and Hilton Hotel downtown. This is framed and printed at 12x18. A few nights last year, a couple friends and I would walk around town taking photos. It fun exploring dark alleys to finding the highest point you can to shoot a skyline shot. Atlanta is neat in the fact that each section of the city has a different feel and vibe to it. From the buildings to the local people who walk around. My friend Steve and I went out one night to get some skyline shots. We found an old, dirty, about to fall apart parking deck that would give us a good advantage point from the top. From the bottom level we tried to find the stairs to take us to the top. We went to the first door we saw (which we now call the Narnia door) and opened it. It was like stepping into a whole new world. Instantly there were marble floors, chandeliers, waiters in tuxedos serving martinis, ceiling that was 50 feet tall. We shut the door and laughed. That is what I like about Atlanta, it changes so much from block to block.

2010-12-29T20:40:00.000-08:00

This is the first photo I decided on printing for the display in the coffee shop. I printed and framed it at 12x18. The photo was shot summer 2008 in Edinburgh Scotland. I was on the Dolly tour and the camera crew had a day off from shooting in Glasgow Scotland. We took a train up to Edinburgh for a day trip. The rest of the crew wanted to go take the tour of the Castle that sits prominent on the cliff in the city. I had previously been to Edinburgh while visiting my sister who was living in London at the time. I did not want to spend the $40 to see it again so I decided to explore the areas around for a few hours while the crew went on. I knew there was a neat nature path with gorgeous views that winds down the hillside back to the main streets of the city. I sat on that bench looking out at the view and just soaking everything in. A couple passed by holding hands. I allowed them to stroll a little further down before I stood up and snapped this photo. I wish I had gotten their names and contact to send them a copy of this photo. Edinburgh is a very lovely city and I am fascinated with it. Might even be my favorite so far that I have visited.

2010-12-19T02:20:00.000-08:00

Well well, finally finished the studio work and now relaxing for the Holidays. I hope everyone has had a great year. It sure has been all over the place for me. I am trying to boycott Christmas but it never seems to work out. Keeping the fingers crossed hahaha. In January I will have 5 or so photos for sale in one of my favorite coffee shops. The goal over the Holidays is to get them framed. Once I settle on which ones will be the main 5, I will post a behind the scenes story of how each one came about. Until then, be safe out and about and Happy Holidays!

2010-11-21T19:08:00.000-08:00

I have been behind the scenes lately helping others get caught up with their own work. I am working at a studio right now during their busy season with file management and photoshop work. I have not been shooting much but it actually feels great. Taking time off from anything is good and even too much chocolate will make you sick. I have been going to TONS of art galleries around town mostly because I plan to be a part of one or two next year. A few others have been joining me because they paint. I am extremely picky when it comes to paintings. I may like 1 or 2 in a gallery of 50. We ran across this guy named Alexi Torres who is the most amazing painter I have seen in person. Its jaw dropping and must be seen with your own eyes. Photography exhibits I am not as picky about but am surprised with the lack of talent being shown. I guess art in general is dying since its becoming soo cheap and accessible to everyone. Everyday I see a handful of new portrait / wedding photographer fan pages on Facebook. I took this photo on my way to work the other day. I work 5pm to 2am or so. I am a night person so I am not complaining. The sun sets on my way to work and I usually get a good view as long as there are clouds in the sky.

2010-11-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

October was a really busy month. The first weekend Christina and I went to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Next weekend Christina moved into a really nice loft downtown. Her and I moved everything in 1 day making 5 trips (one being to Chattanooga). The same weekend we had Adam and Terri's wedding at the Aquarium. The weekend after I was extremely sick and in bed. Halloween weekend was Christina's birthday and we ended up having a party at her new place with a bunch of friends. Mixed into all that, I did a big video shoot for the Adobe Max conference that was held in LA the weekend of the 23rd. I will get into that in another post soon. Things are hectic and they are not slowing down till Christmas arrives.

2010-08-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

Its September! I have been waiting for this month since May. Cant wait for it to start getting cold again and watching the leaves changes colors. Many photo projects in the works now that fall is around the corner. I have decided to give the option to buy my photo prints through my site this month. Any photo on Flickr is also fair game and the same size costs apply. As you look through my site, you will notice an "add to cart" option at the top left of the photo. This will give you a drop down menu to select sizing or package. Then when you are finished, you can click the shopping cart on the bottom right of my page to checkout. Sales will end September 30th at 11:59 pm.

Visit my site at www.wespowellphotography.com

2010-08-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of covering Wild Bill's Birthday Bash which is possibly the biggest event at Wild Bill's each year. Bill Gentry (Wild Bill's owner) performs each year to put on a really entertaining show. Country is not the first thing I listen to but I am always interested in attending big shows like this. I met Bill earlier this year during a wild snow storm. Wild Bill's was putting on a big local show in the main room but due to horrible weather, was forced into one of the back smaller rooms. He is a really down to earth nice guy and I was eager to catch a show at some point. It is really neat to see a venue that is run by a musician himself. Birthday Bash packed out Wild Bills which made for a lot of line dancing. I am not use to seeing so much line dancing. I still wonder how people learn to line dance....... youtube?

2010-08-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

I have been updating my flickr page some. You can easily access it by clicking on "my flickr" at the top right of this page. Make some popcorn and browse around.

2010-08-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

Editing Mayhem Festival photos now and wanted to share one really quick. Not a good photo but definitely a unique situation when shooting. You can probably guess what my reaction was like 1 second later. Luckily I was using a protective filter so I just unscrewed it, did two quick wipes with my tshirt on the body and shooting continued. Risky if it happened again without the filter on but knew the chances were slim. Would have been horrible if I had to clean the lens during the 3 song rule. Use protection!!!.... and a Nikon :)

My friend Scott found a Nikon D70 that had been tossed off a cliff 2 years prior to finding it. Everything was fine. Photos still on the memory card, lenses were in good shape along with the body. All that after 2 years of being rain drenched and under the hot southern sun. Nikon cameras are burly.

2010-07-29T02:05:00.000-07:00

So Warped Tour....

Freaking hot! Besides it feeling like it was 120 degrees from the thousands of bodies and black asphalt, the lineup was lacking. It was my first year and maybe last year attending Warped. There is definitely an age limit to keep your sanity at this event. I am sadly outside that bracket. The event started at 1pm. I showed up at 3 and got a schedule. The only bands I wanted to take photos of started at 5. I shot We The Kings, Andrew WK, Pennywise, and Mike Posner. I left at 6 pm as the dark clouds rolled in with lighting. People scattered like crazy to tear down their tents and merch. I left just before the massive storm hit.

2010-07-22T23:34:00.000-07:00

Its been my BDay week! Monday was my actual birthday and my girlfriend and I tried to do some fun touristy Atlanta things. We got off to a late start (cause I slept in.... the way it should be) and then realized all the touristy stuff in Atlanta closes at 5pm. What the crap is that? So we went to Underground ATL and had some slushies then kicked it back north to have dinner with my parents for some habachi.....yummm mummmm. Wednesday we made up for the slow Monday and went to the Aquarium. Not much has changed in 2 years. TONS of people still and pretty much the same exhibits. Tried taking photos but my suck knob was turned to 11. Will post more in a few days.

Been fighting a horrendous spider bite. I have a giant hole in my stomach. I will spare you the photos but been feeling like crap so sorry for the updates. Started as just polysporin treating it..... then peroxide added to it.... and now on heavy prescription antibiotics. If I make it out alive, I am shooting Warped Tour on Monday. 72 bands and thousands of screaming teenagers. I will try and make a good post out of that.

2010-07-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

The age old question of "when do you become a photographer" instead of a person with a camera has seen many responses but most I think are stupid. My answer is when you use the money from boring commercial jobs to shoot stuff your own personal stuff that wont make you squat. I have countless ideas in my head that I will spend the next 10 years trying to shoot. Some small, some big. Sometimes you have ideas and a certain person just pops in your head and they fit the shoot. No other person or situation can replace the idea. I tend to look at people and categorize them into what ideas they would best fit. Its kind of a curse because every time you run into that person all you can think about is the shoot you want to do with them but it will take the course of time before happens. Makes you sit back and twiddle your thumbs and hope that time hurries up. Personal shoots are what I strive for. Mostly because they are fun and you get to try new things. My girlfriend and I went into Walmart at midnight and walked out with a kiddy pool and a 6 pack of beer. The next day I shot my good friend Christie at her house. The weather was really cold if you can notice in the photo. My girlfriend has a jacket on and we are dumping boiling hot water into the pool. The idea was to get a full body shot to turn into a composite. I probably shot 35 full body shots then decided to shoot only a few closeups of the face. Well as of right now in editing, the closeups of the face ended up better than the full body shots. That is the beauty of doing shoots on your own personal time. You end up finding out what works and what does not. Makes you a better photographer.

2010-07-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

Summer time in the south. So hot! Yesterday was 100 degrees and with the humidity, its horrendous. Climbing during the months of June through August is pretty much a joke. I have been getting into freediving. Dont really know what got me thinking about it but its a really interesting sport. There is a lot to learn. Mostly safety stuff but fun none the less. When I first started doing it a few weeks ago, I set a few limits I would not go past due to how dangerous it can be. Well those limits came quickly and now I am reevaluating them. I will probably get a membership to a pool this winter so I can continue training. I am amazed on how wiped out my body feels after training. I read on some training manuals that rock climbing is the perfect cross-training sport. Pretty funny and perfect for me. I agree because practicing breathing for diving makes climbing easier. I feel like I have more endurance without having to train climbing endurance. Plus swimming seems to work some of the same muscles without the strain making it a good off day workout. I practice holding my breath above water, under water, with movement, and without. Practice different kicks and strokes as well as equalizing. Only a few weeks in and I have swam 165 feet distance underwater as well as 30 feet deep pretty easily on one breath. I will be in Jamaica next June for a wedding I am want to get REALLY comfortable with 30-40 feet at 2- 3 minutes underwater by then.

Off days at the Canyon! Such a good place to escape and relax. Climb a little and jump in the swimming holes.

2010-06-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

The Kadense CD I designed is for sale in F.Y.E. stores and maybe a few others....? Havent really gotten all the info but none the less very cool. If you see it in stores, think about me. The CD actually has some really cool compositing we did.

2010-06-22T05:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos that I promised from the last post. Stone Summit opened its doors this past Saturday. I had already planned to be in Tennessee for the weekend so I did not attend the opening shindig. I had previously stopped by while the place was being built to check the progress. I wanted to get a few photos before it opened to the public because the place will never look the same again due to the amount of chalk that will overwhelm the place. It was difficult to take photos of the gym so I suggest seeing it in person. I think part of the reason is that you cannot take one single photo and get the entire gym in the shot. I tried creating a panoramic but that failed too. It will be cool to take photos during the bigger comps that will be held here in the future.

Kate McGinnis working her way up a 5.13.

The really long roof feature.

The most popular viewing of the gym.

2010-06-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

So I am pretty bad at updating with what is going on. I post maybe 1 out of 4 things going on so I am trying to get better.

Last Saturday I had the great pleasure of shooting Damian Marley and Nas at the Tabernacle. I eagerly waited to hear if I got permission to shoot for weeks before. Its always one of those down to the last minute things to hear back whether or not you can shoot. Out of all the photos in my portfolio, shooting Damian was the most important to me on a personal level and what I feel will be one of the more important shoots for my professional career in the long run. You can check out a handful of the photos that are up right now on this site..... The Silver Tongue

The slide viewer really sucks the quality out of them but I am sure you will see the photos around in the future.

In other news, Atlanta just built another climbing gym making it the 6th currently operating gym here. While it does not have the tallest walls nor biggest bouldering area, it is definitely is a big freaking warehouse space with a ton of climbing area making it the "largest gym in the nation". It will be cool to watch competitions there and will allow me to see friends from out of town who I have not seen in years. I took photos at the gym before they opened. Didnt really have the time needed to get something great out of it but I will be posting those soon.

From the beginning of June through July, I will be out of town 7 weekends in a row. Who knows if that will continue into August but that has been a big halt on taking photos and video. I have about 20 things I need to shoot or edit and its going to be a while before it all gets done.

2010-06-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

I have been slowly working on getting an architectural portfolio together. I was scheduled to shoot one more set before releasing this as a gallery on my website but due to some scheduling conflicts, that shoot has been pushed back. Rather than sit and wait, I figure I would go ahead and share what has been put together so far. Its a rough start but definitely a path I plan to venture down. Please take a second and click on the link to check it out.
Wes Powell Photography

2010-06-07T14:48:00.001-07:00

Taken from The Silver Tongue site. Its hard interviewing someone that you have known for 6 years.

TST’S Wes Powell sat down with Boze to get an update on Almost Kings.
If there were ever a band that knew what it is to grind, it is Almost Kings. Staying on the road more than nine months each year, they have toured the United States countless times taking over markets one person at a time. Some say that fate took its course bringing together these four Atlanta artists – lyricist & vocalist Boze, guitarist & vocalist Ryan Yunker, drummer Kevin Compton, and bassist & vocalist Danny Helms.
Almost Kings independently recorded and produced “Filthy Nice”. The album was released in February, 2009 and since has sold thousands of copies at shows as well as thousands of singles on iTunes.
Almost Kings is quickly becoming a movement – it has been defined by some as “skate-rock” and the dawn of the next era of music. Gaining international notoriety, the band has toured with acts such as Rehab, Framing Hanley, Drowning Pool, Everlast, and many more. Almost Kings has been labeled as an “unstoppable self-sufficient machine” by select major record label representatives, and has “independently tackled the development process” that labels often force feed new artists.

TST interview with Almost Kings from The Silver Tongue on Vimeo.

2010-05-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I did a quick photoshoot with Atlanta band Deception. The band wanted to do white background shots and due to time and budget, I talked them into shooting on location with a paper backdrop instead of spending a lot more $$$ on studio rental. There are pros and cons to this and I would NOT do it with a high end shoot. Since they were friends of mine, I explained to them that the photos straight off camera will look really bad but after touching it up in post, they will turn out how you want. I normally do not post before and after pictures and I realize that there are a lot of errors in this before photo. Some photographers are against photoshop and some love it. I am both. I do like to be able to flip around the camera during the shoot and show the client how great it looks but I feel like there is no way from now on into the future that you can be a good photographer without photoshop. Not to get into a huge argument about it I feel like photos from now on are going to involve heavy color correction and 3d renderings. To break it down though..... know your technical skills with a camera and you wont get into a bad situation. I just want to show how a very inexpensive shoot can easily be turned into something good.

2010-05-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

Interview we did with Sevendust's John Connolly.

TST's Interview with Sevendust's John Connolly from The Silver Tongue on Vimeo.

2010-05-08T16:48:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of shooting at a supershoot for the first time. I have never done one of the photo strolls or supershoots or any event with a large group of photographers. It never was appealing to but I thought I would give it a try. It would give me some new images to edit and update my websites with at least. The supershoot consisited of a few makeup artists, wardrobe stylists, about 20 models, and 8 photographers. The shoot was held in Decatur at Studio Primetime. We had a handful of different setups and just rotated models. Was a ton of fun and I definitely learned a few things that day. Christina came along with me and modeled. Here are some of the shots that turned out so so. The better ones will be updated on my site soon.

2010-04-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

I uploaded a for more pics in my "places" gallery on my photography site. Here is one from Malibu. I flew out there at the end of February to hang out for a week then drive back across the country.... as seen in previous posts. Went drove through Topanga Canyon one evening out to Malibu. The weather was nice and we just hung out on the beach while watching people surf.

2010-03-30T10:49:00.001-07:00

I have a new personal gallery of "Film" on my photography site. I started learning photography on a 35mm camera but quickly switched over to digital because 2 and 3 megapixel cameras were the new hotness. I then got the excitement to learn video and go to school to further my education in that field. As I have been crafting my photography skills over the past few years, I have pulled out and dusted off my old Canon 35mm and bought a 1958 twins lens reflex camera. Its fun to shoot with because it forces you to slow down and really pay attention to detail. No auto modes and using a piece of paper to figure out the exposure makes you feel like you are actually doing something instead of becoming another person with a digital camera in todays digital age.

Film Gallery Here

Some of you may know this pond at Boat Rock. I took it years and years ago before this place was changed due to urban development. It use to be such a great place away from the city to hide away in the woods. Half the land has been saved and turned into a public park thanks to the Southeastern Climbers Coalition. That is a whole other story within itself.

2010-03-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

I recently did a little interview with Dave Ellefson of Megadeth for The Silver Tongue Online Magazine and it is now posted on Blabbermouth.net! Its always cool for work that I have been a part of to be posted to this site because its one of the top music sites out there.

Interview Here

2010-03-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I had the great joy of driving across the country on I-40. Christina was living in Los Angeles and planned to move back to the south and yes back here to Atlanta near me. I flew out there and hung out in Los Angeles for a week. We caught up with some friends each night and had some nice dinner.... including very good sushi on Ventura Blvd. of course. The plan for the trip was to hit up Vegas before the Grand Canyon but the weather did not cooperate. During the entire drive, a huge storm followed us. We decided to skip on Vegas due to rain (even though I would have been down) since Vegas involves a good bit of walking around. The night before the GC... im going to use that for Grand Canyon..... it started snowing heavily. We pulled over into a hotel parking lot and crashed in the Jeep. When we woke, everything was covered in snow. Everything. We slowly drove north to the GC and weather was crap. We decided to hit up South Rim due to time and I had heard previously that South Rim was "touristy". I didnt really think so. Besides the obvious visitor center and lodge, it was not what everyone made it out to be. So at the front gate, we paid $25 (per car) which gives you a full week of entry. That is the least amount you can pay. WTF. Off we went to the visitor center to see what was going on with the weather. When we got inside, I asked one of the guides where we could go to get a good lookout. He said, "Come back tomorrow" For a while, that was our plan. We were going to walk around for a tiny bit, sleep in Flagstaff that night and come back in the morning with sun.

We also found out that North Rim was not open because it was not season yet for that side. Also, this was the last day that the gate at the end of the road would be open for free travel. The next day, the season would start and only shuttle buses would be allowed past.
We walked to one of the lookouts near the visitor center just to see what you could look at. The top photo is the pic I took from the edge..... NOTHING. I was so mad. The second is stepping back and watching all the other people get pissed off.

So we waited around. Had a snack. Froze. I was wishing it would get partly cloudy at least.

It was really cold.

We decided to have lunch at the restuarant in the lodge. There were some very snoody rich people sitting next to us. Sucked. Got done eating and off we went to check out the weather again.

It started clearing up!!!! A sneak peak! And cleared and cleared and cleared. It was amazing to watch the GC get revealed to us in this way. Piece by piece. I got Christina to stand on this lookout at Powells Point. Its shear drop off for hundreds of feet on 3 sides. She is terrified of heights so it was really cool seeing her at least grow some for a cool pic!

Nikon doing its thing! I was happy to bring my tripod on this long trip.

I took some time to huck snowballs as far as I could and watch them slowly fall into the abyss. There are a lot of ravens at the GC. I took this pic of one flying directly overhead a few hundred feet up. I was in manual mode with manual focus and nailed it. It was a great feeling for such a great turn around of a bad day.

Here are 3 pics that are all edited differently that I enjoy. I took a TON so I will be editing for a while now.

2010-03-08T19:29:00.001-08:00

My fire photo from the previous post has been featured in the Daily Inspiration section of Abduzeedo! You can click on the photo @ Abduzeedo and it will take you to the rest of them on my site. I have been a big fan of Abduzeedo for a few years now and I am thankful they would post my work. There are great tutorials and designers on there..... some of the best. Take a second to swing by their page and check out the other artists of the day.

Abduzeedo

2010-02-22T20:07:00.000-08:00

Been working on this for the past month or so. I had to be patient to get enough photos that I thought were unique enough to post. You can see the full gallery in my personal section of www.wespowellphotography.com .

I leave to go out of town tomorrow for a few weeks at least. Follow me on twitter to catch me on the road. I will be uploading phone pics of the trip. twitter.com/wespowellfilms

2010-02-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I got a really cool old twin reflex medium format camera. Just got the first roll developed but didnt have it scanned. I leave to go out of town soon and it wouldnt have gotten back into my hands in time. So I just took the negatives outside against a white piece of paper and help it up to the sun. I snapped each frame with my digital camera and then took the digital negative into photoshop to see roughly how they look. This method is ghetto but I needed to know how my exposures were turning out. I dont have a light meter with it so I was having to guess. Im about to take a long trip and just purchased a bunch more film. When I get back, I will have them professional scanned so the clarity will be better.

2010-02-15T20:49:00.000-08:00

Over the Christmas break, I had the chance to sit down with Christina and Mike from Within The Eddy and film some songs in acoustic form. We are posting 4 total this month but I will be only be posting the 2 better ones on here. You can find more videos of them on youtube. Here is their original song Mr. Sulafane.

I have been in the mood for the past half year now to film singers without special audio recordings. Just bland straight camera audio which is the worst for making someone singing sound good. This has been really important for me lately because I think we are going to loose the real art form of music here in the near future. With technology these days, its extremely easy to make anyone sound like a million dollars. Artists do it in the studio, on TV, and even live on stage right in front of you. Auto-Tune will destroy music just as illegal downloading of music did.

Within The Eddy - Mr. Sulafane from Wes Powell Films on Vimeo.