I heard that once...

New Negs and ideas

2010-03-30T11:20:00.001-07:00

Its been brought to my attention that sometimes, my ideas are much more interesting than what I do with them. I currently have two and a half 'idea books' and its been suggested that I start a blog where I post thoughts on subjects, photos, techniques and in a round about way: daily life.

These photos weren't shot in hopes of adding to my portfolio. These shots were conceived with a 120N Holga and 120 Black and White film. I didn't measure light and usually shot on bulb "feeling" the exposure time.

That's something I really enjoy doing. Sometimes whilst shooting, I like to look at a scene and judge how long the shutter stays open by mentally connecting with my film. Silly, I know. but when the shots come back, I feel, though its film, that I've already seen the image.

I wonder if other photographers feel their work the same way? Am I completely amateur? or a photo genius (har har)? Could this be a way of learning backwards? Instead of using rules to work the camera, I use my own judgment.... will this reveal parts of my subconscious? Could I learn more about the camera operator this way? when I'm not looking, what does the lens see? What am I seeing when I'm not looking? This reminds me of a project I' had high hopes of doing while I was in school but never quite had the time nor funds. Shooting from the hip, hail mary's, hopes and prays..... all easy enough concepts but what do you get from your outcome? Perhaps a candid photo or an exciting angle... but I'm not concerned about those. I want to know what it is I frame while my attention is elsewhere. Explore.

A new blog is coming, ladies and gents (if anyone reads this at all anyway). Info Soon.

Martin

2009-11-24T11:47:00.000-08:00

On the set of Martin. Directed by Heather Springer and Tyler Arvin

past work

2009-11-09T12:40:00.001-08:00

Long Overdue

2009-10-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

G20 protest march September 25,2009

Group Photos

2009-09-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

Westlake Service Department

Thanks!!

Backyard

2009-09-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

A shoot for Location Lighting. Heather was my model. all cute n stuff!

mhastings reel

2009-08-28T06:56:00.000-07:00

"The Adjustor"
The Octopus Project
Eliott Acevedo - Video Producton
Melissa Hastings
mhastingsphoto.com
Illustrative Photographer

And Its all coming together...

2009-08-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

The Adjustor
The Octopus Project
Camera and Edits: Eliott Acevedo

Thanks Eliott!! In case you couldn't get to my site with the other link... www.mhastingsphoto.com

Business Cards are due at my door by Wednesday and a ton of stuff is getting done today and tomorrow. I have pieces of paper all over my house with lists on them. But most things are checked off!! yay!

Up and Running

2009-08-21T23:53:00.000-07:00

www.mhastingsphoto.com

Check it out and let me know what you think. I'm not done with the writing that is going on it yet but that'll change soon.

:)

GET LUCKY

2009-08-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

Fathers Day contact sheet

2009-07-29T05:32:00.000-07:00

first advertising assignment

2009-07-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

This quarter is my last quarter. I can't even comment on my mood about it because one moment I'll feel like a total failure and the next I'll feel like I'm climbing out of ... failureness. Anyway. one piece at a time. And sadly, this is all I have to update with today.... my advertising class assignment to shoot something and put in text. here y'ar. :)

The lion

2009-07-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

Stanley Cup CHAMPS!

2009-06-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

Sooooo. the pens won the stanley cup against the detroit redwings. Take that Hossa! The parade closed down most of downtown. I have to admit, I played it cool for the most part, just taking pictures of everyone going crazy, but Staal went by and I kinda flipped out. haha.
Here's what I got. not much but its all I could get. :) GO PENS!

Fruitless Effort

2009-06-11T19:06:00.001-07:00

Sleepwalker series.

breathe.....

2009-06-09T03:07:00.001-07:00

This has been quite a productive weekend for getting nothing done. Tons of stuff to get done for school but I seem to still feel accomplished somehow. I shot at another music video this past weekend but its super secret as of right now. I had to sign a paper and everything, nifty stuff. But. In other greatness, I finally took a few pictures of Jack. He's a hard one to get still but I managed a couple awful shots. Also... upartylive photos of my fav act Chase Clemens.

Shooting a Music Video

2009-06-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

Brandon's at it again and asked me to tag along. This is from one day of shooting the music video for.... I forget the name of the song but its by In the Wake of Giants. Good stuff. yay!

Shelf Life film

2009-05-29T08:27:00.001-07:00

As of today I realized I'm allergic to cats. And I just moved in with two cats. So my apologies for the state of these images, I think I'm a little off today.

Dave Kiss and Chase

2009-05-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

UpartyLive Sunday May 24, 2009... These were my favs besides the shelf life but I shot them with film sooooo here. :)

like a year...

2009-05-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

The last couple days feel like an entire year, so much has happened. Friday as my portfolio review. I turned it in last monday and sat on my nerves all week. But when it came down to it I got mostly good feedback... which isn't very helpful but the things I need to work on are diving deeper into the idea I'm portraying. Select members of the faculty who were there told me they don't think I know what I'm trying to say. They also said I had the most conceptual work that they've seen come through the program. Karen Antonelli wasn't there, but viewed the photos beforehand.... on her written critique, she gave me three 5s and one 4. I was like.. woah. She said I mastered my tool. haha. Andy told me to look into the market more and more than one person said I should think about driving the work toward illustrative markets. Cool beans.

Saturday, the parents came to town and helped me move. I killed dad's truck on there way here. It got junked. Sunday, my arms were killing me. death. I look like I was in a domestic dispute. My left arm alone has six pretty gnarly bruises. Hot. Then, there was the UpartyLive show which was nifty. there was a HUGE crowd for the shelf life. And they brought another guitar-playing buddy who sang a few of his songs. He was my favorite to watch. his face was all in it. And he had a strap on harmonica. The guitar was super pretty too. Oh yeah, in addition to the three members of the shelf life, they brought a fella with a stand up bass. Ginormous instrument. I shot them with film. Hopefully that works out.

Today is Memorial day and therefore, I'm taking this time to put off cleaning at the new place by writing a super long blog that nobody's going to read anyway. I made myself a list to make it seem more organized. It probably won't be that bad but I just don't want to start. Plus, I haven't been online in a couple days and I must catch up to the world. ha.

Photos to come next time. As soon as I get them processed. Letchya know.

Loves

The Shelf Life and UpartyLive

2009-05-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Tom Larkin of TomLarkinProductions, I now have a new favorite thing to do on sunday nights. In the 3rd room at the Beehive coffee shoppe in south side pittsburgh (what a mouthfull... honestly) a gathering of talented and... well... striving musicians gather every sunday at 8 to put on a live show on the interwebs. People can tune in to UpartyLive.com and talk to the bands while they're playing, vote on their favorite groups and request songs. Its actually pretty sweet. Anyway. Here's the band who won two weeks in a row. They got to play 2 sets and were asked back for next week. This saturday, however, they're playing a free show at The Parkhouse on E.Ohio street in the northside at 8. So... Without further adieu, The Shelf Life (and UPL crew)

http://www.myspace.com/derekpdysart I recommend "modern land chapter 2" and "Another Evening" nice.

Preport

2009-05-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

VacancySleepwalker II
Sleepwalker

I submitted my preport powerpoint today. Its monday.... and the review is on friday. I get the whole week to sit with my stomach in knots. I know, I can't do anything about it now so I shouldn't worry.... but that's why I'm worried. What if I discover something I should have done, or should not have done and can't fix it this whole week. I'd have to stand in front of the faculty waiting for them to say everything I know is wrong. Oh good god. Makes me dizzy just imagining it. But anyway. ...

I had to add titles to my images at the request of R.Straw. It became a bit more interesting that way. I realized that people will most likely not see things in my images the way I did unless I give them a hint. Its not that they don't make any sense... they just might not make any sense to anyone but me. ha. good joke.

fail. absolute. fail.

Dreaming

2009-05-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd update today with a bit of what I've been working on. Color Film comes out today so hopefully everything turned out well and will help me out. 1 week left before the pre-port review. I'm super nervous even though I know I should really just chill out.

Beardo Bandini Album Cover

2009-04-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

I had to make an album cover (and back cover) for digital design class and decided to make one for Beardo Bandini. All the pictures are from their Myspace Page ( http://www.myspace.com/beardobandini ). Enjoy!

Monsieur Louis' Debut

2009-04-30T14:04:00.001-07:00

New Work from Monsieur Louis. the Lubitel 166+ I just got. Super thrilled about it. Here's some stuff from the weekend.

A Day in Digital Design

2009-04-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

I just did this for class. We had to visually describe words from a list. I chose Larger than Life and Falling Down Drunk. The other one we had to write on a path in indesign. Simple stuff but I enjoyed it.

go school! haha

Dad

2009-04-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

I was making a powerpoint for my pre portfolio class and came across this picture. Its probably just another crayon in the box, but I felt like it said something. It was taken while at work with dad for the documentary. I was outside the truck and looking through the window using my head to block out reflections enough to see him inside the truck. Anyway. I wanted to post something. And I stared at this one for a while.

no photo

2009-04-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

le sadly, I'm posting without a picture. Gasp! I know! Its like the second time in a row!

Anyway. This quarter is going to be tough. I thought I might post my goals somewhere so whenever I get lost I have a to do list somewhere to get me back on track.

hokay.
-Pre-Port this quarter. Things are due week 7. Have awesomeness. no excuses.
-Digital Design. Find a personal project. Use C.E.C for the Client and Design brochures.
-Efolio. Learn... I mean it.... learn how to create and maintain a website. Very beneficial.
-Photo History II. Don't let it pull you down. Its just another play in the game. Deal with it. Get it over with. Learn something. Do well. (ps don't look at her hands)
-Apartment. Either find one or move in with katie for a couple months.
- Bunny in a month. Snuggle him greatly.
- Holga work. I just found another door to open and a whoooole new way of seeing things has occurred. I cant wait.
- Keep writing. The new book has officially passed its intro session and is my new right hand man...er... book. anyway.. we bonded. Good news.

well... that's all I have as of right now. I'm sure I'll add to the list as things come up but that's all I'm concerned about right now.

:) website learning is gonna be hard. kind of dread going to the class only because when I hear him talk about the stuff it doesn't catch anything in my brain that would make me understand it. sooo.... I'm looking for a tutor I guess or maybe just a Dummies book on the subject.

Good luck to me.

oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh

2009-03-17T00:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/609421
I sent it.
I sent it!

crazy. really crazy. it'll take 5-6 days to print it. yeeeesh. cutting it close. lets all cross our fingers in hopes everything prints out alright. oooooooo!!!

logo

2009-03-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

heeeeey.... I made a logo for mahself. It might stick. I dunno. yay!

To the printers!

2009-03-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to announce that my book will be sent to the printers as of tonight or tomorrow. I was so excited I couldn't wait to post that. yay!

Beardo Bandini

2009-03-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

Beardo Bandini at Bella Dubbies in Lakewood Ohio My cousin totally rocks. Go Maura!

The Wire

2009-03-09T17:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not exactly sure where the phrase 'down to the wire' came from but I think that's where I am. Here's the latest batch from the dadumentary. ooooooh garsh, I just don't know how to pick images. Everything looks so random right now. eeeeeeee gettin nervioso.

Title my thesis

2009-03-04T17:32:00.000-08:00

Exhausted. I've been working on thesis things for a large chunk of the day and have hit that point where I'm begging the creative flow to keep going. So, everything I edit from that point on feels forced... and more importantly, looks forced. I'm calling it a day. But. For your viewing pleasure (hopefully), here are the newest of the thesis batch.

I've got to stop showing people these things otherwise nobody's going to want to look at my book when its made.

Please look when its done!

Darkroom Joys

2009-02-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

So. I feel like I had a breakthrough in thesis. We had to show work and I didn't show much cuz I have this feeling like if I showed anything of importance, I'd jinx it. I did a bit of printing today and had some fun doing it. The images I'm putting up now were sprayed with developer instead of being submerged in a tray. Can I just say I really enjoy fridays in the lab. Nobody is there and if there is anyone, they're earlier quarters and still have the fear of upper quarter students so they don't bug me or go near my sink of chemicals. muahahaha.

I'm wondering which of the first two to use. I dunno if I like the single person or the double person better. you tell me. The dinos was just for fun. good ol photograms. hehe.
oh! and the floating dog one was taken with shane's holga about a year or more ago. that's there cuz I miss the bus stop I took it from. there was a man walking the dog but I seemed to have chopped him out when I forwarded the film..... woot?

Windows to your Soul

2009-02-20T17:51:00.000-08:00

I had a dream about eyes.
Thank you Thesis.
p.s. I wish I knew how to put them side by side on blogger. weird.

Behind The Scenes

2009-02-18T14:25:00.000-08:00

Better images. Since I'm a genius, I set the iso super high on the camera the first night but fixed it the second night for some better takes. It was a ton of fun. I got to act... they caught me pondering off to nowhere on camera. goodie. The saturation seems to be off on the post so.... just pretend the colors are prettier and then it's more accurate. THANKS BRANDON, ELIOTT, NICK, WILL, BEN, LIZ, JANE, STEVE, CARL, LAUREN and (insert actor man's name). Twas a pleasure.

new

2009-02-16T18:47:00.001-08:00

I hate using 'new' for a title, ever but I don't have much time. school's about to close and I still have to return my cards. these are from the production last night at alexander's italian bistro on liberty in bloomfield. I LOVE doing these. anyway. not enough time to edit properly so they prolly suck but I wanted to post some anyway. will fix another time.

Tough Week

2009-02-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

This was a tough week but I survived ...cuz as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive.... Well, I've been going through the dad photos and finding some stuff I don't remember if I knew I took. Here's some images from the Cleveland palate company and dad's workshop in the basement.

Work Day

2009-02-09T09:54:00.000-08:00

I went with dad to work for the project. It was a lot of fun. I ended up running directly into a snow covered ditch and getting stuck waist high while dad almost had a heart attack laughing. The camera took more than one nose dive into the snow through out the day but everything turned out alright anyway.

Following Dad

2009-02-02T14:50:00.000-08:00

I followed dad this weekend grocery shopping and helping an old lady get an eggplant, playing poker with the guys, working in the garage and helping out grandma. buuuut there's tons left to edit. yay!

Seamus and Yoshimi

2009-01-24T09:26:00.000-08:00

Gerard

2009-01-16T11:19:00.001-08:00

This is Gerard. He's a creeper. c.2006

In super awesome news, Teach approved both projects I had in mind for documentary and thesis. I can not wait for this to get going. I'm skippin town this weekend to get started. As I was tellin Teach about the 'Dadumentary' (I have to find a new title to be taken seriously) I just poured out ideas ... American dream - american reality.... bustin ass to get by smiling... in ten years this won't matter...etc. Its gotten more structured and I have specific ideas for images I still need to tell dad's story. This is exciting.
Thesis is going to be killer. Its a dream and nobody in class wants to do anything like it. I'll be doing photograms and scratching negitives and fine art type stuff. I mean... I dunno about the 'fine' part but its surely gonna be some art. I'm babbling cuz I'm stoked.

Gnome army

2009-01-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

Grandma's Birthday Party

2009-01-12T11:40:00.000-08:00

just a couple pictures from break. These are from Grandma's birthday party. I'm hoping to continue the dadumentary but I'm starting to think I'm losing the umph. We'll see how it goes.

resolution

2009-01-09T19:08:00.000-08:00

This is my last year in school. As of December 09 I will be one photographic bachelor degree richer and a whole lot poorer. The classes to come are going to be getting increasingly more demanding and I'm more than ready for it. Well... okay, maybe not more than ready but certainly I'm at least ready.

I can't wait to pitch my thesis idea and get started on it. I think I've gotten a little too attatched to it which can become a problem if it gets turned down. I'd be so blank. I've spent the past month constantly thinking about it, revising ideas, and zoning in on the final goal. It just sounds so exciting to make a book. I know you can make a book without being in a class for it, anybody could make a book if they wanted to, but this is the class I couldn't wait for since I was in my third quarter of school. now that it's been over a year, I'm stoked.

I spent considerably less time thinking about documentary but I might propose my dadumentary since I've started it and have been trying to work on it more lately.

As for my other classes... I haven't the slightest clue what to expect.

Here's to a year of happiness and success.