scorched joshua trees

scorched joshua trees, originally uploaded by Joseph Orsillo.

This one is from the archives. I finally took the time to update my website this last weekend. I added over 70 images that I have made since July. This image is older than that, but it really caught my eye when I was going through my flickr pages. I miss the night shooting. There is a full moon right now and I was all set to go out super early this morning, but when I got up it was pouring rain so I ended up going back to sleep. Come to think of it I love sleeping too.

On the road... Again

, originally uploaded by Joseph Orsillo.

Well I'm out and about once again and I got the chance to return to one of my favorite shooting locales. I was a little skeptical about shooting this spot again because I wasn't sure that I would be able to see anything new. I arrived just before the sun went down. It was all blue sky and golden tones, but the tide was much farther out than the last time I had visited. I was able to walk out onto the beach to photograph these pylons (they were partially submerged when I last saw them). The sun dipped below the horizon as I was setting up this shot. Literally within the space of a minute, the entire beach was blanketed with fog, with just a hint of light left in the sky. It was something straight from a horror movie. It was all gray and cold and wet and surreal. I loved it. I quickly wiped the moisture from the lens and made seven exposures. I shot a few other scenes before succumbing to the damp cold, but this one best captures the moment as I remember it. And yes, I did embellish just a little, but then it wouldn't be me if I didn't, right?

Time to Vote...

Hey there folks.  I have signed up with JPEG Magazine and am in a contest to be in the next issue.  If you are so inclined, wont you please head over and cast a vote for me.

By Any Other Name...

}, originally uploaded by Joseph Orsillo.

I've been a little slack lately. Blame it on the holidays if you want, but I haven't been too excited about shooting these days. Yesterday I forced myself to get out from in front of the computer and DO something. I had this old dried out bouquet and decided to give it a go. I made several images intended to be in color. This one was the last of the day and I really didn't think that much of it, kind of a throw away. I shot it intending for a square crop, but it was originally framed 90 degrees counter clockwise from where it is now. I did the sepia conversion in Camera Raw, then brought it into Photoshop. Still not thinking much of it, I began to add some additional toning work and USM to bring out the detail when it hit me... 'rotate it 90 degrees'. BOOM - WOW. As David Lynch would say, it was one of those "Holy Jumping George" moments. I immediately fell in love with it. I guess this goes to show that as shitty as I may feel sometimes, I need to push myself to create.