December 12, 2007

Slide Show of Web Update



I have a doctor who seems to appreciate my work and has put 5 framed pieces up in her office and home; a couple were Limited Editions and she was pleased that one of them was 1/25 as it was new the day she was shopping the site. (I always keep the first print as an artist print and number it 0/25). I have an appointment Friday and she wanted to see some new work as she was interested in some Christmas gifts for family and friends. I created this slide show of a few new pieces I had been working on to link-up for her to view. I thought I would just go ahead and put the link here as well.

It takes a few minutes to load completely, but the thumbs are there rather quickly. Take a click if you are interested.

Slide Show

I went to West Africa (Ghana and Nigeria) in October of this year, and she has a real love for the African people, but I have not had the time to process the hundreds (forgive me, 2500+) of images from that trip. I know she will love many of those. I will share them here as well as my website sometime in January.

Visit the website as well if you get time. Have a great rest of the week.

W P Branham Photography

William P. Branham Jr.

December 8, 2007

Train Depot


I was driving through old Louisville with my wife the other day and came across this old train depot. I have got to get access to this place! Under the concrete, just to the right of this image, is an old set of stairs that was walled up with cinder block but the local homeless, and a few drug user as well from the looks of the type of waste in there, broke through the block and made a hole to get up top. I am going to get up there soon, maybe during a snow to add another element to this already magnetic spot. I know, maybe you would not go in there, but that is just the kind of place I can't get my mind off of until I have completely explored it to see what it has to offer me...

Visit my Web Page W P Branham Photography.

Welcome

Hello to all those who may stumble across these ramblings from a creative (sentenced to life at birth) who spends more time in the right hemisphere of his brain than is probably healthy but who has very limited control over the border crossings.

I was born to create, in one medium or another, and have settled into the digital age quite comfortably. Early on just the nub of a Red Crayola or a #2 pencil would be enough to spark hours upon hours of enjoyment, then it took that gritty feel of charcoal and the softness of pastels to express myself more. Next it was the semi-controllable surprise of pigment and water that grabbed me by the subconscious and gave me great joy. I eventually went full circle and ended back up with a pencil in my hand, only now I called it 'graphite' because it sounded more artsy; right? I won a few local and regional gallery competitons for my artwork, but being a newlywed and a young father were taking up more of my time and I did not want to miss out on that wonderful part of life; the time for highly detailed surrealistic realism was just not there.

Oh well, I was taking images in 35mm most of this time; capturing images to develop so that I could go home and paint or draw them. I started to notice that my photographic work was giving me more and more satisfaction and getting a little attention; then the digital image came into its own and the rest is history...

There are a few cameras around the house, but my current workhorse is a Canon 5D with a stable of "L" Series lenses like the Canon 85mm 1.2L, a Canon 24-105MM L IS, a Canon 70-200mm L, a Lensbaby, a tamron 16-35 3.5 a couple of old primes (a 28mm and a 50mm) that I am currently playing around with; trying to make a homemade bellows and using them for creative work. They will act like a tilt-shift and give me some cool DOF options. I am even playing with an attachment for the 5D to use it as a digital pinhole camera. I am always doing something, prolific may be a better description, as my image counter is proof of that--the 5D alone has logged over 35,000 images in under two years!


I will be posting things that interest me, whether part of a commission or part of my personal fine art portfolios; even my ever growing sideline of wedding and portrait work will find its way here. I trust you enjoy what you see; comment on them if you wish--my muse is not deterred at all by criticism...it has has a mind of it's own, usually with it's tongue-in-cheek and laughing at its control over me anyway.

Visit my Web Page W P Branham Photography.