Josh Lopez Photography

My Website.

2010-01-18T03:30:00.003-05:00

As i'm sure many of you have noticed,
(because, believe it or not, google analytics says you're still checking out my blog)
this has not been updated in almost a year.

Ironically, the last post i made was during my spring break to wilmington, nc..
which now happens to be where i live, in the exact house i stayed throughout my visit.

That being said, i'm in the process of formulating a new blog with fresh thoughts and updates.
In the meantime, please refer to my website at http://joshlopezphoto.com or http://joshlopez.net
both of which will direct you to the same destination.

..and lets be friends on facebook via http://facebook.com/joshlopez

with love,
Josh

Friday Night Lights...

2009-03-21T00:14:00.004-04:00

So my trip here in wilmington is unfortunately wrapping up.
Among the friends i've made here and the craziness we've shared, i think the weather is one thing i'll miss the most.
Is that selfish?
I sure hope so.
The weather in wilmington is fantastic, a definite upgrade from massachusetts if i was to make a drastic understatement.
Slackline, its a nautical hobby.
It involves a rope... tied between two dock posts, or in our case two tree trunks.
Its ridiculously difficult to catch onto right away, but all the while a ton of fun.
Think of it sort of like tightrope walking... except not lame.
So the few picture above is me sitting in a chair not participating in slackline.
I tried, i failed, and while i still had fun... there was more fun in watching and snapping some shots -- at least for me.

On that side note tip:
The guys from E for Explosion were relatively terrified to attempt the slackline tuesday night.
That was funny.

You Know, You're A Pretty Interesting Guy..

2009-03-20T00:08:00.007-04:00

So my best friend Jack's birthday was this past wednesday and not a whole heck of a lot happened.
For starters, jack had class.
And i was so tired from Tuesday night (see blog post previous to this) that i slept until about............ 3:30pm the next day. Call me crazy, but that may be a little TOO much sleep.
So that would only mean that mine and ali farrow's plans to meet up at noon and bake Jack May a birthday cake didn't happen at that time. Instead, when she arrived at 309 Wallace and saw me crashed on the couch, she and Harrison Purcell (Zach if you wanna get technical) rode their sweet rides (bicycles) to the local grocery and got themselves a random few necessities.
I woke up to Jack playing Resident Evil 5, a game nearly resembling nothing of its predecessors, and i watched -- for maybe a solid two hours.
Ali then called, we met up and we made Jack a cake -- confetti cake to be exact. With vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles. Along the way i met some cool kids like Mari Carl and Katie Sparrow in the very same kitchen.
Soon enough the cake was complete and we presented it to Jack who was thrilled, naturally.
Ali also presented jack with his very first carnivorous plant, the venus fly trap.
All his, over the next few days jack would begin to catch random house flies and feed them to said plant.
Overall it was a slow, unproductive and fulfilling day.
The accompanying pictures are random careless snapshots of said occasion.

What's Your Price For Flight In Finding Mister Right...

2009-03-18T23:13:00.011-04:00

This unfortunately took me FOREVER to catch up on.
Last night was absolutely ridiculous; nearly one of those "out-of-body" experiences.
Jamison Covington, former frontman of one of my favourite bands JamisonParker (if you haven't heard of them, you live under a rock and thus should check them out now, before its 2010), leads a new band by the name of E for Explosion. The fact that its blue and underlined means you should click it. "I Explode" is my favourite off the album.
Well these guys rolled through wilmington as i believe i mentioned in a post earlier.
Also mentioned, i was welcomed to take some photos of their performance.
Josh was the first one i ran into when i got there, he's the bassist of the band and probably the coolest guy i know. We clicked right away.
Their show was awesome, as i had expected having been the second time i'd seen them live.
Once upon a time last year i drove two hours to a small town in Vienna, Virginia to see them perform at the Jammin' Java.
There were all of about ten people there that night.
Not so much the case here.

Also worth noting: last night was St. Patty's Day.
So while hangin' out with Josh, i mentioned to them that their next stop into Georgia was a quick one and they'd have plenty of time and a lot more fun if they came over to 309 Wallace and hungout with me, Jack, and half of UNCW as they were having a social gathering that night.
And they did.
And it was sick.
And there were a ton of kids.
And i'd like to say that we had a lot of fun.
Then the police came.
Nothing serious, it was late on a Tuesday and apparently people like to sleep on such a night.
So after the 5-0 put out our fire out and tucked everyone in for bed, we let the guys hit the road for Georgia and called it a night.

I Don't Wanna Be Anything Other Than Me...

2009-03-16T00:49:00.011-04:00

Okay, so One Tree Hill day was a total success.
There was a good ton of places we were able to check out today while on the streets of Wilmington.
The few accompanying Examples are:

-the rivercourt: this is where Lucas Scott started his basketball 'career' in season one and throughout the entire series the rivercourt's always been "a place called home" where the characters can go when they just want to escape to something familiar.
Its a ridiculously small court, which explains why all the games ever played here on television were half-court, and they take the entire backboard and hoop off the poles when they aren't filming so as to prevent locals from hanging out.

-Lucas' house: Obviously by title, this would be where Lucas would lay himself to rest -- when not at peyton's or brooke's in whatever season such was taking place. Its a real house, that's actually up for sale. I'm not entirely sure why that is, nor am i really concerned. Through the boarded up windows... you can see that the house isn't really furnished, so i'm to assume all the "indoor" filming takes place at Screen Gem Studios -- which only has tours on saturday mornings. lame.

-Cd Alley: This is where peyton spent a good portion of her time sorting through endless supplies of vinyl, trying to discover herself... because if anyone has seen the show, peyton likes to believe she's somewhat defined by what she listens to. Cd Alley is also where Chris Keller worked in season ................two. Keller ruined the relationship for a time between Haley and Nathan Scott, who got married senior year before even graduating high school.

Those are the big ones basically that i was able to check out and get a feel for myself. And i just didn't feel like getting spell checked anymore by ali, sitting beside me.
And.. i really just didn't want to ramble on about a show no one has any interest in, besides me.
*Insert pity here*

In the meantime, check out the shots, i'll have more on what's going on down south as the week goes on.

-Peace.

You're Living To Die And I'm Dying To Live..

2009-03-15T02:55:00.008-04:00

So Love Language turned out to be a good watch, Vetiver.... perhaps not so much. Its not that their music wasn't good, because it was. But it was kinda borderline... "music to listen to in your car on a rainy day" as opposed to standing for an hour in a crowded venue listening to slow jams.
Soapbox is a standard venue with your usual bar and merch stands, nothing too out of the ordinary but the scene was calm, not a lot of high energy. Hopefully that'll be different come this tuesday.
Tuesday E for Explosion will be coming into town and i've been following this band for awhile. E for Explosion is headed up by Jamison Covington, former member of the band JamisonParker with partner Parker case (now synth player for Say Anything). Jamison is very musically talented and moreso profound than his instrumental work are his lyrics.
Tomorrow is One Tree Hill day.
You might be asking, "One Tree Hill day...??"
On this day, Saturday, Ali Farrow, Bryan Mac and i will be on a mission to scout out every part of downtown Wilmington that you find in every episode of One Tree Hill.
i.e. the rivercourt... clothes over bros, formerly karen's cafe, and cd alley.
It should be a good time.
Little Known fact: i love One Tree Hill.

The shots are some randoms i took around downtown Wilmington.
I was tilt-shifting and stuff with the canon 50mm f1.2
Its a phenomenal lens.

Love Language...

2009-03-14T12:42:00.005-04:00

So i landed in Raleigh, North Carolina today to Alicia Farrow's bright and shiny face as she awaited my arrival in the Raleigh/Durham Airport baggage claim :)
She's a rather cool kid that also happens to attend UNCW located in Wilmington, North Carolina -- a fun-in-the-sun kind of town, until i show up.
After the long, rainy two-hour drive to Wilmington, we are rather tired and sluggish but to stay home on a friday night is socially unheard of. So we're going to the Soapbox tonight to listen to some hip indie bands i've never heard of. One happens to be named Love Language and the other Vetiver.

Ali has an entertaining musical taste, so this will be fun no matter what.
The photo is my first photograph with my new setup. Its nothing advanced, its simply a ginormous 30"x60" softbox on my new b1600 but i'm already in love.

I Shook The Hand Of Time, And I Knew...

2009-03-12T01:44:00.004-04:00

Today was almost the most boring day i've had this week:
i've been editting photo's since probably six o'clock this afternoon.
i went to the laundromat -- got my clothes stolen temporarily by a hungry (broken) washing machine.
Modeled for three students.
And.. traveled to Taco Bell.

BUT, today my b16oo's & stuff arrived at my doorstep (not really, i had to pick it up).
And while its all still sitting in its original packaging in the hallway, it makes me feel great to know they're here.
Kinda like a kid a few days before christmas when he already sees packages under the tree.
It's tempting.

Tomorrow i'll be shooting Lyndsie Morris and former Hallmark graduate Taylor Greenwood in Northampton.. a current trend. This will be my last shoot to wrap up my personal portfoilio submissions, not to mention my last day at Hallmark before spring break in wilmington!
10am friday i should be in the air... for an hour... and then after my layover in Newark, in the air again to Raleigh. Who will be there to pick me up? i don't yet know, but someone will be there. i hope somebody will be there.

This image is of Travis Berry, shortly before Reed Sisson arrived on the scene.. also shortly before some testy guy called the local fuzz on us for parking in his EMPTY private lot. Lame.
One profoto acute w/ silver umbrella.

You Gotta Swim.

2009-03-09T02:17:00.007-04:00

This week has been a rather... difficult obstacle in my life.
I've had 3 models for the upcoming week cancel on me just this afternoon, spring break starts this upcoming friday and i've still four personal works to produce, edit and print by thursday. My love-life has now officially become a lack-there-of-life and as graduation's inevitability begins to creep up i'm beginning to feel the pressures of reality and the economic tensions i'll very soon be faced with.
Andrew McMahon, frontman singer/songwriter of Jack's Mannequin once wrote when facing such hardships... times ten:

"You gotta swim
and swim when it hurts.
The whole world is watching,
you haven't come this far
to fall off the earth..
..You gotta swim
for nights that won't end.
Swim for your families,
your lovers, your sisters,
and brothers and friends."

Andrew was diagnosed with leukemia in early 2005 and through steady treatments and a marrow transfer from his sister katie, he was able to overcome a seemingly impossible obstacle and survive. His message is clear even when our futures, our paths are not.
Just keep swimming,
swim through the dark.
So while my petty issues seem rather insignificant,
i'll realize that.. they truly are.
And i'll keep swimming.

Self-portrait to follow -- near future.

It Is Currently 55 Degrees And Sunny...

2009-03-07T13:45:00.006-05:00

Today has been a RIDICULOUSLY gorgeous day in the town of Turners Falls, Mass. There's scattered clouds... there's SUN... and more importantly, you can get away with the windows down in your saturn sl2. (you know.. that company GM is trying to get rid of -- lame.)
I spent the night at my younglife area director's house Dave Wintch last night with Travis Schultz and Andrew Park, easily two of the coolest, godliest, most humble guys i've ever surrounded myself with. Travis and i had a LOT of time to just sit around and catch up on all the garbage going on in our lives, mistakes we made and what we plan to do about it.
More and more i've realized lately, that there's never a moment in my life worth worrying about the past -- its the past, let it be. What i find more important now is what exactly i plan to do about it. What have i learned and where do i go from here.
After all the deep convo, we grabbed a handful of ice cubes and started stuffing them in Andrews mouth -- he sleeps with his mouth open.
THAT was hilarious...!
Early this morning Trav and i woke up, loaded Dave's kids up with sugar and wound them up pretty tight.
Oh yeah, then we took some pictures.
The location's in Northampton, and i had one profoto acute with me, canon 5d - 24.70mm f2.8
I know i never mention all those details, but i'm feeling techie today.

EDIT -- Photos will be up later today / night as i've gotta be in amherst in thirty minutes and i have Wyldlife this afternoon. Google: Wyldlife.

Not Dead-List...!

2009-03-05T23:55:00.004-05:00

So apparently it is NOT a crime to be snowed into another state while working on your assignments. However, it can be mistaken for laziness.

Shortly after walking out of the Hallmark Educational Facility near 3:30pm today, i froze and did a quick double-take towards the very doors i had just entered the parking lot through moments ago.

As i had indeed subconsciously seen originally, my dead-list status had been changed.
Not to the status you're assuming, based upon the title of this blog (and if you hadn't read the title, you're doing so now), but in fact.. an addition sunrise-sunset (some call this a "day") had been added to my status.
At this point i would NOT be able to check school equipment out this upcoming monday, as i had planned for -- but rather tuesday.

Annoyed and somewhat confused, i approached Tom, the kindest of characters, in the equipment room *saves you long boring conversation* and he removed me from the dead-list entirely. Apparently *nameless person who answered the phone this past monday morning at the hallmark educational building (facility)* failed to mention my circumstances and relay them to Tom before i went this whole week without necessary equipment to produce images.

I am no longer on the dead-list and will in fact be able to not only check out equipment this monday AND tuesday, but also this weekend, which saves me a TON of time and effort so i can knock this stuff out head on before SPRING BREAK!

The unrelated picture accompanying this post is a picture of Bobby O (or Bobby Quest for those trying to facebook him based on his ridiculous good looks alone).
He's a great friend of mine and terribly dependable.
Within the next post or two, i'll continue this story with a series of images from this same event during my... christmas break of 2008.

-sweet dreams, love.

Dead-Listed...

2009-03-04T23:38:00.009-05:00

Dead-list happens when one does not return school equipment on time the following day -- no excuses. And it just so happens that i was snowed into Virginia, of all places, this past monday WITH school equipment. Dead list.
This means i am unable to use any and all school equipment for a week, in this case March 9th.
That's a bummer.
So now that i have all this free time on my hands.. i've been copyrighting my work and catching up on some video games -- when i'm not modeling for the work everyone else is getting done, because they are not dead-listed.

These are product shots i had done about two weeks ago.
The product was shot on a completely white backdrop and the patterns and shadows were added manually.

Cheers.

Another Day At The Office...

2009-02-25T13:37:00.003-05:00

Went home to fredericksburg this weekend, hoping to knock out a few assignments and a tad bit of my personal work.
Well that didn't happen.
I should really start checking the weather before i leave my room... or the state for that matter.
It rained all weekend, and when it didn't rain -- it snowed. In Virginia. A lot, much to my surprise.
I instead spent that time catching up with some old friends and cleaning out my closet... both literally and metaphorically. Found some old trinkets and returned them to their rightful owners -- whether they happily received them or not i cannot say.
This image you see here is of a new-found friend Jesse M. of a town not too far from TF but definitely out of state. Twice he crossed the border to hangout and let me waste some studio time.
Jesse will most likely be a world-renowned traveler within the next few years... it seems he's been everywhere already and he's only 24!

This Never Originally Had A Title...

2009-02-22T21:42:00.001-05:00

So... week 24 at hallmark finally wrapped up and shipped off to my archives better known as "memories".

Phase III portfolios are due 8.5am tomorrow and i canNOT wait to get this thing turned in and off my chest.
It's been a ridiculously beneficial experience and it has furthered my belief that hallmark truly is a one-of-a-kind school that anyone would be so fortunate to attend.

The linked image is my entry for the 'high key' assignment portion of my portfolio. This is Tamzeena... aka zeena... of Mercyhouse Church. She's an amazing gal and has more responsibilities as a mother and grad student than you'll know, but she never shows it.

Promo.. Promo... Promo...........

2009-02-15T02:36:00.000-05:00

Oooooohh man,
This is a crazy time to be at hallmark.
Our Phase-3 portfolios are due the 23rd and our "rest of our lives... or at least right now" game plans are due on monday.
This is an example promotional piece i am required to submit within this game plan. I shot this with classmate Tyler Sharpe a small while back and i suppose i never got around to posting it.
All shot with profotos: two softboxes up front, one bare background and another directly behind Tyler for some *flare*
Funnn Times -- no but seriously, it was fun.

...Gonna Party Like Its Your Birthday...

2009-02-01T15:33:00.000-05:00

So this has been a ridiculously busy week, and an even busier weekend. The perfect time
to blow a little steam and just hangout with good people -- and that's exactly what i did t
his past friday.
My Younglife team got together friday night to celebrate Kristen Bover's 20-something
year of living. Started things off with some cake and hangout at the Wintch residence
and then hit up the late-night bowling scene -- corny dj and music included. Apparently
the last living (err.. not anymore) member of Journey died recently?? That news was
followed up with 'don't stop believing' -- a college campus favourite.

It was a good night, ended with a little snow and some laughs.

There are NO lighthouses in Cape Cod, they're out of season...

2009-01-25T23:57:00.000-05:00

Jordan Jaquess, Sarah Frie and i spent a good portion (all) of our saturday in cape cod yesterday.

Game plan: Photograph lighhouses

Fail. Six or so hours later of following beach maps... iphone'd google maps... vz navigated gps.. and our intuition... we found one unreachable lighthouse as the sun crested over the mountains for its final minutes.

We did, however, get some great shots of the beach and its surrounding area all along the atlantic coast. The view was quite amazing. All the clouds were in their places and the sun was just hitting everything perfectly. It was roughly.. eh.. 20 degrees out maybe making things a little less pleasant than desired, but it was a lot of fun. Great weather, great view, great drive, great people.

Jordan drove us from Turners Falls to the cape -- i slept.
On the way home, I drove us back to Turners -- Jordan slept.
Spent that time getting to know Sarah much, much more.
Saturday was awesome.

Today Was A Definite Lazy Day.

2009-01-22T00:36:00.001-05:00

So i didn't accomplish much today... at all.
I totally forgot to sign out of class for this afternoon... sweet.
I spent a lot of what should have been sleep time last night on the phone,
and working on the following advertisement.

It was my first attempt at silhouetting a product with a 4x5
I think it turned out alright,
the background, gradient, carbon fiber texture and even the shadows are all artificially made in photoshop.
The only thing legit about this ad is the lighting and the shoe itself.

It was fun, but very time consuming.. a task i hope to VERY quickly master and learn to cut down and simplify.

..And Two Hours Later I Was Still Shaking.

2009-01-20T21:55:00.001-05:00

So apparently these didn't crop online quite how i had them for printing...
12:30am this morning Katy Pritchett and Jordan ..i'm gonna butcher this.. Jaquess arrived at my home where i and four Profoto Acute2's were hangin out waiting.

(That's a lie really... i wasn't at all ready when they arrived even though they were at least an hour later than planned)

We get there and its roughly 12 degrees outside -- Fahrenheit.
Within the first twenty minutes of just planning and setting up lights, my hands go completely numb and remain that way through the remainder of the shoot.
Needless to say my first errand after class today was a fresh pair of suitable gloves.
We worked on this shoot for roughly... an hour.. maybe two.
The cold finally got to us and we decided to call it a night, i would say it was rather successful regardless of the harsh conditions.

However, arriving home i quickly hopped into my bed in order to bring back to life the vital tools that are my hands, and to heal this wicked shiver that i had caught while out on the job.
Two hours later of shaking and aching and phone talking to keep myself awake and conscious... life returned to my hands and i was able to sleep.

So down to business:
This was shot in a dingy part of a local.... water facility.
Gas mask provided by Jordan,
Suit provided by Calvin Klein and my bank account.
Lighting was all harsh parabolic with a dragged shutter to bring out the ambient like in the back.

i have REALLY been slacking.

2009-01-03T14:25:00.001-05:00

So with all the holiday fluster and the feet of snow we've had up north,
i've been totally disconnected from my initial blogging inspiration.

However, i PROMISE this week i'll get a good portion of my recent work up,
and i'll blog it all as if it happened that day =P

To all my friends who keep checking up on this thing with a GLIMMER
of hope that i'd actually done something to this yet -- SORRY!

-take care

Opening blog:

2008-11-17T23:20:00.000-05:00

So last night i drove 1hour and 52min into New Haven, Connecticut for a Jack's Mannequin show.

Fun times.
That's not the point of this post however.
I came across this sign on my way out of town,
came to a full stop,
turned on my hazards,
and in the dead center of traffic tried to take this shot with my 3.2mp LG Dare.
That didn't work, so another five minutes later,
I set up my Canon 40d.. and then took this.