STUCK WITH PINS | Blog

Moved!

2010-04-23T09:01:00.001-07:00

I don't post here anymore. Redirect to Tumblr!

2010-03-03T01:20:00.001-08:00

As self-absorbed as I am growing up as a child of Generation ME, I find it incredibly difficult to keep a blog... :|

But I figured I should update considering current events.
1) I finally got that photo I've been wanting in AP magazine printed -- even though it's a small, ~~uncredited~~ image in the Hometown Heroes section, it's still my creation transferred in ink onto published paper for the world to see. You can catch it in issue #261.
Edit: The credit has been discovered buried in the gutter!

2) MyChildren MyBride recently did an interview for HM magazine, and I was requested to come out and shoot the cover photo. Zach and I drove about 3 long hours from San Diego to a little venue in Camarillo, through ugly rain and LA traffic, to meet the boys on one of their California tour dates. I was very excited to be with these guys again and incredibly stoked to do my first cover! :D I flipped out when I got the call from the band's manager, both incredibly excited and nervous at the same time (there was a lot of pressure on me to do this right since the label wanted a "bigger name" photog, but everyone backed me up). We spent the entire day hanging out between sporadic rain sessions, shooting for 15 minutes then running all our equipment into the trailer, then going out to shoot again after the rain subsided. Overall, it was a ridiculously long day of good hang outs, metal, and picture-taking. Keep an eye out for the cover soon!

All candids taken by Zach Andrews

View more photos here!

xoxo,
Corinne

Wookie Cookies

2010-02-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

I'm trying my best to be domestic. While baking wookie cookies for the Star Wars party doesn't exactly make me Betty Crocker, I'm getting there.

The recipe I used for these is one from an old kids' cookbook from my childhood -- "Not So Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies." I used semisweet chocolate chips for the eyes, melting them slightly in the microwave (approximately 40 sec) on a piece of wax paper so they would stick to the cookies. And I used the chocolate residue with a kabob skewer (or a toothpick) to draw the noses. The mouths were drawn the same way using a simple powdered sugar based icing, and the belts with a store bought black frosting. The undersides of the oatmeal cookies are dipped in melted truffles to give them a little something extra. :)

These were fun to make, but I almost didn't want anyone to eat them!

xoxo,
Corinne

2010-01-20T16:48:00.000-08:00

Sketched this up in under an hour last night. I grow tired of only doing commercial work all the time. Sometimes I need to just do something for myself.

I'm usually such a huge perfectionist, if I ever draw anything, it sits around on my desk or in my files, put away for months (even years) before I ever finally touch it again because I'm so afraid of announcing its completion in fear of it being less than perfect. I bought myself a Wreck This Journal a couple months ago, and I've slowly been regaining my creative flow and forcing myself to find the art in imperfection.

I hope to do more work like this in 2010. I've decided to take a bit of a mental health hiatus from designing Myspace layout after Myspace layout. Last month I drove myself insane taking on way too many projects at once and gluing myself down to my office chair, all the while developing carpel tunnel and computer vision syndrome. Getting paid for doing art is good, but I start to hate what I do when I don't get a chance to enjoy creating without due dates and high expectations.

I suggest all you commercial artists do the same. Buy yourself a new sketchbook, a set of color pencils, pens, paints, break out the Wacom and free draw something, whatever. Do something for yourself for once without worrying about who's going to like it. Don't plan or plot out how you're going to tackle the project, just do it.

Happy creating! :)

xoxo,
Corinne

2010-01-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

I do a lot of photos like these, but I never share them in my online art galleries. One of my resolutions this year regarding my artwork is to stop caring so much about pleasing my audience, but instead start creating art for myself. And if I enjoy the photo, then I'm going to upload it -- not caring whether or not anyone else will comment or favorite it. I often times get too sucked up in commercialism that I completely forget what it's like to enjoy a piece of art simply because I created it into existence, rather than how well it sells.

Anyways, my boyfriend is the drummer of the folk-rock four-piece, The Howls, and they wanted me to take photos of their in-home recording session.

You can download The Howls EP Crime for free at thehowls.com

xoxo,
Corinne

Top 10 of 2009

2010-01-01T15:26:00.000-08:00

Check out my Top 10 Photos of 2009 at Shuttrr! :D

It's been a great year, and I'm very thankful for all of the support I received in 2009. I got my Canon 5D MarkII in March; I better learned how to manipulate off-camera lighting; I had my first Daily Deviation thanks to Jeremy Saffer; I had my work published in Tooth & Nail / Solid State's mini-magazine FUEL; I photographed 14 bands' promos, 9 live shows, held 8 other commissioned and TF* shoots, and designed over 30 Myspace layouts. I hope for bigger, better things in 2010!

View the rest at the link above!

xoxo,
Corinne

2009-12-30T03:55:00.000-08:00

Christmas was rather quaint. I made this doll for Dave of himself... strange.

Hello, again

2009-12-11T19:01:00.000-08:00

Moving...

2008-12-22T23:17:00.000-08:00

(If you happen to come across this blog...)
I will no longer be posting here (not that I did too often anyways).

You can find my blog permanently at stuckwithpins.livejournal.com

2008-08-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

Ugh, I've been having such a creative block lately. Nothing inspires me anymore and all the ideas I want to photograph are just rip-off of someone else's work. :/

In other very late news (sorry it's been so long since I've posted), I've acquired a new model: Jacquelyne Marie. We've worked together twice so far and plan to do so many more times. I'm extremely happy with the recent work we've produced together and I'm excited to see what we create in the future.

Here's just a few from our recent shoot:

Basically, I need to photograph something intriguing before I start taking pictures of flowers, or worse – with Hello Kitty novelties. :|
God, help me.

xoxo,
Corinne

Avocados & Incense

2008-06-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

I just got a brand new light setup from Alien Bees! An AB400 & AB800 flash unit with a 32" brolly box.
I was pissing myself in anticipation to play with these lights and I'm extremely happy with the results. Thanks to Kitty for letting me pour an avocado mixture on her face. ;)

I still have a long ways to go with learning how to properly use these lights. But for the sake of others learning from my own experiences, I'll be posting pictures and possibly videos of my setups and shoots. And maybe even have some editing tutorials and before-and-after pics coming soon!

By the way, I just recently started uploading work to my Flickr account. So I'd really appreciate any comments and adds.
flickr.com/photos/stuckwithpins/

xoxo,
Corinne

Meth Doesn't Make Sense

2008-04-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

In my graphic design class, we were required to do a PSA (public service announcement) poster about a serious issue. I tangoed with two different topics: HIV/AIDS or methamphetamine addiction. Considering I knew I was going to useDave as my model, I let him pick. ;) I guess being portrayed as a severe meth addict is less embarrassing than being the poster child of a deadly STD. (Reminds me of the episode of Friends where Joey does a commercial for herpes and girls are grossed out by him).

I shot the photos last Sunday with Dave and Jena. I made them up with dark eyeshadows and auburn lip liner. I was extremely proud of my realistic sores and bug-picked flesh wounds (a little bummed you can't see the ones on his arms in my final product). Dave bought a pack of dirty Marlboro cigarettes and smoked through about five of them by the time we were finished shooting. My mom let me use the horses' west nile vaccine syringes -- which is probably not a very intelligent idea considering Jena accidentally stuck herself with them a couple times. :s And we used crushed ice to appear like crystal meth in the tarnished spoon.

I was really inspired by the gruesome print ads at NotEvenOnce.com for The Meth Project Foundation. I wanted to shoot something that would grab people's attention and make them feel a little sick if they looked at it for too long. I read some of the real stories posted on the website and the caption: "He knows he's dying, but still wants to continue using Meth..." immediately grabbed my attention. The story goes:

"Well, let's see it started about five years ago when my friend first told me about Meth. He asked me if I wanted to try it and I told him no, but he insisted in me trying it, so I finally said yes. I just remember not being able to sleep for days and it was the worst days of my life. I still get the craving once in a while, it's the hardest drug to quit cause it's always on your mind. My good friend has been in and out of Rehab about 10 times already and cannot find the strength to quit. He has called me all desperate looking for the drug and even stealing from his parents just for another high. He has even tried to commit suicide because he can't stand it anymore. I know this drug will kill my best friend, but the sad part is that he knows he's dying, but still wants to continue using Meth. He has all kinds of bumps in his skin and weighs about 90lbs. The best advice I can give our youth is don't even try it, not even once and to educate kids of the dangers of using this devil drug."

Unfortunately, because this was a school project, the blatant images of drugs had to be censored in some manner. So I covered the "meth" with the typography, but thankfully it didn't take away any of the raw and shocking qualities of the photo. I most definitely scored myself an A. ;)

Here are some a few other photos from the shoot (just rough previews; not finished pieces).

xoxo,
Corinne

Funeral of the Fermented Pickle

2008-04-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

I finally watched Sweeney Todd the other night. My critic review would say: "Visual orgasm of the eyes." - Corinne (Stuck with Pins) Usually, I'm not that happy with Tim Burton's movies after I've finished watching them, even though I'm captivated throughout, considering he tends to have horrible endings that make me reconsider if it really even was a good movie. But this one was a morbid masterpiece and inspired me to take some new conceptual photos with Kitty and Jena.
I'm quite happy with the results and it only took me about twenty frames to get the shot I wanted. Shot with my 10-22mm lens (on 22mm focal length to reduce distortion) in natural lighting (as well as low artificial lighting) to the right of the frame. Noise reduced in Photoshop, sharpen masked, and colors modified by curves. Pickles are actually rather disgusting... and this jar happened to have a sell by date of Jan2006 imprinted on the lid. :/ I'm hoping to find more unsettling preserves (possibly even meats) in my refrigerator for some more shots like this, coming soon....

Please check out the finished piece at deviantART and leave your comments and criticism there. Thank you. :)

xoxo,
Corinne

Blog Addict

2008-03-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

It's no surprise to me at all I find another confirmation e-mail in my inbox to yet another blogging community and let about an hour of my day go by customizing my profile. But among my many other Livejournal and Xanga accounts where I talk shit and write about mindless drama in some condescending tone that upsets people (apparently using a higher level vocabulary in your own journal entries makes people want to send you hatemail), I thought I'd throw in another one for my photography and design purposes.
We'll see how long this lasts...

Anyways, if you're into lurking me, here's yet another place you can find my updates on art.

xoxo,
Corinne