PATTERNS AND TONES

Drop the coin right into the slot You're gotta hear somethin' that's really hot With the one you love, you're makin' romance All day long you been wantin' to dance, Feeling the music from head to toe Round and round and round we go "Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll" by Chuck Berry is a classic song that is timeless, tough and straight to the point. So is Kina Cochina.  Kina is an original and a  wild card - smart, sassy and a rock n' roller at heart.  I first met Kina 15 years ago when I moved down to Los Angeles. We became fast friends the moment we met, her wit was so sharp and her bullshit radar was so fine tuned. Kina started playing drums at 11 and stuck with the skins until she was 17. Having taken some dance classes while still in high school at CalArts, Kina started going to all age dance clubs in Hollywood. She eventually met up with the band Devil who asked her to Go-Go dance on stage with them in the early 90's. Playin...

Teacher, Mentor, Master Photographer " Jack Welpott " by Judy Dater Jack Welpott was one of my most influential teachers who's instruction at San Francisco State University forever influenced my approach to photography. Natural light was the bush in which we painted our portraits and space was to be opened up and explored as a way to expand the perception of dimension within the confines of our medium. I was lucky enough to have several master photographers at both SFSU and the San Francisco Academy of Art that made lasting impressions on me.  Don Worth , Robin Lesser and Steve Harper all provided a different perspective on photography that helped me to progress technically and emotionally. But it was Jack Welpott who I felt understood and nurtured what I was trying to accomplish in my portraits and I will forever be indebted to his instructions on life and photography. I created the image "Delilah" below while attending his classes. It is interesting...

February 9, 2013 It will be a year ago tomorrow that Patterns and Tones was born and what a year it has been! I started this blog as a way to have a platform to share my photographic archives with the world, as well as to have an opportunity to share stories that hadn't been told. Truth be told, it was also an impetus for me to begin the long haul of digitizing these archives, and bring them into the light of the 21st century. Since 1985, I've been photographing those I know, love and admire. Fortunately I have a very long roster of kookie, fun, and interesting friends who I have been documenting over the years. I started out as a teenage photographer, and although the evolution of my style, work ethic and tools have changed and grown over the years, it's the exploration of the map of the soul written on each individuals face that continues to fascinate me. That and Rock n' Rollers! To celebrate this one year anniversary, I thought it appropriate to list the t...

Crisp, bitting wind. Branches stripped bare. Low lying fog draping from the trees like spanish moss. It's winter time and for most of the world, it is cold and barren. Winter contains muted, reflective, subtle color. It's as if nature has dialed down the loud hues which bursts forth in Spring and Summer and contains them to conserve heat. Tinted neutrals dot the landscape, snow transforms the landscape into simplistic shapes. Winter strips elemental shades down to their basic elements, giving us a more subdued coloration of the natural world. Cool, deep, clear blues team up with fresh, pure, flawless whites. Yellows, reds and oranges bend down to a more earthly hue, their tonal ranges being a counterpoint to the cooler tones that wash the world in a colder shade. The ever present green in natures' backyard maintains its strength but stands solemnly in a backdrop of solitude and contemplation. It is winter time again and as we wade through the wash of ...