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Outdoor Travel, Adventure & Landscape Photography
www.michaelmalandra.com

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Watercolors


Here is a couple more Watercolors I've been working on over the dreary winter we experienced this year. I'm not totally happy with the outcome, but then again, I'm usually not when it comes to my paintings. All my paintings are done from photographics I have taken. With my photography, I try to capture the way I see the scenes I'm shooting with very little photoshop editing - other then the standard adjustments. With my painting my attempt is to capture not just what I see in the scene I'm painting but also how it makes me feel emotionally. In my paintings I always over exaggerate the saturation and contrast in many of the colors I see because for me being outside in the wilderness makes me feel excited, happy, and emotionally attached to something I really can't explain. This feeling to me is loud and in your face but not overwhelming. No matter what my frame of mind is at the time, good or bad, it takes over and gives me a sense of comfort. Ok this is probably more than one needs to know so I'll stop here lol. Hope you enjoy the paintings.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Elements of Nature - A Multimedia Concert Event (Click photo to see video)

Last week - after talking about it for almost a year - my friend Mark and I finally did the first, of what we hope to be many, live shows featuring his music and my photography. His band, the Mark Sganga Trio, played live to a media presentation of my nature photography. We were both very happy with the outcome and received some great feedback from the audience. We hope to make this an event where we can book gigs throughout the Tri-State area. The show took place at NV Lounge in Suffern, NY and even though it was a rainy, dreary evening we had a good turnout with some lively fans of Mark’s eager to listen to some jazz. Mark and his band are amazing! They can play anything from Classic Rock to Jazz, Brazilian music and, of course, many original tunes of their own. My media presentation consisted of images from right here in Harriman State Park, the many National Parks in the Southwest and then one of my favorite places - the Hawaiian Islands.

I just edited down the NY/NJ State Park segment to a 5 minute piece to post on the Internet. I used some of Mark’s original music in the video. Click here to go to my youtube site and check it out and let me know what you think. I'll keep everyone posted on the next show we do together. If you're into good music and enjoy watching some incredible musicians work their craft then the Mark Sganga Trio shouldn't be missed!

Until next time, with the weather finally starting to "Spring", get out there and do some hiking and have some outdoor fun.