Finally finished up some work I collaborated with @batlijoselevitz for my stock photography portfolio on @adobestock. We shot during magic hour, which was a perfect setting for what I had envision. Thank you Batli for delivering! By far some of the best work we’ve collaborated and created together.
Autumn in Houston.
80's in Galveston: A Collaboration with Troy Montes
in Art, Photography, Fashion
Saturday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn to create some dope imagery with my good friend Troy Montes. On Friday after work I went to Houston where we met up and scouted out some places in the area that we would like to shoot. The wardrobe he picked out was unique so I didn’t want to just shoot anywhere. It would have to be a place with a lot of texture and non congested where we would be able to create to the best of our abilities and not have to worry about any extrinsic factors. So we chose to photograph in Galveston, Texas early morning. See the photos below.
Euphoria in Savannah, Georgia
in Art, Photography, SCAD, Fine Art, Street Photography
On my last day in Savannah, I dropped my mother off at work and headed into the city to take some photographs. Little did I know, that I was going to experience one of the most euphoric moments in my life as a photographer. I started out by parking on Bay Street and then walked down to the river front which is popularly known as River St. It is a staple in the Historic District of downtown Savannah, Georgia. On my walk I noticed that there was an intense fog settling over the city while the sun was coming up shining bright as ever. It was perfect for the mood I was in and gave the city a “Sleepy Hollow” feeling because of Savannah’s history. Which made sense visually to me, so immediately it gave me an exciting feeling and was a catalyst for me to want to be there and photograph the city.
If you would like to purchase prints from this set click the link below!
https://daemaine.darkroom.tech/
-Daemaine Hines
OverStimulated
in Photography, Art, Cinematography
Too much information. Inaccurate information, and spending so much time connected that we’ve lost connection. Reading captions and not talking in real life. Is there such a thing as “my life is out of context.” Perfect let’s be perfect and not have a flaw until the mirror breaks. Let’s deflect, project, and be angry about things we do not have and do not need. Let’s seek attention from those who we do not even know. Let’s go to different cities only to realize that we’d rather be home. The mind can be a mental prison sometimes.
CREATORS TO WATCH IN 2018: HOUSTON
I was recently selected by "The Hub" as one of top ten influencers in my city of Houston, Texas. It is an honor to be alongside some great talent and to be looked at in such high regards. You can vote for me, or any of the other influencers that were selected here in the link subscribed below! Thanks for coming through!
"Where The End Starts" by KAWS
I recently visited The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth to check out the KAWS exhibit titled " Where The End Starts". I've seen his work for years floating around on the internet, social media sites, and magazine covers. The work he creates is vibrant, colorful, and creative which is ironic seeing that some of the companions that we see, are posed with their hands over their face appearing to be sad. Make sure if you are in the Dallas Fort Worth area you take a trip to the Museum, and check out this exhibit brought to you by the iconic "KAWS".
USS Texas
It's been a long time since I've done a blog post so I'm excited to share this with you guys. Me and Kris attended an Instagram meet up held by our good friend Dan Joyce up on the Battleship Texas which was built in the early 1900s. We toured the upper, and lower decks where we learned about the ships history. Their hours of operation is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week, and hours may vary on the Holidays. Here are some photos from our tour which highlights part of the ship as well as my aesthetic when it comes to photographing areas like this.
Get to Know: featuring Abel Perez
1. What's your name and where are you from?
My name is Abel Perez and I’m born and raised in Los Angeles.
2. What got you into photography and how long have you been photographing for?
I first got into art as a teenager back when I was a graffiti artist then transitioned into doing murals and tattooing. One day I came to the conclusion that living the life of a struggling artists wasn’t the path for me so I got into software engineering. I quickly realized that writing code is an Art in itself so I effectively continued being an Artist with the internet as the canvas and programing languages as the medium. During my software engineering journey, I completely stop being creative with drawing, painting, tattooing and everything related to Art in the traditional sense. I always wanted to get back into painting but always hesitated due to how long it takes to create a dope piece of Art. So one day it hit me, I realized I could use a camera to capture artistic shots with little effort, just point and shoot. Photography was the natural path for me to be creative without putting out a huge investment in time. Little did I know that I would fall in love with Photoshop and resume being an Artist 100%. Today there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t snap a shot and open Photoshop.
It’s been a little over three years since I started shooting seriously. I used to shoot with a cropped sensor Nikon D90 for fun and travel but got extremely serious when I bought the Nikon D600. It was the newest kid on the block and it was a super dope transition to full frame.
3. Whats your favorite genre of photography?
I can’t really say that I have a favorite genre of Photography since I like so many. As a matter of fact, I find it very difficult to keep any consistency in the style of photography I shoot. If you look at my portfolio, you will find everything from Abstract, Implied nudes, Night Photography, Portraiture, Urbex, to surreal fantasy. I think this is mainly because jumping around from genre to genre to keeps my inspiration running ultra high. When I lose inspiration I quickly look at new genres I haven’t explored or old ones that I haven’t touched in a while.
4. Explain your post production process?
My process varies depending on whether I’m just cleaning up a photo or doing a composite. For cleanups I usually just go straight into Photoshop. Once in a while I’ll start with Lightroom but it’s rare. I find I can do everything I want exclusively from PS. Once I’m in Photoshop I’ll identify all the flaws in the photo and all the elements I want to enhance as a basic road map of what to do. The rest kind of just happens dynamically based on the flow of the edit. Besides doing all the usual things like color correction, contrast, detail extraction, and sharpening, what’s worth mentioning is shadows and lights. I usually add shadows that do not exist and light sources that appear to be outside of the frame but reflect within the frame. I find this adds a level of realism that sometimes gets lost due to poorly and overly lit locations.
With portraits I spend a lot of time dodging and burning to yield a dramatic look and retouching skin imperfections. I also usually add some sort of light source to get an ethereal look.
And lastly with composites, I usually search around for stock photos and my own photos of elements that I wish to incorporate into the scene. The majority of the time I spend correcting color, perspective, and the direction of light to ensure the overall composite reflects a natural and realistic look.
5. What's your favorite city to shoot in?
When it comes to cityscapes and night photography, I would say New York, Paris, London, Venice, and Hong Kong are some of my favorites. For abandoned locations I would say all over Belgium, there’s so many beautifully decaying structures out there. For minimal and modern architecture, I would say Copenhagen. And the list goes on, can’t commit to one city as my favorite.
6. What advice would you give to someone that is just starting out in photography?
I would say one of the most important things to do is to find inspirational sources. Find the photographers that inspire you and generate the type of photography you want to achieve. Then connect with them and try to learn directly from the sources that inspire you. Often times you’ll find that great photographers are open to mentoring and also love to teach what they know. Speaking for myself, I’m always open to sharing techniques with beginners there’s so much more to learn from teaching too.
7. At the end when it is all said and done what do you want your legacy to be as a creative?
When it’s all said and done and hope to leave a long trail material that will be used by others as a source of inspiration. There’s something magical about experiencing the type of Art you wish you could do yourself. I know this too well because I’ve been inspired by many so hopefully I can be the source of inspiration for others and pass that magical feeling along.
Editor's Note: You can go and follow Abel Perez on Instagram @abel.psd. Interview brought to you by Daemaine Hines, you can follow me on Instagram @dhin3z.
Museum of Fine Arts Houston: After Hours
Me and Kristen got a RSVP invite to be apart of the first ever Instagram meet up hosted by the Museum Of Fine Arts Houston. I was very excited because most of the Houston Instagrammers were there taking photos, fraternizing, and connecting like we always do. Check out some of the photos below which were taken with my iPhone 6 and edited with VSCOcam.
DREAMS
So close to achieving what I wanted all along I can feel it in my bones. I've worked so hard for this moment I can't, and I won't drop the ball this time. A person once told me that I can go as far as I'm willing to take myself. So many opportunities I've had in the past I've sold myself short because I didn't think I was good enough, and didn't deserve it. My artistry has grown so much since I first started, and I am just scratching the surface. I have to strike while the irons hot. Lets go!
Tout Suite
Tout Suite has become one of my favorite places to hang out and lounge, eat, and socialize with my friends. The service is great, and I can't think of one time I have had a bad experience at the establishment. They have a BBQ Burger that I love, as well as my routine choice which is the Club Sandwich. Check out the photo below I photographed with my iPhone 6 using VSCOcam to process and edit it with. They are located in East Downtown Houston, Texas on the opposite side of Highway 59 near Minute Made Park.
Midnight after Sunset
I was able to link up with my buddy Frank (@quitexfrankly) on Instagram, and catch some cool spots downtown on the east side of Houston. It was my first time shooting with Frank, catching some flicks of the city scouting. The sky couldn't be more perfect I was able to score the sick silhouette of Frank with the moon in the back as well as Houston amongst all the amber lights. Check them out below.
Dirty Dog
This day was such an adventure, I honestly didn't think that we would have this much fun. We were hanging out with Huggy at the shop, and decided to go downtown to scout so he could get some shots of merch for the shop. We ended up finding this one spot that was super exclusive, cause we had never been there before. Long story short we all got some rad shots and was able to get our adrenaline pumping. I might not be able to see mountains, and beautiful landscapes on the daily but going out creating with the homies is everything.
A Walk Downtown
So I decided to take a walk downtown one cold day, in February because I was running low on inspiration. I said to myself let me go out, and shoot there is no telling who, or what I might see. I was actually supposed to meet up with my good friend Eddie (@9thsage) on Instagram but something happened, and he couldn't make it. Check his work on Instagram he's another one of my oh so talented friends. I ended up getting some decent shots downtown, and meeting up with Jay (@Jaybun3030). Here they are below.
WWIM 10 Explore Giddings, Texas
Hey what's up everybody. IG Houston decided to host WWIM10(world wide instameet) for Instagram in Giddings, Tx. My man Dan Joyce amongst other Instagrammers lead the charge in hosting one of the biggest Instameets that I have ever been a part of. Check out the photos below.
Lincoln Center
Hey what's up my friends. Today I bring to you one of the greatest experiences of my life. While vacationing in New York during fashion week I was able to catch some pretty fashionable people. As well as photographing everyone who was participating, I was able to make some connections as well. If you ever go during fashion week you have to check out Lincoln Center.
L & L
Hello hello! How are you guys today? Well I hope everyone has been having a great week to kick start the weekend off right. This next blog post will be about some Instagrammers I've come to know. You know the phrase "small world". Well it truly is because one of my previous blog post "Silomeet" I was able to meet a community of mobile photographers as well as photographers. Amongst all of the wonderful people I met, there was a young woman by the name of Lauren who comes to find out was a part of an event that I attended called Dance Makers Inc. I was there visiting my best friend and his wife before they move to the UK. So she invited me and a couple friends out and about in Houston to shoot and hang out. One of the people she invited is a gifted young man name Logan Hamilton who I can't wait to see blossom and reach his potential. The dude sings, plays all different kinds of instruments, as well as do photography, and videography. Check out some of the photos we were able to capture on our little adventure.
8 Horseman
Yo, yo! I'm back yet again with another blog post. A day after the "Silomeet" some of the guys decided that we wanted to shoot the following day downtown in Houston, Texas. It ended up being eight of us, and we hit up a few spots. Ended up getting kicked out of the garage by a security guard but hey it happens. Check out the photos below.
Silomeet
Hey what's up people. Back again with yet another post. This time I want you guys to take a look at this Instameet that we were invited to hosted by @will_insull, @808mph, and @danjoyce. It was so much fun this was the second meetup myself and @poorartist was apart of. Definitely was a success. Got to see some of the people that I would normally shoot with on the regular basis like my homies @ericmichvel and @sinsoredwgrace. So many new faces, and everyone was social and nice which was great. we need to have more meet ups like this. Check out the photos below and if you are on Instagram check out the hashtag #silomeet for awesome posts from the other peeps who attended.
Midtown
Hello there friends. Super excited to bring you into my world. Finally launched the website that you are currently on. It's been a long journey for me, and Kristen. Thanks to our hard work and determination we've been able extend our personalities through our photography. Although we have different style we are so similar. I would like to say thank you for all of your love and support it means the world to us. This website will be an extension of us and one half of what we have as a whole. Welcome to my brand DHIN3Z.
Now let me get right to it. Me, E Mike, and V went down to Midtown to get some night shots. We shot in the same area a little ways down the street from Little Woodrow's. There was an awesome Midtown sign that we used as a prop for our photography that was pretty dope. V did a great job being awesome and giving her positive energy. She's a very talented jewelry maker, so she's always creating awesome necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings made with rocks carved from the earth. Had a lot of fun and Eric was funny as usual. That's my dude. Over this summer he has become one of my good friends that I share a lot of knowledge with. Friend for life. I can't wait until our next adventure because we are always doing the most. Check the photos out.
