le 12 septembre 2007
It's been a while since we last spoke here. I've made the move from Pittsburgh to Manhattan after graduating from Penn State in May. Since moving, I've discovered a Brooklyn-based artist named Maddy Wyatt. She has the sweetest, most honest voice and lyrics that make me want to know more about her and the experiences that led her to songwriting. Maddy has an acoustic residency at a place called Pianos which is not far from my apartment in Little Italy. I've completely fallen in love with her work and I've been attending each performance at Pianos.
During Maddy's performance last week, I decided I would snap some shots of her at her best. I hope you like them. DEFINITELY check out Maddy's new album, Backdive and visit her MySpace page to look for upcoming performances. Her last performance at Pianos is this Sunday (August 19th) at 8PM. Don't miss it.
le 7 septembre 2006
So as it turns out, I'm the secretary of the Penn State Advertising Club this year. We've been working really hard to breathe new life into this organization, so get ready for the best year AdClub has ever seen!
We're kicking off the 2006-2007 year with an ice cream social during the first meeting. You'll be able to meet the AdClub board and Ad professors, learn about what you can expect from the club this year, and find out about this year's exciting AAF National Student Advertising Competition for Coca-Cola. Anyone from any major can attend and participate.
Keep an eye on the AdClub web site. You can download the latest meeting's flier and a copy of this year's schedule to get the what/when/where of the club. Hope to see you at the meetings.
P.S. This is the first ad I've designed for the AdClub. Enjoy!
le 9 mai 2006
I felt the need to post this image separately from the last entry on my adventures in Pittsburgh. This shot has the Duquesne Incline in the foreground and my glorious city off in the background. This is one of those perfect views of Pittsburgh. Usually I climb Mount Washington and take a left at the top, but this time we went to the right and explored some views from over there.
There are so many little things about Pittsburgh that make it stand out. I think the inclines that run up and down Mount Washington are one of them. Leftover from the days of Pittsburgh the Steel City, these wooden boxes now ferry people up and down the side of the mountain at a lazy pace. From this angle, this one frames the city perfectly. Enjoy.
P.S. I love that the foutain at the point is up and running again!
le 8 mai 2006
Yesterday was my first day home for the summer. It feels great to be home for four months. I took advantage of the weather and location by heading dowtown with a friend.
We started at the Andy Warhol Museum. Warhol was from Pittsburgh and is buried about two minutes from my house. His museum (complete with "silver clouds" balloon room is on the north side, only a block or two from Heinz Field and the Carnegie Science Center. His magazine, Interview, is still in print. The man was obsessed with gossip and celebrity life, as you can see.
We finished the day shooting from Mount Washington. From this angle, I captured the entire course of the sun setting on Pittsburgh. I took this picture, which is one of my all time favorites of the city. I love the way the Post Gazette building and the crown of PPG Plaza is bathed in the golden light of the sunset. I love this city.
It was getting chilly without the sun, but we stayed on the mountain long enough for night to fall on my fair city, which is right after I captured this image of the Point and the city around it.
Make sure you check out the other pictures I linked to in this post, they're really worth a look.
le 1 mai 2006
Student Film: When I Am On the Moon
Not too long after shooting VELCRO HEAT, I found myself on the set of another student film production by Joseph Hicks. His film, based on a poem written by his girlfriend, was titled "When I Am On the Moon."
This is one of my favorite shots from the production. I took this as a personality portrait of the director (and star), Joe Hicks. Though the shot has a bit much going on in it, it really is representative of what it's like being on the set during a shoot: actions, details, people...everywhere.
The poem is the short story of a man who lives on the moon. He lives with robots, and no football players are allowed. He has a girlfriend, but she lives in Pittsburgh. He has a pet fish, and likes to have dance parties. I'm told that filming has wrapped up, and the film is currently in post-production.
While the set of VELCRO HEAT was chaotic and unpredictable, the set of When I Am On the Moon was more calm, relatively speaking. That being in despite of the surreal juxtaposition of people and dancing robots who look as if they came from a 1950s sci-fi b-movie.
While watching these film students work, you can't help but wonder how they can manage to carve something extraordinary out of a seemingly haphazard environment and how one guy, like Joe Hicks, can stay on top of an infinite number of details.
le 26 avril 2006
Student Film: Velcro Heat
In the wee hours of a bone-chilling Saturday morning in State College, PA, nine Penn State junior film students and their professor gathered on the top floor of a fraternity house to begin the filming of VELCRO HEAT.
Well-versed in digital video production, this would be the students' first production filmed entirely on celluloid film. Their one and only camera on the set was as old as some of their parents, and had no automated or digital functions aside from a wind-up crank to turn the film reels.
Come evening, the students' perceptions of their chosen field will have dramatically changed for better and for worse.
View the Photo Essay | View the VC Collection
le 10 avril 2006
My friends Pete and Lauren were doing their best to get me back to campus in time for an important meeting that I helped arrange. We had been about 45 minutes away from the PSU campus shooting photos at the Alan Seeger Natural Area.
It was 6:50PM and I needed to be in room 217 in the Thomas Building in 40 minutes. My friends took a risk by taking a different, supposedly* shorter, route back to campus. We really had no idea where we 
were going since the roads were so poorly marked. We were a sad sight, even pulling out a compass from the glove box to decide which way to go at an unmarked fork in the road.
Shortly after our educated guess of a left turn, we rounded a bend in the road that opened up to this gorgeous vista. It looked like we just drove into a Microsoft desktop picture. I immediately freaked out and demanded that we stop the car, even though I had two friends trying to get me back as fast as they could.
After a few minutes of shooting this scene from different angles while moaning in immense satisfaction, a truck drove by which I propmptly flagged down. I asked the man - who was staring at me like I was wearing a chicken suit or nothing at all - which direction Penn State was in. He gladly pointed me in the direction we had come from. Awesome, thank you, now back to the photoshoot.
So I took this picture of the vista and made it to the meeting only a couple minutes late. A good trade-off, for the photos I got out of it. Plus, the meeting was photography-related, so if anyone would understand the tardiness, it would be the people at this meeting.
* See Murphy's Law: If anything can go wrong, it will. We took a shorter route home that we were not familiar with. The longer way was guaranteed, but we gambled on a route that we could potentially get lost on, especially considering how well-marked all the roads and forks were.
le 31 mars 2006
This photo comes from an assignment in my photojournalism class. We had to shoot, edit, and submit a feature shot within the length of a single class period.
Photo caption: Art students Sara Haus (Senior, Painting) and Erin McKenzie (Junior, Scultpure) converse about their collaboration on an art project Tuesday morning in the Zoller Gallery. The booth that the two artists found themselves in is part of an exhibit called "Conversations" located in the Zoller Gallery on the Penn State University campus in State College, PA.
This exibit was a red cubicle with white notecards tacked to the walls. There on the booth table was a pile of blank notecards with some markers for people to add to the "conversation." Some people just wrote quick messages on the cards and others went all out with intricate illustrations and messages.
le 29 mars 2006
During this past weekend's jaunt in NYC, I spent about an hour wandering Union Square on my own. I tried not to stand out with my camera, and I found that I attracted the least amount of attention by sitting down. That's about as casual as you can get with a big SLR and camera bag attached to you.
I definitely found some interesting people by just sitting on different benches around the square waiting to see what came my way. Some of the most interesting people were also the kind of people you wouldn't want getting mad at you for trying to take their picture. So I didn't take those pictures. Maybe some other time.
I did snap off some shots of this gentleman reading in the square. I love his textures. From his hat to his clothes and even his face - all have great texture. It's probably difficult to see that from these small versions.
le 28 mars 2006
I was in the city that Pittsburgh built, New York, this past weekend. I can't believe how big it is, and how after all these years of going to that incredible city there are still entire areas that I've never seen in person. After bussing it up to the big apple with some friends, I quickly zeroed in on a theme for my day in the city.
I've always loved the flimsy, wooden water towers that look like they are at least one hundred years old. You'll find them on top of these tough, solid looking buildings made of stone or brick. That's what I shot for during my day in the city. I'd really like to get them from a higher perspective so I can get a better silhouette of them against the sky. I caught these three towers on some buildings visible from Union Square. They're my favorite from that day.
le 25 mars 2006
This is Pittsburgh on the Allegheny river. If you don't know, the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh lies at the point where three rivers meet. The Allegheny (in the north) joins with the Monogahela (in the south) to form the Ohio river.
So during internship interviews, I caught this shot of Pittsburgh admiring itself in the Allegheny River. Who can blame Pittsburgh? If I looked that stunning, I couldn't help but admire myself either.
le 24 mars 2006
This is the crack pigeon who I met in NYC today. While I was going in circles tracking down the dodgy bus driver that brought me to town, this pigeon and his cronies were loitering on the sidewalk as I passed by. A classic New York pigeon, he did not flinch as I approached, got low and close, and snapped some photos of him.
If anything, this pigeon represents the pigeon equivalent of a homeless person. He looks like he's the veteran of an oil spill who got crapped on, or as others with me at the time noted, "That pigeon is cracked out."
I feel for him.
le 10 février 2006
I came home to my amazing hometown of Pittsburgh this weekend for a big Apple-related event. On the way through town I stopped on top of Mt. Washington. I caught this shot of some of the varied patterns that are made up by Pittsburgh's widely ranging architectural styles. You've gotta love this city for its character and a spirit that could fill Manhattan.
P.S. We won the SuperBowl! :-)
le 17 janvier 2006
My Dad is showing me his latest project and imagining what will be. While I was home for winter break, he took me on a tour of a building making up part of a large project he's been working on for months with this client. He knew every inch of the place and where everything would go once the place was finished - even though the inside was mostly an empty shell still being designed and put together.
He's incredibly passionate about his work - providing nothing but the absolute best to his clients in every aspect of his business. My Dad is the ultimate strategist and negotiator. I listen to the tales of his battles and marvel at the artful way he diffuses impossible problems and negotiates the perfect solution. If a solution doesn't exist, he will invent it. There really isn't anything that he can't handle with finesse. My Dad is the Steve Jobs of his industry.
le 13 janvier 2006
This photo, which I posted here just over a year ago came in second in Popular Photography Magazine's student photography contest. I would like to thank everyone who voted for me in the contest. I really appreciate your support!
le 2 janvier 2006
Ruby makes her debut on La Galerie with this picture. Ru is the shyest and eldest of my three cats. She joined the family on my last day of third grade. Back then she literally could fit in your hand. She's always been the nervous/paranoid type, but she's still a cutie. She has one of the prettiest faces.
Ruby is the easiest of my cats to take pictures of because she just doesn't give a crap about anything anymore. The downfall to that is, she doesn't ready herself for the camera like my other cats do. She's has no desire to strike a pose, so most of her pictures make her look like roadkill.
In this picture, she was playing around in the game room after we had just cleared it out to get repainted. All of my cats are so curious - they love to come see what all the activity is about.
le 24 decembre 2005
Here's little Hilary - not so little as she was the last time I posted her picture here. I caught her after she had some help unwrapping her gift while we were out visiting family yesterday. You could see she and her big bro Ryan the dancing machine were pretty stoked for Santa's arrive the following night.
Have a wonderful Christmas holiday!
le 3 decembre 2005
I love this picture of Julie actually acting naturally while I was taking some pictures of her. This is her just awkwardly reclining on my bedroom floor while I was packing to return to PSU a couple weeks ago. She had been starting right at me in this same exact position, but something behind me caught her attention and she looked away, turning her head.
The turn was just enough to cast a cool silhouette of her on the wall beside her. I really like the way she's looking away - the expression on her face is one of her classic looks. That's great, because normally she looks angry when I take her picture, as you'll know if you've read any of the descriptions of her other pictures in La Galerie.
le 19 novembre 2005
Winning Design
There was a competition to produce an advertisement promoting a symposium on "Trust and the Ethical Management of Corporate Reputation." The opportunity came up right in the middle of a million other projects I had going on, so I didn't think I'd ever find time to work on it. As it turns out, I wrestled out a design that I'm really proud of especially considering how unexciting to subject of the ad is.
It ended up being a release for me in the middle of a lot of other stressful work. I consider it to be some of my best work this year, and as it turns out - my design won! So here it is, my poster design to promote the topic of this year's Donald W. Davis Symposium.
le 15 novembre 2005
I took this picture three and a half years ago during a planet alignment. I was on the front porch with my friends Jon, Louie, Blaze, Tessi, my sister Jenna, and our next door neighboors Ricky and Robby. Somehow I was lucky enough to be able to simply hold my Dad's old Olympus 3MP camera up to the telescope lens and snap a shot without any stabilization or camera mount. I took several shots, and this one turned out best.
For the first shot that I snapped, I forgot to turn off the camera flash ruining the moon shot, however it produced a pretty cool effect that I saved.
le 9 novembre 2005
Went on the first photography club outing this weekend. On the way to Shaver's Creek, we stopped at this ridge overlooking (what I think is) the State College area. Lots of farm action, as you can see here. Click on this image to see the larger one, and look for the little black dots front and center - those are cows! Unfortunately it was pretty hazy out today, so things get pretty fuzzy towards the back of this image. It's a beautiful shot though - I love the patterns farms and large lawns make when viewed from above.
le 23 octobre 2005
I told Julio when we started climbing to the top of Mt. Nittany that I wanted to find a leaf with water beaded on it. Who doesn't love the Fall leaves? So, when we got pretty close to the top of the mountain, I finally did come across exactly what I was looking for. We were losing light pretty quickly at this point, so I had to use the tripod and a longer exposure to get these colors just right. They are so vivid. I'm sure the rain helped out with that, because it rained for about half of our journey to the top.
That's why I don't really have any shots from the top of the mountain to post here. By the time we reached the top, the rain and fog made the landscape below the mountain nearly invisible. Pictures like this one made up for it though. Look at all the textures in those leaves. They make a fantastic collage.
le 21 octobre 2005
Julio: So Carlo, what did you to today?
Me: Climbed a frickin' mountain, what-do-you-think?!
Julio: Hahaha, yeah we did.
Yeah so today Julio and I climbed a mountain because we felt like it. No one can yell at us for sleeping in until 1PM today (no classes!) because we climbed a mountain. What did you do today?
Anyway, by the time we descended Mt. Nittany, it was dark outside and I snapped this shot of the mountain behind one of the newer housing developments in the area. You can see even then the top of it is draped in fog from the rain. I wanted to get some photos of Penn State from the top for my latest photography class assignment, but the fog said no to that idea.
le 18 octobre 2005
I was walking around campus during a lull between meetings and classes a week or two ago, and I noticed how beautiful some of the buildings are in downtown State College. I suppose I don't look straight up very much when I'm walking along College Avenue.
When I was across the street from this facade, at the main gates of Penn State (Allen Street), I noticed how much character some of the buildings had above the generic storefronts found at eye level along the sidewalk. I snapped this shop of one of the building facades. It was early evening, as you can see by the shadows cast from the awnings of the windows. I love that.
I'm also excited to be heading downtown today to pick up the new Depeche Mode album, Playing the Angel! In between classes and meetings I'm stopping to pick up the CD in town. Check it out on iTunes, and watch the video from the albums first single, Precious, here.
Visit DepecheMode.com. I've never found a group with so much good stuff on their web site.
le 16 octobre 2005
I was working on an assignment for my photography class, and I took this picture of my friend Stephanie. This photo isn't actually part of the assignment. I was shooting her in a couple locations we had picked out around campus on this dreary day, and on the way to my car we through this plaza covered in Fall leaves. To make things even more interesting, the stone wall beside a stone bench was broken down. I love the texture of the leaves when they come down in the Fall, so I insisted that we stop and get some shots of her among the leaves.
Recently I've been focusing more on people rather than my usual repertoire of places and things. I think shooting people is a lot more difficult, but I'm learning a lot from it and I'm getting a little better handling people. I'm by no means a portrait artist yet, but I've been having a lot of fun experimenting. People add so many layers and complexities to a photo that is hard to find in even the most intriguing landscapes, macros, and architecture photos.
I owe Stephanie big time for her help with these photos. She offered up herself, her time, and she even bought this little red dress for the fashion photography assignment. Here is one of the photos I used for that assignment.
le 15 octobre 2005
So I would like all of you to meet Coco. This is her first time being photographed, and probably her first time outside. I think she enjoyed being out and about, especially since today was an unusually beautiful, vibrant day with a cool breeze. It was the kind of weather that makes you want to be with someone special. Fall and Spring are a lot like that in general, I think. I was home in Pittsburgh to enjoy this day - recovering from a rough week at Penn State.
Anyway, like I was saying, this is Coco. My Dad gave her to my Mom as a gift when I was wee little. Coco reminded him of my Mom (it's the hair), and sometimes she would pack Coco in my Dad's bag when he would go on business trips. She's cute, and my Mom had her out for the first time in a while when I was home this weekend. She asked if I would take some pics of her because "Coco's never had her picture taken before!"
This is Coco chillin' in the shade of the tree in my front yard. She also enjoyed the fair weather and cool breeze - though it kept messing up her hair.
le 10 octobre 2005
Here's another image from my jaunt in downtown Pittsburgh with my friend Barbara. I snapped this shot of her beginning to cross Liberty Avenue. I love how strong this image is. The gradation of the light across the pavement and along the sidewalk is gorgeous. I love stone and brick textures in black and white photography, and this photo embodies that. The strong lettering in the granite lining of the sidewalk is particularly striking in this photo.
I've always known Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh and the Liberty Bridge and the Liberty Tunnels - so seeing it etched into granite like this makes my Pittsburgh pride swell a little bit. I also think this is a good image to mark first year of La Galerie de Photo GoCarlo!
le 9 octobre 2005
The Goodyear blimp was frequenting the PSU campus last weekend. I saw it pass overhead a couple times - once during the week during classes and then again over the stadium for the game. I've never seen it so low in the sky.
Seeing the blimp and snapping some good shots of it made me think about what things must look like from its perspective. I think I want to take a hot air balloon ride and get some shots of this area from that perspective.
le 5 octobre 2005
I miss home a lot! The first month and a half of the Fall 2005 semester has been as exciting and fun as it has been challenging. I'm much more involved in activities and jobs outside of class than I have ever been previously. It's a lot of fun, but also a lot of work during a semester that features the most challenging classes of my college career. While weathering this storm I've only made it back home to Pittsburgh one time.
This photo of downtown Pittsburgh is from that one trip home. I took it with my friend Barbara when we went on a photo-safari downtown. I love the collage of signage, facades, and structures that came from this angle in town. There's so much going on here: advertisements, directional signs, traffic lights, stars, streets, rooftops, arrows, trees, windows, and so on.
I miss home! I'm going back this weekend for my Dad's birthday. Finally!
le 1 octobre 2005
I went to Harrisburg for the first time with a camera this weekend. Didn't get to walk around at all. I spent most of my time there in a hotel conference room with other Apple Campus Reps and Apple employees. Had a pretty good time, and got to know my team a lot better. I've put these pictures up mainly for their benefit since they're mostly from the meeting. There are however, some cool ones of the city like this one from the top of the hotel. This image really catches my eye because it doesn't look real.
Click here to check out some photos from the Apple Campus Rep meeting in Harrisburg.
le 22 septembre 2005
I've been so ridiculously busy lately, that I thought I would post this image that I took earlier in the year that strongly reminds me of simpler times. Legos - definitely my favorite toy ever. These three soldiers are looking pretty glorious here. The guy in the middle was always my favorite character, except I usually played with the red-coat version of him that I had.
This image comes from a project I did for one of my art classes where I had to complete a very basic page layout assignment that focused heavily on images. I used all original photography for mine - I actually posted it earlier on La Galerie, and you can view a PDF of that project here. Be careful, it's a large file.
le 2 septembre 2005
I took this picture seven years ago when I was in Paris with my family. It's my favorite photo from the entire trek across Europe we took that summer. This past summer I took a class at Penn State on the history of Paris, and it reminded me to take out this picture and finally get it digitized.
I've been interested in France and its culture, history and language since I had my first taste of the language in sixth grade. Once I traveled there, I was completely enamoured. I read about Napoleon and the Revolution like it was my job (take note of the huge "N"s emblazoned on the side of the bridge left over from his reign), and French was easily my favorite class for years. I'm still taking French after all these years too. I hope to study/live abroad before I get a job after college.