15 December 2008

Shadow

This is a shot from this fall in the Great Falls Discovery Center in my town.

Aerial

Took a flight last week to get some aerial shots. We flew in a propeller plane with the wings over the body, so we could get shots of the ground not the wings. These were two of my favorites.



28 November 2008

Thanksgiving slideshow

This is a slideshow I put together from last night.  The quality is low so it would be easier to put on the web.  Enjoy.


21 November 2008

Still Life shots

Here's a shot from commercial studio this week. We started using digital backs on the large format 4x5 cameras.


17 November 2008

Glass

We shot glassware in commercial studio last week, but I don't have my film back yet.  Theses are two shots from the studio, and one from my phone taken at a friend's house.




























Photoshop design

Now that the winter is coming, we've been spending more time on the computers.  Here's a design from a photoshop class:


16 November 2008

Photo selected for gallery show

One of my photos was selected for a gallery presentation at the Shelburne Falls library.  Every year, students take a field trip to Shelburne to explore color and lines, and this year the town wanted to see what the students produce.  Here's my image, showing "warm" colors:



Personal Project

Our teachers recommend personal projects as a way to stay motivated with photography.  One thing that always catches my eye is the way cream drifts through coffee, so I've been documenting that effect once in a while.


Baked eggs

I'm getting interested in food photography.  I've been cooking a ton recently, and some of the meals are almost edible now.  If you're looking for a tasty breakfast with a good aesthetic, I recommend this recipe from Saveur.com
I took some pictures of the preparation, too.

Baked Eggs

SERVES 2
Wonderfully adaptable, baked eggs (sometimes called shirred eggs) are made by baking or broiling eggs with various ingredients. This recipe produces firm whites and velvety yolks.

1 tbsp. unsalted butter
4 tbsp. cooked chopped spinach
that's been squeezed to extract excess liquid
4 eggs into each dish
1⁄2 tomato
2 tbsp. heavy cream
1 slice bacon, cooked and chopped
2 tbsp. grated parmesan
1⁄2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1⁄4 tsp. grated nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat oven to broil and place a rack 10" from the heating element. Grease two 8-oz. gratin dishes with butter. To each dish, add 2 tbsp. spinach. Using your fingers, make 2 wells in each pile of spinach and crack 2 eggs into each dish.

2. Cut tomato into 4 wedges and nestle 2 wedges on opposite sides of each dish. Pour 1 tbsp. heavy cream into each dish. Add half of the bacon to each dish.

3. Sprinkle each dish with 1 tbsp. parmesan, 1⁄4 tsp. thyme, 1⁄8 tsp. nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to oven rack and broil until the cheese is golden brown, the whites of the eggs are set, and the yolks are still slightly soft, about 5 minutes.

4. Use tongs and a kitchen towel to transfer dishes to 2 serving plates lined with paper napkins to prevent the dishes from slipping.






13 November 2008

Arcade Fire

Jesse knows something about these guys. Cool elevator music.

12 November 2008

Friends Like These

Friends of Tigercity. The Mobius Band - "Friends Like These"

California Wedding

Congratulations Gil and Cristina. Here are some photos from the wedding weekend.

Phase One final images

Here's some of the photos I submitted as part of my first phase final assignment:


03 November 2008

Submitted Photo to JPGMag.com


Just put an old photo in a 'severe weather' posting on JPGMag.com.  I think this should link to it.





If not, here's the photo anyway:

30 October 2008

The Macris Group

Oxbow Media is still alive and kicking. I'm working freelance on some websites. Here's one I put together this week: The Macris Group (Putting a link on this site is going to help it show up on Google searches).

Also, during my photography program, I'll be designing a new codygantz.com. It'll hopefully be a simple preview of my portfolio images. Still focusing on basic lighting, portraiture, and design.

14 October 2008

Who thought "christening" could be so hard to spell

Photos from Cassidy's christening - 10/5/08 


PHOTOGRAPHER HELPS FRIED FARM GET BACK ON FEET






FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Cody Gantz
Oxbow Media
Ph: 508.397.3156
Fax: 508.397.3155
Email: Cody@OxbowMedia.org
Website: OxbowMedia.org


PHOTOGRAPHER HELPS FRIED FARM GET BACK ON FEET

TURNERS FALLS, Mass., Oct. 7, 2008 – Local photographer Cody Gantz took public relation shots last weekend for a recently destroyed farm in Concord, Mass.

Verrill Farm, which burned down from an electrical fire September 20, is still open for business, despite lacking their farm stand. Mr. Gantz, while at a christening, photographed desserts catered by the farm to help show the public that the farm has resumed business in full.

“I didn’t think they’d be able to do anything for me, but they came through,” said Wenda Critchlow, the host of the christening reception. Mr. Gantz photographed the newly christened baby posing with a platter of cookies, and trying to grab some as well.

Mr. Gantz, who grew up frequenting the farm stand, also photographed the old site in Concord Center, where the unharmed fields remain. A photographer for Oxbow Media, a local design firm, Mr. Gantz also designs websites and logos. He graduated from Boston University with a degree in Journalism, and currently studies at the Hallmark Institute of Photography.

For more information, or to set up an interview, contact Cody Gantz by phone at 508.397.3156, or by email at Cody@OxbowMedia.org.

###

30 September 2008

20 September 2008

Fort Point Open Studios

If you're in Boston on these dates, Fort Point Open Studios is usually a fun event.


Classes

Photography school is going well. Only two weeks in, and I feel like I've learned a lot already. We've been doing assignments about exposure and color, mostly with medium format film cameras. Here's an image of a train car from Shelburne Falls, MA:



I'll put some more pictures up once I scan some film.

08 September 2008

TF

Moved to Turners Falls, MA  to start photography school.  First full week just started.

25 August 2008

Unicycle

Biking back from seeing Ian's new apartment, as unicycle passed me the other way and said,

"Nice training wheel."

Getting made fun of by a unicyclist on monday, makes me curious to see how the rest of the week plays out.

23 August 2008

J and K's big day - Here's the best man toast:

Obviously, a big part of Jesse and Kyla's relationship is language - the technique and exploration of a foreign tongue, so to speak. They’re both so impressive. Jesse’s language skills are what I admire most him – his dedication, almost obsession.

Before he left for China, we were living here, and I'd hear him in the kitchen, repeating words over and over, to try and get the tones just right. He had a stack of flash cards as tall as eight takeout boxes, always practicing.

So for this toast, I was wondering when Jesse developed this passion. What would make him spend hours to get the words right? Where did this desire for mastering a languages come from? I'm pretty confident it began on Dis on Desse Day.

Today is not Dis on Desse Day. In fact, today is probably the furthest away Jesse has ever been from Dis on Desse Day. It was the height of his frustration experienced with the worst possible cast: mom, dad, me, and his best friend Joel Ford.

It was April, and Jesse was around 16. We were returning to Wayland after a weeklong stay in Florida with our grandma. In the evening, after driving all day in a cramped mini-van packed with luggage and damp towels, we finally stopped for dinner.

We were all tired and grumpy. Vacation was over. Anyone who's spent time with Jesse between meals knows he was at his crankiest. And, as any younger brother can tell you, this is the prime time to really lay it on. I can't remember exactly what mom, dad, Joel, and I were harping on, but Jesse was fed up. Just really ripping at him. Maybe being too far south of the Mason-Dixon was giving him a strange accent. Maybe the road trip snacks of munchos and slim-jims had nestled in the anterior cortex of his brain. Who knows. We'd barely been seated at the table when Jesse snapped.

"What is this, 'Dis on Desse Day'?"

And instantly, yes, it was. Jesse bolted out of the restaurant almost in tears, choking with frustration, and we were just laughing, almost choking as well. Looking back on it now, I'm thinking this is exactly the sort of mental scarring that would give Jesse that extra eagerness to learn another language and get the hell away from us.

Now, I'm not sure how to say Dis on Desse in chinese, but the reason I tell this story is because in Kyla, Jesse has found another person that fits in our family and knows how to give him a hard time. But Kyla also brings something new to our family, which I noticed the last time my parents and I were in Beijing. Jesse and Kyla were seeing off mom, dad, and me the Beijing airport. And of course, mom was very emotional, and started crying, thinking she's losing her baby boy and she's never going to see him again. Now, Jesse, Dad, and I - the males - have a sort Farm Animal Reaction to these distress signals from mom. We stand there, staring blankly, knowing something is quite right, but thinking more about what we’re going to eat next.

But Kyla acted differently. She saw mom was really torn up, and Kyla went right in for a hug. She told her, "I'll take care of your son," and "Everything is going to be Okay." Kyla was so maternal and loving, and so different from our male response to mom. From then on I felt as if she was already part of our family.

Now Kyla is part of our family, So I'd like to toast: to Jesse and Kyla, for finding each other through whatever language, may you have a long happy marriage.

19 August 2008

Everything that happens will only happen today again if you're not still at the airport

Brian Eno and David Byrne, at it again. I guess they worked on the album pretty separately, through over the Internet and such. The free single is pretty sweet. I haven't gotten the album yet.





18 August 2008

at the airport

For the past 10 days, I've been on the west coast, exploring LA (la la land) and SF. My flight was canceled on the way out, and now, my flight is canceled heading east. Rescheduled 10 hours later, I've had ample to time to explore Terminal 3 at the San Francisco Airport. Only one truth holds to be self-evident: airports are boring.

Working here must be the worst. I had so much time, I waited until the security was empty. EMPTY. I took off my shoes at my own pace. I even dumped my change into one of the big bins instead of the smaller designed for loose change. I then returned to ticketing to check a bag that had a multi-tool, which made it through security from LAX to SFO. Back through the empty security line. At a rate of one traveler every minute, the three TSA workers could almost keep up with the flow of luggage bins.

I keep thinking of the Harvey Danger lyric, "if you're bored, then you're boring." I used to think this implied you should always be able to entertain yourself, even in dire straits. After reading all the dining option menus fully, and eating, fully, I've found an even simpler solution, than self-entertainment - shut your mind off. Of course, this doesn't come naturally to all. Fortunately, I could from a breed of men that have been mistaken (maybe) as mentally challenged at least once. The slack-jaw, drool-drip, black stare limits the amount and texture of conversation that any strangers may try to ignite. If they approach you at all, it will be with a harmless question, spoken slowly, deliberately audible:

"are... you... lost?"

I've always thought of conversations with strangers on the same level of those daddy long-leg flying insects. You only squash the ones that try and suck something from you. Let the others keep bumping the white ceiling of your mind, or shoo them out the screen door, back to the darkness.

"do you need help?"

They're useless questions, and only the oblivious don't already know the answer: of course, I'm lost, lady. Of course I need help. I've been in an airport for 10 hours. But, there's no need to actually respond. I simply suck the escaping saliva back into my mouth.
Just one more reason to watch out for technology.

Multimedia about rowing

Some guy (Ned Brown) put together a multimedia site about the BU Men's rowing team while I was a senior. Good slideshow, though I think my only clip is about breakfast.

http://www.nedworksmedia.com/BUcrew/home.html

Champeen of the world

Darth Earl Jones