Come to my gallery show this Saturday to see the public debut of my new time-lapse / street art / painting / wanderlust video! I’m going to have give aways, be doing live painting, and chillin like a villian. 

Here’s a little info on the gallery, including hours (my show will be running for a month): 

Promenade Gallery exclusively features Southern California artists. Sponsored by Anaheim Downtown Association and Anaheim Cultural and Heritage Commission

203 Center Street Promenade, Anaheim, CA 92805

At 11pm my friends and I headed to the Salton Sea area, three hours south-east of  Orange County. I thought I was going to fall asleep in the car after a long day, but when we got to the wind farms near Palm Springs we found the side of the mountain ablaze in a fierey inferno. I photographed the fire all night long, and threw this video together as soon as I got home! 

After that we traveled further south, and visited one of my old paintings at the Salton City Marina. I haven’t seen that painting in half a year, so it was very surprising to find it just as I left it. Further down the road we ran into a whole string of homes that had never been finished, and decided to camp there for the night. We set up a BBQ on the front porch of one of the homes, and cooked up tri-tip steaks my friend, Shane, had prepared. Holy shit does that guy know how to make a killer steak rub (thanks Shane!). 

Another amazing trip to the desert, and it was only two nights and one day. It felt like we were there much, much longer. I came home with 60 GB worth of images from the various shots we took. My poor hard drive! 

Test shots and stills from our trip:

See the full gallery on Posterous

Taking reservations for the weekend of, October 21^st – 23^rd

I went out to the southern California desert near Joshua Tree this weekend with a photographer friend who had never been, and I gave him the Grand Tour. At night I shared tips on how to successfully photograph the night sky, as well as how to set up timed shots that could later be used to make a time-lapse video of the stars going overhead. He told me that he had never had any experience like it, and over the hobo dinners of BBQ chicken I had cooked in the campfire, he convinced me that I should be teaching workshops. Oddly enough, I realized that doing this would not just be fun; it would actually accomplish what I seek to do with my fine art, but in a different way.

The desert is a place that simply vibrates at a different frequency. You have to go there and see for yourself to really know what I’m talking about. It’s been a magnet for artists, vagrants, hippies, farmers, urban explorers, and even the occasional meth head for decades. It’s wild, and it’s exciting, and there’s no other place on earth like it. It’s also a place where you can connect to something almost unimaginably bigger than yourself. When you look into the night sky and can clearly see our Milky Way Galaxy, with its 200 billion suns, you can’t help but stand in awe and wonder about the creation of the universe, and reflect on your role in it. Knowing that our planet is not even a speck (hell, our entire galaxy is barely a speck) in the Universe has a comforting effect. It makes all my problems, anxieties, and worries seem small. It stabilizes my vision of the future, and gives me a more clear understanding of the direction I need to go in my life. When I return to the city I try to take this perspective with me. It has a much-needed grounding effect in the face of the din and roar of humanity that is urban living. 

The Workshop will focus on this experience, and will be two nights and a couple days out in the desert. It will include several stops at some of the most interesting and little known spots in the desert, such as lunch the infamous biker bar, Pappy & Harriet’s (their catfish sandwich and BBQ ribs are to die for), or maybe we’ll make it as far south as Salvation Mountain. On the way we could drop by the abandoned Salton City Marina and explore the broken down structures and spray paint our initials on a wall just to say, “Hey! I exist!” During the day I’ll give you pointers on how to shoot clouds, and capture light dancing off the peaks of the mountains from a setting sun. At night we will compose and photograph the stars, and I will teach you how to focus at night without light (even when there’s no moon out).

We will use these photos to make your very own time-lapse videos. At the end of the class you will have your own moving picture of the Milky Way Galaxy, and you’ll even be able to put music to it!

In the future you’ll have no problem doing time-lapse photography of rain storms, family events, construction sites, weddings, or whatever else you’d like to see fast forwarded through time (maybe you can get the divorce too!! haha). You’ll also be able to pull off astonishing night shots with confidence and consistency.  

The first workshop will be at an introductory rate of $400. I’m going to plan it for the weekend before Halloween so you can still get your trick-or-treating in (21^st – 23^rd). If you’re interested I will require a non-refundable $50 deposit to my verified PayPal account by October 10^th. Class size is limited to only SIX students.  

Please e

mail me for a list of required and recommended items for camping, and photography equipment. Please call, text, or email (jeff@jeff-frost.com) me with any questions: 714-618-7406

Video of my time-lapse & painting in the desert:

Gallery of photographs I’ve taken in the desert:

See the full gallery on Posterous

What you can expect from my workshop:

·        Exclusive tour through a place that looks like the end of the world, including stops at some of the best little known wonders of the desert

·        Operate a camera timer, or intervalometer

·        How to focus at night, even with no moon

·        A chance to see the Milky Way galaxy with your naked eyes

·        Turn your photographs into a video with the music of your choice

·        Technical advice on getting consistently good shots of clouds and stars, including full manual settings

·        How to get consistent color temperatures in changing light conditions

·        Unique experiences you will never forget

·        Basic post processing for large batches of images

·        Packet of cheat sheets and tutorials of everything in the workshop, including online resources for future DIY learning, as well as communities where you can post your videos, trade tips and tricks, and probably even argue about politics if you’re so inclined

·        One campfire meal prepared by yours truly (just thinking about that BBQ is making my mouth water)

Price:

·        $400 per person (introductory rate!)

·        $50 non-refundable deposit required by October 10th

What it does not include:

·        Transportation

·        Lodging and/or campground fees if applicable

·        Food (except the BBQ dinner I provide)

ENOUGH ALREADY, I WANNA GO, WHEN?

·        October 21^st – 23^rdclass size limited to six! 

Recommendations:

Art Institute Summer Studio Instructor 

Art Institute 

“Jeff is a self-starter with consummate skills, but above those are his personality which makes him very easy to work with, on task, and collaborative with others in the best sense of the word.” February 20, 2011 

Scott Essman, Interactive Media Design Instructor, Art Institute of California - Orange County
managed Jeff at Art Institute

Student

Art Institute of California, Orange County

“In all my time teaching photography since 1990, Jeff Frost stands out as one of the best students I have had the pleasure to teach. He embodies all the best qualitites of creativity, perseverance, diligence and commitment that we so admire and strive for as artists. Jeff’s motivation to learn the art and the craft of photography expresses itself both in the quality of the work that he creates and the insights that he brings to the class when he speaks.

Jeff’s current work elegantly explores and integrates sophisticated concepts within art, science, cosmology and philosophy. He has worked long and hard to accomplish what many photographers take years to discover. Jeff’s ambition to create art draws from his eclectic interest in painting, music, photography and theory. To top it off, he is one of the most well-read individuals I know.

It is my distinct honor and pleasure to recommend without reservation, Jeff Frost.” August 24, 2011
Kok Yong, Digital photography Instructor, Art Institute of Orange County, CA 

Art Institute of California, Orange County

“Jeff is- Naturally talented, has an excellent work ethic, very creative and a good communicator. I instantly loved his work and I expect to see good things from him for a long time. SA” February 20, 2011

Steve Anderson, Photography Instructor, Art Institute of Orange County,

“Jeff has tremendous desire for knowledge and the intelligence to follow through to achieve that desire. I know Jeff to be driven to perform at the highest levels. He has great communication skills both written and verbal; he has great interpersonal skills and a willingness to help others. I know him to be conscientious and dedicated to timely completion of high quality work. He performed in class as one of the top students and i have had many interactions following the class to know he takes his determination beyond the classroom setting. I highly recommend Jeff because i know he will exceed most expectations of him no matter the task or job. I feel confident in recommending him and will gladly endorse him in any endeavor. If i can answer any questions on his behalf i will gladly do so.” March 1, 2011
steave savage, Instructor/Professor, The Art Institute of California - Orange County,

I’ve been growing more and more weary of gargantuan DSLR setups, so this series is all about keeping it simple. I take my cell phone around and take a bunch of pictures in black and white, and that’s all there is to it. I really enjoyed the freedom of just letting my creativity freeball it today, so I think I’ll continue these little studies.  

See the full gallery on Posterous

I also did a bunch of self portraits today with the very same cell phone and methods. 

See the full gallery on Posterous

Yesterday it was announced that a Russian space rocket carrying supplies for the International Space station lost communication and crashed back to earth. A week ago they lost communication with a communications (LOL) satellite. Last year they lost three other satellites. 

This might be stating the obvious, but… we cancelled our shuttle program to hitch rides to space with these guys at $65 million a pop?

The last few days I’ve been walking around feeling like everything is hopeless, boring, and that I’ve run out of ideas which were never even good in the first place. At a certain point I had to ask myself, “Things are pretty good, so what exactly what the fuck do I have to be so sour about?” At that point I realized it was mid-terms week, and I remembered that this happens to me every quarter (and every quarter I’m baffled as to why it’s happening again). It’s pretty simple, really: I’m tired. I need a vacation. With hookers. And lots of blow. Just kidding, I hate blow.  

At any rate, it was nice to wake up to an article on one of my favorite blogs, io9.com, about a new study that suggests chimpanzees overwhelmingly demonstrate prosocial behavior, that is, generosity and empathy towards each other. Previous studies had suggested exactly the opposite, but the authors of this study, after having observed the behaviors of chimps in the wild, came to suspect that the method of testing had negatively biased the outcome due to overcomplication. So they did a new study; the results were the antithisis of the previous studies.

Go ahead, read it for yourself and feel the warm fuzzies. 

Millionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, SpaceX’s CEO and founder, wants to go to Mars. He may be fucking nuts (and he may not be, hard to say), but he also seems to at least have the right idea about the forward momentum of the human species. It seems like some truths should be readily apparent. For example, when ANYONE gets HIV, it hurts EVERYONE. Another example is manned space exploration. The technologies we would have to invent, as a collective, will propel any person or nation who actually succeeds, into the future. Literally.