Tuesday, December 20, 2011

I'm a Dreamer & a Believer

Common has to be one of my favorite rappers of ALL time. I had the chance to meet him at Park at the 14th in DC about a fortnight ago for his new album (The Dreamer/The Believer) listening party and as usual, I'm already hooked.



One of my friends from the University of Florida is the Lifestyles Editor at Sister 2 Sister magazine and when we randomly met at the Park she informed me that she was interviewing Common. I was like, really? Nice. And then of course, always in itp'85 mode, I asked "Where's your photographer at?" And the rest, they say is history :D.




My favorite track on the album, for now, is Blue Sky...the tight beats resonate with wise smartly articulated lyrics: "...dream light beams, night life schemes...this is my inception, I'm writing my dreams..."


The album dropped today 12.20.2011, cop it. More pictures here: itp'85

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Friday, December 9, 2011

Greek Life: Being An Iota & The New Boys

November was an exciting month! My line brother got married (now we're counting down who is next) and it was a beautiful quaint ceremony. And while we were in Gainesville, Florida (at my alma mater UF), our fraternity chapter welcomed four new members into the fold. Like welcoming a new member into the family, as Greeks, we take new membership seriously and one of the remarkable moments (amongst many, for me it is also graduation) regardless of how long you've been in an organization, is the probate show. When you see a potential come into their own and publicly declare their affiliation to a brotherhood/sisterhood you hold dear; it reminds you of your journey and an appreciation of how far you've come. In our case, in upholding Scholarship, Leadership, Citizenship, Brotherhood and Fidelity.

Of course my camera(s) came along. This time I was equipped with a D90 & a 1.4 50mm fixed lens I was excited about. One of my frat brothers who has recently picked up photography also came with a D90, but he'd left his mount-on flash at home. I had an idea, something my dad had spoken frequently of doing at a wedding! I swapped cameras with my friend and mounted a 17-50mm 3.5 on mine and set his (with the 1.4/50mm) set to gray-scale pictures only. All my shots would be in black & white!

Having Bassy (@SavvyShotsPhoto ) taking pictures with a mount-on flash gave me the flexibility to capture raw emotion (or as much as I could very quickly) without the distraction of color. More importantly, it let me shoot at low light setting without getting too many blurry images. At different times we swapped cameras and tips as we captured as much of the event as possible. We both ended up with about 1000 pictures from the event, let me know what you think @itakephotos1985:

Series 1:


Series 2:


Series 3:


Series 4:















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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

A new look, artistry nonetheless

So I've been multitasking a lot, apparently any one born in the 80's/90's can attest to not just being an internet/technology baby, but also a multitasking addiction: we text without look at the keypad of our phones, write term papers and work reports while tweeting about the nearest natural disaster or posting a quote on Facebook for our numerous 'friends' to ruminate.

Well my youngest sister and my summer project turned into a full fledged company so I had the privilege of revamping my itake photos est. 1985 website so some eye candy here:


More on my sand creations and how much fun you can have when you visit the website (you can move the images around any which way you want):



I guess president Obama was right when he said "We're who we've been waiting for."

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Monday, November 7, 2011

Summer 2011 Trailer

In college we had a phrase: live like its a movie: epic!
I recently decided to have fun with some of the footage I have been experimenting/recording on my HTC cell phone. I run it through iMovie on my laptop and viola...look out for feature length behind the scenes of itake photos est. 1985 photo shoots at a theater near you, but especially on here.

O and cheers to "Me Twa Photos Films" lol shout out to my man @M3nsaMusic more to come....



follow
twitter @itakephotos1985
tumblr itakephotos1985.tumblr.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/itakephotos1985

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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Sarkodie Concert (album)

DSC_0282-1482833820-O
Originally uploaded by itakephotos1985
I've been a fan from afar of "Obidi" for a long time and when he came to the DMV for his concert I was front and center.




Follow my man @Sarkodie on twitter and my alter ego @KomlaRadio

If you're really interested download the interview I had with Sarkodie on the Drive Time Show here @Sunlightradio

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Thursday, September 1, 2011

Rated #1 Among Leesburg Photographers

Event Photographers - Leesburg, VA




I haven't updated here in a while and I apologize, besides a logo revamp, I'm working on a website revamp as well and want to save some of the spectacular awesomeness for the new improved itake photos est. 1985!

In the meantime, I increased itp's visibility by registering with thumbtack a few months ago. Pleasantly surprised I was recently ranked #1 photography by Thumbtack. I guess I get bragging rights, hold the applause (sike). Seriously, thank you so much for patronizing my site, twitter, fb group and most importantly my services. More to come now, 2012 and beyond!

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Monday, May 16, 2011

Full circle, once around.

Pascalie [Masters] Grad
Originally uploaded by itakephotos1985

I actually graduated with Pascalie from UF's Poli Sci department, I think we sat together during commencement. You can imagine my elation when she asked me to photograph her [again]; this time as she's earned her Masters from American University.

I'm still on a Grad Photo Tour (edited most of the pictures from Gainesville) heading through DC & Maryland next...

I (we) have come a long way. And for those who've supported itp' 85 since day one, including you Pascalie, this post is to express how I really appreciate you.

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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Studio shoot: Big Little Web Developers

So Big Little Web Developers *ahem* my sister and I needed an in-studio photo session for our marketing portfolio/identity for our new project. (back story to Big Little here)

When Adarku came by the studio I wanted us to be in pictures together, and with her help and ideas we created poster signs/in-palm writings to help establish our brand identity...us...and what we do, website development.

With hand-made signs & equipped with fun, we let the "delayed time shutter" snap away!

Below are some of the final pictures from the shoot that we used for our web/blog:

BigLittleFun

BGhands5x7

TumblrBG

Feel free to LIKE us on Facebook, thanks!

Emmanuel A. Gamor | Create Your Badge

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Friday, February 18, 2011

2011 Good Deeds and more



Desmond and I were recipients of a Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc scholarship in high school and being Ghanaians, we've hit it off ever since. To say we've been partners in (positive) 'crime' is an understatement.
Last year, after a trip to Ghana, Des informed me he was starting a non-profit unity bridge initiative(an organization actively vested in making a change in the lives of the underprivileged youth in Ghana).
Due to my impossibly busy schedule (at the newspaper/radio station) I declined an invitation on the organization's board and volunteered to partner with him for the Holidays Books and lightly used Clothes Drive instead. Through ads on radio, we collected boxes full of items that will go towards helping single teenage mothers on the streets of Ghana's capital, Accra. itake photos est 1985 offered 20% on all photography contracts to donors. We'll be hosting another drive soon so stay tuned for details, after all the snazzy banner has already been made ;-)

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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Old Town Alexandria

alexandrianight

I've always wondered what night time pictures of some of my favorite monuments in the DMV area would be like through my lens. On new year's eve I just grabbed my camera to find out....

To exploration, and taking more than 5 minutes to appreciating what's around us.

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Sunday, January 9, 2011

A fresh new start

It's a new year, and though the constellations may not have created something magic in the past week and a half or so, I went about and made my 2011 new year's resolution on twitter:

@itakephotos1985 2011 checklist: 1.grow as a photog 2.revamp portfolio 3.revamp logo/marketing brand 4. mt more ppl 5.have more fun behind camera #itakephotos

One of my good friends (I call her my partner-in-crime for all the grocery shopping runs we do together) ,Bunmi, celebrated her birthday on Christmas eve, and it was the first time I got to try-out my hand-me-down D90 (thanks Pops).

A fresh start on a new year

To New Beginnings!

"...picture of me, why not?"

Lest I forget, congrats to the birthday kid..well woman. To fresh new starts and the evolution of itake photos est. 1985

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