» Grand Rapids

Flashback :: April 2009

Darrin Wassom — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 23:26:50 +0000

ArtPrize 2010 :: ‘The Grand Pixel’ by John O’Hearn :: PLEASE VOTE!

Darrin Wassom — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:01:14 +0000

ArtPrize 2010 is upon us and promises to be bigger and better than last year. I would like to ask everyone that reads this blog to please vote for John O’Hearn’s, ‘The Grand Pixel‘, located at the Gerald R. Ford Museum. John contacted me almost a year ago asking if I would be willing to let him use one of my photos as the basis for his large scale mosaic. As I learned more about his project I was more than happy to provide the photo and have been eagerly awaiting the start of ArtPrize so I can finally see his mosaic in person.

In John’s own words (emphasis mine):

“My work entitled, “The Grand Pixel” is a large 8ft tall by 16ft wide mosaic of downtown Grand Rapids highlighting the river and cityscape. It is made out of 250,512 tiny 6mm plastic colored balls and uses only 6 colors. From afar the Grand Rapids scene appears photographic but as one approaches the individual balls of color emerge as in the pointillist tradition. I started creating these mosaics as an undergrad student at Kendall College of Art and Design where I graduated in 2006. This mosaic needs to be displayed in a large open space where audiences are able to view from a distance as well as get up close enough to touch. Viewers are amazed by the detail achieved from such a limited palette and the sheer number of plastic colored balls used. This mosaic will be 4 – 8ft tall by 4ft wide panels that go together seamlessly against the wall. It is impressive by the way it overwhelms with it’s size yet still feels intimate as people want to get close to figure out how it works.”

The first photo below is one John sent me to show his work installed at the museum and the second is the actual photo used to create the layout for the mosaic. Thanks and if you see John at the exhibit, say hi and that Darrin sent you! : )

Coming Soon :: Carter and Family

Darrin Wassom — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:49:54 +0000

With a new addition to their family, longtime friends and clients invited me over to their house to photograph Carter, their second child. This is just a quick preview of a future blog post. Hope you enjoy!

I love his hair!

One of my favorite photos of this family!

A New Addition to our Family! : ) Kelli Dog

Darrin Wassom — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 01:04:58 +0000

With the passing of Emma, we swore we would not get another dog for a very long time. We felt we would unfairly compare a new dog to how great Emma was and that we wouldn’t be giving a new dog a chance to become a true part of our family. Well, as the weeks passed, we found ourselves with a big hole in our heart. Something was missing. The cats felt it too. Our house just isn’t a home unless we have a dog. Plain and simple.

We decided we would find an older dog that needed a permanent home. Rhonda searched the Internet and found Bellowood Rescue in Cedar Springs. They just happened to have a black lab given to them along with her 9 puppies last fall. It also turned out she a cancerous tumor that had to be removed. All the puppies were adopted out quickly (who doesn’t want a lab puppy?) but Kelli remained in the care of Bellowood. After many months it was starting to look like she might never be adopted because of her age and health condition. We knew she was the one for us and after a quick visit with her foster parents, we brought her home with us. She has been with us for two weeks and has quickly adjusted to our family. Kelli has found her permanent home.

We can not say enough great things about the Bellowood Rescue organization. They are such caring and kind people that are passionate about saving so many animals. If you are looking for a dog, PLEASE consider adopting a dog from a shelter like Bellowood.

Meet Kelli! : )

Rhonda caught Kelli and I hanging out on a park bench at Reeds Lake. Kelli made me laugh when she hopped on the bench to sit with me.

Kelli is staring intently at a rubber ball. Would she retrieve it? We are about to find out.

Yes! Kelli not only retrieved the ball but she can also catch it in mid-air. No photos of that yet but she absolutely loves to play fetch.

Boudoir Session :: Justine in Black and White

Darrin Wassom — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:15:44 +0000

These are just a few of the photos from a 12 month calendar we created for Justine. Each month featured a different concept ranging from the pearls you see below to swimwear, birthday cake, athletic jerseys and teddy bears. The project was a lot of fun and Justine was a rock star in front of the camera. Justine had some ideas of what she wanted in the calendar so we worked together to develop the concepts and ensure we had everything we needed the night of the session. With 12 completely unique concepts, planning was extremely important to allow for hair/makeup changes, set changes, lighting changes and the list goes on. We could have shot over several nights but time was of the essence and Justine was traveling from the other side of the state for the session so we planned for 5 hours. Justine was very gracious in allowing us to post a snippet from her calendar session. If you are interested in your own calendar or a similar project, please let us know. If you can dream it, we can photograph it! All of our boudoir packages include hair/makeup, stylist, posing assistance and your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Please note: Sexy boudoir images below. Please use discretion when scrolling down the page, especially if you are at work or in a public setting.

Justine allowed us to experiment with placing bare light bulbs around the set to create some visual interest and provide a bit of separation from the background.

I think we needed more light bulbs?!?! I think the idea has some potential.

Justine came prepared with countless strings of pearls.

One of my favorite images from the session.

It took about 30 minutes to strategically place the beads on Justine. I love the end result. Stunning!