Holiday LomoAmigo: Clownshoes

11

The “Ber” months have kicked in and the spirit of Christmas is just around the corner! Have you felt it already? Well, you have to! Especially with the Holiday LomoAmigos we are going to present you!

We asked 20 Community members to answer our most anxious Holiday questions so that we can share their answers to you! They might just be your present or future favorite Lomographer so watch out for our coming features!

Credits: clownshoes

We kick this off with a favorite, Holiday LomoAmigo clownshoes.

Name: Blaine A. Vernicek
LomoHome: http://www.lomography.com/homes/clownshoes
Location: South Florida

Tell us about yourself. What do you do for a living? What are your interests?

What don’t I do? Well, I run a radio station here in South Florida called “Star 102.1 WKLG Rock Harbor, Miami.” I always say that in my most impressive radio voice. We are family owned and operated; down scaled last year so I’m responsible for 86% of it — voice overs, programming, selecting new music, little bit of engineering, advertising, public service, paper work. But it’s more then that; we also have a production company; WKLG Inc. in which we produce movies, television, radio, and stage shows.

I love production and the arts. If I’m not trying to learn something new about filming, lighting, editing I’m absorbed in art. Large part of that has to do with my wonderful girlfriend Ms. Katie or as she is known here "katiealexjackson:http://www.lomography.com/homes/katiealexjackson. She’s an artist with an amazing imagination and she is a wonderful muse.

How long have you been a Lomographer and how did you find out about the Community?

Shoot… I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this for a long time. 2010 is when I have to say I found Lomography? I’ve always been interested in photography; my father always gave me cameras. As I got older; my interest in it grew. So I became hung up on with wanting to shoot on larger formats and I found Lomography.com; at first I was a little shy about the idea of joining. I didn’t have any disposable income at the time but I was on break from teaching a dance class and I stopped into a junk shop on my way back to the studio. I found Smena Symbol; I was instantly connected with it. The Russian lettering, the shutter release, the texture, the awesome leather case. I soon joined Lomography after that and bought a Colorsplash flash for my lovely CMEHA.

Popular Lomographs in Blaine’s LomoHome.

What are your plans for the holidays?

I’m hoping a lot of nothing. I know that wont be the case. I might take a Thanksgiving trip with Ms. Katie up to see her family; they live in the bottom state of New York near Pennsylvania. Not sure if I’ll be able to go; there are a couple of theatre shows WKLG Inc. are helping to produce and I think I’m stuck with those. Christmas might be me driving up and down the state coast to see my mother; then come back. Everything kinda revolves around work.

Any New Year’s resolutions for 2013?

Maybe get back into shape… Maybe. It’s been a year since I’ve quit dancing; so when you take away dancing all day everyday you’ll lose shape. I haven’t gotten fat yet. Regardless it’s been tough to find the time between work which is from 8am-6pm and the weather off the Everglades causing rain and lightning 6pm-3am; It’s hard to find time for some cardio or taking photos.

Black and white set.

If you could recommend one movie and one song to everyone, what would they be?

I think every movie and song is important and it’s hard for me to whittle it down.

Movie: The Road (2009) with Viggo Mortensen Directed by John Hillcoat.

I think it’s easy for a movie to be fun and adventurous or for a horror movie to have scary things in it. Nothing though is raw like this movie; it made Ms. Katie have a break down while watching it and it really moved me. When I worked in a video store I always recommend it to people; its always too much for people to handle.

A song? Well I listen to music from all genres all day which are from studios and labels. Streethawk: A Seduction was an awesome album by Destroyer and I’d have to recommend Beggars Might Ride. Great rhythm and great lyrics. I worry that it came out at such a transitional period it might have been over looked and was even hard to get until it was rereleast later on. So I recommend that song and the whole album.

What’s your favourite analogue camera to shoot with? Why?

I ask this to my self every time I walk out the door and the answer is always different. Lately I’ve been enjoying my Diana F+. I was honestly shy of owning it or using it; I just couldn’t think of what to do with it. Some trail and error later I think I’ve found I like the 70mm and Fritz the Blitz attached; but I might switch to a shorter lens.

Shots from his current favorite, the classic-looking Diana F+!

What’s the next camera you’d like to get your hands on?

My work horse is a Nikon F3; I already own two. Unfortunately, they are reaching the end of their life spans; I’ve already had to retire one to be used for parts. I have to budget out to get another one; some part fell off my last working one yesterday. So that’s a must because I have a large investment in lenses and accessories.

Credits: clownshoes

I have lots of cameras right now: 4×5, Polaroids, medium formats, tons of SLRs. So it’s hard for me to think of what to get next. I really need to get rid of things before I even think of getting another camera.

What’s your favourite memory from this year?

I’d have to look back at my photos and figure that one out because everything has been a crazy blur. I’m stuck always thinking a step ahead; I don’t think I have the ability to look back.

And now for the toughest question – What’s been your favorite photo from the past year? Why?

Favorite photo of mine? It’d have to be this photo. It really sums up the dystopia I feel at the moment. To think last year I was traveling all around and seeing new places and now Ms. Katie and I feel stuck with “No Outlet” and I hate to be pessimistic but things can be tough and I worry about what the rest of the world is going to do.

Credits: clownshoes

Any holiday shout-outs or tips for your fellow Lomographers?

I’d like to give a shout-out to everyone. I think the next couple of months are going to bring great photos from every one in the Community. As for a tip? Well, I’m cooking up another Tipster right now; I might have Mr. Anton my editor here at work help chop up some clips I’ve been shooting while I work on ‘Burning Film’ my next article.

written by mayeemayee on 2012-11-15 #people #community #lomoamigo #clownshoes #holiday-lomoamigo

11 Comments

  1. mayeemayee
    mayeemayee ·

    Thank you for this interview, @clownshoes! :)

  2. goonies
    goonies ·

    @@clownshoes congratulation bro

  3. clownshoes
    clownshoes ·

    @mayeemayee Thank you. I love this article; It's great! @goonies Thanks Man!

  4. atria007
    atria007 ·

    @clownshoes congrats my friend...great interview!!

  5. kibs
    kibs ·

    Great article! Congrats!

  6. grazie
    grazie ·

    great interview! such an enjoyable read :)

  7. le_ors
    le_ors ·

    Awesome interview!
    loving (and liking) all these pictures!

  8. clownshoes
    clownshoes ·

    @atria007 @kibs @grazie @le_ors Thanks Ya'll

  9. moodification
    moodification ·

    Hey man! Congrats on the feature! Nice article!

  10. glenn
    glenn ·

    EXCELLENT

  11. guanatos
    guanatos ·

    @clownshoes big fan! Thanks for sharing
    @mayeemayee awesome interview as always :)

More Interesting Articles