Photographer Wendy Hope Takes First Place in PDN's "The Look" Contest

Brooklyn-based beauty and fashion photographer Wendy Hope has been awarded first place in the beauty category of PDN's "The Look" contest. Her winning image (above), "Onyx Blue Electric Spike" is from the series "The Tao of Wu," a nail art beauty shoot with model Wu Ting Ting of Wilhelmina Models, makeup artist Margina Dennis and manicurist Honey.

Here are more images from Wendy's Tao of Wu series, followed by some of my favorite images of hers:





Credits for above photos:
Publication: Fault magazine
Photography: Wendy Hope @Maxine Tall Management
Model: Wu Ting Ting@Wilhelmina Models
Manicure: Nailz by Honey
Make up: Margina Dennis
Photography Assistant: Colleen Lidz
Concept: Wendy Hope
Retouching: Mdf Retouching

For the last 10 years Wendy Hope has proven herself as a versatile, multi-faceted photographer and visual artist. She exhibits a diverse range of approaches to her subject matter, from clean, crisp and conceptual beauty to vibrant, glossy music and celebrity portraits and advertising. Below are a few of my favorite photographs from her.










Her impressive list of clients includes the following:
• Neiman Marcus
• Carson-Softsheen Dark & Lovely
• Scratch Magazine UK
• Wella Hair
• Pastry Footwear by Vanessa and Angela Simmons
• MTV
• Phat Farm
• Head Footwear
• Rolling Stone Magazine
• Essence Magazine
• Latina Magazine
• Sebastian Hair
• Vida Shoes Int'l
• Run Athletics
• Babyphat
• Epson and Fox Films
• Seventeen Magazine

Wendy Hope is a born and raised New Yorker currently residing in Brooklyn with 2 cats and a 4 foot Iguana named Godzilla.

Take a look at her fab portfolio on pdn here or go to her website here

Wendy Hope is represented in new York by Maxine Tall Management

Thanks to PDN for info and Wendy for the fabulous photos.

Super Serious Super Bowl Ring Bling Info. New Details, Pics and Facts About All The NFL Championship Rings.

Each year I run this post, updated to include the latest NFL Championship Ring. This year, I've also updated several of the specific jewelry design facts and added new images.

One of the most recognizable pieces of bling are given to the players of the National Football League's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Who makes them? Who gets them? What are they worth?

What's On Each Ring?

The rings almost always include the team's name, logo, and Super Bowl number (usually in Roman numerals), the final game score and the names of the particular player. Several include inscriptions of team's mantras or mission statements such as the Baltimore Raven's "Set the Standard."

Most of the rings also have larger diamonds or diamonds made into the shape of the Lombardi trophy, that represent the number of Super Bowls that franchise has won.

For example, Pittsburgh's 2008 ring has six trophies and six large diamonds, representing the six Super Bowls they have won to date:

above: The Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl XLIII ring weighs 104 grams and incorporates 63 round, brilliant cut diamonds totaling 3.61 carats. The colored gems appear to be citrine, pink tourmaline and blue topaz.

What Are The Rings Made Of?

Gold:
The rings are predominantly crafted of 10k or 14k yellow or white gold (in some cases, both). The varying degrees of yellowness in the gold depends both upon its purity and the other ores with which it is mixed (brass adds yellow, copper adds red, silver adds  white).

Diamonds:
Earth-mined white diamonds are clearly the stone of choice for the Championship rings. Many feature Marquis cut stones because of their resemblance to the shape of a football. Brilliant cut (round) stones in many sizes from solitaires to pave (chips) cover the majority of the rings. Some feature tapered baguettes and still others square or princess cut stones.


above: The Super Bowl XXIX San Francisco Forty Niners ring (by Balfour) shown above features 5 large Marquis cut diamonds and 5 tapered baguettes along with pave diamonds.

Enamel:
Many of the rings, especially the earlier ones, feature accents of single colored enamel such as the examples shown below:


All three New England Patriots rings featured 2 colors of enamel:


Colored Diamonds:
The Denver Broncos seem to favor colored diamonds as an accent. You can see the use of the cognac, brown or yellow diamonds found in their two consecutive Championship rings for Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII, made by Diamond Cutters Int'l and Jostens, respectively:


The Baltimore Ravens Championship Ring from Super Bowl XXXV, made by Jostens, has enamel, cognac or yellow diamonds and a ruby for the eye:


Rubies:
The Washington Redskins Championship Ring from Super Bowl XXII was the first to feature rubies along with diamonds and the first ring made by Tiffany & Co.:


Sapphires:
Adding some blue to the bling, there are 37 sapphires (and some blue enamel) in the most recent ring for the NY Giants from Super Bowl XLVI by Tiffany & Co.:


I don't know how much the total carat weight varies from year to year or the actual market value, but here are some facts about the rings:

Who Pays For Them?

•The NFL pays up to $5,000* per ring, with up to 150 rings per team. The NFL pays for the cost of 150 rings to the winning team, at roughly $5,000 apiece, depending upon the fluctuating cost of gold and diamonds. If the rings are over the $5,000 limit, the team owners must make up the difference.

* I suspect, with the increase in the price of gold over the past five years, this number is now higher

•Recent rings have been appraised in excess of $20,000, with some valued at $45,000. but manufacturers keep this information confidential.

Who Makes Them?

•The rings are made by the company of the winning team's choosing. The majority of the Championship Super Bowl rings have been manufactured by Jostens in Denton, Texas. They've made 30 of the past 46 rings.

•The Indianapolis Colts' Super Bowl (Super Bowl XLI) rings were manufactured by Herff Jones (based in Indianapolis), at their Warwick, Rhode Island ring plant.

•Austin, TX based Balfour Company has manufactured nine Super Bowl rings to date.

• Diamond Cutters International of Houston, Texas has manufactured two of the rings thus far; for the Dallas Cowboys (Super Bowl XXX)  and the Denver Broncos (Super Bowl XXXII)

• Tiffany & Co. has now made five of the rings; Washington Redskins (Super Bowl XXII),  Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Super Bowl XXXVII), New York Giants (Super Bowl XLII), New Orleans Saints (Super Bowl XLIV) and the most recent for the New York Giants (Super Bowl XLVI).

Tasteful? No.
Impressive? Yep.

The rings are made after the game for obvious reasons, so this years' ring is not included among the images below, shown in chronological order.

Rings from 1966-1974:


Rings from 1975-1983:


Rings from 1984-1992:


Rings from 1993-2001:


Rings from 2002-2010:


And the 46th and most recent Super Bowl ring:


And after the latest ring is issued as a result of the winner of tomorrow's Championship Game, I will include that here as well.

Go Niners!

Empire State Glows Blue As CNN Projects Re-election Of Barack Obama. Brand New Lighting Technology Courtesy Of Philips Color Kinetics.

above: CNN projects the re-election of Barack Obama as President of the United States and the Empire state building is lit up blue to reflect the electoral tally.

CNN joined forces this evening with the Empire State Building to display to New Yorkers, the network’s viewers in the United States (and around the world) the results of the presidential election. As each state was projected by CNN and electoral votes were allocated to the candidates, a vertical LED-illuminated “meter” located atop the spire of the building displayed CNN’s running tally of the race to 270.

This occasion marks the iconic Empire State Building’s first-ever use of their new custom LED panel technology, a state-of-the-art dynamic lighting system from Philips Color Kinetics that is unique to the Empire State Building and allows the building’s façade and mast to change lighting scenes in real-time. The four-sided tower, which sits atop the building more than a quarter of a mile from the streets of Manhattan, was illuminated in patriotic red, white and blue vertical stripes, while the mast was lit in blue and in red on two sides each to represent President Obama and Gov. Romney’s respective electoral vote totals:

CNN, exclusively shot footage from the rooftop of a neighboring building, and aired live images of the illuminated tower as the evening’s results progressed. Once CNN projected Barack Obama as the winner of the presidential election, the tower lights of the Empire State Building changed to all-blue:

above: Instagram photo by facelessnyer

The Empire State Building celebrates many cultures and causes in the world community with iconic lightings. Its tower lights recognize key milestones, events, charitable organizations, countries and holidays, a tradition started in 1932, when a simple searchlight was used to announce the election of New York-born Franklin Delano Roosevelt as President. To honor the United States Bicentennial, the Empire State Building installed colored floodlights to illuminate the building at night, lighting up red, white and blue, leading to today’s very popular Lighting Partner program.

Soaring 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan (from base to antenna), the Empire State Building is the “World’s Most Famous Office Building.” With new investments in infrastructure, public areas and amenities, the Empire State Building has attracted first-rate tenants in a diverse array of industries from around the world. The skyscraper’s robust broadcasting technology supports all major television and FM radio stations in the New York metropolitan market. The Empire State Building was named America’s favorite building in a poll conducted by the American Institute of Architects. The Empire State Building Observatory is one of the world’s most beloved attractions and is the region’s #1 tourist destination. For more information on the Empire State Building, please visit www.esbnyc.com, http://www.facebook.com/empirestatebuilding, or @EmpireStateBldg.

Tune in to CNN’s “Election Night in America” coverage beginning at 6 p.m. ET, or join the conversation on Twitter by following #CNNElection and @EmpireStateBldg.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.