Archive for June, 2009
Being in photography I get to observe many different types of people and from other walks of life (I know I hate overused phrases too but it fits here). About 2 years ago I was looking for musicians to photograph and I found Lauren on MySpace and after sending her an inquiry she didn’t respond for a while until AFTER she was pregnant! She was very nice and said thank you and maybe after her baby arrived we could shoot.
Jesse arrived a few months ago and Lauren called because she had been interviewed by an online magazine and needed updated photos. I arrived at her house in the 98 degree Alabama heat of late June sweating with the cat as Jon opened the door and showed me around. We went down to the studio where the recording happens and did a few shots there. It was perhaps the most difficult situation to light. I wound up getting Jon to hold (yes hold) the 300 watt monolight with a can reflector on it from the next room pointing into the room where Lauren was at her microphone (I was nestled inside the room with Lauren and the drum set). The light was a little harsh so I hung my scrim on the door and softened it and opened my ISO to 800 with my aperture roughly at 2.0 to get the ambience I wanted and didn’t trip the strobe and used only the modeling light. The first shot below on the left came from that set.
Upstairs there were two pianos – one upright antique and a baby grand. Lauren was dressed dark as you can see and with the room dark I lit her with a gridded softbox camera left which almost created a spotlight effect and a silver reflector camera right. Morticia-like she sat for me there and we clicked a few. From the side I shot some closer up at the piano keys which turned out so well.
Finally she wanted something dramatic and somewhat playful and fun so she reclined on top of the grand piano and I lit her with the same gridded softbox camera left and another strobe camera right in the corner pointed straight up flagged of course just to get faint rim light.
Thank you, Lauren and Jon (and baby Jesse) for a nice afternoon.
This is new for me. Jennifer found me through another friend of mine and knew I was a photographer. She always takes pictures of the kids and husband on vacations but nobody ever takes her picture. So she asked if I did photoshoots for moms (non-models) and decided to take her up on it.
We decided on a place call Petals From the Past as the place to shoot because I had seen on their website the tub you see her sitting in. I thought that could be something fun to do. It was. I treated her like I would any model and we had fun with it and got great shots. The heat and humidity were both high that day but Jennifer kept her col and looked great and we had fun on the shoot. It’s something she will have and remember for a lifetime.
Brandon, Drew, Micah, Aaron
I first met these guys one night at a local event where they were jamming to among other things Jesus Freak (originally done by DC Talk in 1995). I thought that if these guys can play that and other songs so well then they were going places and in fact they already have been going places (touring and recording) and continue to record and tour. You can find 3 tracks of theirs on iTunes already. Brandon is the lead guitarist. Micah is the front man and rhthym guitarist. Aaron is backup vocals and bass while Drew keeps them steady and hammering on drums. You must check them out at www.myspace.com/gate29 and on iTunes.
I decided on something edgy which is what they wanted so I thought of Morris Avenue. I typically hate to shoot where everyone shoots – you know the places – where you show up and there are about 5 other photographers walking around with their clients? There was the Peanut Depot there which I thought must have roof access. Hundred year old building would be fun. No roof access. But we did shoot on the second floor of their business above the 100 year old peanut roasters so without any A/C you can imagine – yeah we were roasting!
We took this main shot in the back corner where there was little light. So I used my one monolight (equipped with my battery pack thankfully) and large octagon and then post processed it to give it more grunge to match their onstage presence and music.
Thanks guys for a good shoot – and for helping carrying all my equipment up and back!
When I decided to shoot Mandy again with the idea of shooting for stock I decided on something youthful and fun with some kind of flair. So we decided on striped socks and braids for her hair and I let her decide what else to wear. I think she did a great job. All my shoots are fun because that’s what I want to do – have fun. But in the process I want to create great images in great locations with great engaging subjects.
We decided to shoot at the laundromat and just have fun with it. These here are strictly natural light which turned out terrific I thought.
The laundromat had only two older men in there and one left soon after we arrived. The other man was friendly and came over to watch us. He chatted with us a while and I found out that his wife had died recently and that he survived two heart attacks himself and now at 82 (he didn’t look that old) was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. He was just doing his laundry when he said he had declined the chemo and would let it take it’s course. I asked about his family being close by and they weren’t.
I’m finding out all this while I’m shooting but at one point I stopped and introduced myself (his name was Cox) and gave him my card with my phone number. I hope he calls because I would like to take him to lunch and learn about him more.
It always amazes me the number of personal stories there are around us and how easily we have our own pat answers on how to handle all the things life throws at us. One truth I am learning is that no matter what a person is or has done or will do; no matter the situation in which they find themselves there is a God of grace who wants to spend time with us in time of need. We get so focused on performance sometimes that we think that’s all there is and while there are expectations we forget the simplicity and stillness of just being rather than doing.