New York State of Mind

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This guy is convinced. 

In the 80's my family belonged to an overactive hyper-patriotic Buddhist group. Much of our energy was spent putting on public performances in hopes of converting people to our cause. Though an unusual childhood,  it allowed me to do things such as — perform at Madison Square Gardens in front of 25k people and be part of a six-story human pyramid on roller skates (I swear this is true, sorry no pictures).

The downside was that we were so focused, that we missed out on a lot the "normal stuff". Like when we went to NY I spent all my time rehearsing and never saw the Empire State Building or Times Square. We didn't eat a pizza or take the subway. Honestly, I'm not complaining. I have more awesome stories from that time period than most people I know. 

Long story short. I went to NY. I did all the stuff I didn't do when I was a kid. And it was awesome (not as awesome as performing in front of 25k) but still, it was pretty cool. 

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Photo Inspiration

Image inspired in part by the photos by Dan Winters

Photo inspired in part by Zack Arias "one light" technique (I used two - LOL). 

I thought I'd try a couple of new lighting ideas I'm hoping to use for an upcoming portrait shoot. Currently I am inspired by the very talented Dan Winters and Zach Arias. I could look at Mr. Winters photos everyday and be inspired by his use of color and composition. Mr. Arias is a master of simplifying images to their very essence. I certainly don't believe that either of my images comes close to the work they do, but are more of an exploration of different approaches as I attempt to emulate certain aspects of each of their styles. I'm not sure either would notice their influence in my photos, but it's there none the less. 

These are self portraits. Drumming was my first love. Trouble is, she never loved me back. Don't get me wrong, I'm a good drummer. But man did I have to work hard at it. Things that others would learn in minutes, took me hours. The trumpet is what I should have loved. Things that take people years to be able to do, I could do with in the first few months. Trouble is, I never really loved the trumpet. Funny how fickle our muses are. 

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

Mike and Lindsey lit with a PCB Einstein and 60 inch October

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This isn't the hero shot, but it's my favorite. Mike wasn't totally onboard for being photographed at first (most men aren't). Something funny happened. Lindsey let loose with a real laugh. Mike was trying to look cool, but he cracked right there. It was the moment it went from a little awkward to being fun. 

The sun decided to pop out for 15 minutes. So we headed to the local park. 

The sky was grey and a slight drizzle began to fall the moment they arrived. But, the young couple brought with them the sunshine. You could see the joy they have for each other, in the tilt of the head, the laughter and the crinkle in the corner their eyes as they smiled. 100% Genuine - you can't fake that. It was a pleasure to capture.

Congratulations to Mike and Lindsey!

Bombay Sapphire - Lighting

Recently, I was asked how I recreated an iconic photo of Bombay Sapphire. So, I thought give a brief overview of how I did it. Each photo represents a portion of the composite and was specifically lit to get the exact piece I was looking for. I used a Canon speed light, Youngnou remote triggers, 24 inch soft box, Honl grid, spray bottle, dry ice, and a square piece of solid black plastic for the table top. And I twice purchased a bottle of Bombay Gin, because a house guest opened the bottle to make a martini before I was done (true story, LOL).

Lighting - The first photo was lit using a light box (with grid) placed about a foot away from the bottle. The second photo was lit using a Honl grid pressed against the back of the bottle to establish the “glow”. The next two shots - I spent some time messing around with dry ice to get the right look. The smoke was lit with the same set up as the “glow lighting, but with the flash a few inches from the bottle. In the last photo removed the Bombay, sprayed the plastic, and took several exposures, using the Honl grid to light the droplets. 

The rest of the work was done in Photoshop. If you’d like to know how I did that, drop me an email.