A couple of months ago when I stopped in New Hampshire to visit my dear friends Rob and Paloma, my friend Rob was in the process of writing Lightroom for Dummies. Well, it’s finally out and available through Amazon! Go buy your own copy now!
Archive for August, 2008
28
Aug
Lightroom for Dummies!
27
Aug
Kristina Coia
I recently had the pleasure of doing photos for Kristina Coia for the third year in a row. Every time I do a returning photo shoot with a previous model, the shots get better and better each time. Kristi had an idea in mind with the style of shots that she wanted…and the ideas in my head seemed to merge right into that. The shoot went very well and we got so many amazing shots!
Kristi is a teenager from the Jersey suburbs of Philly. For years, she’s been writing fairy tale adventure books for young girls, acting, dancing, and singing in musicals, plays, and other theatrical performances, as well as writing, singing, and performing her own music. She’s also the founder of a character development program for girls called Shine Through. Through sharing her own experiences and challenges as a teenage girl, she presents positive values and morals to young girls in grades 5 through 8. It allows them to relate to a peer and ask questions and talk about things that they would not be able to ask an adult. Kristi travels throughout the country in this interactive program and has also been interviewed for various tv shows.
Visit Kristi’s website to read more about her, purchase her books, or to have her come to visit your organization or neighborhood! And check out the youtube video from her interview on Fox News Philadelphia last year!
24
Aug
Accusations
In February 2007, I did a photo shoot in a small apartment in center city with my friends. We wrangled up some models from various sources who we hadn’t worked with in the past. One of the models was a guy named Rommel who I was really excited about working with because he seemed to exhibit a lot of character on camera.
Well it just so happens that he is one of the contestants on the new NBC reality show called America’s Toughest Jobs which premieres this coming Monday, August 25 at 9/8central! Produced by the same people who did Deadliest Catch, Ax Man, and Ice Road Truckers. Be sure to check out one of the previews here and Rommel’s introductory video.
Check out his profile on the Toughest Jobs website and be sure to watch the show on Monday!! yay Rommel! So happy for you, buddy! My models rock!
21
Aug
Anthony
Photographed at the University of Delaware.
21
Aug
conversation
18
Aug
Frozen River
When I started working on film sets, I worked with this kid named Charlie McDermott. I did some head shots for him a couple of years ago.
Charlie had a small role in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village in 2004 just by chance. Since then, he’s been grabbing more roles in films such as The Ten and Disappearances. His latest appearance is a big role in Frozen River as the son of Melissa Leo. It won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s been released throughout the country and is being released in Philadelphia this coming Friday. Go check it out!
I’ve been shooting stock photography for so long now that it’s become difficult to think outside of the box from a fine art perspective. I’ve avoided shooting photos that include recognizable faces/bodies for which I don’t have a model release, logos and copyrighted elements, out of focus images, and images that seem to be outside the boundaries of stock photography.
So far, I feel as though 2008 has brought some changes in my photography style. Since joining the Philadelphia Grid Project in January, I’ve started to open up my eyes to more things…see things from different perspectives in a way I hadn’t seen in a long time…shooting photos in ways that are random and fun. And now that I’ve been shooting film again, it seems to add more creativity.
I’ve started taking a lot more photos from the hip in the last couple of months…something I haven’t done in a long time. It’s often like Christmas when I get home and look at the photos because I never know what I’ve captured. Today was one of those days.
Out of focus images don’t always work. In fact, the instance seems to be rare. I’m not saying I’m some out-of-focus image professional. I’m just saying that my whole outlook on photography seems to be out of focus these days, allowing more opportunity for creativity. I can dig that.
16
Aug
Neil Halstead
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Neil Halstead at Johnny Brenda’s. He is currently on tour with Jack Johnson and Rogue Wave and played at one of those big venues in Camden. I’m not a fan of large concerts so I wasn’t about to go to see a big show where the person I wanted to see wasn’t even headlining. However! I knew that he was going to be playing a select number of smaller shows throughout the country. Somehow, my wishes of a small show came true!
Neil is the singer of Mojave 3 and member of the extinct band, Slowdive. I’ve been listening to everything he’s been involved in for about 12 years, but it always seemed that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ve never gotten to see him. Being that he’s one of my favorite musicians…up there with Morrissey and the Smiths…seeing him was definitely one of the highlights of my year. I also got to hug him and talk to him for a brief while…and probably making a fool of myself in the meantime. I took some photos, but I was more into taking it all in than getting a good photo. eh. Whatever.
