Todays image came at the very end of my last shoot. Roksolana came to the shoot wearing a pair of Doc Marten boots. As a teenager I owned a pair of ox blood Docs that I cherished. They really stood out from the standard blacks everyone wore. Towards the very end I had her put them on with her dress. As she began to lace them up I stopped her. “Leave them just as they are. They look great.” I’ll be posting more later of her and my other shoots. For now “Rox in Docs.”
Category: Canon lenses and equipment
But Sometimes they Love Color.
Accidents will Happen.
I was the last car that had turned from Kennedy Blvd. onto the ramp that leads to 495. Looking dead ahead at the congestion caused by the onset of rush hour and the construction being done. I suddenly felt my skull rattle from what turned out to be the car that hit me at full force from behind. The force of the crash had sent me into the car in front of me. As I sat there partly in shock. the drivers of the vehicles that I was sandwiched between jumped out to inspect whatever damage had occurred and seemingly place blame. The older gentlemen in front of me (He looked as if he had just come off the set of a Grey Poupon commercial.) pointed to the non damage to his bumper. “Look at this!!!” he proclaimed. All while the man who plowed in to me raced to see if I was alright. I was shook up pretty bad. My skull and jaw felt as if they were vibrating out of my skull and for the moment I was barely reacting. As they exchanged information I slowly stepped out of the car. It was my first accident. They both looked at me and said “Maybe you should sit down. You don’t look so good.” I wasn’t bleeding but I was clearly rattled. It wasn’t like I had imagined it. No tow trucks or police cars magically appeared. Though I may have seen a few Geckos they were all imagined figures brought on by tons of steel deciding to act like Rams. We exchanged information and the one man explained what had happen and soon enough they drove off. I thought to myself “What the hell am I going to do?” “Wait here until a cop comes to berate me a write me a moving violation for something I didn’t do?” So I slowly pulled back into the lane and tepidly drove back home. What was first thought to be a slight concussion turned out to just be an. As I write this a few days later I still have some pain in my back, shoulders and leg, but I’m in one piece and it could have been a lot worse. It really makes me think of how careless we are with the things we should be focusing our attention on. People driving while talking on a hand held device. Ladies putting on their make up or better yet, texting. The average car weighs around 4,000 pounds. If you can’t be responsible and pay attention to driving. You should take the wheels off your damn vehicle and turn it into the office, movie theatre or beauty parlor you seem to think it is.
Disclaimer: None of the beautiful cars pictured were harmed in making this post.
A Day on the Farm.
This Saturday Kayuri and I took a trip up RT. 80 to Chester, New Jerssey to go apple picking at Alstede Farms. I’m really a city boy at heart but I always wanted to try things like apple picking, and camping for instance. I just never imagined myself doing it in ninety degree heat. The day was really hot and the sun was pretty intense, but we had a great time and got more than we expected. Not only did we pick a couple of dozen apples of different variety. We also found peppers, zucchini, pumpkins and tons of other veggies and fruits. There’s really something special about seeing it on the vine and picking it yourself. It really makes you appreciate the food on a whole new level. After a long and fun day of walking, picking and enjoying the beauty of nature we headed over to town and had a delicious dinner at Publick House Tavern. Thanks to my friend Mandy for the recommendation. 
Extras from my Shoot with Tara.
Once we were done with getting the head shots she needed. Tara asked me if I could take a few of her in her leather jacket. I could immediately tell that the clothes she had brought fro the shots didn’t fit her or her personality. Once the jacket went on the real Tara came out. It was a pleasure to see. Such an amazing personality and fun person to work with. We were literally rolling on the floor with laughter.
Tara’s Head Shot session.
Early this afternoon Tara stopped by to have some head shots taken. After a failed start in the oppressive heat we moved inside to the cool, air consitioned studio and thing really began to click. Tara is the whole package. Fun, smart, talented and have to ever seen a set of eyes that were more expressive? We chatted about acting and movies over L7, Soul Coughing and Mazzy Star. What had started out as a hot and uncomfortable sesssion ended up with us rolling on the floor laughing.
Over the past year I’ve noticed so much improvement in my ability to take bad or difficult situations and flip them to a positive. Something I deem just as important if not more than actual photography skills.
Tara is one of the actors to be featured in the upcoming presentation of the Pulitzer Prize winning, Rabbit Hole. Which opens Friday October 1st at the Chatham Playhouse in Chatham, NJ.
Box Office Information – Online Ticketing
Performance dates are October 1, 2, 8, 9, 15 and 16 at 8PM and October 10 at 3PM. All performances are at the Chatham Playhouse, 23 North Passaic Avenue, in Chatham. Tickets are $20 for adults and $18 for youth/senior.
To access the theater’s online ticketing service, simply go to http://www.chathamplayers.org/tickets.htm and click on the “TicketLeap” logo. The service is available 24 hours a day, and tickets can be purchased online up until three hours prior to curtain on the day of a performance.
The box office will begin accepting phone reservations on September 21 at (973) 635-7363. For information regarding box office hours, please call the box office number listed above.
The Russians are Coming!!! The Russians are Coming!!!
Sometimes people take you out of your comfort zone. Challenge you and maybe even scare you a little bit. But when you think about it, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Thus was the case with Iya. A beautiful woman just recently immigrated from Russia and looking to break into modeling. The day we met at the gallery I have to admit beings a bit intimidated. She had this vibe that straight out of a cold war espionage novel. Cold, direct and to the point. That initial day we hardly spoke. The language barrier and very “down to business demeanor: set the tone. We got some great images that day and both left very happy. It made me think. Imagine if we all lived in that safe comfort zone. Life wouldn’t be much fun now, would it?
Rosie Outlook.
Some people just bring the very best out in you. Rosie is one of them. We first got together for a project I was working on called “Mind, Body, Spirit” and recently got together for inspiration and Vietnamese Sandwiches. Always smiling and quick witted. She’s always got something positive to bring to the conversation. I just linked her blog “This World is too Much with Us.” check it out and send her some love. Here are some pictures we took. Worship these first.
Four Fingers and Bombay dirty up Montclair.
Sometimes a band reminds you of why you go out to shows and still get a rush of blood to the head when it all clicks. Last night I was reminded twice when I got to see Bombay and Four Fingers at the Meatlocker in Montclair, NJ.
Bombay features two members from Four Fingers (Chris and Jeff) with Chris switching from drums to the bass. I didn’t get the name of the drummer but he does most of the singing while bashing away on the skins. Bombays sound brings me back to some of the more experimental indie and post core bands of the nineties blended with a good dose of late eighties Dischord. I couldn’t help but think how well they’d fit onto a nice round 7 inch.
After heading over to Jakes for a beer I returned in time for Four FIngers set. This show kicks off their mini tour and despite a case of Montezumas Revenge I would not have missed it for all the Pepto Bismol in Montclair. I had met Tohm at a Reagan Youth show a few years back and immediately formed an easy friendship. Fast Forward to 2010 and I got a chance to interview the band a few blocks away a few months ago. He is currently being offered the vocalist role with Reagan Youth. FF play fast paced Punk with a ton of energy and plenty of crowd interaction. Tohm is an animal on stage while the rest of the band kick some serious ass. Since the interview they’ve added a fourth member to play Bass. Freeing Tohm to be even more of an animal. The band kicked off their tour with a new 7 inch in tow.
Congratulations to the band on the new record, the tour and the stellar set last night. All the best.
Canon 50 mm 1.4 USM and goodbye to annoying flash.
Here it is Memorial Day weekend and Spring is finally starting to show itself. With the warmer weather comes more opportunities to get out, see friends and enjoy what we enjoy most “Live Music”. A lot of the bands I worshipped and became friends with as a kid are reuniting, playing shows and releasing new material. After a two-year hiatus I’ve decided to go back to working on my online Zine Unite. In a matter of a month or so I’ve managed to do a half-dozen interviews and line up stuff for the upcoming months. With every week bringing new shows and events I went out and picked up the Canon 50mm 1.4 USM. It’s a good sturdy lens that has allowed me to leave the flash (and the worries that go along with it at home. It’s given me some really great results. Being able to open the lens all the way to F1.4 and crank up that ISO. It can get grainy but gives it a nice look. There’s also the important bonus of not blinding the band or the crowd. I think I might however want to get a wider angle next time as 50 doesn’t allow me to get too close or too far away for that matter. the Canon 24 mm looks like a possibility. For now I’m looking forward to using it exclusively at shows and in situations that call for shooting is low light or situations where flash is off limits.
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