Portraiture – Page 7 – Photogeek Blog

Tara’s Head Shot session.

Beauty, Canon lenses and equipment, Portraiture, Studio Lighting

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!!!

Beauty, Canon lenses and equipment, Nudes, Portraiture, Studio Lighting

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?

The woman’s got a dirty mouth but she’s alright.

Beauty, Portraiture

Sometimes sessions don’t go as planned. Such is the case for my short meet up with Mariel. Mariel and I have worked together before with much success but our communication was definitely off this time. While my style is very natural and de-emphasizes posing for the most part. Mariels is very much the opposite. On this day we definitely pushed one anothers buttons. Despite some of the mouthy and testy moments (all playful mind you) I managed to catch a couple of unguarded shots which turned out to be my favorites.

Rosie Outlook.

Beauty, Canon lenses and equipment, Friendship, Portraiture

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.

Family Portraits

Family Portraits, Portraiture

There was a time when photographing children and families was all I ever did. It was a fun, fast paced and rewarding time of my life. I would often come home wtih countless stories of the cute kids, the personalities, the tantrums and of course the often difficult parents. Since 2006 my work has focused mainly on portraiture, modeling and music journalism. But from time to time I get a call from someone looking for baby or family portraits to which I am more than happy to oblige.

On this occasion I got a reference from a good friend. The woman who contacted me said that she had seen the pictures I had taken of her and loved them. We began emailing back and fourth and eventually came up with a concept, day and time. The day of the shoot it was hot. Like 90+ degrees hot. Along the way they got lost and arrived a good forty minutes late. Throughout the shoot the mother was sweating and seemed to be in an irritable rush. The Father was agreeable, nice and smiled throughout. The baby, adorable and fascinated with everyone around him. Not yet able to walk on his own he used his hands and feet to move with the precision of Spiderman. We shot the first part of the session in the park before going back to the studio. The baby smiled all the while. The Mother seemed beaten by the extreme heat and I felt a strange sense of being rushed.

Before you knew it we were done taking the studio shots and it was time to view the images and burn the disk. Again she seemed unhappy and rushed. She saw the first few shots and rushed out the door without seeing the entire set or getting her disc. I thought she was unhappy with the experience and the over all results. It turns out she was just fixated on getting back to the car and getting out of the parking garage before the hour was up and she had to pay the extra money. Later that night I emailed the pictures and mailed the disc out the next day. Later that week I got the check and a thank you note in the mail saying “Thank you so much. We loved every single picture.” I was both happy and relieved that I had done a good job. The real bonus was when I say the tip which was 50% of the actual charge. Talk about “customer service”.

It brought me back to the days when I worked for Sears Portrait and Marc Gerard. Not a day would go by without a parent or parents saying “My God, I don’t know how do you do this every day. The kids must drive you crazy.” to which I’d always reply. “It’s never the kids. They’re always a breeze. If there’s ever someone that causes me stress. It’s without a doubt the parents. They’re the ones who always bring the drama.” to which they would always laugh.

Oh shit, has it really been a month?

Beauty, Music, Portraiture

Another month gone and I realize how much I’ve been neglecting this blog as of late. It’s not a case of nothing doing, nothing to talk about. I can assure you of that. This past month has given me it’s share of adventure, opportunities and challenges. My website UniteWebzine.com has kept me very busy. So much so I’m starting to look for contributors to lighten the load. I recently become the admistrator for SOHO Photo Galleries Facebook page and have become a contributer to Jersey Beat. Writing and photography have been my strong suits for some time now. As I find myself doing more and more of both I’m seeing a very strong connection. I’ve noticed that my approach to portraiture and interviewing musicans and such the same. Building a trust and slowly peeling away the layers. I know I won’t be able to get what I need unless I invest the time to really get to know the person inside. I see both my photography and interviewing style grow and evolve. I guess I’d like to become more of a story teller than just ask the random “So tell me about the new album and tour.” I find it easy gaining trust with the people I photograph. It’s a lot harder with bands and artists. I find the best interviews I’ve done were never at gigs. There’s just too much going on and everyone seems to be talking over one another. The times when I’ve really gotten to know the artist is when we were just relaxing over a beer, burger or burritto. Just as in my portaiture I’d rather do one in depth interview than ten random “What are your influences. What made you choose the bands goofy name?” That’s where I see myself and my work going. That’s my take on it.

Mind, Body, Spirit

Portraiture

In the days prior to our session Rosie and I had talked extensively about the day we were to meet up. Usually when it comes to setting up a shoot things like money, time and travel are the key things covered. Rosie on the other hand was full of questions and interested in every aspect of what we were doing. She wanted to know everything from the amount of time we’d be shooting and how many pictures were taken in a session on average to how long I’d been taking pictures and what was the driving force in me wanting to become a photographer. She was quite the inquistive one and that made me happy. Rosie has been learning and practicing yoga for years and is eager to teach it. This was a big plus for me considering the pictures and concept are part of an ongoing series I mentioned in my last blog post. Through ‘Mind, Body, Spirit’ I hope to connect the things that elements that bring us closer to our core and our sole. Yoga, along with practices such as meditation, tai chi amongst others. I hope to continue learning and growing as this project continues. Thanks to Rosie for participating and opening her heart about something that means so much to her. If anyone is interested in participating in this project you can easily comtact me through the blog. Thanks, JD

It’s been a while.

Portraiture, Studio Lighting

It’s hard to believe I let an entire month go by without posting anything. It’s not that I haven’t been doing creative things with my spare time. It just seems like there is less and less of it. As of late I’ve taken on too many responsibilities and tasks. I’ve stretched myself thin and in a sense lost touch with the things that are most important to me. Who knows, maybe I’m just finding more things that are important. Perhaps my interests have shifted. I’ve started work on a new project called “Mind, Body, Spirit” which is very personal to me. In recent years I’ve been searching for that inner peace that has eluded me for most of my life. To love myself as much as I love everyone else and to find a balance in life. I’ve become a bit more spiritual. A bit more motivated to do more with my life. To be a person of merit and to make a difference in my community and in the lives of the people around me. This can be tough at times. It’s not hard to get caught up in the anger, indifference and carelessness that we encounter every day. Finding that peace and that core. It doesn’t happen in a day, a year or maybe even a lifetime. It’s continuos I guess. It’s almost 2:00 and I’m starting to go off track. The images posted in this entry are the start of the project. They were exhibited at Soho Photo Gallery during the month of May. Thanks to those who came down for the opening. That meant a lot to me.

Better late than never is never a good excuse.

Beauty, Portraiture, Portraiture in natural light, Responsibility, Soft Lighting

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I worked fro a talent agency doing print ads and working on movies. While signing up with the woman told me the importance of being on time. “If you have a 3:00 appointment make sure you are there and fully prepared to start work by 2:45. It was a simple rule that made sense and it stuck with me. All my life I always made a point of not only being on time. But getting there early just in case.

Somewhere down the road I wish everyone got that same memo because people just don’t seem to have any understanding about what it means to show up on time. I used to hold a management position with one of the museums in New York City and had a staff of about five to seven people to work with. Two of the girls on my staff were showing up late on a daily basis. When I took them aside to note and remedy the situation one girl responded “I’m from the Bronx.” It was a term I was familiar with having heard it many times regarding various issues. Her point, dumb as it may seem, was that she came to work from a far away land where time hadn’t been invented yet. I suggested that if she was late everyday by about fifteen minutes she should set her alarm a half an hour earlier. This seemed to make no sense to her whatsoever. “Yeah, but I travel with my friend.” Her friend just happened to be the other girl who was constantly late for work. By that time I had convinced myself that there was a force field around the Bronx that kept people from being responsible and basically “Knowing shit”. Sometimes if you hear something enough times you tend to start believing it to be true. Hearing the term “I don’t know dat shit. I’m from the Bronx.” made me believe it was true.

This week I got to experience that feeling again. I met Antoinette while working at the gallery last week. We had talked on line and she mentioned she would stop by to say hello and talk further about our upcoming session. The day she came by we talked and talked for what seemed to be hours about everything from art to philosophy and the belief theory of good and evil. We set up an appointment and continued to talk online in the days that followed. The day before our shoot I confirmed for 2:00 p.m. which she agreed. I even spoke to her online the next morning in which she told me “I’m jumping in the shower and then heading out.” 2:00 p.m. came and went. As did three and four. At 5:00 p.m. I get a call. “I’m here”. I was and still am without words. Yesterday we were scheduled to shoot at the downtown gallery where we first met. Same time different place. I got a text telling me she’s on the train and will be a little late. Okay, bad but not too bad. That was until she called me and asked. “I’m here on 23rd Street. How do I get there?” I was without words. The gallery which she had just visited less than a week ago had not mysteriously moved from Tribeca to Chelsea while you were sleeping. Let me just say that Antoinette is/was a sweet, beautiful and sincerely apologetic girl. She even sat through both of my tirades where I basically tore her apart. But you have got to be fucking kidding me. I am often amazed at how some people manage to get through life, hold jobs, have families and even operate heavy machinery with absolutely no clue as to what is happening around them. In coming to a close I just want to say that I’m not dissing the Bronx or it’s residents. I’m sure KRS-1 was never late for an MC battle. I know for a fact that millions of people from the Bronx make it to work on time every day and actually “Know shit.”. I just had to get some things off my chest. Antoinette as mentioned before was a complete sweetheart who I enjoyed working with. I just don’t think I could ever go through that again. Plan ahead, know where you’re going and for Christ sake…… Get there on time.

Building blocks

Portraiture, Portraiture in natural light, Soft Lighting

I’m sitting here enjoying my second cup of coffee and admiring the shelf I put up last night. It’s a nice shelf I picked up at Ikea a few weeks ago. Thick black particle board with silver brackets. As of now the shelf is empty with the exception of the proudly placed level I left as a reminder of what you can accomplish if you plan ahead and put your mind to it. Putting up a shelf may not seem like much but it represents something important to me.

A few years ago when I moved into this apartment I asked a coworker if he could put up some shelves for me. He was a nice guy and a self proclaimed carpenter/handyman. I had two shelves that needed to be put up in the bedroom and a shelf to be installed in the closet. He asked for $10 an hour which seemed like nothing. Eight hours later he hadn’t finished the job and the work he had done was shoddy to say the least.

I learned a lot that day. What I learned most was “If you want something done right. Do it yourself.”. I always loved tools and carpentry. I’m a total sucker for those shows on HGTV and TLC but my fears of fucking up the job and putting a hole in the wall and messing up the measurement were overpowering. I’m a klutz by nature and don’t always go into things with a game plan. Over the past few years I’ve learned a lot about fear. Anyone can tell you I’m my own worst critic and my fear of failure had gotten in the way of a lot of my goals.

I’m on a path now. No more fear of anything. Everyone fails from time to time. Learning and growing from it is what’s important. In recent years I learned to DJ. I’ve become a much better cook and I’ve taken my studio lighting from dull and predictable to what some people have called “beautiful and elegant”. I like the work I’m doing now but I know there’s plenty of room for growth and there’s still so much to be learned. I’m using the gallery downtown to shoot during the early days of the week. The natural lighting is beautiful but it also presents it’s challenges. The walls are whiter than Barry Manilow and can all together wash out a subject and the success I’ve had in the early morning and around 2:00 pm only make the failures of 4:30 to 5:00 more frustrating. But it is far from insurmountable. I just have to figure it out and adjust. That’s what makes life great. Overcoming the challenges and making adjustments. Learning to deal with change and sometimes roll with the punches. In the future I’ll be putting up more shelves and getting to know and understand the tools that will hopefully bring me success. And when I fail I’ll try not to take it so hard and just learn from it.