Tag: B&W

Back in Black

Beauty, Finding your Zen, Portraiture

Last week I did the kind of shoot that has become too few and far between for my liking. The truth is, with all the shooting I’ve been doing lately, not nearly enough moves me as much as that intimate one on one studio session. Recently I forced myself to sit down and write a list of all the things that make me happy and make me feel fulfilled in life. Things like family, friends and bulldogs were pretty high on the list. (Yeah, Bull Dogs) When it comes to things of the creative nature, I’d have to say studio photography is number one, two and three on my list. There is nothing that makes me more alive or feel as if I am at my very best. With all my faults, shortcomings and anxieties, when I am shooting I am at my very, very best.

This particular shoot was to test a new muslin I had picked up the week before at Calumet Photo. If you’re a follower of the blog you might know that I often find myself switching from seemless to muslin backgrounds with varied results. Though I had grown used to using seemless almost exclusively over the last year. (Black in particular) I wanted to look into working with the muslin. So with new studio gear in tow and no one to shoot I contacted a girl who I had worked with in a duo shoot the year before. Lucky for me she had some spare time and was ready to return for here solo.

When originally shooting with Jenn a little under a year ago I was able to steal away a few solo shots when the other girl was changing and managed to get some of my absolute favorite shots of the day. As beautiful as they were I knew they were only a very small sampling of what we could accomplish.

Jenn has three of the attributes I look most for in a model. Expressive eyes, lips and an awesome sense of humor. I was a little nervous about working with her again prior to that day due to the fact it had been such a long lapse in time since we last shot. However her sense of humor and nerdy qualities (That’s a compliment kids.)  had us both cracking up from the get go. She even took the shoot to another level when she asked to revisit some shots she had seen of mine. The shoot instilled with me the fact that when I am a very, very lucky man. Thanks to Jenn for helping me to realize it.

Cool Shirt Bro.

Beauty, Finding Solutions, Finding your Zen, Humor, Organizing, Philosophy, Portraiture

Being that I do a lot of writing and photographing of local music I’ve managed to pick up my share of rock tees along the way. Some are bought, some are given as thanks, some just thrown at me to cover my naked body at shows. Whatever the reason, I’ve got a lot of them. As cool as these things might look on the bands merch table or when worn by Joe Hardcore. They do not exactly look flattering on my body. So instead of letting them go to waste in my drawer or in a box on a shelf somewhere. I’ll throw one on a beautiful girl. In doing this I get a fond memory of the shirt and I don’t end up on an episode of “Hoarders”.   The shirts always look a hell of a lot better on them and it’s a great way to preserve the memory of the shirt. So if you’re attached to all those old rock tees, Christmas trees, and unfitting wanna bees. Throw it on a beautiful woman and keep those memories fresh.

Concert Lighting, Flash and Lenses.

Canon lenses and equipment, Finding Solutions, Fisheye Lenses
Canon 50mm 1.4 (w/o flash)

Though I would love to shoot all my concert photos without the distraction of flash the lens I normally use (Canon 15mm Wide USM) simply does not give me the speed I need to get the sharpness a lot of my work requires. A couple of years back I did a little research and found that Canons 50mm 1.4 had the speed I needed to get the job done. However, the fact that the bulk of my concert shots are taken in small to medium venues made for a lot of really tight shots. In bars and taverns such as Maxwells those tight crops were more like head shots.

Canon 50mm 1.4 (w/o flash)

So over the past weeks I did my share of tests with both the Canon 50mm 1.4 and the Canon 15mm Wide Angle USM. Shooting on Manual Mode and changing the settings  to adjust to the light I was able to produce some interesting results. While using the wide angle approach I was able to get right in the eye of the storm and get some interesting and artistic results. Though most were blurred and disposable,  I did find some keepers amongst the ruins. The next night I played around with the 50mm 1.4 and though I was able to get crisp image after crisp image, the distance from which I shot made me feel more like a bystander. There was really no comparing as far as I was concerned.  Although shooting without flash adds a sense of intimacy and storytelling to my images. I felt the wide angle clearly gave me a the exaggerated vibe I want in my work. It gave me a sense that I was right in the middle of the action as opposed to the bystander element that the former produced. I’d love to hear from other concert photographers about their experiences and approach. I’m always looking to experiment and try different things as I move towards creating my own style. I look forward to the challenge.

Canon 15mm wide angle (w/o flash)

Creating a Comfort Zone.

Finding your Zen, Organizing

I’m often complaining that my apartment is too cluttered and there are too many things that are out of place or have never had one to begin with. Over the years I’ve often purged using the old TLC show Clean Sweep’s mantra of “Keep, Sell, Trash.”  However, as I’ve learned, no matter how much I get rid of. I basically have the same size apartment. Being that I do so much work from home it makes the apartment feel even smaller. A living room that doubles as my photography studio and a second bedroom that doubles as an office. It’s a juggling act to say the least. If things are out in the open or out of place it creates chaos. Having to deal with that chaos means I get less work done while spending more time doing it.

So today I got up at the crack of dawn and started erecting my own little “Man Cave”.  Moving furniture from one room to another while taking random frames off the floor and giving them the walls they have been missing for months. With a little hammering and finagling I created a wall Martha Stewart would be proud of. I cleared my desk to the point I could actually see the surface and created a little nook where everything was within reach. In the end, the only thing missing was a heaping cup of coffee just left of the keyboard. Though I’ll surely be tweaking it with different pictures and such, it is my little peace of mind that takes away some of the stress I feel when I’m sitting here doing what I do. Like the wise man said “Surround yourself with the things you love.” Soon we’ll be moving to a new place. I have visions of a room all my own with nothing but records, photography and all things geeky. A Geek can dream. Right?

Plug One, Plug Two

Canon lenses and equipment, Fisheye Lenses, Maxwells, Music

Considering how much concert photography has dominated my life as of late. I thought I’d take a moment to post some recent images I shot at what has become my home away from homes, Maxwell’s. While I’m here I might as well plug the blog and website I’ve been spending so much free and not so free time working on.

In the last year or so I’ve seen a lot of evolution in regards to my concert photography. Part of that can be traced to my purchase of the Canon 15mm wide angle lens. The shots I’ve taken with it have been my best by far. Though it requires me to get a lot closer and in the grill of some of the musicians it has helped to really feel the music on an entirely different level. I no longer a bystander. I’m right in the cage with the lions. Whether or not I get eaten up is up for grabs. I do however feel I’ve carved out my corner there. I feel that I’m getting more and more positive feedback lately ad it feels good.

All the Concert Photography you could possibly stand.   http://www.damionphoto.com/Music/About.html

I started United By Rocket Science with my friend Dave back in May and have enjoyed every minute of it. Both Dave and Me have seperate blogs/sites that, at the time, weren’t giving us a lot of inspiration to work on. Combining forces really gave us the kick in the ass we needed. Since we started we’ve been focused on doing reviews, interviews and covering local music to our best ability. It’s been a blast exploring the vastness of the music coming out of the basements and beer halls of the tri-state and beyond. Check us out and help spread the word.

One more Music Blog can save the world.          http://unitedbyrocketscience.blogspot.com/

Bring Your Friend Along

Beauty, Finding Solutions

Every now and then I work with someone who wants to bring along a friend or chaperone to make them feel safer and give them more of sense of security. I honestly don’t prefer it, you know what they say,”Three’s a crowd”.  Third parties can get in the way and become a distraction at times but for the most part, my experience has been pretty damn good. I’ve had friends and even boyfriends that helped the model to let down her hair a bit or just lighten up the mood by making her laugh and feel less conscious. While at other times, just plain joined in the fun.

On this particular occasion my communication with the model I had wasn’t very good. I don’t recall what it was in particular but things just weren’t clicking as I had planned. At one time I photographed them together perhaps put the model at ease. The addition helped a lot as the strong friendship provided the chemistry  I was unable to. As the shoot came to a close I pulled aside the second girl and managed to take a few solo shots. Her eyes, lips and attentive look were incredibly sexy.

Weeks later we talked about working with one another but before we were able to schedule anything concrete she had moved to South America. Though disappointed I feel rewarded that I was able to get handful of shots.

Writers Block And Cracked Eggs

Beauty, Erotic Photography

Tonight, just like every other night, the moment I sat down to write, my wife started her nightly ritual of calling out my name from the other room. This ritual is part comedy, part tragedy. We could sit in the same room for hours without her saying a word to me but the moment I sit down to write or work on photos the cat calls start. I could swear to the heavens that she has a special listening device that knows the moment my ass hits the seat. The calls are rather urgent, kind of like the scream who just walked into the room to find the dead, bloated body of a stranger lying on the bathroom floor. It’s jarring to say the very least. An hour later, my nerves are frayed and I’ve all but given up being able to write anything. Tonight it was the news. Something about American Idol and Steven Tyler having Jennifer Lopez’s ass surgically fitted to where his face used to sit. Then there was her dropping a hard boiled egg. That was a real emergency. What a cleanup that was. I hope the Fire Department didn’t mind bringing the Jaws of Life up three flights of stairs to free the poor thing from it’s cracked shell. So I’ve given up. I was planning on writing that Pulitzer Prize winning article on picking up hot chicks and having them pose nude for you but, I guess that will have to wait. She’s singing now so I’m just going to post this and say goodnight.

Flashback Friday; “One Day I’ll Look Back and Say, “I Did It”.

Beauty, Nudes

We were sitting at a dive bar on the Lower East Side one night drinking vodka and whiskey when I turned to Julie and said “One day you’re going to let me photograph you.” I had been friends with Julie for years and always thought she was beautiful. Though I had hinted at wanting to do some studio work with her in the past, she always shyed away from the subject saying “A lot of guys have asked or tried. I’m just not  comfortable having a camera in my face”. About an hour later she turned to me, slammed her drink on the bar and barked “Yeah, let’s do it while I’m still young.”. After a few more shots we moved to the next bar and eventually planned our session.

I always loved Julie. We met while working together and quickly became friends. We had a similar dark humor that always made us click on all cylinders. I was in love with her sense of adventure and strong sense of independence. Whenever she had some off the beat idea to try something different, she’d ask me gingerly. My response was usually an excited “Let’s Do It!”. One of the best offers was when she took me to see the Dalai Lama speak at Rutgers. It was never a dull moment with her.

The day of the shoot she showed up with a sense of confidence I had seldom seen. The more we talked and took pictures, the more confident an intuitive she became. There was a certain layer of beauty and aura that I had never gotten from her before. I had not done many nude sessions in recent years but I honestly feel she opened the door for me to shoot many more in the future. She also taught me a lot about making the model as unaware of the camera as possible.

I haven’t seen much of Julie recently. People come in and out of your life. I just know in my heart that one day the phone will ring and the person on the other end of the line will have another great adventure to share.