When Jim Testa of Jersey Beat asked me to cover The Cropduster reunion show at Maxwells my reaction was “Sure”. I had no preconceived notions or overblown expectations due to the fact that I had never heard the band before. I did a little snooping and upon seeing the them described as “Insurgent Country”. Well, I was curious. Just not any more excited. I got there just as Jim Testa set up to open the show. I had never seen Jim perform but had somewhat of an idea what to expect. Jim’s stripped down folky punk was just enough to melt the freezing temperatures that circled Maxwells that night. Jim sings about what he knows, music. His lyrics are intelligent, quirky and ironic. A nice little side note to what was to come. As Cropduster took the stage the back room filled with smiling faces who seemed to be well aware of what they were in for. As the band began to play I freed myself of any labels or lame musical alliances and just soaked in the incredible sounds. There are times when I go to see a band and can’t help but be mad at myself and think “How the hell did I miss out on this the first time around?”. This was one of those times. Hope you enjoy the shots. Some of which made it to NJ Beat and NJ Underground. Now if you’ll excuse me. I need to run out and get a copy of “Drunk Uncle”. Cheers!!!
Tag: Hoboken
Messin’ with Manual
This weekend I took the Canon 7D to it’s first show and shot on manual with no flash. This was my first time shooting for NJ Underground. It was also my first time shooting simultaneously for NJ Underground and Jersey Beat. Though this was a working assignment I still wanted to use a little spare time to get creative and play around with lighting and speed. Below are my favorite oddities from Cropduster’s set. I’ll post the more fan friendly shots later.
!No Pasaran! @ Maxwells
I’ve been pretty busy this week and haven’t been in the best mood. Bone chilling cold weather tends to do that to my fragile psyche. However I did want to see !No Pasaran! who were playing Maxwells tonight. One of my absolute favorite current bands that have been kinda floating under the radar and keeping a low profile. A Jersey Politico Punk three piece that have a sound reminiscent of Fugazi and Quicksand with a little element of jazz and a lot of distortion thrown in. Maybe I’m a little off with the Jazz but what the hell. No one’s paying me for this shit. Some of my favorites shots have a little bit of blur and were taken without flash. Anyway, the interview I did with them is 2009 can be found here. Check it out. http://www.unitewebzine.com/Home.html
Thursday Session with Angela.
As I get ready to update my site I thought I’d share some images from my Thursday session with Angela Whitaker. Tall and shapely with the eyes and lips of a Goddess. We had just met minutes before at the local Starbucks but gelled quite quickly. There’s an easy going nature about her that makes working with her such a pleasure. She’s recently relocated to Jersey City from Virginia. Angela is new to the modeling world and is looking to build her portfolio.
Get Fit!!!
2010 has been a year when I left my comfort zone and tried a lot of new things. Fitness is something that interests me on a number of levels. By combinig my love for lighting with tone, the peaks and valleys that muscle create. There’s so much you can really do artisticaly. Jess and I had been planning to get together for weeks with no concrete plan or script for what we were doing. I wanted to do something but I wasn’t quite sure of my approach and tecnique. As the day approached Jess and I stayed in contact through email and the thing that inspired the most was her energy and excitement about getting together. Jess is pretty small in size. Standing only five feet, one inch high. But she more than makes up for it in personality and overall presence. Jessicas specialties include Fight Coreography, Stage Combat, Stunt Work and Par Kour. She’s also an Actress, Make Up Artist and Writer. I had a great time working with her. I only hope ashe had as much fun as I did.
Natalia; Estonia’s Loss is Hoboken’s Gain.
The three hours Natalia and I spent shooting were so much fun. Though we had met on my doorstep for the first time five minutes prior. The chemistry and trust was almost instant. Most of our favorite shots were very natural and instinctive. I coaxed a few screams out of her that might have scared the neighbors a bit but the rest was me following her slight movements. I honestly believe that everyone is beautiful in their own unique and special way. (Yeah, sounds corny.) Natalia’s stood out. Her beauty, grace and strength are not easy to come by. A native of Estonia in Eastern Europe. She’s been living in and loving Hoboken since coming to the U.S.. I hope our creative paths cross again soon. Enjoy.
A Visit from Stuyvesant.
Last night I had the guys from Stuyvesant over for some Band shots. Brian told me they wanted an “Unforgiving Look” while Ralph pointed to Television’s “Marquee Moon” album. I personally looked for inspiration from some of my favorite SST and Dischord Records. In less than an hour we knocked out what they were looking for. I offered them more time and ideas but they were very happy with what they got and were gone before knew I it. Brian, Ralph, Sean and Pete were very easy going and fun to work with. 
Keep it Sexy.
As of late I’ve been getting a lot of requests for boudoir, nudes and work that leads towards the sexier side of portraiture. One of the key elements I’ve worked on is lighting. I’ve played around with window light and on board flash with varied results. However, bringing my Studio lights into the bedroom has given me the best results. I love shooting nudes and such but I want to keep it as artistic as possible. Anyone can photograph a naked woman. Doing it artistically and tastefully is another thing all-together. Chemistry and the trust of and with the model are essential. Lighting is extremely important. I love that people feel comfortable enough with me to be natural and not hyper aware of the fact that there’s someone with a camera in the room. I see a lot of raunchy and sex driven photography on sites like Model Mayhem, which is fine and well. Just not where I want to be. For me I want to keep it more artistic. It can be sexy but it doesn’t have to get raunchy. I’m all about the sexy.
Girl From Ukraine
Picture of the Day.
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.”
Photogeek Blog 
