Studio – Page 3 – Photogeek Blog

Friendship

Beauty, Family, Friendship, Happiness, Portraiture

I’ve always felt very temporary about myself. The word permanent is wrapped in pitfalls. In life we move from place to place. From job to job. Even marriage seems to be a temporary situation for most these days. People come in and out of our lives in the blink of an eye. With all that said I’ve managed to make friends early on in life that still remain near and dear to my heart. People who’s presence defy classifications. No matter how long it’s been since we talked or how far the distance in miles we may be, remain close to the heart. I’ve been lucky in that regard. Which brings me to Mandy. I met her while skateboarding in a parking lot. I was an obnoxious sixteen year old at the time and if I remember correctly. She hated me at first but somehow a friendship was formed and almost twenty five years later we’re closer than ever. She’s been there for me through thick and thin and has always been an inspiration. Recently on a trip to Germany she met a man and fell head over heals in love. She’s back in Germany now and may be living there with him for the unseen future. I wish her all the love and happiness she deserves. I’ll miss her but there is no doubt in my mind that we’ll remain connected and see one another some time in the near future. We got together a week before I left for Florida and she for Germany. We finally had that bacon martini and ass juice we had been planning for so long. And I got to show her my favorite bar. Below are a couple of pictures I took that night along with a couple of my favorites.

Third Time’s the Charm.

Beauty, Portraiture, Studio Lighting

I finally got it right. After three years and three sessions I finally captured Lana just as i see her. Though our previous sessions gave us some memorable shots. (One that actually made it to the walls of SOHO Photo gallery) I never felt I quite captured the beauty and energy I saw in her. Lana stopped by late this morning and gave me the boost of energy and creativity that I desperately needed after a day/night of what might have equaled just a bit too much drinking. I hadn’t seen Lana in almost a year to the day. The was something different about her. She seemed more confident, mature, even radiant. We caught up on one another’s adventures and experiences and connected the dots on the mutual friends we shared. It was great seeing her. I hope it’s not another year before we cross paths again. Below are some of my favorites. Breath easy….

Thursday Session with Angela.

Beauty, Portraiture

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!!!

Uncategorized

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.

Jessica and Judy

Beauty, Canon lenses and equipment, Family Portraits, Portraiture, Studio Lighting

Every now and then a model or client asks if it’s okay to bring a friend or chaperone along for safety purposes. It’s something I wasn’t always comfortable with but understand and allow with one condition “They know their place and stay out of the way.” Their safety and sense of security is paramount. Most of the people I work with are complete strangers and with all the craziness that goes on in this world, who wouldn’t want a security blanket? On this occasion Jess told me she would be bringing her Mother Judy along. Her description was quote “She’s sarcastic, cynical and jaded, but tons of fun.” My reply “Awesome, I think I like her already. Though she did possess all of those characteristics. She turned out to be a complete sweetheart. Often reminding me of a cross between my own Mother and my Aunt Ruth. She sat and chatted while eating her sandwich but not once did she interfere or get in the way. As Jess and I finished I coaxed Judy out from behind the camera and got this shot. It was a pleasure meeting and working with them both.

Iya Turns Up the Heat.

Pin Up

After playing matchmaker for weeks. The dye was set and I had Iya and Steph scheduled to shoot a new project together. As of late I’ve been getting a lot of requests for boudoir, fetish and sessions that sit firmly on the kinkier side of the fence. Often being asked to play matchmaker. It’s not easy playing matchmaker and it’s something I’m definitely not used to. But like most things, I’ve learned by doing. I had worked with both Iya and Steph in the past. Both unique and beautiful in so many ways. Together, the possibilities were endless. Everything was set. The day, time, clothing, props. Everything was ready. Then the morning of the shoot came and at the very last minute Steph tells me she can’t make it. Her son had gotten sick the night before and took a turn for the worse that morning. I totally understood. Shit happens and when it happens, you deal with it. I notified Iya and prepared to face the day. Almost instantly Iya got back to me. “My emotions are in this shoot.” I still want to do this. Even if it’s solo” My senses and excitement came rushing back and I met up with Iya. During During the original two sessions with Iya, communication was minimal. The first time we met it was all business. “Devay”, translated from Russian is “Let’s Go”. The second time she kept calling her boyfriend in Russian to assure him he was safe. In the back of my head I heard her say. “I’m here now. I’ll leave the door open so you can kill him.” But this time it was different. She was radiant, beautiful and in even better shape than before. (If that was even possible.) We were talking like old friends and laughing. Iya was teaching me Russian and being downright chatty. Though we missed Steph dearly, we had a great time and got a tremendous amount of work done in minimal time. We plan to reconvene in a few weeks. I’m sure that by then we’ll have even more ideas. As i began to go through our session I couldn’t get over how many amazing images we created. Narrowing it down to the best of the best, to the one’s I loved and then finally down to my absolute favorites was quite a task. Here are just a few.

Natalia; Estonia’s Loss is Hoboken’s Gain.

Beauty, Canon lenses and equipment, Portraiture, Studio Lighting

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.

The Switch

Beauty, Canon lenses and equipment, Portraiture, Studio Lighting

My shoot with Tara had all the makings of disaster and even confrontation. Scheduled for 4:00 p.m., the shoot and her make up artist didn’t arrive until 5:00. But that was just the beginning . Every other model I’ve ever worked with has done their own hair and makeup so I really have no experience dealing with a MUA. Having no experience with one, I gathered it would take five, maybe ten minutes tops. (Not even close.) Time passed and five minutes turned into a half an hour and then into a full hour. I tried to keep my cool but I was steaming. That and the fact that there was makeup everywhere. I was done. Ready to throw them the hell out.

6:00 p.m. came and they were finally done. I was going to do a very quick shoot and get them out of my place. As i started shooting I noticed the makeup artist shadowing me with her pocket camera. It was as close as it could possibly come to me completely losing it. “You can’t do that!” I barked. This is my work. She barked back “This is my work too.” The stage was set for a complete blow up. However, calmer heads prevailed and I explained “This may be your work. But this is my studio and my rules.” “I’m sure I’m a better photographer. If you want pictures, I’ll be taking them.” I don’t know what happened. Everything switched. Within second Tiffany (The MUA) and I were gelling. We were BFF and working together. She contributed by making suggestions on wardrobe from time to time. We were communicating. Tara was a pro throughout. She was quiet and very sweet. Things ended so much better than they started and everyone went home happy.

Later that night I told my wife Kayuri and smiled. Knowing full well my history with my temper and sometimes confrontational nature. (Going as far back as working at Sears Portrait. I had told customers who pushed me to the edge off on occasion.) She said “I’m very proud of you.” I’ve grown a lot in recent years. It’s important to grow as a photographer. I’ve seen a tremendous amount in the last two years. But growing as a man. Learning to be a problem solver and be a better communicator feels really good. Seeing that growth makes me proud. Maybe I’m finally growing up.

Keep it Sexy.

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

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

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

Many is the time that the best pictures came at the very end of the session. You’ve executed your game plan and you’ve got everything thing you need. Suddenly one of you says “Hey, what do you think of…? or “Can we try?” Such was the case with Rocksolana. Our shoot was brief but gave us a number of different looks and moods. Hers was my last session of the day. I was exhausted but she brought enough energy for both of us. Roks was really hyper during the shoot. Rarely did she sit still long enough for me to compose. At one point I jokingly asked if she was on something. It was all emotion and energy. She kept asking about props and items I didn’t have like the kind of cigarette filters you see in those film noir pictures from back in the day. She loved my hats but seemed flustered when they didn’t fit. None of this was the least bit annoying. She was entertaining to say the least. We were blasting everything from AC/DC to Blondie to the Rolling Stones and getting along like old friends. I had my share of technical problems along the way too. My shutter wasn’t cooperating and the battery on my receiver went dead on me. Regardless, we got some great stuff in a short time. As she was packing up I noticed her pair of doc martens in the corner. “Lana, wait a minute. Don’t change that dress.” I gave her my idea and though she questioned the contrast she put them on. As she was lacing her docs up I stopped her. “Wait, leave them untied.” Within a matter of minutes we got these shots. I don’t have a habit of posting a lot of shots from one session but these just work in telling the story. Roksolana is gorgeous. Her dark flowing hair and long legs. A smile that conveys a sense of innocence and wonder. Her eyes are big and wide open to the new experience of living in New York.