New Stock Images

I'm getting more and more images onto my stock photography site (see it here). I've been working on it for a while and there is still some tweaking to do, but it's getting there. Images range from New York City, People/Lifestyle, Fine Art and Environment.
Here are some of the new images added this past week.
Traveling to Thailand on December 22nd so will have many more images in January 2010.
Stay tuned...

AKC Dog Photo Shoot

I recently had the honor of shooting for The Discovery Channel again - this time for Animal Planet. Their annual AKC Championship Dog Show is coming up in February and they needed shots of dogs with attitude for their advertising campaign - one of the ads they are using is above. The shoot was in two parts: morning session was a NYC crew filming some on-air pieces with the Phantom (an amazing high speed video camera that shoots at 1000 frames/second - see specs here). The stills portion (my assignment) was in the afternoon. Some of the shots are below. Six dogs were on set - one bulldog, two poodles (one black, one white), two afghans and one pomeranian. My assignment was to capture their personality either through a look, gesture, movement, etc...
I've photographed animals before and have found that it is a mixture of timing and a lot of luck. It's similar to photographing people but a lot less animated and most definitely harder to capture that decisive moment. You can't really tell a dog to "hold that pose". It's there one minute and then gone forever. So the camera is stuck to your eye for quite a while, waiting for the right expression.
All the dogs were great, but the bulldog had the most personality (both in body and expression) and gave us exactly what we were looking for - that "I don't care, just get the shot so I can get out of here" look. The poodles were very calm and all their personality shown through their eyes. Very loving animals. Photographing their "overdone hairdos" was a first for me. The Afghans were, to be honest, not that bright. Talk about dogs with ADD. They couldn't keep still, but loved the wind machine which calmed them down, somewhat... But boy could they give you that "sad eyes" look. The photo below reminds me of a painting of The Madonna from the 1500's.
If you would like to see more, there are images on my web site under "New Work".

At Night With the 5d Mk II

The Canon 5d Mark II has change the way I view photography. Since I bought one a few months ago it has opened up a new world for me; especially video and the return to night time photography. Using my Canon 1ds Mark II I could never attempt a long exposure at 9pm. It just wouldn't hold together - poor blacks and a lot of noise. But with the 5d I'm back having fun and in ways I would never had imagined. Next project: shooting and editing my first video.

Here are some shots taken over the Thanksgiving holiday - All shot after 9pm

Re-Licensing of images

Sometimes in our business we don't get the chance to see our work in the published format. This is especially true with public relations assignments. I would rarely see the photos I took in print - or even know if the client used them or not. Advertising assignments are different though. I always get a peek at the comps with my photo included, and sometimes even asked if I had any comments (but I'm sure they are just being nice). In any event, when asked I always receive the final as a pdf for me to use. In future posts I'll have more example.

Then there is the rare occasion that a client likes the image(s) so much they re-license them - sometimes over and over. The above image is an example of the finished ad and below are two of the photos taken for the assignment. This was shot two years ago for Wonders, a before and after school day care business based in Bethesda, Maryland. They say the image is working so well that they want/need to keep using it for their print campaigns. It has become the iconic image for their business. A very nice compliment indeed.


"If you set your goals ridiculously high and it's a failure, you will fail above everyone else's success." - James Cameron

The iPhone

As simple as it is, it's amazing how well the iphone takes photos. AT&T's service sucks, but at least there are some cool things to be done with the phone. I've never really taken many photos with the iPhone, but now I know why it's so popular - even with the professional photographer. It travels light, is inconspicuous and some of the apps are quite easy to use - and effective.
Here are some I use (I'm sure there are more)
PS Mobile: a PhotoShop app that lets you crop, color adjust, change exposure, convert to B&W, soft focus and vignette blur.
Tilt Shift: lets you blur, change color, vignette and adjust contrast, saturation and brightness.
Camera Genius: lets you zoom, has an anti-shake button, guides, a timer and more.
Even though some have similar functions, they can be all use in conjunction to create some amazing results - without any of them touching my computer.
Here are some simple examples. More to come...

Open Spaces

I walk my dog each morning around 7am. There really isn’t much going on. Stores are not open, very little traffic and even fewer people. What I like about early morning is it's a great time to look around and really see what this city has to offer. Walking Toby in the afternoon, on the other hand, is a lesson in patience. Tourist all over the place and city folk walking home from work (it's worst on the weekends). It’s not the best atmosphere for looking around. I spend too much time negotiating the obstacle course of people. Mornings are the time to sight-see.

There are many things that continue to surprise me here in New York City - so much to see, so little time. One of the most prominent things in the City are the open spaces - way more than in DC. They range from parks (there are loads of them) to small playgrounds. Even though some of the playgrounds look rundown; rusted, old and dirty, they all have a certain artiness to them. The cracks, rust marks on the walls, the missing nets are all very photogenic. They sit on corners of major streets, behind apartment houses and enclosed by large fences. People do use them - constantly. There are basketball games and tournaments, roller hockey and handball games and people hitting tennis balls. They are even used as make-shift dog runs. But the mornings are the best for seeing the beauty of these open spaces. It all makes out to be eye candy for the photographer.

The Last Bit of Summer

The rope swing is a true sign of summer - warm weather, water is not too cold and a lot of laughter. I found this swing in Vermont on the Ottauquechee River. It's a beautiful setting: sitting along a country dirt road with a covered bridge about 1/4 away. It's what one would think life was like back in the 1930's.
It was nice to have one last bit of summer.

Waiting For Fall

Just sitting, patiently waiting for cooler weather. August 31st and it's 72 degrees outside. It's worth the wait!

Photo Pet Peeves

I received this link from a friend of mine and thought I would post it here. A great piece from the Wired magazine blog about photography pet peeves. Every photographer (amateur and professional) should read and heed this top 10 list. Unfortunately I have committed some of these. I've used double "!!" many times. In retrospect that is kind of silly.

Read it Here.

Enjoy!! (oops)

The Country Store

On location at the Barnard Country Store in Vermont.
Great atmosphere - Great food - Great people





For more images visit my web site here and go to "New Work"

Where The Fun Begins

I was in Savannah over the weekend and took a few moments to take some "fun" shots(not that they all aren't fun to take...) I find it relaxing to take some time off, walk the streets and see what's there. When you open yourself up to experiencing all that a town has to offer you'll be amazed at all the angles and design qualities there are.


I think we spend way too much time looking straight ahead and not enough time looking up and down - that's where the fun begins.

Sam: 7/02/98 - 8/03/09

"If dogs don't go to heaven, then when I die I want to go where they go" - Will Rogers

It has been said that life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away.

THANK YOU for all the great memories and for being there when I needed you most.
You were, and will always be, my best friend.

In the Details

Taking advantage of what you have in front of you is, I think, one of the true pleasures in life, and one that I hold dear to my heart.

I have a friend who flies planes, not for a living - just for fun. She invited me to fly with her and take some photos. This was a great opportunity to explore something that I know little about. My goal was to get into the essence of the design of a plane - the curves, angles and details. We usually view planes from a distance and therefore see the whole instead of the its parts. Here is what I saw.




For more images visit my web site under "new work" (here).

Exploring: asking lots of questions, getting answers and being inspired. That's what life is all about...

Before and After

BEFORE

Above is a recent image that I shot in Vermont. I normally don't put a lot of Photoshop techniques into an image. I might add some blurring, use levels or curves and add a vignette, but here I decided to push it a little to see what I could come up with. I like pushing the envelope when shooting but rarely on the processing end. I like the result - see the "after" image below.
This is a mixture of changing the contrast, adjusting the saturation, adding a B&W layer and changing the mode of certain layers.
This might not work for every image, but it certainly added some "pop" to this one.

Let me know what you think!

AFTER

Vermont Tourism

Spent a week in Vermont shooting people in the environment - specifically at Quechee Gorge. It rained almost every day which created some pressure to get the shots I wanted. One nice thing about an overcast sky is the great quality of light when shooting in the woods.

The project was to capture real people enjoying the beauty of Vermont. It's titled "You Could Be Here"

Here is a selection images. You can see more on my web site under "New Work" (here)

Irony

Move to New York and have spent more time out of the city than in. That's irony.
Now I'm in Vermont. Everything is on hold due to the rain. But all is good. I had a chance to stroll and take some macro shots of water droplets and other nature details.
There's always something to take photos of if you are willing to stop and look around.

A Break From NYC

Last week I was on location in Charleston, SC. I've never been there so I took some time to walk around and see the sites. What a change from NYC - quiet, no people, easy parking, yards and most surprisingly hard to find a cup of coffee at 8am (at least from what I saw). It was nice, however, to wander around without a particular goal. Just taking photos of what caught my eye. Beautiful architecture, manicured lawns, ornate iron fences and very old churches (for American standards anyway...)



As I drove to Charleston I passed many marshlands. I couldn't resist stopping a few times to take photos. The storms were amazing and the morning fog simply beautiful.

Note To Self...

When on a roof, bring your cell phone…

There were a few miracles moving up to NY. Got out of DC 1.5 hours earlier than expected, traffic was fairly light, unloading was a breeze and finally parking a 15 foot van on a Saturday in SoHo was surprisingly easy. Something had to give. It just had to...


On Sunday Kate and I decided to go for a walk. It was a beautiful day – sun shone brightly, 85 degrees, with a light breeze. Kate wanted to show me the roof top. Walking up the stairs I thought this will be a great place to sit and read, brush the dogs and get away from the hustle and bustle of the streets below. We opened the door to a bright, white tarred roof – so bright in fact we could barely keep our eyes open. First mistake – not bringing sunglasses. We roamed around, admiring the view, talking about where we wanted to go for a walk. Ten minutes later we decided to head downstairs. We went to open the door, locked. Kate looked at me, “What the hell are we gong to do? I don’t have my cell phone.” Now I NEVER carry my cell phone when on walks – it’s my time and I like getting away from technology (I’m re-thinking that strategy). But this time, for some reason, I had it with me. Talk about a look of complete and utter amazement from Kate. Now we had to and remember the phone numbers of our neighbors’ and hopefully find them home, on a Memorial Day weekend. We left two messages and the third was the charm. It took him ten minutes to get to us, by we were off the roof, a little blinded and very hot.


We’re not quite sure what we would have done if I didn’t have my cell phone with me.
Scream for help most likely. And in NYC that doesn’t get you very far.

So what did I do - Naturally I took some photos.