Personal Projects

I think what really keeps me going in photography (blood flowing, that type of thing) are personal projects. They are vital in helping me stay fresh and excited about photography. For the past month I have been working on a few - some are being shot as we speak and others are in the works.
I've been working on one of the projects for a while now and thought I would share some of the latest images. I am taking portraits of high school students. It started about ten years ago with my photos of students writing their thoughts on a blackboard. Now it's just the student against a white background - similar to the style of Richard Avedon.
To see more of my personal work click here
Below are some of my favorites.

What Do You See?

During a photo shoot this week one of the items to be photographed was a candle. Fairly simple item to shoot, but being black caused some problems with reflections. But my assistant, Rachael, and I worked it out. Where my creativity was really sparked was when we blew out the candle. The puffs of smoke that rose from the candle was mesmerizing. We just had to take a few minutes to play. Here are some of the results. The shots were taken moments after the candle was blown out. The more I look at them the more I see - letters of the alphabet, faces, a horse...
What do you see?

Characterizations

The portrait is a wonderful thing. Probably my most favorite assignments are portraits. The photographic possibilities are endless. You can shoot in the studio, in a chosen environmental, get close or pull back. Revealing the character of a person is what it's all about. Being able to capturing their mood or showing an emotion inspires me to keep shooting.

Fortunately many of my assignments are portrait related. The wide range of personalities and the variety of advertising concepts produced by clients keeps it all fresh. There's always a different way of portraying an individual. Capturing the character of a person is what keeps me in photography.

A Time to Explore

"If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up." -- Richard Avedon

This is how I feel most days. There is always something to photograph, something to explore. That's why this past summer has been one of personal projects. It was a great opportunity to work on new lighting techniques (at least new to me) and to get out of the studio and away from the computer. From shooting with the 30ft ladder to photographing horses the summer forced me to find projects to shoot. Now with fall approaching, I'll to find new opportunities, new projects to work on.
To me, being a photographer is not only working for clients, but exploring and creating work that helps me grow as a person as well as a photographer. It's about creating a style that matches my personality.

It's in the Details

This little point-and-shoot camera - my trusty G-9 - continues to amaze me. Here are three images taken during my week long stay in a cabin on the New River is southern Virginia. All taken in different types of light, they show the G-9's ability to capture detail in the earliest morning light (photo of tree), the fog coming off the New River and a spider's web (using the macro setting). All images were taken straight from the camera with only minimal Photoshop work (some levels and curves) and no sharpening.
I think it's pretty amazing for a small point-and-shoot!

The Ladder

We have a huge 20ft ladder in the studio that I have been itching to use. I would love to take it to a open field and take photos of it, but it's so large I can't put in on top of my car (I would surely get stopped by the police).
So I took it just outside my studio and had my trusting intern Hanna climb up. It was a beautiful day - clouds were great and there was a slight breeze. Making it absolutely perfect for what I wanted to do. Got some great images for stock use.

A Different Take on a Foot Massage

Earlier today I had a photo shoot with John Ho and Yvonne Le. You've probably not heard of them, but I bet you've heard of what they offer - Dr. Fish Massage. Through their day spa (visit here) they offer the opportunity for you to soak your feet in a few gallons of water as little fish (imported from Turkey) nibble on your toes. They are not, as some think,
piranhas but little inch long silver fish that gently nibble on your feet. Now the big question is whether they get full. After a long day of "working" (at least 20-30 people per day try the 15-30 minute massage) I would assume that they get tired and somewhat bloated. Heck, after a big meal all I want to do is sleep. I can't imagine how they feel. But all kidding aside, this is very popular. People from as far away as Sweden have come to try this. They've been featured on NPR, CNN and numerous morning shows and it doesn't look like the ride is going to stop soon. They are even thinking about adding a full-body Dr Fish Massage and I would imagine that they will be lining out the door to try it.

I haven't had the pleasure yet to try this - they said I can come back anytime. I plan to take them up on it.

All Fun & Games

Here are some more outtakes from the Olympian photo shoot.

Michael Weiss doing some flips. I was so close I could feel the vibrations on the ice as he landed. After being that close, TV just doesn't do it for me any more.


Want to feel like a giddy 12 year old again - skate with Dorothy Hamill. And there was no way I was going to try the one legged thing...so don't ask.


Dominique Dawes asked me if I needed help getting up on the balance beam...I ask her where the spring board was. No she is NOT holding me up! Okay, I did need some help though.


Here's a collage of the individual shoots I took of each athlete. This was taken during the group photo session.

The Olympic Spirit

The Washington Post just published my story about local Olympic athletes in their Sunday magazine. This is something I have been working on for a year now. I thought I would share some insight and photos that were not published.

First here are some of my favorite photos that were not used. I have no misgivings at all - just wanted to show some outtakes.






This project was first envisioned in June 2007 when I met Crissy Perham (the Olympian above with the American flag, standing next to the pool). She won two golds and a silver in the '92 games and I was fascinated to know how it felt to be the Very Best at something - something I know very little about. We chatted about other athletes in the area and if they kept in touch. I was amazed to learn how many former Olympians were living here. Some of them I had heard of (Tom Dolan, Dominique Dawes, Michale Weiss) and other I had not (Lacey O'Neal, Arlene Limas, Charles Jenkins). I wanted to find out what they were doing now. So a project was born - Portraits of local Olympic athletes called "Glory Days".

Arlene Limas, it turns out, is the DC Olympic Chapter president. I contacted her, told her about my idea, and asked for help in locating athletes. We made a list of about 12 athletes that were willing to participate in my personal project. I took some photos of Crissy, Wendy Weil and Lacey O'Neal and went knocking on doors to see who might be interested in publishing the project. Not as easy as it seems...
First stop, The Washingtonian Magazine. They loved the idea, but after they found out that not all the athletes I had contacted were medal winners, declined the project. Now, even though I can, somewhat, understand their position I thought it was a little shortsighted (which I told them). I guess it's just not good enough to be in the Olympics... I told them there were some amazing stories that needed to be told - ie: Lacey's experience in the '72 Munich Olympics (read it here), or Michael Weiss's battle with injuries (read it here). But they were not convinced.

So I asked the Washington Post Magazine if they were interested. They loved the idea, but were also a little worried that not all were medal winners. After hearing some of the stories they became convinced that this would be a perfect piece and lead in to the summer games in China. They assigned a writer, Christina Antonaides, and off we went. I can't tell you how important it was for Christina to be a part of this project. She did loads of research, contacted Dorothy Hamill (who I had not known was in the DC area), but most importantly it gave me credibility when I called either the athletes or their agents. Try calling Dominique Dawes and tell her you are a photographer and would like to take their photo - you won't get far. Once the ground work was set everyone was more than happy to participate. The only one we could not take photos of was Michael Phelps. He agreed to the interview but did not have the time to get photos taken - completely understandable. Maybe we could do a follow up with him after the Olympics.

Taking the photo of these athletes was a truly amazing experience. Honestly not a prima donna in the bunch. Everyone gave more of their time than I asked, were very open about their experiences and even gave me some personal time - skating with Dorothy Hamill after our shoot, being able to walk on a balance beam with Dominique Dawes and taking some photos of her with her two dogs, having Michael Weiss perform some flips for me (at his insistence). I'll show some of those photos in my next posting.

In the meantime, enjoy the article in the magazine and take a look at the time-lapsed video of me while photographing the group shot in my studio.

The "B" Side

Do you remember when we could buy albums? I don't mean the large ones, I'm talking about the 45's. Two songs - one on the "A" side and one on the "B". What a great way to listen to new and inventive music (yes and sometimes - maybe often - bad music). The artist would record their "best" song and place it on the "A" side, and because they had to fill the other side, record a song that was just filler. How many great songs can you remember that came off the "B" side? Just for starters did you know that "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley was a "B" song?

In a round about way this brings me to photography. I just re-did my portfolio -including my web site (with a lot of help from Amanda Sosa-Stone). I gave her a few dozen images from which to choose. Now, what I've learned over the years is that never send what you think is the very best. Always send a variety of images - more than you think is needed and definitely more than the ones you love. It is amazing to me what gets chosen. Many of the images that Amanda chose are from the "B" side of my shoots, or list. Above are some examples. The first is from a shoot at Flint Hill School. This recycling photo was taken in the hallway of the school and a complete after thought. "Hey you're the recycling queen - lets have you sit on a bin". The image next to it is of Dominique Dawes. This was taken after a photo shoot for the Washington Post Magazine. She had her dogs with her and I asked if I could get some shots of her with them. She agreed...

The other two are outtakes from some model shoots. I was just trying to be a little arty, knowing they weren't going to beuse, or liked. But I just had to take them.
And guess what - they turned out to be in my portfolio.

Never forget the force of the "B" side. You WILL be surprised.