I’m a sucker for using a “beauty dish” and I just wanted to share how awesome a more recent piece of gear I purchased is and how it solved a small problem I had when it came to transporting and location gigs. The Westcott Rapid Box Collapsible Beauty Dish. It’s a mouthful to say, but I’m so in love with it.
Except the price. I hate the price. Read more after the cut:
Read MoreBack in September of 2017 I was gifted the chance to spend four days on Star Island on the Isle of Shoals with members of the NH Society of Photographic Artists. It was an amazing, awesome experience, and I wanted to share my story and some photographs that I made during that trip.
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Some recent head shots of UNH graduating students on white. So clean! So elegant!
A setup shot of how I do these UNH head shots:
One of the reasons I like photographing non-model subjects is because I believe that *everyone* can photograph well. You don't have to be a fashion model. You deserve a nice, elegant portrait of yourself. Linda was looking for an updated headshot for her new website (and new career!) and she really loved what she saw on my website. She was nervous, but as she wrote to me in an email: "You made it fun, and I appreciate that. Thanks again for putting me at ease, and making what I had built up to be a scary experience, fun instead."
Thanks Linda. You rock.
Ed came to me by way of a local bank who hired him to be their new branch manager. One the things I love about providing head shot photography is constantly meeting new people; hearing their stories and sharing mine. Ed did a fantastic job and I think this is an excellent shot of him.
2017 marks the 32nd birthday of R.O.B. - Nintendo's Robotic Operated Buddy that originally came bundled with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985.
ROB has been hanging around in my parents attic for a long, long time, and during a recent trip to visit them, I took him out of his box and took him to the studio for a quick portrait session.
ROB - in my parents kitchen, shortly after being taken out of his storage box.
I was never a huge ROB fan - he was way too gimmicky, but he was a robot, and robot's are cool when you are 10 years old, and he's a fairly good looking chap, no?
Happy Birthday, ROB! May you forever play Gyromite in your dreams.
I LOVE the gang at Red River Theatres. Seven years ago (!!!) they let this bearded fat dude show a mini-film with muppets to propose to his wife. And it went a little crazy afterwards, and every step of the way everyone up there has been close to my heart. I can never thank them enough for everything they did.
This year marks their 10th Birthday! I couldn't make it up to their birthday festivities, but Muppet Sid wanted to let them know that there isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't think about them.
Happy Birthday, RRT. We love you all. I hope you are around for a long, long, long time, exposing people to quality independent cinema.
<3
I figured that before 2017 comes to an end, I should show some examples from the work I created for this years Hippo's Best Of 2017.
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While digging through some scanned negative files, I came across this one, which I had forgotten about.
This image was made in the old, empty studio that used to be WarmStone Studio in the Picker Building, which was the studio directly next door to my old photography studio. I spent a few hours one afternoon seeing if the chairs would stack.
Shot on medium format film with my Hasselblad 500CM
File this in the "I'm-totally-late-to-the-Vagabond-Mini" party: After lugging around the original, 22lb monster that was the original Vagabond, I recently came across a good deal on a lightly used Vagabond Mini Lithium, and, man, where has it been all my life? I've done lots and lots of location shoots using small portable speedlights (heck, I teach a whole workshop around using minimal, small gear) but this little sucker weighs next-to-nothing, and it allows me to get a studio light out on location for a little more power if/when I need it.
The only negative is that the enclosed mounting bracket that Paul Buff includes is pretty wonky and doesn't feel very secure, so I went ahead and picked up a Vagabond Bracket (thanks to Bud Thorpe of the SOPHA for telling me about it) and this sucker is robust and excellently made. It works along with a Super Clamp and I can attach the Vagabond right to the bottom of my c-stand when working with it.
and a kinda-small shot of it being used on location:
I'll still use small lights when I can, and I always have at least 1 speedlight in my bags at all times, but with bigger jobs where I need more power, this little thing is fantastic.
Thanks, Vagabond Mini Lithium, for making stuff easier to do! :)
(not a paid endorsement - this is stuff I buy with my own cabbage and run it through it's paces. If it's cool I like to share it with others)
