Photography
Aaron is currently the hottest thing in the world of design. You might have seen his book. You've very probably seen some of his work, somewhere. You might even jot notes down in his Field Notes branded notebooks. I've been a big fan of his work for a while now, and when my wife Sara told me she booked him for an appearance at NHIA as part of his cross-country tour, I knew I had to make a portrait of him.
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an homage of Donald Byrd’s “A New Perspective” cover
I love record and album design. Part of what I hope to do as a photographer is make images and help musicians design album covers for their releases. I love the square format of album covers. And nobody has made better album covers than the jazz music label Blue Note Records. There was a period in the 1950's and 1960's where Blue Note was producing what I consider the greatest album design in history. I wanted to share a little bit about it and why I love it so much.
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Roland found me through Thumbtack, which is something new I'm trying for 2017. He was looking for some clean, crisp portraits of himself before he retired from the Hampton NH police force wearing his dress uniform and before he had to hand it in. I shot him over some example images on white and on black and told him I'd like to shoot him on simple solid-color backgrounds so that you focus on him and not be distracted by elements behind him. He liked my work and we arranged a date in the studio.
I've never had the chance to photograph a police officer before, and it was great afternoon of me asking questions and talking about his service. He took extreme pride in what he does and his uniform, and I really enjoyed getting shots that reflect that.
The above image is one of my favorite. It's so direct. It almost feels confrontational, but I love the slightly upward angle that I shot him at.
A detail shot that I really like. I love the composition and the angle of his shoulder.
To see a few more examples from Roland's session, click here.
Back 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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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.
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)
Melissa is married to one of my oldest friends since middle school. A few times a year my wife and I go up to a camp they have near the Canadian border and we spend three or four days just hanging out, laughing, eating and keeping the friendships strong. Years ago I photographed Melissa and Mike during one of our trips up North.
Melissa is the HR manager for Coca-Cola of Northern New England, and while she was here, we made a few images that shared her enjoyment of the product she represents:
YES.
