Home Studio: Head Shots of Brett

Every week working as a freelance photographer in NY brings along all kinds of pictures and jobs. I'm inspired to pursue independent projects and shoot landscapes and random objects. As a journalist, I love photographing moments and people. As I continue to build my business in NY I have tried to master as many types of photography as possible, offering family portraits, nude photo shoots, dance pictures with backdrops with portable lighting, and have continued my journalism and wedding photography as well. I have found that this variety of work keeps me happy and keeps me going for the future. Perhaps I will find a niché one day and will primarily focus in that area, but for now, my niché is variety, and I'm loving it.

Last week I set up a home studio shoot, and a pretty basic one. I was hired to do some head shots for a colleague of mine wanting to potentially change career fields: from an editor to an actor, of sorts. My new assistant, Charles, helped me set up the "studio" in my living room and with a few practice shots with with the various strobes, we were ready to go. I haven't invested in pro-lighting yet, not to say I wouldn't rent it for the right job, but I'm still a firm believer in simplicity. At this point, it's time to invest. But I wanted to share this shoot and demonstrate the possiblities with basic equipment in your home.


Here you can see the "studio" as a whole -- Brett in my living room, against a white backdrop, with a few strobes around and Charles manually controlling the hair light, if you can even call it that when it's held above someone's head and it's only a Canon slave flash. However, I found it effective and proficient for the immediate details and images we were looking to achieve.


Here is one of Brett's shots in black and white, with a serious face. The light seems even and brings out his strong features. I also like his expression here. It's a standard head shot, but a successful one and it's basic. Key features to keep in mind.


Happy smiling Brett -- a nice moment and a strong pose for an actor, at least I would presume. When shooting portraits and/or head shots, it's extremely important to connect with your subject, and find some common ground. The facial expressions and reactions they give will show in your images, so you must master that skill. (Which I am always trying to improve).

After my shoot with Brett I felt good about the images we produced and I think it was a good starting place for him to build a portfolio. As well as a good place for me to start marketing head shots: anyone in need?

Frogs, Swamps and Hay

While I was in Valdosta, GA I also tried to do some photography of the area. It's very different in Southern Georgia than many places in the country, but most definitely a stark contrast to New York City. It was a bit of photography around the house and a few quick drive-bys, but I was happy with some of the images and hope to continue to photograph the city.


These small green frogs, I believe they are tree frogs, climb all over Kyle's house. They also leave behind their droppings, which doesn't make Kyle very happy. So he took out the garden hose to spray the house down and the frogs all came flying out of their hiding spots. This one frog was jumping all the way back up the house to get back into his little spot so I photographed him during his climb. I like the action in this shot, the soft lighting and the diagonal line of the house on the right.


We drove out to Lakeland, GA which is about 20 minutes South of Valdosta. This was a National Wildlife Refuge, Banks Lake, where these crazy looking trees grew in the swampy water with lily pads and all kinds of creatures. I loved the reflections in the lake and the funky shape of the trees.


Here are some of the lily pads that surrounded one of the trees. I was hoping to see some frogs jumping around but the only frogs I saw were on Kyle's house this weekend.


We drove by this property while exploring some back roads and I was drawn to this house crumbling on top of an old car. I like the image and the simplicity of it. I don't think I would like it as much if the car wasn't there too.


This was just a quick grab shot I took from Kyle's driveway as stormy clouds rolled by. I was drawn to the lamp post and tried to create a simple shot here. This time of year is very stormy in Georgia and there were a lot of dark clouds and rain coming and going throughout the weekend.


I've always loved these round hay bales and really wanted a shot of these. Unfortunately, I stepped into a fire ant nest while going for the shot and got several bites all over my flip-flop bare feet. When shooting in woodsy areas, you really need to wear full coverage shoes! But I was pleased with this photo and I like the sky here. I think I've always loved farm scenes and big open green fields because it wasn't something that was in my neighborhood at home.

Moody AFB, Slightly Personal

I spent the weekend in Valdosta, GA and had a lot of photo ideas for my trip. This post, however, will be a bit more personal because I decided to focus on Kyle and his role in the U.S. Military and how all of that affects our lives, and mine.

Kyle is a typical American guy and he is a member of the United States Air Force. He has two sisters that live in New York, he has a mother and father living in Pennsylvania and he has close friends scattered across the country. He loves football and ice hockey -- he was a member of the ice hockey team for VMI (Virginia Military Institute) -- he goes to the movies, he grills burgers and steaks and he loves Budweiser. He is a helicopter pilot for the U.S. Air Force and primarily works on Combat Search and Rescue missions.

Like many servicemen and women of the U.S. Military, Kyle doesn't love the spotlight. This time period in our country is a tricky one and I try to keep a very open mind, and Kyle does too. Everyone has their own opinion these days and luckily, in the United States, you are entitled to that opinion. Regardless of your political views, I wanted to share a few photos of Kyle and a few details about his work. It is because of him, and all other people in the U.S. Military and other activists, that we have our freedom and our rights today. Please take a moment to say a blessing, cross your fingers, look up to God, hold your breath, or whatever your good luck technique may be, and be grateful for the people defending the United States of America.

Kyle is humble, he is prideful, and he believes in his work and all those that work with him. We discussed his portrait and decided to do something rather impromptu this weekend. I used window light and had him wear a uniform of his choosing. Here he is wearing his flight suit that is considered casual attire for training and flying days at home. It is his favorite uniform and he proudly attaches his Velcro patches to the chest and arms of the suit daily. This may be my favorite shot, with him looking outside. It can be hard to photograph those you're close with because you have a bias perspective of their personality and how they appear in an image. But, I'm pretty happy with this shot and I hope Kyle is too.


Again, part of our portrait session, with Kyle looking at the camera this time with a slight smile. He loves being a pilot and he loves serving his country, so he's a happy guy. My original idea for his portrait was with extra lights, but I think the window lighting is effective in both of these photographs and reminds me that strong portraits can be made with simple settings. The flag and his hat marking his rank add to the environmental aspect of the shot and add information for the viewer without making things too complex in the image.


While we were shooting the portraits, I was continuously drawn to the patches on Kyle's uniform. I did this photo as a detail shot with just the patches and his zipper leading to his identity metal tags. Perhaps it would be nice to see more of the name tags, but I find this shot to have a nice composition and it feels natural.


Kyle has a large collection of patches. He will often point them out when there's one laying about, and I've only been able to compare them to my Brownie patches when in the Girl Scouts as a little girl. These patches, however, hold a lot of symbolism, happiness and pride for U.S. Soldiers and I thought this large pile was deserving of a photograph. Kyle has barely begun his service for the U.S. Military and he has a countless number of patches. Here you see many important patches, including the "Jolly Green Giants", designating Kyle's 41st Squadron, his graduation patches from Fort Rucker in 2008, his wings achieved in 2008, and a joke patch made by a friend for being able to hover as a "Helo" pilot.

The military holds very serious jobs and they take pride in that, but thank God they do have the opportunity to laugh and have fun with patches, over the radio and with each other every day. We all know humor is a huge help and can get us through a lot of tough days. These guys are the same. They are your neighbors. They are your friends. They may be your family. And they are fighting for you. Please think of them as often as you can and support their fight as much as I do.

Variety

Today was a busy day. Phone calls, emails and editing were only the beginning. As the heavy rain poured over New York City, the emails really started rolling in for my assignment from the Christian Science Monitor. When working for newspapers, and any event really, things change last minute frequently. I was asked to photograph Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone, during the March for Peace in Harlem today. The heavy rains forced them to cancel the march and only hold the rally they had planned on earlier in the day. I booked it into the city and made it just in time to photograph Canada before the big rally began with thousands of members of the Harlem community and elsewhere.

On my way out of the building, I was catching my breath from the rush of driving and grabbing Canada in time to get the portrait I needed. It was very humid and I felt a bit cooler as I walked out onto the street. I headed toward my car and between an industrial garbage bin and the brick wall of the Armory building, I spotted this chair. I'm not sure why it grabbed my attention, but it seemed out of place and I was also drawn to the yellow contrast with the red.


This image is abstract and solitary, and as I said earlier, I'm drawn to the yellow seat contrasting with the red brick wall. Where this photo belongs and what it says, I'm not sure. But today it was something that I enjoyed photographing.



When I returned home to my building in Astoria, Peter Delgado was at the door to greet me, with a smile as usual. He saw my camera hanging on my shoulder and immediately told me he was ready for his portrait. I laughed at first, checked my mail, but on my way back to the elevators decided it might be a good challenge and a deserving subject to photograph. I didn't initially see anything that visual at the desk, after all, I walk by it every day. But I think I captured Delgado's personality here and I also like the lines of the architecture behind him, making a strong composition out of a simple environment.

These two images don't work together necessarily, but I found it interesting to pair them together for one day's work. Often as a journalist I have covered a wide variety of topics in one day, particularly in one year. It's this variety that has always made me happy and excited to go to work every day. You just never know what you're going to see.

Do You Believe in Second Chances?

There was a lesson I was taught in college to always carry a camera with me, because you never know what you're going to see and you don't want to miss that quintessential moment. I've been pretty disciplined to this rule, however, since having my car broken into and my credit cards stolen on two separate occasions this year, I have been leaving my gear at home more often.

Getting a second chance to photograph a moment isn't something that happens very often, but it happened to me last week when I was returning home to Astoria after my visit on Cape Cod and drove by Astoria Park. Earlier in the summer I had seen a man with his dogs sleeping on the park bench and it was a great image -- but I didn't have my camera. I was cursing and furious with myself and have had the photograph in my brain since that day. When I was driving home last week, he was there again, resting with all of his dogs. I slammed the car in reverse and pulled out my long lens and shot this from the driver's seat of my car.



This photo was a victory for me because I finally was able to capture a moment stuck in my brain for the last several weeks that I thought I had missed. But that is one of the amazing and interesting things about the Park, it has patterns of people and things and they all connect in a way that shapes and defines Astoria Park. This man is apparently a regular and I was able to spot him again during his "routine".

More park shots to come this month...

Chatham Fish Pier -- My Old Stomping Grounds

This weekend I went to Cape Cod, MA to visit with my father in my hometown, Chatham. It was a very busy weekend for tourism being the 1st of August. Chatham is beautiful and for those of you who haven't visited the small ocean-side town, I strongly suggest you do so sometime soon.

As a young girl I started working on the fish pier at the small retail fish market, Nickerson's. I worked there for nine summers, preparing chowder and lobster bisque, shucking clams and oysters, cooking thousands of lobsters and selling all kinds of seafood to customers. It was a wonderful place to work and has always been special to me.

On Monday I went down to the pier with my 5D to try and capture some moments that used to be very common to me -- and now feel more appreciated that I spend so much time in the city. I saw many familiar faces and many new ones as well. The fish market has been renamed to Chatham Fish Pier Fish Market and is under new ownership. Perhaps one day I will be able to run the place and retire there, selling fish and taking photographs. For now, I hope you enjoy the images I captured that afternoon.


The seal population has increased significantly over the years in Chatham waters, including by the fish pier. They have quickly learned that fish discards end up in the waters by the pier and there are several large seals covering the area searching for food. This boat was unloading skate and I thought the name worked well with the seal swimming behind it. I waited several minutes for this moment and was pleased with how it all came together.


Lee Tallman, one of the Chatham Harbormasters, came down to the pier to check on things and was rather surprised to see me. We hadn't seen each other, formally, for at least six years. He didn't quite recognize me with bangs and no fish boots, but we shared a few laughs from the past and enjoyed catching up. He was always a part of my work week at the pier and I was happy he agreed to let me photograph him quickly. I was drawn to his eyes and his ability to fit into the scene at the pier naturally.


An overall scene shot of some of the fishing boats moored up right off the pier on the other side of the channel. A rather stoic shot but peaceful and calming, which is why I think I like this one.


People are always flooding the upper viewing deck to watch the boats unload their daily catch and enjoy the views at the Pier. This shot reminded me of one I did at a wedding years ago, but I like the simplicity of it, although typically I'm not drawn to photos of people's backsides. Here I think it works though just fine.


Young "Davie" Murdoch was unloading his catch for the day, skate wings. Murdoch used to fish with John Our on the Miss Fitz and I would go out fishing with them on occasion to do some photography. He has since gotten his own boat, Jack Tar, and is doing well. I was happy to catch him at the pier and just grabbed a few quick shots. Although this photo isn't anything too special, I liked the gulls in the water in the background and Murdoch's relaxed mood as he washed down the boat for the day. Typically, the best part of the day for fishermen.