When it Rains…..
Last week I was sitting in the car waiting for a client to show up. All week it had been sunny and the early morning light was perfect for a shooting. Today however, as I sat in my car, the clouds opened up, the fog rolled in like a lumbering old man and a steady drizzle threatened to end the entire thing.
Even though it wasn’t the exact lighting I was hoping for, the light was beautiful and wrapped serenely around the landscape. With time to kill, I pulled out the I phone took a shot, tweaked it with Tilt Shift and sent it off to FaceBook with the caption, “not sure the photo shoot is going to happen.”
Within minutes a response was posted from my good friend Dug Gordin. That is not his name of course, I had to change it to protect his innocence. So, Doug (oops,) Dug posted a quick little response that said… and I quote “A real photog would find a way…” so true.
Seconds later, the client pulled up completely excited about the shoot. ”These clouds are perfect” he said, “they totally fit the theme”. With that we were off.
15 minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot of the highest trail head around. By now the clouds sat even lower but the drizzle had eased up. The shoot was to take place on a rock outcropping that rested 100 yards down a drainage. I loaded up the light stands, got the extra batteries and heaved my 50 pound pack onto my back. I was ready to descend.
It only took a couple of minutes to get to our secret location and it was well worth the scramble. The model edged out onto the giant boulders that hung 500ft off the ground. This was going to be tricky. Everything around was slick with the fresh rain. Every boulder was glossy and the light bounced off the granite like kaleidoscope of colors.
Working with the fading sun, we noticed two things had changed. First of all, the rain was back. Second was the LIGHTNING. The low hanging clouds randomly exploded. On and off they went with increased frequency. But, in the words of my buddy Dug, “A real photog would find a way…”. So we kept shooting.
Within minutes the conditions deteriorated. Water was pouring off the rocks, the sun had almost completely set and suddenly the lighting was lower and firing off every couple of seconds. Without any warning, (that’s the way lightning works you know) my entire head started to tingle and a burst of light thundered just feet above. But with Dug’s words of wisdom “A real photog would find a way…”, we pressed on.
Soon it was too dark to shoot and time to begin the now treacherous hike back up the the ravine. I wish I had some harrowing tale of near death, but that is not the case. Soon, we were at the car and headed back to town.
In the end, Doug (oops) I mean Dug had great advise “A real photog would find a way…”
Cleaning out the Closet
Every so often I sit down at the computer and start wandering back through old photos. I used to do this when I was in grade school. In fact, I used to do it in high school, and college too. The old memories return, flooding my mind with emotion and seemingly lost events. I find it refreshing to reflect on those times, trying to remember old friends, certain moments…trying to recall even the smells at the time. With the advent of digital photography the ability to dig out those old photos is endless. Years and years of images, stored on hard drive after hard drive provide literally hundreds of thousands of events to recall.
Most recently I found my self plunging back through a week I spent at the Marine Recruit Depot (MCRD) in SanDiego California. For an entire week I was part of a group that was granted an insider’s view of the recruiting process and basic training. Each year the Marines ask various groups to visit the depots with the intent of dispelling any myths the general public might have about this particular branch of our military. During the week, I was exposed to some of the basic training techniques the Marines use, shown around the entire base including a great trip to Miramar (famed TopGun School) and shown what life is like for recruits as they proceed through the grueling steps of basic training.
As I said before, letting my eyes pour over older photos always brings back memories but it also allows me to have a fresh perspective on the shots I took. I find that with some images, I am much more critical and don’t like the composition or processing. But with others, a new appreciation comes from a second glance. Looking at photos after an extended time away freshens the eye and removes some of the emotional attachment that once may have lingered. This “fresh” look drives a new creativity and re-energizes the need to create distinctive images.
The series below is the second kind of image. At first glance I wasn’t crazy about them. Today, they capture the hard work, the exhaustion and the sleep-derpived blur these soldiers must have endured. This is the final day or their basic training. Today, they will be called Marines for the first time. They are no longer recruits. For the last three days they have been functioning on 2-4 hours of sleep coupled with endless physical, mental and tactical challenges. These shots were taken just as they hiked back into base from running the Gauntlet.
Union on Snow and Skis
My friends Paul and Roberta live life. They love to go non-stop. They hold nothing back and have a blast. Their wedding was no different. As a commercial photographer that specializes in lifestyle images and and fast-paced action shots, the idea of shooting a wedding on skis sounded like a blast. The backdrop for this event was to be the stunning Devil;s Thumb Ranch located in Tabernash Colorado.
The day started early, very early in fact. My good friend, Paige Eden and I were on the road at 6am. Just 10 hours before, an avalanche closed the main road between Denver and Devil’s Thumb, turning out easy two hour drive into an epic 4 1/2 hours. When I first told Paige about this wedding she was so excited about the cool opportunities that she actually asked to join me on the shoot. What a great opportunity for me. Paige is one of the most respected and sought out wedding photographers in the Rocky Mountain. The chance to shoot an event with her is not one to be missed.
The day of shooting started promptly at 11 a.m. Paige and I met the bride and groom on the south end of the ranch. Already they had logged a solid 5 miles of skiing. The sun burned off the morning fog exposing the the glowing crystals of the newly fallen snow and the immensely blue sky. For the next hour, we wobbled around on snow shoes, clicking off frame after frame, capturing the stunning scenery and brilliant custom ski outfits that Paul and Roberta had specially designed.
Devil’s Thumb is littered with old barns and miles of immaculately groomed nordic ski trails. Between the aged wood and smooth rolling lines of made by the grooming machines, I couldn’t wait to see the final images. We paused a while at one of the most popular barns to shoot some “formals” against a banner for the Nation Championship Nordic Races. Soon the hour was up and it was time to head back to the main lodge for the outdoor ceremony.
Once back at the main lodge, we fired off more frames of the bride and groom getting ready for the ceremony. Friends rolled in, or rather glided in, and soon the event was in full swing. The formalities finished with a group ski followed by cocktails and soon my camera focussed on the drinking. This glorious day finished with a personal series I invented on the spot. I like to call it…”The Drink”. The final images I shot that day was a series, each of a different guest taking a drink. I know, it sounds a little lame, but it was truly silly. Take a look at the shots and let me know what you think. I would love to hear comments on “The Drink”.
Wandering 2/7/10
It’s 9am Sunday morning and the city feels sleepy under the lightly falling snow. The silence is strange since it is Super Bowl Sunday. People should be hustling from one place to another. But they’re not. The snow has made everyone a little sluggish, a little slow.
This morning inspired me to wander through my neighborhood. I wanted to talk to people. I wanted to see what was happening on this Super Bowl Sunday. Stepping from the warmth of my house, I shuffled south listening to the silence that only a sky full of falling flakes can make. The city was subdued. Every sound and every color muted.
At first my lens focussed on lines and curious angles. My eyes liked the places where the snow started to gather. They moved to rocks and fences, steps and tree branches. Everything was silent and my images seemed to respond to the stillness. I found withered thistle in the neighbors yard. I cast my gaze on empty allies and lonely churches. And slowly life began to change.
Meandering toward Federal Blvd, the city seemed a little more awake. Even so, the bus stop, which normally hums with activity, silently loaded and unloaded it’s contents. The liquor slumbered behind its shuttered windows and locked door.
Down the block a lone man swished away the morning snow with a push broom. The gentle sweeping of the snow fit in perfectly. And soon others joined him, helping clear the sidewalk for morning worship. A silent lot, clearing the walkway, dressed for service.
Further along Federal, past the hushed doorways of the dispensaries and hair salons, the empty school yard rested from its weekly toil. Every piece of equipment sat silent. Every slide was empty. The playground slept under the still winter blanket.
Turning west onto the less busy side streets, a man and woman exhanged goods. I paused, simply watching. I was drawn to the scene. Eventually they turned around and noticed my camera and me staring at them. Introducing myself, my curiosity was piqued. For the next couple of minutes we talked. Quietly we shared bits about our lives as the snow continued to fall. They explained to me how they distributed food to the elderly. Rolland pulled away the tarp, opening of his trailer and showed me the food he had collected from grocery stores earlier in the week. He would spend his day dropping off donated goods to people who were struggling. It seemed fitting to meet him here. He was off the beaten path. Rolland silently worked as the snow drifted to earth around him.
Wandering the streets of Denver this morning I met half a dozen people. Some of them wanted their pictures taken. Some of them simply didn’t care and allowed me to snap off a quick shot. It was all give and take. We talked. A young man, on his way to a friends house, told me the two teams in the big game. Others chatted about the neighborhood and how it had changed. We all shared. We all listened.
Rolland however, made me think. His humble self-confidence was pure. He made me think and my mind settled into the walk back home. Again the lens found leaves clinging to trees and lonely pinecones resting on barren sidewalks.My morning of wandering drew to a close much the way it started. I turned the corner as the snow piled up and crunched beneath my shoes, and my street sat completely empty.
Into the Clouds
A week ago, I headed north to the Erie Municipal Airport to meet my buddy Chris Dillis. Chris recently enlisted my services to produce promotional images of the new Gobosh 700 light Sport aircraft for Sky Raider Aviation .
We really should have know better than to book a shoot for Monday morning in the middle of January. For the past two weeks temperatures had been in the 50′s with no wind. Today, 30 degrees and gusts up to 50mph. Well, that pretty much took the ax to our thought of flying and shooting for the day.
It was now time for a quick re-group.
Sky Raider Aviation was looking for new images of the stunning Gobosh 700. Out at the Erie Airport, Chris specializes in light sport instruction and licensing. I had never heard of such a thing. I was always under the impression that becoming a pilot, of any sort, was years in the making. Very much out of reach for the common man. Was I wrong.
The new light sport aircraft, like the Gobosh 700, is great for anyone who wants to learn to fly. Within a month, you and a buddy could be heading down to Santa Fe for lunch or dropping into Crested Butte for a day of skiing.
As I said, the wind was howling. It was freezing cold. What were we going to shoot? Our talk centered around the great lines of the plane. The long nose makes it look like a high-end aerobatic plane. And the winglets curve gracefully up at the tip of each wing. All of these design features created great angles that would absolutely pop once captured by the camera.
I felt we needed a little extra push, so I decided to bracket all of the images and process them using an HDR program. It was time to get a little funky. Chris had mentioned that he was looking for shots that stood out, not “run of the mill” pictures of planes. So, I decided to shoot six frames of each image and process them in Photomatix. After the rough HDR processing I planned to tweak them even further in photoshop using multiple layers to bring out the sky and the colors of the plane.
We shot for about an hour and a half before we were both wind burnt and chilled to the bone. In all it turned out to be a pretty good shoot. Granted, all of it was on the ground. But as a photographer, you roll with the punches.
Pin-Ups
I love photographing people.
A couple of months ago, I was talking with a good friend of mine and she happened to mention how she thought 1950′s style pin-ups were some of the coolest images of women ever made. She pulled out some old Betty Paige calendars, that her father had given her, and we wasted the better part of an evening talking about the aesthetics of this bygone genre.
We poured over the poses and commented on the sex appeal. The eyes. The facial-expressions. The outfits. Everything seemed to say “sex” without really saying it. That is what turned us on the most. They were “hot” but not slutty.
We dissected more images looking at the specifics of each pose and the subtleties of each shot. Soon the talk rambled toward the idea of producing images like these. But, with a modern twist.
We should do a pin-up shoot.
A short list of possible people sprouted. To be included were hair stylists, make-up artists and models (of course).
We were onto something. Over the next month our team gradually assembled the needed accoutrements.
Sassy outfits, check.
Stylist, check.
Models, check.
Make-up artist…..check. Now all we needed was a day to make it all work.
My idea was to shoot all of the ladies against a “green screen”. After the shoot was over, each image would be digitally extracted and placed on whatever background seemed to fit. From the get go, I wanted crazy color. It was 1950 meets a Deee-Lite video. It was my crazy dream that I hoped would work.
Each image needed to tell a story; a little vignette. There is one behind any good pin-up. There is the librarian who, during story time, happens to show a little leg. Or maybe the tale is about a housewife/baker who just happens to forget the majority of her clothing for the day. Maybe, just maybe, the story goes something like this. A lady starts giving her cute dog a bath and is interrupted by the doorbell.
The endings are all the same. When someone catches their little indecency, their tincy-wincy indiscretion … the reply is always … “Ooops”.
So that is where we start.
Chile – A Catharsis
2009 was a DOOZY.
When I think over the past year, I can’t count the number of people that feel the same way. Personally it was one for the record books.
I am a firm believer in marking significant events. Keeping them in mind. Honoring them. Our recent trip to Santiago, Chile was such a marker. It designated an end as well as a beginning.
We began the trip on December 21st and spent Christmas and New Years in Chile. During our stay in South America, we scoured the country. Vineyards, local markets, Chilean Starbucks, and taking in bits of history filled two solid weeks.
Santiago rests between the majesty of the Andes and the sweeping hills of the Coastal Range. Within the hour it is possible to find oneself swimming in the crisp Pacific waters or hiking the the steep and rugged terrain of the Andes. Sitting at 33˚ South latitude, the summer temperature seldom varies more than 5 or 10 degrees. (Keep in mind that when I speak of summer I am speaking of December. This fact still confounds the Wyoming part of my brain.) Having such predictable weather is a true blessing when trying to escape the wintery world of Colorado.
The last year helped me realize just how fragile life truly is. Looking back, the statement “life is fragile” seems quite trite and very cliche. And, maybe fragile isn’t the correct word. But, in the same breath, it is correct. Our journey is fragile. In any single moment, we each have stories of hardship. But, nestled within each tale of struggle there lies success and triumph.
These are the stories I wanted to capture and this is the difficult job of the photographer. Wandering around a town that is completely new and expecting insight into a complete stranger’s life seems unrealistic. But, looking into the eyes of any human, stories are told. And somehow they are no longer strangers.
I wanted to catch a glimpse, or rather, capture a glimpse of each tale. How was I supposed to do this in a city of 5 million people, with broken Spanish and a camera? Something wonderful happens with a camera…people let you in.
The last year has helped me to tune in to the struggles that other people face. Each challenge is like reading a chapter in a new book. And, I just can’t put the book down. It is the stuff that makes up life. These are the experiences that make us real, that make us human. It is the pain…the joy…the drunken nights…the nights alone. It is loss. It is near loss. These vignettes are told through the gaze of a stranger. And I wanted to hear the tales.
It was my catharsis. It was my way of sharing my story.
By capturing a look, a moment of reality, I too was able to share my story. Maybe I found some of myself in each person. The young family sitting at a cafe. Two boys, one mischievous, and one somber sat with their father enjoying summer break. The men in the market, selling the fruit they had grown over the last few months. How many years had they been there? What stories had they heard sitting in that booth, year after year?
Armed with my I-phone translator app. I traveled around looking for stories. I found one sitting in a doorway. Again with my broken spanish, I pointed to my camera and asked if I could take his picture. ”Yes, my friend” was his response. If I had taken all afternoon to speak with him, I can’t even imagine the adventures I would have heard. I am sure there would have been tales of hard work, women and wine.
My favorite picture happened without words and was finished in the blink of an eye. I saw an old man sitting in the window of a train. He seemed both solemn and serene. Without speaking, I pointed to my camera. He nodded. I took three shots and showed him the viewer. A slight smile graced his lips and with a glow in his eyes he nodded again. That was it. What stories does he have? Did he survive a corrupt government? Was he alone? His eyes told generations of tales.
And this is how I was able to remember the last year. I honored it by searching out the librettos of life, captured in the blink of an eye.
Fishing In Fall
As the leaves turned to a golden hue, the stream was as clear as the Colorado sky and just about perfect for fly fishing. I look forward to this season as it signals a slowing down of the life cycle, a resting time for all things. It certainly is a time to reunite with friends and spend some quality time in the mountains.
A good friend of mine, Todd, was headed out to fish “a secret spot” up near….well I really can’t say. But, it was in the mountains of Colorado. He asked me to join him, and is there any better time to bring the camera?
I was bound and determined to use off camera flash, but without an assistant it was going to be a challenge. The river would, most definitely, topple the strobe and we all know that is not a good thing. So, I used the extension cable for the strobe and set my camera and flash to manual. With the camera fastened around my neck, I held the body with my right hand and elevated the strobe with my left, giving me a similar feel to off camera lighting. The shutter was set to sinc at 250 and I worked with the aperture to expose for the sky. It took some futsing (technical term for messing around) with, to get the flash exposure just right; but after a couple of test shots I was ready to capture this beautiful day of fishing.
At The Hangar
This last week I had the opportunity to visit my buddy Steve at his office. It just so happens that his office is an airplane hanger that houses two pretty awesome jets. Steve was looking for a creative corporate portrait that he could use to document the last few years of work. So, I met him for a 7am photo shoot. The sun was just coming over the top of the building making for great morning light. We shot for about an hour and a half and were able to get quite a few interesting images. Once again I was working with off camera strobes that are controlled remotely from elinchrom slaves. The light was powerful enough to balance out the sky so that we could get nice sun flare in a series of shots. At the end of the shoot, Steve needed to start up the vintage fighter plane and I was able to get a couple shots of that also. In all, it was a great morning, early shoot, a chance to hear the thunderous roar of a fighter jet and time with a buddy
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