Archive for the ‘Portraits’ Category
I was thrilled when my friend Teresa, owner of Camelback Flower Shop, called to have me photograph
her new beautiful baby boy.
Teresa has an amazing gift for design and decor which permeates every aspect of her life
from her bridal bouquets to her baby’s room.
I used vignettes from around her home and nearby furniture for props to make this a truly unique session.
We photographed these images at her artfully decorated home in Phoenix…enjoy. xo
This session was commissioned by Harmony, one of my favorite Yoga teachers and one of the most balanced people I know. In approaching this shoot, Harmony and I collaborated about the look and feel she was wanting in her images. We agreed to try and do something more whimsical, unique, and creative than traditional yoga photos; something a bit less straight forward. So with a tripod, timer, and a bunch of different external lights, we went to work.
These images are all straight out of camera…meaning, nothing is Photoshopped. All of the lighting and coloring was done by me with flashlights and glow sticks with the camera on a tripod and timer. I chose to photograph on the edge of a negative edge pool to bring more light into the image. Plus I wanted a visual metaphor for yoga and meditation. The waters may be calm, but never entirely still.
Each image is about 30 seconds to a minute long, which meant Harmony had to be incredibly still for the time the shutter was open. We also had to do about 5 to 6 takes before we got it right so she was holding the poses for up to 5-10 minutes. I loved this session because I felt like I was painting with light and physically creating my image. My movements were all tracked by the camera and I had to be as conscious of my body as harmony was with hers. Wearing all black and moving quickly allowed me to be invisible in the background. It was an amazing practice in patience and awareness which is, in essence, the heart of yoga itself.
I rarely post my personal images but a little bird told me they wanted to see more images on-line from a photo outing I took a couple years ago in Minneapolis. So here goes…
I chose these two images for a number of reasons but mainly because they go extremely well paired with each other. The similarities are fairly obvious. Both are portraits of men holding canes. They share balancing colors that compliment the clothing (a serendipitous accident I noticed while I was making the images). And there is a theme of vertical lines mixed with the organic natural elements. I wanted to be sure to keep the compositional elements balanced and the background simple to allow the subjects to be the real focus of the shot.
That said, I hope that little bird enjoys this post. Thanks for putting the fire under me to revisit these images!!
A few weeks back I was asked to put together a shoot for the cover image for the next Pubes, CD.
Here are the results! Apparently the DJ played the song on the radio and said it was the best cover shot he had ever seen…I’m guessing it was the half naked girl on the bed but hey, whatever works. We were going for a stereo-typical rockstar, morning after image…featuring (of course) a fog machine and a lot of debauchery.
There is a theme to the first image that unifies all of the objects in the shot. If anyone can guess it I’ll send you a brand spankin new, Pubes CD!!
I’ve known Natalia for the past 8 years and we have been crossing paths randomly since we first met. I photographed her and her brother for their mom about 6 years ago and I was thrilled when she called me out of the blue to photograph her head shots. Natalia was a complete natural in front of the lens and I love what we were able to create. Thanks Natalia for a great shoot and a great time!!
