Now that I've got your attention, I can tell you what I've been up to since my post oh so long ago. I've had a few shoots and other art-related gigs in the last month. I shot Mariage Blanc again for their CD release of "Broken Record". Reviews for the album appeared in the Pittsburgh City Paper as well as the Post-Gazette alongside my photo of them. This is my first publication, so to speak, so you can bet I'll have some scans for you to drool on soon enough.
My Dad comissioned me to photograph a girl with a banjo for his annual mix CD's album cover "Banjo Pickin Girl". This was a very thrown together shoot with basically no planning, which is why it went so well. My lovely coworker from the Beehive, Monika, allowed me to steal her from her home and shoot her with a borrowed banjo. We shot it in East Liberty which is a part of town with much color and aesthetically pleasing decay. You can see all of those right here. Monika is a great model, she's modest but not camera shy. I've shot her before in one of my first attempts at light painting with her late cat, Nibbler, may he rest in peace. Here's an example. I'm very glad that I have her available for any fun ideas I might get that require a pretty gal.
I also shot a fellow named Jay who is a musician. He also manages a few musicians and bands, so that makes him a valuable customer. My shoot with him was also rather unplanned because I had just gotten a wicked cold and was too busy blowing my nose to think about the shoot. Despite the snot, it was a quick, spotless success. I took him to the top floor of the Terminal Building, which is a big warehouse. Most of the floors are renovated for offices but floor six is open space, columns, concrete, and windows. Every time I go there I notice how beautiful the light is. Jay played a song on his guitar by a window and we were done shooting after one song. He looks very natural and comfortable, I think, because he wasn't paying attention to me as he played his song. The light was soft and just about perfect. Have a look!
A couple days ago I shot a model that I've worked with before. Her name is Mallory. The last time to worked together things looked a little like this, this, and this. For the new shoot we stayed indoors and played with candy. A while ago I had an idea to cover someone in rainbow jimmies but I've been told it's already been done. Of course! So she heard about the idea and decided that she wanted to be covered in icing and candy. It didn't quite go as perfectly as we imagined. The lights made the icing melty and most of the candy wouldn't stay put. We have learned important lessons for next time, that's for sure. We wanted to get glamour shots of her entire person but due to my lack of a studio, decent lights, and flair for glamour, all we mostly got were head shots. They turned out yummy anyway, so why don't you have a gander.
What a doll, eh? The mini spree's stuck the best. Nerds are 2nd on the list, followed by sour patch kids, followed by nothing. Everything else plopped right off. We shot this in my kitchen with two umbrella lights, two clamp lamps, a desk lamp, and the overhead light. The lamps each had one orange light and one blue light. I know that's an awful lighting setup, but you work with what you've got. So that is that.
Last night I had another lovely lady over to my place and we had a session that was just about the opposite of Mallory's shoot. Nikki, who is the star of my very first blog here, wanted me to get some head shots for her next album (Prometheus Burning). I am very pleased with how these turned out. I knew from the start that they'd look great because the idea was very simple. White face, black tongue, black backdrop. The success of this shoot was totally in her hands. She dressed amazing and was very confident in front of the camera. All I had to do was toss some lights up around her and snap away. We tossed Bessy, my giant african black millipede, in the mix, which can never ever be a bad thing. We also shot a few light painting images in my hallway for funsies. I don't have these shots on flickr yet as I'm converting the files right now. Here, however, is a sneak peak. Lucky you!
There are a lot of gems from this shoot, so be sure to look out for the whole set on flickr. I have a roast in the oven, so I bid you good day.
