Personal Project - Photographing Fruits in the Shed.
I have been working on a personal project in the shed making photographs of different fruits. After a bunch of failed attempts I arrived at a process and look that made me happy. All of the images were created in camera using multiple exposures and various combinations of strobes and gobos. Click on an image to see it larger.
Amy Smith and an Avocado in the Shed
Now that we are using the shed as a small studio, i am excited to start getting some people over and working together on portraits as well as anything else that comes to mind. Of course Amy (www.helloamysmith.com) is always the perfect subject. Here she is along with - an avocado 8-)). Please click on the image to see the full frame. Canon 5d mark iii, 100mm macro.
Instagram @jackson.smith.photography
For Amy, a combination of Norman strobe heads on either side and a 2 second exposure with Kino Flos for the background and fill. For the avocado, a Norman tri-lite on the background and a single strobe head to camera right. Double exposure
Lester Jackson in the Shed
We spent a little time with Lester the other night making some portraits. He was awesome. And it was really nice to do some personal work. Canon5diii, MamiyaRZ67, Kodak Portra 160NC, Norman triLite, Profoto softlight, Chimera softbox, some gels and a fresnel. Click on an image to see the full frame. Thanks Amy
Chef Laura Fonner
It was great to spend a little time and make a portrait today with Laura Fonner, the chef at Duners restaurant just west of Charlottesville Virginia. On the menu for this evening, handmade pepper pasta 8-)) Thanks as always to my wife Amy for the assist and C'Ville Weekly art director Bill LeSueur for the creative genius.
Driveway Leaves
A cold day - 11/09/17 - very light drizzle. Series of six. Click image for full size. Thanks for looking!!!
Costa Rica - my first portfolio
I had decided that I wanted to be a photographer, but had no photos. In grad school, a friend of mine was running a trip to Costa Rica to study monkeys for the summer. I piggybacked onto the trip and then stayed after the research was finished for a couple of months. Walking or taking the bus I roamed around the country trying to capture a little bit of the culture. It was a wonderful time and the people were very generous with me. When I got back to Charlottesville a few months later, I used the photos as the basis of my first portfolio.
Railroad Ties
When it is lightly raining and overcast the subtle textures and dark tones are really beautiful. Click on the image to enlarge. Series of 8.
Matt Miller for UVA Health System
This is Dr. Matt Miller. When he was in college he had a bicycle accident on the Blue Ridge Parkway. A Martha Jefferson anesthesiologist happened to be at the scene of the accident and was able to get Matt's airway opened and quickly got him evacuated to the UVA Medical Center. Every bone in Matt’s face was broken, along with many other injuries. After his recovery, Matt decided to finish his medical degree specializing in facial reconstruction. He is now working at (you guessed it) the University of Virginia Health System. Read the article in Pulse about him here - http://pulse.uvahealth.com/stories/the-road-forward. Also, Michael Vitez, a pulitzer prize winning journalist with the Philadelpha Inquirer published a book "the road back" chronicling Matt's story. As an aside Matt was real pleasure to meet and photograph. Thank you Amy Jackson and Lynn Woodson for your help and support.
Mary's family cameras 8-))
A little while back my friend Mary O'Leary gave Amy and I these cool cameras. They were her fathers, and she fondly told us how he enjoyed making photos and movies. She wanted a good home for them. I am so glad they are on our shelf. I thought it might be nice to photograph them for her. If you are reading this Mary, I will bring over some prints next time I am over at the Medical Center. Hope you had a good holiday. Happy New Year.
CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO VIEW THEM LARGER
Hand painted canvas
Diana at Nectar Inc. asked me about doing a couple of photos for Bank of the James. The comp featured a backdrop that she loved and wondered if it was something that we could purchase. I could tell from the image that the backdrop was hand painted on canvas with brushstrokes in all directions. Oliphant Studios in New York makes similar canvases but they are expensive and outside of the budget, so I told Diana I could make one for the shoot. With advice from my mom (she is an artist and has done very large canvases), the help of my girlfriend Amy, and one failed attempt, here is the final product. 7' x 9.5' stretched canvas with white primer rubbed in smooth and black gesso applied with a 4" brush. Click on the image to see it larger.
The future is near - Perrone Robotics
Amy and I had a nice time shooting Perrone Robotics yesterday. Very nice people, very cool platform. It seems to me that there is still a fair amount of work to be done, but it is also clear that autonomous vehicles are coming to a theater near you. Click on an image to see it larger.
Emily Drake for Virginia Nursing Legacy
We were excited to photograph Emily Drake, along with 3 other presidents of nursing organizations for the UVA School of Nursing publication, Virginia Nursing Legacy. She was funny engaging and forgiving. Thanks for all of your help Amy Jackson and thanks to the editor Christine for being so excited about the images.
dried leaves still life
I have been saving these leaves for 2 years and finally got around to photographing them today. I have about 30 of them, so more work to come 8-))
Small business owners for C-Ville Weekly
C-Ville Weekly recently put out an issue circulating 3 different covers featuring small business owners in Charlottesville Virginia. Each of the owners we photographed were engaging and nice. A real pleasure.
Lighting: ringflash as fill and a Profoto 22" soft light as the main. Camera: Canon 5diii. Lens: Canon 45mm ts-e. We used the shift feature with the camera horizontally and stitched together the 3 images giving a unique perspective and a larger more detailed image.
Thanks to our art director Max for his guidance. Jeff, George, and Laura for being easy and patient. And especially to www.amyjackson.co for your help and support.
This is Jeff Anderson owner of Fitzgerald Tire
This is George Swingler owner of Rose Hill Grocery
And this is Laura Conklin owner of Iron Wolf Fitness.
Civil rights leader Steven Rubin
This guy and his wife were amazing. He was president of the New Orleans ACLU from 1065-68, an outspoken and determined advocate for civil rights, and a target of the KKK. You can read more about him at http://www.c-ville.com/taking-stand-steve-rubins-fight-civil-rights/#.WKW9Tqttb_s. Thanks Amy Jackson for you help.
Multi-Tool
My great-grandfather's brass multi-tool. Thanks to my dad for passing this on to me. 8-))
Laura Haas-Knox portrait
Our friend Laura came to the set to get a new headshot for herself while we were shooting some portraits for Charlottesville Area Community Foundation. She did a great job and we appreciated her letting us shoot some personal work with her even though she claimed not to like having her photo taken. Thanks Amy (www.amyjackson.co) for your direction and help.
cutters and carport 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | ...
My dad brought these cutters down for me a couple of months ago. They originally belonged to my great grandfather. We both thought they were really cool. There are 9 of them so it just made sense to use them in a new series. The last one is a composite and measures 23.5 x 100 in @ 300 dpi. Please click on an image to view them all larger 8-)).
