Chief Longo for C'ville Weekly
The other day we had the opportunity to shoot Chief Longo over at the police station for the C'Ville Weekly (article here). We shot against a blank greenish colored wall using a Norman Tri Lite 2000 and a Canon 45mm TS-E lens. The Chief was straight forward and very easy to work with. I can't imagine what a difficult and demanding job he has. Anyways, we really enjoyed the shoot. Thanks Bill and Amy for the art direction and help. BTW - the Chief did his own hair. 8-))
Campbell's Soup for Klöckner Pentaplast
Lisa at Payne Ross and Associates, a Charlottesville VA based full service ad agency (www.payneross.com) called last month asking us to do a set of photos for Klöckner Pentaplast (www.kpfilms.com). She wanted something stylish but also clean and easy to understand. Klöckner is a leader in providing packaging, printing and specialty film solutions for more types of product than I could possibly imagine. Think - the plastic (film) that batteries come in, or the printed sleeves on bottles of water, credit cards, pill packs, medical devices, and on and on. Anyways, in this case, Campbell's had decided to change up the packaging on their microwaveable single serve soups. The goal? To address a desire by their consumers to be able to see the actual soup ingredients on the shelf in the supermarket. I won't go into it here, but I will say that the issues involved, the research, testing, and implementation are really interesting.
We shot 4 photos to go with an article being published next month in the packaging trade magazine Packaging World (www.packworld.com). We are REALLY hoping that one of these would make the cover and it did 8-)) Thanks Lisa! Here is a link to the digital version of the magazine, if you are interested the article starts on page 50.
WWII Veterans for C'ville
Amy and I recently photographed 3 WWII veterans for the Charlottesville, Virginia weekly magazine, C'ville Weekly (Click on the images to see them bigger). It was so great to get a chance to meet these guys and hear a few of their stories. Thanks for giving us your time and hospitality. 8-))
Jack Bertram, a B-17 pilot in World War II, kept in touch with his crew throughout the years, through Christmas cards and letters, and also at yearly reunions for the 95th bomb group. He and bombardier Harry Hull, lifelong friends, are the last living members of their crew.
James “Monk” Bingler served in the 394th infantry regiment of 99th infantry division in World War II. Although fighting on the frontlines and being captured by the Germans left him with nightmares, he has been able to channel his experiences into positivity through his mission to help others.
Dr. Jim Kavanaugh served as a B-17 radio operator in World War. He says he only shared his stories with his family over the years if they asked. “But it seemed so encapsulated and increasingly distant to me that I couldn’t imagine that it would be of genuine interest to anybody, except maybe [at] these veteran gatherings, and even then you talk more freely to someone who’s done it because you don’t have to explain it.”
Photos my Dad took 8-)
A couple of years ago I got hold of a shoebox full of slides and negatives that my dad took and developed. I archived them and scanned a bunch that he had printed over the years. There are even a few of me when I was a kid. Pretty awesome photos, right! 8-)
Using spot grids to highlight a male physique
The AD (Bill LeSueur) on this shoot was interested in a dramatic image that highlighted our subjects head and his torso independently. The original idea was based on a comp Bill had showing a guy sitting on the ground with a spotlight shining down on him and the all of the shadows fading into a black background.
Here is the program description he sent me:
Annual health issue publishing a week from Tuesday.
Collection of pieces under the umbrella of a connection between mind and body.
I was reminded of a photo JFK, Jr. published in his political magazine "George", of himself naked (with an apple dangling over his head).
He was writing about temptation.
Wondered if we could photograph a beautiful bare male body in a similar way.
Dark background, Body largely in shadow, head (maybe in profile) and torso spotlit, emerging from shadow.
(mind and body...)
What do you think?
I loved the idea for the image, but thought that instead of having the shadows fade into blackness, it would be really nice to see the outline and form of the body.
To create the photo we used 4 strobes:
- 2 profoto strobe heads lit a white background, and were flagged so that there was no spill on our model (Eric). The background was obviously underexposed so that the white appeared grey.
- The spot light on his head was created with a medium 6 inch honey comb spot grid fitted onto a Norman strobe. This light was positioned almost directly above the model and shining straight down.
- The light on the torso was created using large 10 inch honey comb spot grid fitted onto a second Norman strobe. The light was positioned high, to camera left, and just slightly in front of the model, raking across his body.
While we were shooting the image, I had Eric stand really still while I took 2 frames. The first with all of the strobes firing, the second with only the background illuminated, giving me a silhouette. For the final image I used the silhouette in post to darken any areas that had more light on them than I wanted. Specifically his left arm and his pants. I also used it to create that shadow effect.
Anyway: thanks to Bill and Eric for a job well done. *-))
The great Jen Horne - a positive influence 8-))
This is my sons all time favorite teacher - Jennifer Horne. I know her enough to say that she is enthusiastic, earnest, kind, and really really good at what she does. She is the kind of person I wish I knew better. It was a privilege to photograph her 8-))
Below is the C'Ville Weekly article written about her for the back to school issue. Please look it over, it is worth the time to learn a little about someone that is such a positive influence to others. http://www.c-ville.com/making-grade-guide-school-year/#.VzIGtKs1r_t
Stephen Canty (Once a Marine)
Stephen is putting together a film about his time and the people he was with in Afghanistan. He was a very engaging and open young man. Have a look at the teaser for his film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-HJDuntKqx0