Tiffany C ptII

I will be shooting with Tiff quite a bit so the post titles might get a bit redundant, hopefully the pictures will not.

Yesterday we just did a really fast session of head shots. But I got her walking down the street and can't pass up an opportunity to take pictures.

(Forgive me for not having setup photos, I keep forgetting to do that stuff).

For the head shots, I had Tiff sit in a wing back chair. I put a bare flash over her left shoulder and a bare flash front/right about 4 feet above her sitting height. Both flashes are Vivitar 285 with poverty wizards (16 channel wireless from eBay). The output was 1/16 on both and looking back, I should have used an umbrella to soften them a bit. Next time I will play with that AND take set up pictures.

The "Main Street" pic was cloudy/available light shot w/ my 300 @ f/2.8.
Headshot was probably my 85mm or 50mm both shot with my original 1D.

We are planning an Alice in Wonderland type shoot soon....not sure where that one will go...LOL

All photos edited in Adobe Lightroom 2.2, sharpness, clarity and black levels adjusted.

Strolling down Main Street


Headshot

Veteran's Day Parade in New Brighton

All the high school bands from New Brighton, Beaver, Beaver Falls, Ambridge, Aliquippa, Blackhawk, Center, Freedom, Hopewell, Monaca, Riverside, Rochester, South Side and Western Beaver....(I hope I didn't miss anyone). It was about an hour and a half long parade. There were tons of veterans and a few dignitaries. I can say one thing, Pennsylvanians turn out for their parades.

I started to head to the parade without my camera, but I figured I should grab it in case I saw something photogenic. Well, 800 pictures later, I have a few to show. The rest of what I feel are good will be on the sales web site in a few days.

Flying their colors


Stars and Stripes


Here's looking at you


In Step


Old Guard


Stand out


Sign of the times

Two-fer

I was able to do a quick photo session with sisters Brandi and Alex this week. Earlier in the day, I was driving down the street and saw a couch and chair dumped in an empty lot......"ooohh" I said to myself.

Brandi and I were already at the location when her sister and (Brandi's) fiance showed up. We carried the couch into the brick lined street and I put a Vivitar 285 at 1/16th power behind the couch and another one off to the side. But of course my eBay poverty wizards weren't quite up to working consistently, so my exposures were all over the place. Next we headed off to a long set of stone stairs in town and shot until the light was pretty much gone.

Couch in the middle of the street


Serious faces


The eyes have it


Add a little flash for drama

Fe Gallery 250 Years/250 Artists

Just got back from attending the grand opening of the Fe Gallery's 250 years/250 artists exhibition. It was my first inclusion in a gallery exhibition and I was in some pretty neat company. There are some incredibly talented artists in the Pittsburgh region.

We were there early since the gallery is pretty small and Lawrenceville isn't exactly the largest metropolis around. Parking would be at a premium we were told. So we got there at 7pm and the doors opened at 730. We hung out in the rain as the artists trickled in and passed by. Some you could tell were ARTISTS, others, not so much. Me.....we looked waaaayyy to vanilla to be hanging out with most of that crowd.

I try to think I am open as an artist. I believe anything (almost) can be art. But some of the stuff I saw was really really cool.

I looked at the mock up of the catalog that is being printed. They were accepting pre-orders as well. For $35.00, it's going to be WELL WORTH IT. Many artists submitted different works for the approval process, the catalog submission and the exhibition. I was one of the artists that used the same image for all three. Not sure if that was the right thing to do, but it's what happened.

Here are some pictures from the night.
Waiting out the rain


Grand Opening


My picture is top left as you look at it (can't tell, but that's it)


The crowd 10 minutes after the doors opened (from the back looking to the front)


Thirty minutes after the doors opened (from near the front looking back)


My favorite of the night, This was a candle (no flame) and the motor turned a bunch of cards with pictures of a flame. So damn ingenious.


Title: "Candle Flip Book" by Wade Kramm

Frick Park Fire and Drums

A friend of mine, Becca (who is also a MUA) sent me a text Wednesday late afternoon saying she needed me......I like that type of request.

Well, she was heading to an even that is only held in the month of September. It was a belly dancing, fire breathing, juggling and drum get together in Pittsburgh's Frick Park.

I didn't have much time, but headed to Squirrel Hill to meet up with her. This type of an event is tremendously difficult to get good pictures. Most people go for the slow shutter speed to get the trails of light. But me, being a sports photographer and portraitist, I want to see faces. Emotion. Details. Well, not many details since it was night with a 3/4 moon. A long exposure did allow the fire to light the crowd and the performers. No balance here. Either faces and no motion or motion and no faces.

There were also several drum players but because they were all in the front row, and no lights, they were the most difficult subjects to get pictures of.

Below are some shots of the event.

Fireball


Juggler


Lit up crowd

ALWAYS looking for opportunities

I dropped off the prints at Fe Gallery right on time. I got to speak to two of the MOST wonderful people today. Laurie and Mel, of Fe Gallery. WOW, incredible women. So absolutely kind helping me out with any questions I had about presenting. I did mess up on one thing though, I should have had my picture in a frame (with glass). I only had it on a white mat board. That means I have to go back to the gallery before the opening to frame it. Oops, my bad.

I was able to talk to Mel for a few minutes but just couldn't get Laurie's eyes out of my mind. She has incredibly piercing blue eyes. Just beautiful. WOW! Both of these women were beautiful I honestly wanted to start shooting pictures right then and there. But I did hold myself back. Maybe some day. Maybe.

Talking to Mel, she offered to drop my name with her friend Michelle, who is a wardrobe stylist. So we will see how that turns out.

Ooohh, and the picture Laurie selected, was Merry Go Round (see it below, or on this post). I like it, but it's not my favorite. It was also one of the images from the original submission packet.

I also had a meeting set up for tonight with Lori D, a Makeup Artist. She has done some incredible work in the Pittsburgh area. Our meeting is at the Beehive in Pittsburgh's trendy, hip (?) South Side, on Carson Street. I decided to head over there and do some people watching. I drove past the Beehive and circled around the block, then came out at the right corner, with a parking spot right there. BONUS!

As I started to cross the street, I saw a woman waiting for someone. Sensing an opportunity, I hung out on the corner and observed. She was checking her phone for the time, so it was probably close to when they were to pick her up. I approached her, handed her my card and casually asked to take her picture as she waited for her ride. She agreed. I also asked if she would sign a model release. We looked it over and she signed it. As we were starting to shoot, she did say she didn't think she had a nice smile. I wholeheartedly disagreed. I thought it was wonderful. She has a presence that is coy, but entrancing. Unfortunately, we were only able to shoot 16 shots before her friends showed up. Hopefully she will see the images and call me again for another shoot.

Below is just one shot. See the web site photo gallery for a few more.

Melissa

What the world is coming to

Qoute of the day:
"This parental paranoia is getting completely out of hand..." - Gary Crutchley

That quote was form a report that happens all to often. Reported over on FoxNews a dad taking pictures of his OWN kids on a playground was harassed by other families. Here is the link. As a photographer, it concerns me that people will automatically brand a person as bad, or suspicious if he has a camera. In this case, the police helped him. But police have been known to harass photographers all too often as well. Just do a Google search on "police harass photographer" and you will see what I mean.

In my own experience, I too have been harassed by security guards when taking pictures of my family at PPG Square in Pittsburgh PA. They say you cannot take pictures above the ground. No wide angle shots or shots looking up at their buildings. But in EVERY image of the Pittsburgh skyline, their beloved PPG building is in it. But if you are actually in the PPG square, you will be asked to stop taking pictures. It's kind of fun actually, if you know what to expect. You can mess with them, like I did when I gave the camera to my son who was probably 6 at the time. A security guard told me to not take the pictures. I said "talk to the kid, he has the camera." There was a small bit of tension at that point until he asked if he was my son and therefore under my control.....LOL

Anyway, this paranoia really has to stop. People need to get a life.

Some other shots

I can't remember if I have posted these before. If I have, then sorry for the repeat.
Concert goer


I don't know the status of this man, but he offered me a drink from a bottle in a paper bag. I declined.


I always say everyone has a story to tell, they just need some one to listen to it. She was no exception.

Street shooting

In January 2007 I started a photo project that would bring about an awareness of organ donation. That project came to a grinding halt within a few months of being launched. So for now, it sits idle. Out of that project, comes my enjoyment of street portraits.

Most street shootings (the camera kind) are candid images. The photographer sits back and observes, then takes pictures of interesting things and people. Usually without them knowing about it. The great images are usually private moments in public spaces OR the instant a subject becomes aware of the photographer and the image is taken.

Here are a few of my shots from some street sessions.

This image is actually almost two years old, maybe three. I was waiting for some friends downtown and sat near the steam coming up from a vent in the sidewalk. I knew it would make for some neat pictures as people went in and out of the steam on this COLD January day. Patience paid off for me in this case as this girl poses for her mom. I wonder if I am in their picture as well?



It was unseasonably warm this particular day in Oct. 2007. I stopped to eat at a cafe about a block from the hospital. I noticed this woman having lunch in the cafe at the same time I was. Later, as I stood on a corner across from the cafe she came out. When she was standing on the corner to cross the street she looked across and recognized this man. She treated him to lunch at that same cafe and they talked for well over an hour. This picture was from their greeting.



This woman was waiting for a bus when I started to talk to her. She was a new mother and had quite a colorful history. I would have spent more time with her, but her bus was arriving and I only had time to take a few pictures of her.



She was waiting to cross the street and this was one of those quick-take-the-picture-of-the-beautiful-woman
-on-the-corner-and-hope-I-get-something-shots. It's really not that poignant except the man on the left of the frame. She's looking towards him and he's looking towards me and I am looking towards her. Kind of a triangle thingy.



I don't remember this mans name, but we did talk for several minutes. He is homeless (he even had a fifth of booze in his coat). I asked him if I could take his picture and he asked for $20.00. I offered him $5 and he accepted.