Film, Digital, Color, Black&White, What now?
Two months between blog posts. Not good. I have been busy (lame excuse), but also have been shooting quite a bit that cannot be shown here until it is published elsewhere (better excuse). I have been doing a little traveling in the way-back machine lately though, having purchased a scanner and some film. I hadn't shot film in several years and it is definitely a reality check. I am hoping that, like a painter's medium, it will have me think a little differently, both when I am shooting and in preparation for a shoot. I know, blah blah blah..show me the pictures.
I resurrected my 35mm camera and took a couple field trips...So here is a bench, some grapes, and a couple of guys on bikes. Did I mention that I am not a street photographer?
With a little help from eBay, I made some new friends in Japan and Korea. In the process, I bought a monster of a medium format camera. It creates negatives that are 6x7 centimeters. Here is my photography colleague Jack Holmes; world traveller, great photographer and all around nice guy!
Jack Holmes
Ok, one last gear-head thing... I bought a mono-rail 4x5 view camera recently too. I am headed off to a workshop next week, but I hope to start, or restart, a series of portraits of local artists when I return, and use both medium and large format. So watch this space.
Now, in no particular order, here are a couple of publication tear sheets, some shots from UTEC's Sweet 16 event, the Summer Kickoff of the Lowell National Park, the Grand Opening of Ani's boutique, Humanity, and an actress headshot that I did for another all around great person, Christa Brown.
Humanity Lowell
UTEC - Sweet 16
Christa
Lowell National Park
UTEC Sweet 16
Barron's - Fidelity's Steve Buller
Merrimack Valley Magazine
A Mill, a Radio and a Fashion Shoot
The current issue of Merrimack Valley Magazine (May/June 2015) features a couple of pieces that I worked on that include a few people or places that are close to home, all in different ways.
Having moved to downtown Lowell last year, my wife Amy and I have become frequent visitors to Mill No. 5, a very eclectic destination in an old textile mill, (No surprise there!), with small shops and not so small events. Made in Lowell, a new initiative founded by Tobias Marx is located in Mill No. 5, and was started to “cultivate a movement to transform communities”. Tobi is incredibly passionate about the organization and its possibilities. Here is their web site to learn more: http://www.madeinlowell.org. Liz Michalski's story is well worth the read. You can find it on-line here: http://www.mvmag.net/?p=15211
Another piece is on a resurgence in local radio. I was really into radio when I was a kid. My father would build electronic things from discarded parts, at the kitchen table, using an old brownie pan as a chassis, after having sketched out the schematic from scratch. Seriously! But a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to snoop around 3 radio stations for this story, one of which was WXRV (The River). It is housed in the old WHAV art-deco studios where, if I remember the story correctly, my father actually worked as an engineer, probably right after the war. Seeing the old, discarded turn-tables and tape decks, one can imagine the old-days of radio and the live performances that occurred there. While that station still has a wall of CDs (for backup), and The River does host live performances, all three stations that I visited now play streamed digital music day to day.
This story is a natural fit for writer Dean Johnson too. Dean is a Sunday nighttime fixture on WBZ radio.
And back in early April, when the snow was actively melting, we took over the Stonehenge Inn & Spa in Tyngsboro, MA, for a Couples Spring “Peek” Weekend fashion shoot. You may recognize Christa Brown, one of the models from a shoot that I did in my studio last year, and whose writing was recently featured in Seventeen Magazine.
This was a fun day. This piece is on-line too (http://www.mvmag.net/?p=15233). Thanks go to the rest of the team too. It was a real group effort: writer and style editor Alyson Aiello, Yolanda and Stephen for their creative direction, Regina for her hair and makeup work, and for Christa and Joel for looking marvelous!
This Was 2014
Near Santa Fe, NM
Stop me if I have said this before, but I really find the many end-of-the-year lists very tiresome. So naturally, I thought it would be a swell idea to do one myself and to review my year for you. Mine will be exciting though. Really! There will be lots of local interest, beautiful people, amazing food... Ok, so you're bored already... I will get right to it. Enjoy!
Oh, and Happy New Year!
The day in January of 2014 when the Lydia and Francey, the entrepreneurs from Mill City Grows came to my studio.
Sopheak Sam at Harvard Business School for a Boston Global photo shoot. It was COLD that day!
Stephanie graciously agreed to do some available light testing too.
Before the weather became arctic, I worked with a local band called Trusting Fate - at a farm!
The stunning Caitie tested for some available light portraits.
Photographing food is always a joy with a food stylist like Carolyn Grieco. Thank you for the cover Merrimack Valley Magazine!
Neal, from Concept in Dracut was my cover shot for CEPro in April 2014.
The cover of the May/June issue of Merrimack Valley Magazine was all about author Andre Dubus III; a very nice guy!
You can't see him, but Steve, the Merrimack Valley Magazine's creative directory is hanging on to a softbox on a stand, hoping he won't become airborne out at this dirt road location shoot.
I enjoyed photographing and profiling several other authors, artists and artisans this year for the Merrimack Valley Magazine too. Clockwise, from the top left in this group, is one about author Holly Robinson, shot at Plumb Island. Next is ceramic artist Yary Livan, shot at his studio at Western Avenue Studios, in Lowell, MA. And last, I spent a morning learning about the coffee roasting that Rosie's Cafe does, also in Lowell.
Then there was the vacation! We spend almost a week in Santa Fe, which was the first time for Amy and me in the South West.
The fantastic wedding and portrait photographer, Melissa Desjardins, who used to assist for me and now lives near Richmond, VA. She loves to be photographed!
Very happy to be asked to be the first photographer from Lowell, MA to be featured on the home page slide show of lowell.org!
Liz Cardoso, my assistant for the day and an emerging photographer as well, accompanied me to Portland, ME for this cover story about Rob Simopoulos, of Advance Technology.
What can I say about Thaddeus Miles? Director of Public Safety for MassHousing, photographer, public speaker, proud father, founder of several initiatives, the most recent being Hood Fit, which is "an effort to feature the most positive attributes of community building through a focus on health/wellness of the mind, body and soul." Thank you for asking me to photograph you!
Yum! Angelina's in Tewsbury, MA.
Part of my photoshoot for Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union's new ad campaign. This one of Mark S. Cochran, President & CEO at the Owl Diner, is one for the wall! (see insert - billboard seen on the VFW Highway, in Lowell)
And just a little over a week ago, I had fun working with my stylist Grace Moschetto of Grace Professional Cosmetics, models Christa and Monika, and Ani for some fashion work to market her store, Humanity Lowell.
July/August - The Interviews
I really enjoy the opportunities that the Merrimack Valley Magazine gives me to shoot features of authors and other interesting people in the process of being interviewed for the magazine. We are always in a new location and the interviewees are relaxed and are allowed to be themselves. I get to hear the interviews first hand which helps me get a feel for their personalities and experiences, which in turn helps me create images that I hope will help to tell their stories.
This issue, along with writers Suzanne DeWitt and Will Courtney, I was pleased to meet writer Holly Robinson, at Plumb Island, and Lowell Spinners manager Joe Oliver, at LeLacheur Park in Lowell.
Congratulations to Worcester Technical High School, and their principal Sheila Harrity!
Congratulations to Worcester Technical High School, and their principal Sheila Harrity for being honored this week with a visit from the president! I had the privilege to meet the principal, tour the school and be treated to lunch with her last year when I did the cover article photography for Principal Leadership Magazine, when she was being honored as the National High School Principal of the Year. My assistant, photographer Liz Cardoso, and I were blown away by the rapport that she had with students who we encountered in the corridors and with her genuine regard for those students, the school and the community.
Part of Our Rich Fabric
I had the privilege again of photographing Yary Livan, my neighbor at Western Avenue Studios, this time for Merrimack Valley Magazine. I created a portrait of him in my “Basic” series of black and white images. I spent a little time in his studio with him back in October for the story and he gave me some insight into his process, from inspiration to his sketches, sculpting and firing. To say that his story is an interesting one does not do him justice, so see David Iverson’s excellent story in the magazine.
Art and Technology
I haven’t blogged in a while, so publishing some tear sheets is way overdue.
This spring’s Merrimack Valley Home Magazine features a story about Lowell’s Whistler House Museum of Art. It’s located right downtown in Lowell, on Worthen Street, and features a nicely kept historic building and grounds, in addition to lots of classic art work.
Neil Boissonneault and his staff at CON-CEPT are the cover story of this month’s CE Pro Magazine, a locally-published techie magazine. In addition to the cover, I had the run of his showroom in order to get lots of gear shots. In the 50s through the 70s, my father had a television store, so I enjoyed talking with Neil about some of the old products and how they compare to today’s technology.
Sheila Harrity on the Cover of Principal Leadership Magazine
Principal Leadership Magazine asked me to go to Worcester Technical High School, in Worcester, Massachusetts, to photograph Principal Sheila Harrity, the 2014 MetLife/NASSP National High Principal of the Year for their cover story. Such an amazing place and such an amazingly charismatic and engaging person. Walking through the halls as she guided our tour of the impressive facility, Sheila engages with every student that she can in these brief encounters. They seem to really respect and appreciate her dedication as well as the resources that are made available to them in such an impressive school. Some of the story is on-line here.
The Latest from the Valley
The January/February 2014 issue of the Merrimack Valley Magazine is on the news stands. We had fun shooting the cover and some of the accompanying article at my studio at Western Avenue Studios. I also had the opportunity to meet two small business owners in Andover and North Andover. I can only give you a teaser here, so go out and get the magazine... Yes, now. Go ahead!
From High Above Portsmouth
In October of this year, while shooting for the Portsmouth, New Hampshire edition of Around Town in New England magazine, I had the unusual opportunity to climb, literally, the steeple at the North Church to see the workings of its amazing clock. The magazine features a specific town in each issue and I have been doing the bulk of the photography for it for several issues. The latest issue features Portsmouth, NH. I grew up near Portsmouth and went to high school in nearby Dover, NH. Suffice it to say that Portsmouth has changed a great deal since then, and in a very good way. A beautiful, bustling downtown, full of restaurants, coffee shops, galleries and other small shops. You can check out the magazine on-line here: http://issuu.com/samray/docs/portsmouth
The clock in the steeple though is something to see, although not many people are allowed to ascend the stairs and eventually, ladders. I hope I can give you a hint of what it was like with these shots.
North Church, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
The view from the roof of the North Church, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
