Not just any gym

Last week I worked with independent film maker, Bridget Driscoll, of Mill City Studios, photographing her at the famous West End Gym, in Lowell, Massachusetts. We were after environmental portraits of her shot in this unique location where she has been documenting the gym, the owners, staff and athletes, and how they all contribute to the community.

Mill City Studios produces all kinds of videos for the academic, business and public service markets. The idea with these shots was to put Bridget in the ring, a central theme of the studio's made-for-TV documentary, "Fighters: Road to the Golden Gloves".  I also had the pleasure of meeting the gym's owner, Art Ramalho, and seeing the location first hand. I can attest that this is not a movie set, but the real thing. I really wanted to capture the real look of the gym, so nothing in the scenes was moved and I lit Bridget without gels and allowed plenty of ambient light into the shots so that I could get the color of the fluorescent lights around her.

Bridget Driscoll at The West End Gym in Lowell, MassachusettsAn environmental portrait of Bridget Driscoll at the West End Gym

Showing ourselves

I've never been good at self-portraits. It's the running from behind the camera to in front of it, and back again until I'm are ready to find a 4th career. (Not really Amy, just kidding!) I used to have a self-portrait on my web site, until my son said: 'you're a portrait photographer and the shot of you stinks.' He's very good at bursting my bubble. :-)  Then I took one where I stood in for a greycard test and cropped it half-way across my face..you know the shot. We all do it.

So I finally convinced my son, mister Leica/Hasselblad/film guy to shoot my portrait for my web site. He humored me and shot some with his D200, but also shot some Hasselblad ones where we set up the lights as a tribute to Jousuf Karsh. One of those is on my 'info' page now (http://www.adrienbisson.com/about). Not exactly Karsh quality, but cool just the same.

So my wife, Amy, who does a calendar for her family every Christmas, convinced me to photograph the two of us for that purpose. We were both tired enough so that we were beyond caring. And maybe that's why they seemed to actually work this time. Plus, having her in the shot made the mechanics of a self-portrait much easier; you know, focusing, framing, etc.  Working tethered and seeing the images come up didn't hurt.

What's a portrait without funny outtakes?

Not just another corporate headshot

...It never really is. Who wants to just paint by the numbers? Every subject is unique and you need to approach every person and their shoot differently. You want to get a special look or gesture that seems to be the special thing about that person.

I recently worked with the excellent graphic designer, Geralyn Miller on one such project with Anthony, a finance guy. It was a lot of fun! Anthony is a great guy, and I think it comes across in the shots. We worked in the renovated 19th century mill building where Geralyn works, and Anthony was very patient as we dragged stuff from place to place looking for just the right atmosphere.

Geralyn took her own shots between holding light stands ;-) Got to love shooing on a staircase!

Kerry can be serious...really!

Lindsey's friend Kerry came in to be photographed too. Kerry is a commercial landscaper and is one of the happiest people that I know. I wanted portraits of Kerry to capture that aspect of her, but I also wanted to get a range of emotions because she seems to have an inner happiness that comes through no matter what her demeanor may be at any given moment.

But this is the Kerry we know!

My Halloween Resolution

I've been struggling for quite a while with my blog and all of the other social media that we all are telling ourselves we need to exploit. The thing is, I am constantly thinking that I need to say something profound, compelling, deep... or be the expert at something. But then I start to think about my audience. All photographers love and appreciate the praise of other photographers and want to be thought of as someone who does what they do well. But we also know that other photographers aren't exactly our "target" audience. It's great to have their attention, and all attention to a blog has a beneficial effect on our search engine rankings. But the people we really want to interest are the ones who may hire us to continue creating that work that got us the attention in the first place. Right? Be honest!

So I'm not going to play the expert. I know stuff. But that isn't my point here. The reason that I blog is to show off my work and to hopefully create interest in what I do, so that I might do it for someone. So here's my Halloween Resolution, the concept of which I think I just invented: come to my blog to see my work, whatever it may be at any given time. There may be no point to the blog entry other than the fact that I want to show off something that I have created. There may be words. Maybe not. I will have event-related posts, as I have done, and I may have guest bloggers (email me if you are interested). But it's about the pictures!

Lindsey's an aspiring photographer. I don't think she understood why I wanted to photograph her. It seemed clear to me.

The Massachusetts Poetry Festival 2009 - In Lowell

I was fortunate to be The Cultural Organization of Lowell's photographer for this past Saturday's events at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. If you missed it this year, definitely check it out next. I will freely admit that poetry was never compelling to me when I was in school, but I found attending several of the venues at the festival very moving. I think if more people could experience some of this they would come away with similar feelings.

The events take place in locations around downtown Lowell, and are within easy walking distance from one another. The evening session was the highlight of the day, featuring readings by four student poets as well as four acclaimed ones: Robert Pinsky, Louise Gluck, Anne Waldman and Afaa Weaver.

But enough of this... the rest of this post are some images from the day's events, which I hope you will enjoy.

If you attended, please feel free to share your comments!

The Mass Poetry Festival welcomes visitors in Lowell

Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky    

Poet Afaa Weaver reading his works.

Robert Pinsky & Louise Gluck, both former Poet Laureates.

The Space

I was recently asked to photograph the interior of a great new space at Western Avenue, in Lowell, Massachusetts, called, appropriately, The Space. It bills itself as "New England’s Premier Rehearsing and Recording Studio". The developers have seemingly spared no expense to refit the building adjoining Western Avenue Studios, which was part of the old industrial-age mill complex.

These are shots of the lobby, which has several sitting areas as well as a cafe. The entrance exterior is really an incredible improvement to the neighborhood!

There are a number of rehearsal rooms, and there is a recording studio, which is still under construction.

Once the studio is completed, I will post those shots here are well. For more information on their project and the facility, go to The Space web site: http://inthespace.net

2009 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Boston

Last Sunday, my wife, her friend from work, her friend's daughter, and I had the pleasure to walk in the Boston Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. As is always a risk in October in Boston, it poured the day before the walk. But the rain held off for the Sunday excursion and the temperatures were quite comfortable. That's always a plus!

A special thanks goes to all of those who supported us all. It is truly appreciated!

According to the American Cancer Society web site, the Boston walk involved 40,000 walkers who raised $3.1 million!

Local TV personalities were there to rev up the crowd...

...as were lots of volunteers who encouraged walkers all along the way.

And as the crowds walked...

There was lots of support ...

It's an enjoyable few hours on an autumn Sunday. Maybe we will see you next year!

Keeping the Headshot Fresh

Like it or not, we all change. Change is a part of life. Change is good...right? Well, in any event, it also means that images of ourselves that we show to the world, which are meant to represent ourselves as we are today, need to be updated periodically. We've all seen the business headshot or talent headshot that was either shot in a style that looks dated now or that features the subject at their ideal age - however long ago that might have been. I don't exclude myself from this category! Recently, I had my son, who is a very talented photographer, photograph me for my web site, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. I feel that professional photos of ourselves are an essential part of building an online personality. You can see my new images by checking out any of these sites. Please do! :-) The buttons are to your right.

Last week, one of my favorite Boston area actresses, Kristin Smith, asked me to do just such an update of her acting headshots. She wanted an outdoor setting, so we dodged the raindrops and braved the unbelievable black fly onslaught to get some great stuff. I haven't retouched these headshots, but clearly Kristin needs no improvement!



Now when I say "professional", please don't equate that with "formal", or "school-picture-day" style. While a certain style is often dictated by the usage that you foresee for a portrait, in many contexts, you and your photographer should feel free... be creative! These photos of Kristin are actor headshots, and therefore do need to have a certain look. But they can always have beautiful backgrounds, colors and lighting. Seamless background paper is easy and fairly fool-proof, but there are certainly more interesting ways to handle headshots. When you have your corporate or acting headshot done, definitely get the prerequisite style of shot done. But also try to do several different looks, backgrounds, outfits, and if possible, venues.

Say No to the Ordinary

Senior portraits do not have to be ordinary. They should be whatever you want them to be. Shop around. If your school's official photographer is the best, then go for it! But do your homework. Whether you are a student or a parent, you know that senior pictures are a once in a lifetime event, so why let that event be ordinary?

Use the internet and look at the web galleries of photographers near you. Call them or email them and find out their rates. But know what you want and go get it!

Ask them about their packages. How long will the shoot be? How many shots will you have to choose from? Can you have multiple outfit changes? How many finished images come with their packages, and in what form? What about Facebook/MySpace-ready jpeg files? Can you get more prints later?

Be a good consumer, do your homework, and you'll be happier in the end.