Mixed Emotions About Sushi – Except When Shooting It

11 10 2008

As an underwater photographer who has a love for the creatures and beauty of life in the ocean, I have major mixed emotions about sushi. I love sushi, but have been very selective on which types I eat due to the environmental threats to species like Tuna – yes Tuna – they’re almost gone folks! Especially “Toro” or the fatty Tuna, which comes from Blue Fin, the most threatened of all the world Tuna species.

Anyway, we were eating in our local sushi spot the other day and I was watching the owner struggle with her little point & shoot camera to capture the beauty of a particular sashimi dish the chef just made. I happened to have my D3 and two speedlights with me, so I offered to shoot it for her. I arranged a nice background and voila – not bad for 10 minutes during lunch. We’re going to schedule a full blown photo shoot now to capture all the amazing sushi art that this particular chef creates. he is truly skilled!





Mares Dive Equipment Shoot

27 09 2008

Earlier this year we did a shoot for Mares scuba diving equipment (a division of Head USA). It was a tough shoot done on location in Indonesia. We picked a really hot day to do this particular shoot, which added a lot of stress to the model (Wendy). The image below is one of my favorites from the day. Beyond other uses,  I just learned that it will be an 8′ panel on the Mares booth at the big scuba diving industry trade show in Vegas coming up in October. I’m looking forward to seeing it in a large format.





What Underwater Photographers Do When Not Underwatwer

14 09 2008

Something about water always draws me in, usually quite literally. – diving in scuba gear or in a pool. But today I’m sitting at home with no access to the ocean, a pool, models, or anything underwater. So while I was admiring some strawberries for breakfast this morning, I decided to incorporate one of them into a quick underwater studio shot. The original idea was to fill a glass halfway with vodka and drop the strawberry in. I figured that something about the viscosity of vodka would look cooler than the water, but it was early in the morning and I wasn’t about to drink the vodka after the shot, so I just went with water rather than wasting half a glass of Kettle One or Gray Goose. Cheers!





Underwater Photo Shoot – Modern Angel

8 09 2008

It gets too cold in New York to shoot in an outdoor pool past September, so I just booked an indoor pool every Sunday for the next 3 months. Stay tuned for more underwater fashion and advertising shoots this fall and winter. Until then, join me in reflecting on my last underwater shoot…

Modern Underwater Angel

Modern Underwater Angel





Hip Hop PR Shoot

27 08 2008

I did this shoot a couple of weeks ago, but was just going through the selects. This is Bateria, a Latin hip hop artist from Brooklyn via Medellin Columbia. Bateria is an old school rap artist who is part of a new group called House of Repz, they just got a recording contract and shot a video for their first single 5 Faces of Death,  produced by superstar hip hop producer DJ Premier. I shot a series of PR shots for Bateria, and will be doing so for House of Repz shortly.

Bateria

Bateria

If you’re a hip hop fan, you can check out the new track here:





Ok, I Had To Try The “Dave Hill” Look

25 08 2008

Gotta pay homage where it’s due and Dave Hill has a kick ass style from his lighting to his post processing. There’s a bunch of info out there on how to get “the Dave Hill look”, but I chose a different method. Not quite there yet – but guarantee I’ll figure it out, not to replicate another photographer’s style, but just as an exercise in lighting and post processing skills. Dave if you’re reading this – serious props – you have mastered your style brother!

Anyway, here’s my first attempt. Granted – a little over processed – the lighting is tight and it’s a great shot without the processing, but I am trying to nail this…. I will update the blog next week with more.





In a New York State of Mind

23 08 2008

These days I always carry a few speedlights and light stands around in the car – just in case.

Ironically, as we were on the way to get some of the best pizza in Brooklyn, I saw this stone wall and thought it would make a great background, especially with a colored gel for the background. Wendy was wearing her Brooklyn sweatshirt and NY Yankees cap, and it all clicked.

Shot with 3 Nikon speedlights, 1 colored gel, 3 light stands, and many funny looks from Brooklyn bypassers…

NY State of Mind

NY State of Mind

NY State of Mind

NY State of Mind





Digital Workflow Seminar in New York

20 08 2008

I’m presenting a digital work flow presentation to the New York Underwater Photographic Society on Sept 2nd. Although the seminar is geared towards underwater photographers, it focuses on issues and approaches that are common for all digital photographers. More information can be found on the NYUPS website.

Recently I have become a huge fan of Lightroom. The 2.0 release really stepped up the software and it has become my primary workflow and editing tool. Granted, there are still plenty of reasons to go into Photoshop, but I’d say that 75% of my work is now being done in Lightroom.

For me, the less time I can sit in front of a computer editing and the more time I can focus on shooting, the better. I have a 5 minute rule. Basically it goes a little something like this…If in 5 minutes you can’t get your image to 80% of where you ultimately want it to be, then it was not captured properly in the first place. Of course the additional 20% may take a lot longer, but I’ve found that the 5 minute rule is a good one.  Like most things in life, photo editing follows the Pareto Principle (aka “the 80/20 rule”).

The seminar will focus on the steps of workflow from capture through backup, displaying or selling your images.





Kicking Off The New Website & Blog

18 08 2008

At what point does a person manage too many websites and blogs? Maybe when you realize that it’s 7:55am and you have been up all night working online and haven’t went to sleep yet? Nah! A little sleep deprivation never killed anybody???

Anyway – welcome to my newest blog, dedicated to my photographic journey and adventures. I will try to keep it fairly up to date, but recommend that you sign up for the RSS feed so that you can receive updates as they are sporadically published – from the road, from the studio, from internet cafes in paradise, from my mobile device on runways, or wherever the lens and work takes me. Hang on for the ride, I’ll try to keep it interesting!