Monday, October 13, 2008

Monkeys, Tequila & Cigarettes






Model: The Amazing Ms. Jane
Hair & Make Up: Alexandra Jackson


Jane, Jane, Jane........ I love photographing Jane. From talking to other photographers I have found that everyone has one person they particularly enjoy photographing. A muse of some sorts, someone that not only clicks well with you but also fits your style. Jane is that for me. She fits my style perfectly, gets my directions and again, I'm always amazed at how different she looks once I bring her into my world. Alex did a great job with hair and make up she created exactly what I had in my mind.

The day started off as a bit of a disaster. I wanted those pointe ballet shoes and the plan was to go buy a used pair while Alex was doing Janes hair. I jumped in a cab only to get stuck in bumper to bumper traffic with no way to cross over to the westside do to a damn parade. Seriously it's like whenever i'm in a major rush there's a parade...... Anyway, I got out and ran over to the store only to find it was closed for construction. I ended up finding point shoes at another place but it was a hassle. When I got back I still had to staple on the ribons and spray paint them black because they only come in pink.

Anyway...... monkeys, tequila and cigarettes...... I believe that sums up this last shoot.

Jane Part Deux




Model: Jane
Hair & Make Up: Alexandra Jackson

This was shot in the elevator in Harlem. The elevator is normally locked up. When I saw it was open I knew I wanted to take a few shots in there. Jane was a tad nervous about getting in that old, rattly elevator but was a good sport as always. Lighting was a bit of a challenge because it is rather dark in that hallway and I only had a very limited amount of space. After a few tests I decided to stick with the lens flare effect.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Home Sweet Home


I got to spend a few days at home on our alp. Every time I go home I forget just how amazing it is. I usually visit in August because it gets cold in October...... and cold it was. I decided to hike up to the Sandhubel Mountain. The Sandhubel is about 2800m above sea level, it's quite a hike, takes about 4 hours one way. I used to run around in that area when I was a kid. For some stupid reason I opted for bringing all my camera equipment. I definitely had too much crap with me, my shoulders were killing me as I was climbing up.

You can usually count on crossing paths with a fair amount of animals. Groundhogs, mountain goats and capricorn are generally in that area. This time, I'm guessing because it was late in the season, I saw nothing. I hiked all day and didn't see any animals (besides some birds) and as usual no people at all. It's pretty amazing to just spend an entire day outdoors in this scenery all by yourself. Kind of feels like being on another planet. I love the isolation.

The problem with photographing these kind of places is that you often simply don't get a true sense of the scale nor how steep some of the places are (unless you have a foreground object to reference). But I like how textural and almost abstract these landscapes can become.

The house on the lower left used to be a diary farm.



The white and red paint on the rock is what tells you that you're still heading in the right direction. Sometimes the markers are spaced pretty far apart which I would think could be confusing to hikers.



Since I dragged my damn tripod all the way up I figured I may as well use it for at least one shot. Me.


The colors are so odd........ the purple in the back and the green rocks but this is the way it looks. Sigh.....wish I was there right now.