Merry Christmas!

I had little faith in Santa this year. Thanks to my family gift exchange, I always know exactly what I am getting for Christmas. But this year I got a super big surprise. My boss gave me a new camera (sorry for the lame picture, but oddly enough I couldn't find anything else to take pictures of with it!) I am crazy excited. I like to say I don't care about material things, but I really wanted this camera! And it's hard to get right now. Luckily somebody didn't pick this one up at the camera store. All we had to do was call in and pick it up. Man, I am crazy excited. I wish I had better lighting (and a better subject) in my house to take better pictures! But considering that shot was taken at 3200 ISO, it's a darn nice picture.

Prop Queen (Inspiration)

Some people call me the prop queen. I'm honored by that. It beats dumpster diver or junk collector or lady with lots of trash. I also love that people bring me props and say "Here, make this work." It's exactly what Michelle did with her big diamond ring that she got at a wedding. I was honored when she said, "If anybody can think of what to do with it, it's you." We had a shoot with Brittany lined up. I had three or four things to do with her already, but the ring intrigued me. It was a challenge indeed. 

It took me a while, but I thought of using it as a brass knuckles. The bride would be beat up with hand tattoos, bad jewelry, wild hair and tough attitude. Luckily, I had a wedding dress in the studio and some backboard tile to put in our studio bathroom. I wrote all over it with lipstick. Michelle did a great job on the black eye and hand tattoos (which say "love" and "hate"). And Brittany did a great job with the attitude. It's my favorite set of the day and the inspiration came from Michelle's ring. 

And for those interested in lighting. It's a three light set up which is amazing considering how small that bathroom is. There's a light with a softbox on her right (sitting on the counter). There's a bare bulb light on the floor about a foot in front of her. There's also a gridded light about two and half feet away aimed at her face. There's barely room for me and the heater (she was freezing) to be in the doorway. I like the harshness of the light and the shadows it created. It fits the mood.

I Do What I Can (Inspiration)

I love this photo. I'm really happy Tony was willing to give it a try for me. I found the lips on a lollipop around Halloween and I didn't have a dollar in my wallet, but I had to have them. I sat them on my desk and waited for something to come to me. I thought of a Mr. Potato Head type of photo, but eyes were going to be difficult. I had no idea what to use that would stick to the real eyes (without causing damage). I had nothing.

Weeks later, my bulbs burned out in my track lights, just two of them. I changed them and sat the burnt out bulbs on my desk. Don't ask why I didn't just throw them away. I don't know why. I don't throw anything out that I can use for a photo shoot. Or I give it a week or two of sitting around and if I can't think of anything, I let it go to the trash bin. It took at least a week before I looked at them and held them up to my eyes. I found the eyes to go with my lips, he would have to hold them up, but I was OK with that.

I wish I knew how or why these things pop into my head, but I don't. I wish more things would pop into my head as people are always asking me to come up with concepts for them. I do what I can with what I have.

Kids

I love photographing kids. Well, sometimes I do. Usually those under 3 can be really difficult and some shoots result in zero good pictures. The trick is to find the right thing to entertain them. I always try to get kids doing something or otherwise, they walk right off set looking for something to do. I lucked out today with this giant box. I had it wrapped as a gift which was OK, but as soon as I opened it up and let her play in it, she was as happy as could be. Apparently boxes are her favorite thing, that and Dora the Explorer.

Ponies on the Lonely Road

Mel wanted to do something really unique for the Lonely Road series. I think she got what she wanted, it's pretty unique. I love the romantic feel of the photo. The clouds were perfect that day and we were shooting around sunset so the low sun added to the romance. I love it when mother nature cooperates.

The pony was quite a ham, after a while he walked right up the suitcase and posed for several shots. I guess they are used to posing for all the tourists that stop to take their pictures. When he got bored, he went right back to that spot (I think he was protected from the wind behind those bushes and trees.)

What you can't see in that photo is the 30 degree weather and the whipping wind. If you turned the camera around on me, you'd see a well wrapped photographer — winter coat, hat, gloves. Mel knew what she wanted and she worked hard to get it. I'm always impressed by that. This is a fantastic addition to the series.

Jenn is Amazing

Jenn walked into my studio four months ago and I did a double take. Is this the girl I've been talking to for eight months about shooting? She looked so different in person. She's beautiful either way, but it's like two different people. I honestly went back to her portfolio and looked for the person who walked into my studio. I saw a resemblance I guess. She was an awesome model and such a neat girl. So when she came back four months later, I just had to shoot with her. Plus she pulled together wardrobe, makeup and hair. People don't want to say no to Jenn and there's a reason for that — she's amazing. 

And there she is. It's 40 degrees outside. The team is all dressed in coats and gloves and she's modeling in a tiny knit dress. You wouldn't know it was so cold. Michelle did makeup and Kymmy did hair, both are such great ladies who are magical with their talent. Rockin Bones (rockinbones.net) provided the wardrobe. We lucked out with the location, the hotel she was staying at was getting rid of their old mattresses. It was a perfect match for the outfit.

On the third set, I couldn't get the lighting right and she stood there in the cold without a single complaint, same for Michelle. I felt rotten! The location was new to me and I just couldn't feel the lighting. Sometimes my zen for lighting fails me - sucks when that happens and it's cold outside and everybody is just waiting for you to get something right.

Jenn really is amazing (as was the whole team) and I think it shows in the photograph.

I Think I've Gone Soft

Don't tell anyone, but I think I've turned into an old softy. Usually my portraits are full of color and contrast and strong lighting. But lately I'm loving the pale and soft. I think it's because I've been so hard on the outside that my soft side has been trying to come through. Sometimes I express a lot more in my style of photography then I think I do. 

Nori did a great job on this shot. Her expression and her hands are pleasingly soft. Her eyes shine in this shot (actually in all the shots, those eyes were made to be photographed). And as luck would have it, that old hat was lying around the studio begging to be used. With Nori's modeling and Melissa's great makeup, this portrait just came together right there in the studio.

I Love Fall

I was so excited to shoot some fall leaves shots outside. And I found the perfect model for it, Brittany. She has such a beautiful smile, she exudes happiness. While she was getting her makeup done, it got gray and rainy. I was so bummed out. We went out to my neighborhood anyway. I was hoping for some sunshine, but it never came out. I had to use my strobes. My shots look like I took them in a studio, like I took all those leaves and put them on some seamless.

I still love the shots, but I wish they looked a little more like nature!

Leave Them Alone!

I probably wouldn't like this picture as much without the story. I mean, it is just pigeons. For me, it brings to life a picture of this woman screaming at me. If I was quick enough, I'd have a picture of her too, but alas, all I have is this picture and the story.

I was in New York City taking some streets shots when somebody starts screaming at me. "Leave them alone. Hey you, leave them alone." I didn't realize she was talking to me until she was right in my face. "You wouldn't have a picture if I didn't just feed them, so why don't you just leave them alone? JUST LEAVE THEM ALONE!"

I immediately stopped taking pictures of them. I left them alone. I didn't want her to get any angrier. No matter what I said to her, it didn't calm her down. And when I was walking away, she was yelling something at me in a foreign language, I think. I had stopped taking the pictures and she still wasn't happy. As it turns out, these were my last shots while I was in New York. I guess I left everybody alone after that.

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

I wish I knew where creativity comes from. People ask me how I come up with my ideas and I really don't know. I wish I did. I wish I could tap into it whenever I wanted to, but I am a slave to my ideas. They control me and sometimes they come weeks before a shoot and sometimes the night before (like this one). But they are very dependent on me seeing the person. I'm not the type of photographer who envisions the model and then goes searching for them. My shoots are very much geared towards the person I am shooting. People spark ideas in me. This shoot, LiiLii wanted to work with her bunny. Fantastic! I've been looking at her pictures for the last two days. I study them to get a feel for her and what she will be comfortable with.

This shoot was lined up for weeks. I was suppose to drive to Baltimore to shoot there, but right before the shoot we decided LiiLii would drive to Alexandria instead. Well, that put a little more control in my court. And I wasn't prepared. So I ask my coworkers, "What kind of setting should I put a model and her bunny in?" Hey, I'm not too proud to take the ideas of others! Someone suggests bunny ears for the model. I think that could be interesting. So I'm off to the party store right before Halloween. Yippee. It so happens that my party store is right next to my grocery store. So I'm driving and singing some goofy old Elvis song when I think about the grocery store and then carrots pop into my head. Bunnies, carrots - it seems logical. And since I love to make jewelry out of food, I think jewelry necklace and she'll be holding the bunny. Wouldn't it be cool if the bunny was eating the necklace? But you can't count on the cooperation of animals; so I'll just put that idea out in the universe and see what the universe gives me back.

I see the bright lighting very clearly in my head. I want to see everything very clearly, very little shadow. I usually don't envision lighting in my head. I feel it when I get to the studio. No kidding. It's kinda zen. But I can almost see this image in my head. White background, orange necklace, super cool LiiLii and bunny lit evenly and perhaps a bit too brightly. Then I wonder if an orange background would be too much. I love a color theme, but I know I take it too far sometimes. I run that around in my head a bit, white seems to be winning.

While I am making the necklace, I start thinking about her hair color. It's black now. Then I remember that I have an orange wig and an orange hat. Orange carrots, orange wig - might be cool. Luckily I have a studio full of crap to pull from. I say luckily, but I collect crap on purpose. It all sits in the back of my head waiting for the right moment to pull it out. I reuse and repurpose a lot of my stuff. I truly believe my inspiration lies in a lot of that crap.

As an aside, I get my jewelry making bug from my Mom. She used to make tons of beaded jewelry so I get tons of supplies and inspiration from her.

So there you have it, my convoluted process of coming up with a shoot idea. Most of the time I'm lucky that the other team members involved will play along with me and take my ideas to the next level. I'm often surprised they don't stare at me and say, "What the heck?"

Lonely Road: Weenie Beenie

The Lonely Road goes to the Weenie Beenie. Surprisingly it wasn't that busy at lunchtime but we did have a lot of day workers as on-lookers. And a few honks and whistles made it all the more fun. Nori is holding an actual Weenie Beenie weenie, but we were all too afraid to eat it. I drive by the Weenie Beenie almost every day but I've never eaten there!

I love that Nori came with her broken hand. And I love that she dressed it down since most of the models want to dress it up. Since I do so much beauty work, I think people have a hard time seeing me as anything other than a beauty photographer. I'd like to change that perception.

I've run out of location ideas (so quickly!) I'll have to drive around and get some ideas for more local landmarks. Being so close to DC, I have the obvious landmarks, but I think I'd like to stick to landmarks that locals would know. I've always loved the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse, maybe I'll put that one on the list.

Lonely Road

In my series, The Lonely Road, I usually picture people alone with the red suitcase. I decided to add other people in the photos to express a loneliness that you feel with people around. I'm not sure if it works. Does this look better with the uninterested people in the background or without them? I'm just not sure.

I'm also going back to adding local interest in the series. I want it to be strongly metro area based. Plus it gives me a chance to use my wide angle lens, which I love but can't use in too many portraits.

I love how this series changes and evolves. Giving the participants free reign to add what they want works really well. It fascinates me to see what people bring and add to the series. All I do is suggest some locations and bring a suitcase, they do the rest.

Here's the entire series. Lonely Road

Audrey Hepburn

My inspiration for this photo is a classic Audrey Hepburn photograph. It's a little different from the original which has sharp, straight on lighting; a large yellow basket-type hat; and Audrey Hepburn, of course. I changed it up a bit with the back lighting; a smaller, whiter hat; and Zaya as the model. I originally shot it with straight on lighting and those look more like the original, but it came to me to try back lighting with a reflector in front of Zaya. I like this version much better. It has a softness that appeals to me.

Hopelessly Devoted

I had another photo session with the cutest little singer. She models, she sings, she dances and she want to be everything in the world when she grows up. The entire session she sang Hopelessly Devoted to You. Now I'm stuck with that song in my head; and when I sing it, it doesn't sound good at all!

I feel lucky that all these multi-talented people have come into my life and they allow me to capture them doing what they love to do. Although they make me feel like I should be doing much, much more!