Young Cannibals

Week 12

Gianfranco
March 26, 2010

One of the coolest things I get to do as a photographer right now is to shoot for Content Magazine, a Life & Style Magazine for and by the people of San Jose. It was on assignment for Content that I captured the image above... probably my favorite from the whole evening. I was covering The Young Cannibals Art Show, a collection of work from a very talented sub-culture of artists in San Jose working out of two downtown industrial buildings.

The show featured paintings, drawings, multi-media and music from a wide range of inspirations. The image above is of Gianfranco Paolozzi, playing the accordion as one of the several musical guests for the evening. Though not showing his work at this show, Gianfranco is an established visual artist himself, the subject of an upcoming Content article, and an engaging and pleasant person to be around.

I'm finding more and more how much I enjoy shooting people. (With a camera mind you, in case anyone was confused). The expressions that can be captured have so much to say about the person, the environment they are in, and their mood... I daresay they can even affect the viewer's mood. I look at the image above, and I want to get a glass of wine and start dancing.

Hope you enjoy the photograph as much as I have.

Engaged...

Week 11

Engaged
March 21, 2010

This week I was given the privilege of shooting Engagement photos for Sarah and Stevan, a fun and loving couple that have asked me to shoot their wedding in August. It's a humbling experience to be involved in any way in someone's wedding. This day is arguably the most important day in each of these two peoples' lives, and it's a joyful experience to witness... an honor to be a part of.

One of the things that I enjoy about shooting Engagement photos is the time I get to spend with the couple. If I already know them well, it's a great chance to have some fun and spend some quality time with them. If I don't know them as well, its the perfect opportunity to get to know them a bit! Nothing like a camera to bring out or reveal peoples' personalities :).

Sarah and Stevan had never done a professional photography session before, and I think they had more fun than I did :). Super-easy to work with, and totally open to all my suggestions, they made the day super-fun, and allowed us to capture some great images for them to have, share, and remember this time in their lives together.

Thanks Sarah & Stevan! Can't wait for the wedding....

30 Minutes of Sun

Week 10

30 Minutes of Sun
March 12, 2010

This week I was hired by an old friend to come and shoot a very special celebration in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Though I'd been to Miami several times, I'd not ventured up the short 30 miles to Ft. Lauderdale, and welcomed the chance to go and see this beautiful town. The trip was brief, just 2 days in all, and I found that I'd hit the tail end of a gloomy and cool week.

Fortunately, I was a guest in the home of a friend who lives in a condo just steps away from one of the wide, sandy beaches of South Florida. So when the weather broke for just a few minutes, I took the opportunity to walk out onto the beach, enjoy the sights of clear blue water and palm trees, and take in the invigorating smell of the ocean. The wide, private beach was empty, save a couple beach-walkers off in the distance, a Hobie-Cat catamaran, some chairs and the hammock you see above.

While the break in the clouds only lasted 30 minutes, and the strong winds promised a distant wall of rain was coming my way, I had time to get a few shots, including the one above. I did have to scamper off the beach fairly quickly to avoid getting dumped on, and so had limited images to pick from when I decided I wanted to use a beach shot for Week 10. In fact, besides the event I was hired to shoot, these few shots I got between the rains were the only ones I captured while I was in Ft. Lauderdale....

Definitely on my list of places to return, I found Ft. Lauderdale to have a small-town vibe despite its' size, and felt welcomed everywhere I went by friendly, helpful, and laid-back people. So to any of you that I met while I was there, and may be looking at this now, thank you!

As always, I hope you enjoy the image, and wish you a great week!

Drip

Week 9

Drip
March 8, 2010

Sometimes you don't get the shots you want. Or you don't want the shots you get. Sometimes accidents are the best shots, and sometimes, often even, experimentation gives you images you wouldn't otherwise be fortunate enough to capture. That was the case this week. I'd done several shoots the last 7 days, and while I was happy with all of them in one way or another, I didn't feel like I had the image I wanted for Week 9's installment of 52Photos.

So I carried my camera around the home and looked for what was under my nose... or in this case, under my faucet. I used the pop-up flash on my camera and big 2.8 aperture, and in just a few clicks of the shutter captured this moment.