last frame, Port Jeff shoot

Stuck on our magazine shoot set after school,  watching their mom (our subject) at the end of a long grey day. As avid Top Model fans, they knew how to take over art direction ! Smize, everyone.

contrast

Gotta say this about Bobo, he exposes well.

Our old dog has so much long black hair, he sucks in all the light. No shadow detail at all. Photographer's nightmare.

everything auld is new again

This image so says 1970's to me.  Tri-X push processed to 1600, with corners burnt in.  While opening the enlarger Fstop all the way. I can practically smell the fixer.
If it wasn't for the laptop, which wasn't even invented then.
Gotta love post-processing.

Happy 2011! Here's to a year full of new, old, pushed and pulled, reprocessed, rediscovered and newly adventured.

in which she really does shoot sheep

 

If you've poked through my She Shots Sheep Shots portfolio, or seen my book Shear Spirit, you know I am smitten with the woolly. So you know I was happy last week in upstate NY for a personal project, where I bartered bed &  breakfast for photographing on Gansvoort Farm, a grass fed sheep & cattle farm.

Two days later, in Athol Massachusetts on a magazine assignment to The Farm School. Sheep, locavore food, communal harvest. Farming's a lot of work, but shooting it? That's my kind of labor.

take me out to an upgrade

When I get a call from a university alumni magazine, I  never know what I might be photographing.  Celebrities, brilliant scientists, explorers, authors, could be any kind of subject. Unlike consumer mags these days, I often see images run full page, in spreads and as photo essays. How much do I love these clients? Much.

That's how I found myself photographing a Vintage Fantasy Baseball League game in bucolic Sandy Hook, CT. The shoot was fun, the subjects passionate about their slightly eccentric hobby,  the editor and designer are happy. 

Custom replica 1860's baseball gear for the game

My MVP wasn't on the field though. It's my upgrade to a faster newer computer and Aperture 3.0. Mostly the Aperture 3.0 I forgot that image processing didn't have to be a teeth grinding, computer-freezing annoyance.  Suddenly working on images is fun again. When I got finished processing the big TIFFs for the magazine, I changed the files to look all faded and vintagey, as you see here. For funs. Because I felt like it. It's not that I'm using their presets for vintage (although I think they have one, it's just not that look I wanted).  But I have more speed and the new adjustment and filtering tools in Aperture. Home run. Score! And, lots of other sports metaphors.

timeline

One of three images I'm exhibiting & donating to the Arts Council of Greater New Haven fundraiser, Somewhat Off the Wall. I like supporting local arts organizations. Used to be I'd spend a whole day or so in the darkrooom making just the right prints for this annual event.
But this image was made simply. I'm not even going to talk about how simply.  I was feeling guilty about how little processing & fussing went on. Then I thought, maybe it's not the time in front of the monitor today but the years getting ready to see this moment.
Oooooooooh. Only Zoltar knows.

on saying YES

A few years ago I read a life changing interview.  It was, improbably, an interview with Tina Fey about switching from being a writer to a performer.  What it really was about, was letting yourself go and saying yes to opportunities, no matter how odd or challenging or curious they appear when presented. Since then, my photography, my business and my life are a lot more fun.

 

So when a neighbor asked if I wanted to drop by and photograph her chickens in their new hats, there was only one way to answer: Hell yes!