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Tag Archives: headshot
Sarah and I met at SFO on the way to Europe. In 2006. And we haven’t seen one another since. Small world coincidences worked their magic, and she asked me to take some photos of her this weekend, which I was more than happy to do! The shoot basically amounted to our first (and only, I suppose) in-person catch-up session. The weather was typically summery for San Francisco….blustery, 60′s, and foggy. But we still had lots fun. And who knows, we might hang out again before another 4 years passes.
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Last weekend, a couple of friends and I made the trip to Boulder Colorado to participate in a workshop led by the incredible Tyler Stableford. To say that I love his work would be a huge understatement. I can’t remember in which magazine I first saw his work, but it was a few years ago, when I was just stumbling into photography. If you haven’t already clicked on the link above, you owe it to yourself to spend some time perusing his site. It is amazing.
What I wanted to get out of this workshop were some tips on working with clients and models, some of his processing secrets, and maybe some great shots. But Tyler was so great about taking time to understand where each of us were as photographers and encouraging us to push that boundary. For me, that meant thinking much more about the story that my image composition tells, how each element in an image either enhances or detracts from that story, and developing a process for arbitrating the two. If you cannot already tell, I loved it. I got so much more out of the weekend than I anticipated. And I’m planning to attend Tyler’s next workshop in Arches National Park!
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Dana, your shots are amazing. Mind blowing. That one of the runner striking the ground coming toward you is epic. well done!
Thanks Matt. I appreciate your feedback….especially when it’s positive!!
Can’t help but shake my head and simply say….AMAZING, and that still doesn’t give what I wish I could say justice, because words sometimes just can’t convey the emotion evoked from such images, but that is what my limited vocabulary can come up with…breathtakingly beautiful images.
This weekend I met and photographed New Jersey-based recording artist Ant Grant and his producer, Tomas Ramos. Thanks to Akintayo Adewole, one of my closest friends and Creative Director of Akande Music, for making the introduction. Ant is a phenomenal subject and an even better guy. After the first couple shots, it was obvious he had done it before. In addition to being a recording artist, Ant is an actor, and was immediately comfortable in front of the camera. I could write a lot…a whole lot…about what I learned on this shoot. I experimented with shooting into the sun with high speed sync, was saved a couple of times by my new Lastolite diffusers/reflectors, pushed my flashes to the limit on a rooftop in 90-degree weather, stood on the ledge of a 5-story building to gey an intersection into the background, wished I had brought water (several times), pined for a Hoodman Loupe so that I could see my LCD in the blazing sun, fell even more in love with my 24-foot ETTL cable, and was VERY thankful that I bought the third set of 4 rechargeable AA’s. Actually, there’s a lot more that I learned on the photography side, but the best part of the day was meeting Ant, Thomas, and their manager, Darren. Yesterday was a timely reminder of how good it feels to be surrounded by like-minded Black males who are as passionate about their art as I feel I am about photography. A fantastic day. I’m looking forward to doing it again. And Ant does smile…I have pictures to prove it.
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That sun flare, third image down?
OOF.
BEAUTIFUL work.
K.
Great work bro you are truly awesome man it was a lot of fun working with you. The time will come when we will be doing this on a major level and we’ll get back together like it’s nothing man all fun and jokes while creating a master piece…
Wow, the photos turned out great man.
HOTNESS!
This weekend I attended a lighting workshop with Canon speedliter Syl Arena. Actually it was much more a seminar than a workshop in that I took exactly zero pictures. But it was great for reinforcing some of the stuff that I’d picked up about lighting over the past couple of years. My kit doesnt come close to scratching the surface of what Syl carries in his gearbag. Probably never will. But that didn’t stop me from coming home and trying to rig up some relatively elaborate (with my normal lighting scheme as the baseline) setup to get a shot that I had been thinking about since seeing reading Joe McNally’s book The Hot Shoe Diaries. Both Syl and McNally are lighting savants, and if I ever thought either would come within 100 mouseclicks of my blog, I wouldn’t dare attach his name to this attempt in any way. The image didn’t live up to the lofty goals I had for it when it was just in my head. But this is what you get when you have two speedlites with no wireless trigger and have to bounce a pre-flash signal around a corner and down a hallway with the help of reflectors, mirrors, and foamcore. I definitely had it coming.
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Should NOT have read this before going to bed. Please don’t have nightmares, please don’t have nightmares, please don’t … !!!
Very nice! Now you have to post the setup shot for your signal bounce … reflectors, mirrors and foamcore? That’s commitment. 
You captured me at “reflectors, mirrors and foamcore.” The dramatic lighting works for me. I’m still debating with myself who is after who. Sleeping with the lights on tonight for sure.
BTW, thanks for coming to the Speedliter’s Intensive.
I’ve always wanted to be called a “savant”… without the obligatory “idiot” in front of it. Thx for that too.
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I love these – ESP. The NYC street shot. Bio , machine, concrete all ensnarled w colors and heat. Really good.
Being an old school photographer that goes way back before digital was even a possibility on anyone’s mind, I find your photography wonderful and refreshing. So often the photography being produced today is just about what can I do with it after I’ve snapped some picture. You have an excellent mix of pre-visualization with enough digital post to add a wow factor without it becoming the whole purpose of the image. I love your work!