The Truth: I suck at blogging.

There, I said it.

It's been, yes, over a year since I last posted images from a photo shoot. I've always struggled with being consistent in my blogging; I just tend to forget about updating.  

There are several shoots I've done over the past year which I deem blog-worthy, that I intend to share in this blog..."intend" being the operative word, of course.

I'll get around to it. 

In the meantime, I'm still alive and kicking, shooting, creating. Here's a nice little diptych from one of those aforementioned shoots. 

Shot using my Fuji XE-2 with 56mm & 23mm Fuji lenses.

Shot using my Fuji XE-2 with 56mm & 23mm Fuji lenses.

And, by the way, I've been using my FujiX gear a LOT. I'm still very much in love with my little Fuji XE-2 and my two Fuji lenses.

End transmission. (For now.)

The Grownup Noise, Indie-Pop Band | Boston Indie Band Photographer

The last time I photographed this band was back in 2009, when I was just getting started in this business. Since then, The Grownup Noise have added a few new faces to their group. So when Paul and Adam contacted me to do some updated press images for their new album release, I was stoked. We did the shoot on my birthday, a Sunday in early September. (What a great way to spend my birthday, doing what I love while working with a fantastic group of people!) 

The following images are my personal favorites, the "photographer's picks".

I've done shoots in a lot of challenging places and spaces, but I had never done a shoot in a library! So this was a first for me. Shooting in the library was tricky, but fun. We had permission to shoot there, of course, but we still had to be very quiet. A lot of silent screaming and pantomime went on. (The experience was reminiscent of what Jimmy Fallon and The Roots did here, except without the food and the game show host.) My lighting gear had to be pretty minimal, and we needed to be in and out in under an hour.

These guys made my job easy. They had clear ideas of what they wanted to do. The library location idea was all them. Most of the posing was them just playing around and having fun, but I made some tweaks and modifications in order to ensure that their ideas would resonate. 

After the library, we went to location #2:  their rehearsal space in Somerville.

 

The environmental portrait below has a different vibe from the others. It's a bit more dramatic, serious. 

It was the last set up of the day shot in their rehearsal space, a loft in Somerville. The space was bright and urban and messy. But a good kind of mess, you know? The kind of mess that says really good music is being created here. I didn't bother to clear the clutter. I didn't even hide my light stand; I intentionally left it in the shot. This environment, this loft where they work and create, has a special ambiance and so I shot it "as is". I simply illuminated these musicians in their space. 

Many thanks to The Grownup Noise for, once again, choosing me to create your images. It was a pleasure working with you all. You guys rock. 

And thanks to the very friendly staff at the Somerville Public Library for letting us shoot there! 

And a VERY special thanks to my wonderful husband, who, when he learned that my usual assistant wasn't available, graciously agreed to assist me on this shoot. 

Jeffrey Nowlin, Visual Artist | Boston Artist Portrait Photographer

Jeffrey Nowlin is an extremely talented emerging young artist. He works in a variety of media: sculpture, painting, illustration, quilting, printmaking.

This photo shoot was divided into two distinct parts:  1.) We began with environmental portraiture. For the main light, I used a strobe with a CTO gel for the backlight, mimicking natural sunlight streaming through the window. I used also another strobe in a soft box camera right for some fill. Jeffrey is surrounded by his art work, mostly sculpture and some mixed media illustrations, as well as one of his quilts is draped over his legs.  2.) We then moved on to the more conceptual, dramatically lit portraits, in which I created a sort of punk-rock-androgynous look for Jeffrey. Selections of his original art work are being used as backgrounds in many of the images.

The entire shoot took place in his small, rented bedroom in Boston.

 

Environmental Portraiture:  Jeffrey with selected pieces of his work, in his room.

Part II.