July 22nd, 2010

Visit the Gallery to see all images and order prints.

An Entire Week of Wedding Celebration

John & Katie are old college friends. This wedding was an amazing opportunity to document the entire wedding experience rather than just the ceremony and reception. The week started in SE Ohio with a bachelor party kicked off with a round of golf at Brass Ring Golf Course in Logan, Ohio. The bachelor party then headed to “Barton Meadow Lodge” a nearby Rental Cabin for two days of canoeing, board games, and libations. Returning to NE Ohio the entire wedding party met for a rehearsal at Rockport United Methodist Church where a minister from the bride’s childhood came out of retirement to guide them through the next day’s ceremony. Afterwards the families met each other, many for the first time, at Behind the Woods restaurant in Cleveland. The bride’s heritage is largely Irish, and the family and groom had recently taken a trip to Ireland, and brought back with them a love of Meade (honey wine) and a traditional Irish toast. The next morning I joined the bride at her Bridal suite at the Marriott to document the preparation of the bridal party. With only a few snaffus we made it to the church on time and the wedding went off without a hitch (though everyone got a good laugh when the minister managed to mispronounce the couple’s new last name). We took formal photos around the church (including the playground) and headed to Progressive Field (formerly Jacob’s Field) where the Cleveland Indian’s mascot Slider and a live Irish band helped the couple celebrate their first evening of marriage.

May 26th, 2010

I have been asked by Марина Джигарханян the Head of the Department of Contemporary Art at the “Manege” Central Exhibition Hall, to exhibit my bodyscape collection at the Saint-Petersburg Photo Vernissag. This invitation-only photo exhibit, will be hung in September 2010 in St. Petersburg Russia. For the selection of my images to show I am going to depend heavily upon the process of social selection.

Here is the theme of the show (note: English is a 2nd language for the curator):
At the heart of fashion lies an individual style, and her world – a self-contained space, absorbing a wide range of phenomena. Through them a man expresses his attitude to external forms of culture: lifestyle, serving and table manners, cars, clothing, thus trying to show their place in society, their sexuality, location, class, status level and belonging to a particular group. Photocamera gives us an opportunity to capture different aspects of fashion, its endless cyclicism and change of artistic images, which always embody the era image in a clothing. This subject gives participants a wide opportunities for philosophical reflections and artistic self-expression.
Click Here to view the images and cast your vote.

May 22nd, 2010

See More of Erin and John’s Big Day

May 12th, 2010

What is a portrait? Does the subject have to be facing you? Must they be the only one in the frame? How much of the frame does the person have to take up to be a “portrait”? Do they have to be looking at the camera? Do you have to be able to see their face?

I remember these questions coming up in a commercial photography class when I was studying photography at Ohio University. During the class we were required to take a “non-traditional portrait”.

This last weekend I accidentally relived this class. I had a camping trip with a group of 30 friends and took my camera along with no real goals – just to have it with me for whatever struck me. It was only after the trip when I sat down to edit the images that I realized that 90% of the shots were portraits. When I say this I don’t just mean that 90% of the images had a person in them – having a person in the picture does not make it a portrait. I mean that 90% of the frames captured something interesting I saw in their personality, mannerisms, or character.

I owe an enormous amount to the work of Stephen Kennedy, from whom the style of several of these images is blatantly lifted (hopefully with my own additional style mixed in).

See all my portraits from this trip

January 12th, 2010

This is the view of my new loft from December 31, 2009 to January 2, 2010.

Music by www.thomasdanewagener.com

December 23rd, 2009

This weekend I took Trapeze lessons in downtown Miami.

It made for a great time, and some compelling images. The images below of myself were taken by my friend Chez. All the other photos are, of course, mine.

November 15th, 2009

I’ve been sky diving before. Once in Australia and once in Ohio.

It’s just as intense the third time.

My friend Marcos trying to explain how it felt to be in the air hurtling towards the earth at terminal velocity.

Check out my snapshots after the jump

October 17th, 2009

Tom Manos is a top notch attorney working in entertainment law. He is revamping his website and contacted me to shoot some general purpose images of him. I can’t say enough good things about Tom. Even from casual interaction it’s clear that he is very concerned with the well-being of his clients.

September 27th, 2009

This weekend I let go of technology (except of course my camera!) and went on a Canoe and Camping trip to Peace River.

What a fantastic way to spend the weekend.

See All the Photos After the Jump

September 11th, 2009

Before working more on TJ and Jess’ wedding I took a break to work up some images I took after the wedding. These images are from a beautiful graveyard located next to Hale Farm and Village.

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August 22nd, 2009

On the way to Ohio and back to shoot Maria and Austin’s Engagement Portraits I was blessed with an unusually beautiful flight.

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July 30th, 2009

I celebrated the anniversary of the Birth of America this year on the streets of South Beach’s Ocean Avenue. Those of us that live in South Beach are rarely found on Ocean Avenue it was nice to spend an evening in the shoes of the tourists.

The blurring in these images are from long exposures (the camera is taking the picture for several seconds).

July 30th, 2009

Courtesy of my friend Cameron Davidson I have acquired a Holga lens in a Canon Lens mount (he sent it to me in exchange for the Community Coalition for Haiti which he supports).

Holga is a historical camera which was originally made to be incredibly inexpensive. Many photographers (especially those who began photography before the ultra-clean days of digital) are endeared by the Holga’s soft dreamy appearance.

Canon mount Holga lenses are available from HolgaMods.com.

Because the Canon sensor (it’s “film”) is physically smaller than the medium format film for which the Holga was originally designed the images do not exhibit the characteristic strong vignetting.

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June 24th, 2009

On any given day it is very likely that my parents, my brother, my sister in law, my brother, my sister in law, and I are all in different states. So it is a rare treat for us all to be together. To have three of my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, and my 14 year old newphew added to the group was just pure delight.

My visit was arranged as a glorified layover on my MIA-CLT-PHX-CLT-PIT-CLE-MIA-ATL-MIA-DAL-MIA circuit (all in two weeks). Still those few hours were very special. The big surprise of the day came when both my sister and sister-in-law announced they were each pregnant! The clan’s future now seems secure.

I often find my photographic creativity and my general mood go hand in hand. In this case I think the images show the relaxed, happy, and sentimental mood I was in throughout most of the day.

A Full Gallery of Images After the Jump

June 24th, 2009

Landscape photography is all about composition and light. After all the subject isn’t going anywhere. The mountains, rocks, and canyons have been there for millennium and will be there for millennium to come. When the light isn’t right the frustration can be hair-pulling. Since there are often only a few days in the entire workshop a single bad day for light often means hours of “wasted” driving and setup.

But when life gives you rain, make rain-aid. The below shot of the rain was taken at the Horseshoe Canyon; while not as colorful and dynamic as the shot I arrived to take I think it does hold meaning. Photography is many things to many people; to me the best photography evokes an emotion.

This image is a metaphor for all the frustration and disappointment of real life. Each drop is a set back and the out of focus clouds are that hard-to-shake vague sense of impending doom often found in the depravity of modern life.

A More Optimistic Foul Weather Shot After the Jump