Livingstone College Fashion Show: 11.19.09

This was not strictly a fashion show, but mixed with performances and interpretive dances related to political issues and current events. The producers used duct tape over the mouths of the models during certain portions of the show as a parallel statement which related to the topics presented during an adjunct multimedia presentation. Normally low light situations of this type call for the use of a flash, but it was interesting to experiment with what the existing light could do and what effects it could produce.

Nikon D40/55-200mm f/5.6, 18-55mm f/5.6/ISO 800

Giuliano Bekor

Giuliano Bekor is a very, very famous fashion photographer based in Los Angeles.

I have no words.

Robert Toth: Cultivation of the Individual

Stills from the documentary "Cultivation of the Individual" by JG Media LLC, 09.13.09. Robert Toth explains his journey as an individual in a more or less chronological account of his challenges and successes from childhood to his present position of artistic distinction. Mr. Toth relays his experience overcoming many setbacks inflicted upon him by the public school system--by means of its failure to cultivate the creatively gifted--while employing more formulaic teaching methods for linear minds, and thus leaving young artists as individuals to embark on their own lifelong journey to find themselves through creative expression.

A link to the promo video for this documentary is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4usn8LDg0Y

Nikon D40/55-200mm 5.6/ISO 200/f5.6-11 (as sun descended) @ 1/250/ambient

Historic Reenactment: Livingstone College Commemorative Classic

These are stills I took during the shooting of a Historical Reenactment promotional video for the Livingstone College Commemorative Classic: LC vs. Smith October games. Recently I have been working for Joe Girdler of JG Media, a videographer in Salisbury, NC, as a PA/photographer.

The Reenactment commemorates the first Livingstone college football team and their games in the late 1920s. Joe shot this at the Transportation museum in Spencer, NC. The original train ride of the team was in the winter of that year, and September in North Carolina usually does not resemble that, but luckily the weather was overcast that day and helped invoke a cooler atmosphere. The final version of the promotional video will be in a sepia tone, so I used the black and white versions for this website as a comparison. These guys did a great job and the photos turned out great too.

Nikon D40/ISO 200/55-200mm 5.6/ambient overcast skylight/f/8@ 1/250

Copy Work: Alan's Drawings

My brother Alan is a very talented artist and wanted me to archive his sketches. I was excited because I hadn't been given the chance to do that type of work since photography school. I love it simply because I can be a studio lighting, metering and leveling nazi with the setup and it's perfectly acceptable. Eventually these images and many others will make it to a website that I will create for him. He's leaving in a few weeks to attend a mechanical engineering university in Phoenix and we both agreed that a career in designing concept cars is, for him, a real possibility. When we were younger we competed for our parents attention with artwork--his is more mechanical in nature while mine always leaned toward the abstract.

The image which is in both color and b/w was altered to monochrome by me per Alan's request--he felt he needed a version of the drawing that resembled it before he applied the color to decide which he liked best.

Nikon D40/ISO 200/f8 @ 1/80, two tungsten lamps at 45 degrees from subject with black matte backdrop

Unbroken

I dreamt you were there

With one of your many hers

Attention for me was deficit

As I kept trying to get yours

The group kept flowing

From one place to the next

Circles of them kept forming

That constantly closed me out and left

You were happy

In your loneliness

Content

With all those I did not know

And in your subtle, hateful way

Turned to the unknown with me at your back

Only to open your mouth and say

"I was waiting to see if you would crack."

Cracking is for the weak

Cracking is for those who formed long

Chains of impression down their spine

From those who did them wrong

Broken are those who have cracked

Backwards are they who have fallen

Further into the ways they had come

But none can say that I am one

Who cracked for you

I am not broken

And I did not break

Even when I gave you everything

When you were only content to take

There are some things

I never wished for

And some I never hoped to face

But through it all being

Somewhat slightly bent

I gave in but did not break

Upscale R+L

Monique invited me to come to the Upscale Restaurant and Lounge in Charlotte and photograph the band Unit and people who performed freestyle poetry or songs. She was the micmaster so I sat near the band and photographed while she pumped the crowd up. A lot of people in the place could really sing! One singer who was signed with Universal drove from D.C. to visit that night and really drove the crowd wild. Another guy imitated Luther Vandross and people were falling all over themselves because they couldn't believe how great he sounded. The main photographer for the event came from Raleigh, so I didn't get in his way, but I did pop a few shots without the flash to get that moody effect that you feel in nightclubs like this. We had a lot of fun! The Lounge will be hosting a Comedy Bash next Thursday so Monique and I will be visiting again soon.

Nikon D40/ISO 800/f4.5@1/60s ambient light

FBC: Color vs B+W

My aunt Suzanne will teach the first through sixth grade Vacation Bible School for First Baptist Church next week. She had the idea to translate the physics of color and light into Biblical concepts and in the lesson use photographs of vibrant things in nature as a visual aide. "Why don't you shoot it since you're a photographer?" she asked me, so we drove around town and found spots with flowers, murals and the like. It was an exercise in judgement for me during shooting and editing because these are kids, not art teachers--so you have to make the object look realistic, yet colorful and interesting. They have to actually recognize what the image is. I almost tried to make the BW's look bad for the sake of communicating an idea, but I couldn't do it because I have a penchant for black and white images. Hopefully they will enjoy the slideshow of the images during the lesson. I'm not really a big macro-shot-flower-photo lover but somehow I like this set. The other man-made structures were meant to show different types of local artistry that the kids may or may not have noticed yet.

Nikon D40/ISO 200/55-200mm 5.6 and 28-90mm 5.6/overcast, f/5.6-8 @1/1/250

Lowe's Motor Speedway Cycling: Senior Games April 2009

I remembered this batch of photos late yesterday evening and decided to post so I could remind myself about photographing cycling events. This was the first time I had shot any kind of cycling or ever shot at Lowe's Motor Speedway for that matter. This was the last tournament for the 2009 Senior Games for Salisbury and I had the chance to meet Rodney, the Cabarrus County Senior Games coordinator, and teach him some photo tricks since we both had the same camera. I had a lot of fun and I hope to photograph some cycling again soon.

Nikon D40/55-200mm/ISO 200-800/Canon flash/f/4 @ 1/1000s

Hart Witzen Art Gallery Fashion Show 06.20.09

Last Saturday my friend Monique snagged tickets to the first annual fashion show from this series of designers in Charlotte at the Hart Witzen gallery. The building is a perfect venue for this type of event and as you can see they really did a great job of utilizing the space to its full potential. Models, clothes, music, djs, photographers, designers, breakdancers, cosmetic and soap makers, drinks--you name it. The breakdancers' area wasn't well lit (and I didn't have my flash) and the photos were too dark--so disappointing because those guys were amazing. This event was so interesting to photograph and I got to meet some really cool people while doing it.

Nikon D40 55-200mm 5.6/ISO 800/ambient studio lighting