April 8, 2008
Film (analog) and the romanticism of vignetting
One of the things that's obvious with digital when it first came out was the lack of vignetting (unless you were using a really crappy lens or toy camera). With the advent of the full frame sensors I saw a return of the vignette and with Lightroom being a popular tool and one we use quite a bit here at Orange, I've noticed how romantic an image can become with the vignetting. I don't know if this is because of the warmth and familiarity that those of us from the film days recall of the vignetting and the lack thereof in less than full sized sensors? Or maybe it's just how the vignetting pulls the focus in more to the central area of a photo?
While editing a recent shoot I couldn't ignore it.. The shot above has the vignette and I've also posted the original version below the jump...
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Posted by genex at 2:29 PM | Comments (0)
May 28, 2007
Bay to breakers 07
Another successful year with our photo station set up on the sidewalk. fortunately(?), there were so many people running on the sidewalk that a number of them became part of the shoot.
You can see more on my blog or view the complete online gallery.
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May 10, 2007
Summertime
Being short helps me get down to their level. Kids are larger than life and should be photographed as so.
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May 6, 2007
Young Musicians
The Youth Orchestra celebrated it's 25th anniversary and ask us to do some portraits their press releases. Even young musicians had busy lives and i only had a few minutes with each of them; such is the nature of 'celebrity' portraiture. I tried out a new portable lighting trick - two 580 flashes and an umbrella and i like the results thus far.
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April 4, 2007
test shots
We had a big corporate job on alacratz island yesterday and had some fun with our test shots.
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January 23, 2007
Team Effort
This week we were shooting in San Diego for a large corporate gig. We've worked with Mark Ross a lot as he's one of our primary shooters for San Diego for portraits. We had eight people shooting on one day and this is one of the shots of the 400+ headshots we powered through. It's always nice to work with teams as you can share ideas, techniques, etc. We set up the lights slightly differently that I have in the past, and it was the first time I personally had used Norman lighting. Things worked out well and we got some solid headshots for all the mortgage bankers.
Posted by genex at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2007
Anna and the Elephant
The weather in Las Vegas was a bit cooler than we anticipated so we had to adjust but it's always about flexibility when you shoot on location. We had planned shooting out in the desert and did for a little bit but on the way back to the Strip we passed this elephant on the side of the road, and had to take a shot... (model: Anna Tomasiello)
Posted by genex at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
December 28, 2006
Baby Names
So I was reading the January 2007 issue of National Geographic, and there's an article about baby names and since we do a bit of infant and baby portraiture, I thought it was interesting compared to the babies we've met and photographed.
Top Ten Baby Names: 2005
Boys | Girls
1) Jacob | Emily
2) Michael | Emma
3) Joshua | Madison
4) Matthew | Abigail
5) Ethan | Olivia
6) Andrew | Isabella
7) Daniel | Hannah
8) Anthony | Samantha
9) Christopher | Ava
10) Joseph | Ashley
In California the top names are Emily and Daniel.
Posted by genex at 1:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 10, 2006
Gellin'
Had a chance to shoot someone in one of our Orange Exposure tank tops at the studio on Saturday. This is Jen who came down from Sacramento to shoot and modeled the tank for us:
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October 26, 2006
halloween part ii
You may have seen her before but it's hard to resist those big eyes and contagious smile.
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October 25, 2006
halloween
I can't remember the last time I've been around kids on Halloween but it's definitely a fun spectacle. identity roles with Halloween are interesting to photograph whether it's little people or big adults. the costumes we choose to put on are no less us when we think we're hiding behind a veneer of secrecy.
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October 9, 2006
Little Lola...
This little cutie was so much fun to photograph. Not only did she love the camera but her little personality was so positive and easy to work with. Photographing kids is not always such a breeze :)
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October 4, 2006
Baby Savannah...
Well i have wanted to meet her for nine months and she has finally arrived. Baby Savannah Rivers Sullivan. She came into our lives....and she just LOVES the camera. Thank goodness since her favorite aunt (well that's negotiable) is constantly photographing her!
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May 22, 2006
best "action" shots
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best group shot
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best couple portraits
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May 21, 2006
best single portraits
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runner up for single portraits
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Posted by jack at 10:47 PM | Comments (0)
May 6, 2006
celebrity portraits
I think one of the most challenging aspects of celebrity portraiture is the amount of time you have with them to make the shot. Less than 5 minutes if you're unlucky but i imagine 15-30 minutes would be average. Thinking on your feet and being prepare is fundamental at this stage to make it happen. Anyway, such was the case today when i had 15 minutes with the author, Daniel Handler, of Lemony Snicket fame. The other person on the right is the composer that collaborated with daniel on some piece that was previewed today at the SF Symphony.
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Posted by jack at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)
April 28, 2006
budd & guthrie
_harold and robin
i had the wonderful pleasure of photographing the musical geniuses that is harold budd and robin guthrie (of the cocteau twins fame). they're recording a new album at a studio near our studio and i had the chance to pop in here and there to see how these two collaborated. i am sure it will be a fine masterpiece considering that retirement is just a state of mind for mr budd.
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March 30, 2006
Jordanna
I got a letter from Jordanna Thigpen, a democratic candidate running for office in our district, and i was pleasantly please to know that that my photography was doing something good. it's easy to get lost in the business and art of photography in our current context but at the end of the day, i am mainly interested in using my photography to do some good in this world. we will see how 'good' manifests but it shouldn't be restrict to just social norms.
Posted by jack at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2006
pushing engagement sessions
Before the wedding season gets into full gear, i've been enjoying some of the engagement sessions. Since my shooting style is quite different from during the wedding day, i try to push the couple to being a little 'unreasonable'. I typically use my bad humour to make put them at ease then ask them unreasonable acts of sillyness to create a moments of non attention (that is to me). The results are reasonable but it would seem that i need to be able to do it in a quicker amount of time because i don't always have 90 mins with the subjects. in that regard, the best one can do is to preset the stage and reherse the storyline..
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November 19, 2005
official orange baby
it wasn't by design but i couldn't resist crowning a friend's baby as our official orange baby calendar year. it's always amazing to photograph a baby's progression within the first year. This one is beginning to have some character.
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October 21, 2005
and hair again...
So my good friend Stacey Miller (a great stylist at diPietro Todd Salon in Union Square) had her soiree and I surprisingly found myself in her slideshow - but she was the subject of a photo that I entered into the 7x7 Magazine Bring on the Night contest a year ago that was selected - so it was only fair...
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Posted by genex at 12:51 AM | Comments (1)
August 22, 2005
sex with emily
It's not everyday that we get to photograph two ultra sexy and unbashfully smart ladies in our studio. They are the brillant team that recently launched a podcast show entitled "sex with emily" - saving the world one orgasm at a time. We wish them much luck as they educate the masses on the trickyness that is sex.
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Posted by jack at 11:43 PM | Comments (1)
July 27, 2005
more hair...
So Maia had her soiree at the venerable DiPietro Todd Salon and is a full on stylist now. She hired me to shoot it and I was experimenting with some post-production techniques that are quite popular now in advertising photography and was fairly happy with this shot.
Posted by genex at 3:08 PM | Comments (0)
July 7, 2005
the raw space...
This was a shot that Anka Urbahn took during a shoot at the new space before we moved in. The shoot was in March and the model is Marcy Porter, a professional figure athlete who had just competed in the 2005 San Francisco Pro Figure Championships.
Obviously this is using the ring flash, which we don't use too frequently but has a really signature look...
Posted by genex at 12:44 AM | Comments (1)