Cheering Section

I wasn't sure if I was going to cover the marathon again. Last year I ran around the city to cover as much as I could. Last year there were no 8GB cards on sale (so all I had were some 512MB cards). Last year I didn't really know what I was doing. This year, though, I knew I didn't end up doing much with the pictures I took. In fact, I did so little, I didn't even post them on this blog. I was thinking this year it might be fun for the three of us to go down to the marathon and sit and be spectators and cheer.

The weather was pretty nice. We found a sunny spot at the 4-mile area, saw the wheelchair, women's, men's, and the rest run past. On the left is the winner, on the right is Scrappy doing a dance to keep warm. We left in time to get home to see the lead women and men finish on TV.

Lighting

I tend to light everything high and directly in front. But on this day, I quickly learned to shoot with back light. It made things completely different from any shoot I've done before.

The sunlight in the picture on the left is was started all the back lighting. Then I wanted to exaggerate what was happening in the doorway. Then I needed to recreate that in the laundry room (before we got kicked out). I don't think I'll ever go back...

More Abstract

I saw an ad on craigslist for a web designer/photographer. Trying to swap web designing for group shots didn't prove to work out previously, so this time I offered to photograph what they needed in exchange for what I needed. Not until the morning before the shoot did the idea really strike me for how to anchor the shoot. I wanted something more emotive than what I had, but "anxiety" and "happy" were just too vague. I wanted something specific. I decided to pull the more interesting announcements from my Facebook account. The picture above is "[Name] cannot wake up. :("

This is a picture LV, my lovely assistant, took of me taking a picture of "[Name] wants to bury her head in the sand and not wake up until 2009." LV's not into the absurd, so it really wasn't his cup of tea. I am his cup of tea, though, so he bared down, made nice with all the pigeons on the roof, and was a great assistant.

This wasn't really part of the series. More just to make use of the sunset and a group shot.

Two Events

In the morning, I hit a local grocery store for the follow up event to the tasting that had been canceled the day before.

Then I headed out to the mall for two fashion shows.

Mostly, I was interested in seeing how all my pictures from July were being used. That's my portrait of Christian in the phone. :0)

Boston

I was so glad I booked my trip by train. (I was even happier I got on the Acela.) It rained all day. So much that the event was canceled, but I took pictures of the signage in the subway before heading to the hotel.

Family Affair

"Fill the frame" is the most basic advice given to anyone who wants to take a good picture, but I wasn't about to compete with this crowd for pictures at the Christening. I like the story my picture tells.

On the Wall

Scrappy had no idea her art would be displayed in an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum until five minutes before we left for the opening gala. We had the postcard on the refrigerator and I'm sure it must have been mentioned in class, but Scrappy was still shocked to see her work displayed. Then she went looking for the chips and cookies.

Day Three

Day Three of shooting was so long, it easily felt like a week. We shot a meet-and-greet in the morning, prepping for the show in the afternoon, the show, and then the wrap party... It was definitely a good time.

Beautiful Lighting

We went to see Gavin DeGraw again. This time we hung further in the back and upstairs--it wasn't as hot or stuffy, therefore I did not feel like passing out. Being upstairs also meant I had a great view of people using built-in flashes too far away from the stage. (See examples below.)

I'm such a snob, huh?

The opening act included an electric mandolin. I did not think I would ever pay to see someone play the electric mandolin...

Craigslist

I absolutely love craigslist (except when they delete my ads for TFCD gigs almost as soon as I post them). You can find just about anything there. I've found three fantastic hair stylists, an amazing wardrobe stylist, and some pretty cool gigs. I thought the gig for today would be just as cool. So did two other photographers and a videographer, apparently...

My understanding was that I would have 30 minutes to shoot the band leader with four girls in devil/angel theme. Whatever I wanted to do creatively was up to me. When I got there, the manager who had contacted me told me to talk to the lead singer. He was too busy. And because I had worn a white tank top, I blended in with the dozens of other girls there that night wearing white. Four models and one photographer had obviously turned into, "Tell everyone yes just in case someone doesn't show."

Before I left the house, I decided to take my ring flash with me. Unfortunately, I completely forgot that the power cord was not in the case. I packed an extension cord but no power cord... Luckily, I still had three things no other photographer there had: LV and two fast lenses.

After so many freelance gigs that require so little art direction, LV the director was unleashed on that rehearsal space. He told the lead singer to stand more at profile to my camera. The lead singer did. He told the lead singer how to pose with his back up singers, and they did it. I said I wanted all the girls on the couch. LV put them all on the couch. (This is the lighting test with the manager and the craigslist "models.") He told other photographers to get out of my way. He told the band how to stand for their group photo. They did everything he said. At one point, two other guys tried to get in there and direct the models on how to stand. LV ended up fixing the arrangement for them.

I had come into the event thinking that I would be popping and dragging, but the ceilings were so low and the room wasn't dark enough. I just turned the flash off for most of the shoot. This was turning out to be nothing like I had thought I was getting into.

The lead singer was really crazy about LV, though, so hopefully something good will come of all the time I spent on photographing them. I was there for much longer than the 30 minutes I'd been told and ended up with no credits on MySpace. I have to add that to my to-do list...

Top Secret

I did a paid shoot today, but signed a non-disclosure agreement. So I can't really say anything. Especially because my subject declared he hates bloggers and I'm hoping to work with him again in September. Maybe I'll blog about it September when all is public.

Road Trip: Part 4

My mom used to be very vocal about how silly it was for me to drive long distances after dark. She was not a fan of me driving back to school after the sun had set. (I didn't feel like driving into the setting sun for hours. There's not a lot for the sun to drop behind on the Illinois horizon, you know?)

She said nothing about me driving 15 hours straight overnight with LV. Am I safer because he's there? I'm going to guess that's her logic. However, "safe" was not something LV was feeling at 4 a.m. at this rest stop when the attendant greeted him at the urinal.

When we finally arrived home, there were a few things out of place. It appears the cats climbed to a few shelves they hadn't visited before and hung out in the bathtub for a while. Strange. We returned the car. Then I slept for the rest of the day.

Road Trip: Part 3

After talking my mom out of ordering cheesecake filled pancakes at IHOP, LV and I set off to drive back to New York. Well, sort of. First we hit the Walmart across the street for school supplies and Hannah Montana 3-D glasses. Then we went to visit my grandfather. Then I think we went all the way back to my parents' house to really say good-bye to my mom. Then I started driving back. LV wanted to take more pictures from the car. This is his picture of Chicago.

This is my picture of the sunset at a rest stop.

This is his picture of the sunset from the car.

Road Trip: Part 2

You could say this is how we felt about the Christening:

But that wouldn't be right... This time the process seemed more formal than the previous Christening we'd been to at that church. Although, this time we also thought the cleric was going to die from a heat stroke.

The proud parents with LV's goddaughter. (read: reason to drive halfway across the country for a Christening) Me and my goddaughter... because it's nice to have your photo taken after you drive halfway across the country in one night and get three hours of sleep.

We lucked into being in town to celebrate my grandmother's birthday as well as the Christening. My grandmother's birthday was on Friday and I hadn't sent a bouquet of flowers like usual, so I thought we would at least drop by to say hello. Well, lucky us, my dad's family was there to cut a cake with her. So, I got to see my own godmother that day, too. She joked about how I was able to take the cake photo upside and backwards with no problem. I just call it being too lazy to walk around the table to get a proper angle.

Happy Fourth

A better picture would have been the banner at the local McDonald's that reads "Happy Fourth Off July." We're not sure what that means...

This the view from under the Brooklyn Bridge, facing North. If you look under the dinosaur watermark, you can see the waterfalls that were installed along the river this summer. That blue streak.

New Baby

I bought a new macro lens for the beauty shoot because... Well, I think because LV likes to buy things. But with two shoots coming up and the number of hours I'd waste traveling to pick up and return a lens, I decided it made sense to go ahead and buy one. To help get some mileage out of it, we went to go see the new nephew and get some really tight shots of him.

Recital

What's a third day of shooting in a row? If anything, it makes the 4-hour long recital go a bit faster.

My picture-taking was a bit limited this year seeing as Scrappy's mom owed the dance school some money, so we didn't get tickets for the show until the only available seats were behind people like this. (We sat front and center last year, which was great for photos.)

"Marilyn" has the same expression on as most of the audience.

Party Time

We drove out to Long Island today for a surprise birthday party. It was a chance to test out the rental car we'll be driving to Chicago in July. I wasn't so impressed, but it beat the car we drove to Vermont.

This is LV trying to get Scrappy to dance. I don't think it properly portrays how enthusiastic he really was...

Rain and/or Shine

There was plenty of sun and humidity at the start of the birthday party, but, without fail, it rained on the BBQ.

Museum Trip

The Murakami exhibit had a few pieces we thought were too graphic for a second grader, but we sat down for a while in the lobby of the Brooklyn Museum to let Scrappy try drawing the pieces on display there. (This is the museum tag attached to LV's shorts.) Nothing in the Utagawa exhibit, which we had gone to see, really grabbed her attention that way, but LV and I were fascinated by the wood cuttings. She just wanted to see the museum's mummies again.