My Holga Weddings + Portraits on the Evening News!

My Holga wedding & portrait photography booth made the evening news!

So a couple of weeks back I participated in the Unbridaled Wedding Expo in Philly. Well, while I was in Colorado for my art show opening / artist talk, I got an e-mail from Unbridaled. It turns out ABC News (Channel 6 in that region) was there interviewing people and gathering video footage of the event. And wouldn't you know it, they included quite a bit of footage of me and my booth setup! Apparently, I'm rather alternative even among the alternatives.
:-)

Click on the link to see FYI Philly Video: Unbridaled which is news footage from the Expo. Keep an eye out for my booth, which consists of folding screens with panels of Holga images suspended from it, and you can see me (in the yellow shirt and black pants) talking with some prospective clients. You'll also get to see a lot of other offbeat and unique vendors featured in the video, along with snippets of the fashion show modeled by the Philly Roller Girls. Fun!

My Baby Brother

My younger brother, Jason, recently came to visit me from Western Pennsylvania with the hopes of getting some head shots and general promo shots made. He's a musician, singing and playing a variety of instruments, but chose to bring his guitar along for the shoot because it's a lot more portable than a piano! I don't often blog about head shots / promo shots, but I'm making an exception here because I've been trying to get some nice photos of my brother for years and now I finally have them!

I made the normal head shots that he needed, and then a few with the guitar, and then I started to have some fun with this rare opportunity. I'm capable of making the more evenly lit portraits, but also like to work with more dramatic lighting a great deal. Both styles have a definite use and benefit, so it's good to be versatile.

Hopefully these images will help book Jay lots of gigs!

(And I call him my "baby brother" jokingly now. He's bigger than I am!)

Today in DC

The Obamas and Bidens wave goodbye to the Bush family (who are in the chopper) as they depart Washington DC. Image by Saul Loeb, AP

No, I did not take this photo (see image credit above). But I had to post it because this pretty much sums up today if any single image could.

Out with the old, in with the new. Time to get to work, people!

Studio Gallery - Meet the Artists Night!

You can see my Holga artwork depicting scenes along Route 66 for the rest of the month, but if you head out tomorrow evening, you can talk to me as well! That's right, tomorrow (Friday) is Meet the Artists Night, and I will be there!

The details:

Studio Gallery Presents Artomatic Artists
Curated by Ellyn Weiss
January 7 - January 31, 2009
2108 R Street, NW Washington, DC

*** Meet the Artists Reception
Friday, January 16, 6 - 8 pm ***

Closing Reception
Thursday, January 29, 6 - 8 pm

Participating Artists:
Erin Antognoli, Kanchan Balse, Joan Belmar, BRASH, Gregory Ferrand, Pat Goslee, Genna Gurvich, Brian Hamill, Kate Hardy, Peter Harper, Brie Husted, Joanna Knox, Tracy Lee, Laurel Lukaszewski, Laura Peery, Fabian Rios Rubino, Luba Sterlikova, Veronica Szalus, Novie Trump

This Weekend - Unbridaled | GRACE Opening

So, this weekend I have not one, but TWO major things going on! Both are related to my Holga camera - one is a bridal show for couples seeking all things "out of the ordinary" for their big days, and the other is the opening of my first art show of the year.

First up, Unbridaled Expo!

www.unbridaledexpo.com
"The traditional wedding expo has come undone"
January 10, 2009 - 10 AM to 4 PM

Crane Arts Building
Philadelphia, Pa. 19122

I will be showing off my Holga wedding and portrait work (see those photos at my web site HERE), and hoping to meet up with those couples who crave something truly unique in their visual scheme. I can photograph an entire wedding with a Holga, or I can meet up with couples (or individuals!) for a portrait session. Some portrait clients like to wear their wedding attire and be photographed without the pressure of a wedding schedule to deal with, and others wear street clothes or anything else they like for the session. Whatever you choose, I can give you a finished result like nothing you have ever seen!

*******************

Next up, my art opening for Fragments & Ashes at the Greater Reston Arts Center!

http://www.restonarts.org/
January 8, 2009 to February 14, 2009

Opening Reception: Sunday, January 11, 4 - 6 PM

12001 Market Street Suite #103
Reston, VA 20190

There will be an artists' talk at 5 PM, at which time I will talk a bit about my work and field questions from those in attendance. The work being displayed in this show spans the last 3 years of my Holga photography project. The images were taken mostly in the DC area, but many were made during my travels to other parts of the country including Alaska, New York, and Texas. I hope to see you there!

Carmella + Rocco

Over the holiday I got to meet my second cousin Rocco for the first time, and got to see my little second cousin Carmella again. I remember when Carmella was Rocco's size, and now she's a little girl! They grow up very quickly, so I thought I'd take some photos of them with the Mamiya C220 the day after Christmas.

Carmella wasn't too keen on having her picture taken, and Rocco was asleep most of the time, but I managed to get some nice shots of each of them. I'm glad, because next time I see them they will have grown up even more!











For those that don't know, the Mamiya C220 is a square crop camera, so these are posted as shot, with no cropping in PS.

Rings

I was going through my sheets of negatives from the Mamiya C220 Twin Lens Reflex camera that I recently took and found these two of my father and Andy, respectively. I focused on their rings, because I am fascinated by people's hands. Both were taken on Christmas Eve, and the one of my father was taken during Christmas Eve Bingo, a tradition in our family. My grandmother calls out the numbers and we keep playing until everyone wins! There are some really funny and sometimes freakish stories from Bingo of years' past, and it's always a good time.

Christmas 2008

This year I got to spend Christmas with my family, and a few adorable dog cousins as well! I also got to play with Andy's twin lens reflex camera (a Mamiya C220) for the first time ever. It was a bit tricky as I've only ever used viewfinder cameras (well, other than the Holga and 4x5), so the taking the framing / crop factor into consideration took a bit of getting used to.

These shots are from my first roll of Twin Lens goodness. They portray my grandmother (below), and Andy with Chips, my canine cousin (above). More from this camera soon!

(No, I am not giving up on the Holga... but sometimes it helps to take a different approach for a while to keep things fresh!)