Welcome to the blog! Here I'll share news, photography insights, creative plans/thoughts, and whatever piques my interest.
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Recent Work (Portrait Photography)
A collection of portraits I wanted to share as I continue to refine my style.
A collection of recent portrait images. I say recent, but one of these was taken way back during the Dark Ages of 2020. I also share these to show that no matter what camera a photographer uses, their style is their style. It doesn’t matter if I’m shooting full-frame or medium format, the overall look is the same. The image may be sharper, the ratio different, but it still looks like my work. It’s one of the reasons I don’t have loyalty to a particular brand. I can use any camera and create images in my own style. The camera is just a conduit which allows me to do that with either a greater or lesser degree of difficulty.
Johanna
Johanna is both a brilliant model and a genius of an artist. A supremely talented painter and photographer, there’s really nothing she can’t do. Be amazed and check out her work here: http://www.johannastickland.com. Incredible right? I told you, she’s a genius. It’s actually quite intimidating photographing someone so talented as you’re trying to live up to(in your own mind) their high standards. Imagine photographing a celebrity like, say, Robert De Niro. He’s seen it all, worked with some of the best artists in the world(I mean actual legends of the craft). And here you come with your little mirrorless camera and clunky lighting set up to shoot a legend. Hoping he’s impressed by your work.
After fumbling with your gear, you take the picture and he just goes, “Hmph.”
Then he gets up, smiles, shakes your hand and says. “Ay, this is nice! I love it. Thank you!” After you gasp for air and pick your heart up off the floor you realize people actually like your work. Or at the very least they don’t think it’s trash only suitable for mockery and presenting as evidence of a wasted existence.
I say all that to say, you have to believe in your own work. Your style. Your aesthetic preferences. Other people’s opinion’s be damned. But if they like your work, they’ll sit for you. If the immensely talented Johanna will sit for me, I must be alright?! Right? Right?!
This was one of the first photos I’d taken after the release of the GFX 50S II. It’s a great camera.
Katya
Katya is a model I work with quite a bit in 2023. Always professional, always on time, always coming to the shoot with interesting ideas and creative input. I wanted to try a series of white background images, á la Richard Avedon, for this shoot. One thing I immediately learned is such a simple setup requires an interesting subject, either through expression or styling. It’s very easy to produce a boring image on a white background, but Katya in her infinite wisdom knew what to do. I think the shape of the hair and her tranquil expression really make the image sing.
This was taken on the Panasonic S1R. Probably one of the last images I took with that camera.
Beatrice
From the Dark Ages of 2020, this image of Beatrice was taken on the GFX 50R, Fujifilm’s rangefinder style medium format body, and the GF 45-100mm lens. For portrait work, it’s the better of the zoom lenses when compared to the GF 32-64 in my opinion due to its more useful range. I’ve shot with Beatrice several times over the years and she’s become sort of a muse for me. Fun to work with, always thinking of unique expressions and poses, and her face! She could just sit still and do nothing and I’m sure I’d get an awesome portrait of her. A true one of one.
Disnella
A recent image of the beautiful Disnella. I added a little bit of a warm tone to the image to give it a different feel than a normal black-and-white. This image has a very album cover vibe to me. This was our first time working together and while Disnella was awesome to shoot with, I wasn’t pleased with the GFX 100 II files. They looked a bit too sharp and too clinical to my eyes. I would describe the Fujifilm 100 megapixel images as looking more “crunchy” than their 50 megapixel counterpart which has a more “smooth” tonality to the overall image. I recently shot with her again with the 50S II and absolutely love the files from that session. I’ll share those soon.
Charlie
Charlie is an actor I did headshots for almost a year ago and I knew during that session I wanted to do some portraits of her whenever our schedules would permit. She graciously agreed to come in for portraits and I have to admit her images are some of my favorite photos I’ve ever done. While it probably helps that she’s a performer, she’s such a natural in front of the camera. I typically try not to overshoot, but I ended up shooting way more than normal because she kept giving me options. Curse her! I kid. At the end of this session, we did a series of melancholic images and I ended up with one of my favorite photos of all-time. Can’t wait to share it.
Hope you enjoyed this post and my musings on the images. More to come!
Mannequins (Street Photography)
Some recent “nude” work.
A collection of posey mannequins captured on the streets of SoHo in New York. Not sure if I’ll include it in my street portfolio or nude portfolio.
I’m leaning towards nude, it’s kinda cheeky.
New York in Color (Street Photography)
Color photos on the street of New York.
A collection of street images in New York City from the past couple of months.
Although much of the work I post is in black-and-white, believe it or not, I prefer color. As Winter gives way to Spring and the sun is more prominent in the sky, I feel much more inclined to go out and do street photography. I’m not a huge fan of boring overcast skies for this sort of work. Ample sunlight makes the colors pop, shadows more prominent, and reflections more interesting. Not to mention the overall energy of the city changing.
Instead of my A7RV, I used the Sony A7CR with the Sony FE 35mm f/1.8 lens for most of these outings. While I love the quality of that lens, I found the shape of it a little too long for discreet street photography. I didn’t want to buy another 35mm, but since I have a preference for small, lightweight equipment, I bit the bullet and picked up the Sony Sonnar T* FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA Lens.
When I paired it with the A7CR, I immediately knew this was the best lens for my approach to street photography. Super small, lightweight, sharp, and with fast focusing makes it still a great option in 2024. I also picked up the Sony FE 50mm f/2.5 G Lens as a complement when I want a 50mm lens. I already have the Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA Lens, but similarly to the 35mm f/1.8 I find it too long. I’ll keep both the 35mm f/1.8 and 55mm f/1.8 and use them for video work or in special cases when I need a faster aperture (i.e., client work in a lowlight setting).
A final note about the A7CR and A7RV. Both cameras use the same sensor and produce the same image. Besides the detailed, lifelike image quality, I’ve been most pleased with the color from the cameras. If using Capture One, I recommend not using the default Sony profile the program uses. I have my “Base Characteristics” see to the Fujifilm GFX 50S II as my ICC profile. This produces much better color than the default Sony profile Capture One uses. I’ve also heard you can get good results using the Canon R5C profile. Play around and do what works for you.
I’m really loving the color and performance from these cameras. Props to Sony.
More to come.
Kadeem (Portrait Photography)
Recent portrais in the studio with model Kadeem.
Some portraits I did recently with model Kadeem Samuel in my studio. This was a fun, somewhat experimental shoot as I wanted to play around with a cool mask I found online. It’s a small accessory, but the mask gives the photographs a bit more character and creates an interesting narrative. Who is this masked man?
I used the Sony A7RV with the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART during this session and find it a winning combination. The A7RV has been a revelation, especially coming from the Fuji GFX 100 II. Although medium format does have the edge in terms of image quality and rendering, the A7RV produces a beautiful, detailed image with greater versatility and a much more fun shooting experience.
There are so many great options from this session so I’ll be sharing more in the future. I’m trying to be more economical when I shoot and what images I ultimately decide to post. But it’s time to start posting more work. Less chitter chatter.
More to come!