My weekend in the Civil War

A few weekends ago I was helping out on a video shoot that would play at the upcoming American Advertising Federation D.C. chapter’s Addys Awards gala. No spoilers here, but the video tells the story of one brave lady’s journey through a Civil War reenactment. During some down time I had the opportunity to make some images of the re-enactors. I was incredibly impressed with their attention to detail, ability to take direction and do the little things to make the scene better, and their overall joy with what they were doing. If you ever find yourself with the need for Civil War or just period actors, talk to Guy over at Old Timey Casting.

Shooting Notes: The conditions on shoot were all over the place. We started with snow on the ground and uniform cloud cover. Over the course of the day, the snow melted, the sun came and went (and came and went some more), and the wind picked up. The only consistent element was that it was chilly! All images were made with either a Canon 5Dmk3 or 5Dmk4, and the Sigma 35mm ART, Canon 85 f1.4L IS, or the Canon 24-70 f2.8L. Some of the portraits benefited from a Profoto A1 shot through an umbrella. I had dreams of using the B1’s with a bigger modifier but the weather conditions were uncertain enough that I didn’t want to risk it without an assistant. All of these images were imported into CaptureOne Pro and “mussed up” in Nik Analog Efex Pro 2. If any of these make it to my portfolio they will likely get further worked in Photoshop.

Summer in Maine, Part 1

A summer trip to my home state of Maine is just about the best thing in the world, second only TWO summer trips to the Maine coast.

In Part 1, the Rakolas spent the 4th of July holiday at The Colony, a rental cottage community that's been a Mount Desert Island Institution since just about forever. From there we poked around the Acadia National Park region:

But, why not mix business and pleasure when both are, you know, fun? Betsy and the boys left on a Saturday and I stayed around to shoot a project at the Acadia Institute of Oceanography, which I attended when I was just a wee little lad. So, on a beautiful Saturday morning, we made some images. Here's a sampling:

Stay tuned for Part 2, coming very soon.

Partial Eclipse in the Park

Okay, that wasn't very clever.

Like millions of others across the country, I took to the local park to watch the sun partially duck behind the moon, a feat that still seems improbable at best. I didn't feel like dropping the $200 for a proper filter to make pictures of the actual eclipse (although after seeing some friends images, I kinda wish I had) so I decided to keep my lens pointed mostly to the ground to focus on the effect. So this happened.

 

Alex.

Amanda.

The swing.

One of the effects of the eclipse is that the main light source– the sun, becomes less bright when compared to the surrounding skylight. In other words, the shadows aren't as deep.

Amanda in the swing.

The eclipse activated the street lamps around the neighborhood.

A corona of my very own.

Boston Portfolio Reviews

I just came back from a 2 day portfolio review trip to Boston. I had worked there for almost 10 in the 20-otts (I think that's what the kids are calling the years between 2001 & 2010 these days) and it's always amazing to see what's changed and what hasn't.

(Spoiler Alert: The roads. still. suck.)

The Boulvevard Artists portfolio reviews though, were pretty fantastic. I met and possibly offended many incredibly smart, attractive, witty, sweet, kind, and nice smelling art directors from the likes of  Adam&Co, Arnold, Draper, Fidelity Investments, Isobar (go 'cuse!), Kor, PJA and more. I also met and re-met the competition whose books kept my jaw dropping. Robb, Cory, KC, Ken, Ryan, et al, are amazing photographer who are creating images that I aspire to.

I lugged THREE portfolios there covering a range of what I shoot for both work and pleasure. (a book of "one-offs" covering work corporate, editorial and institutional work, one book on The Learn Project, and a funky brand new one on kids and science housed in, what else, a Trapper Keeper!) Stephanie Menuez did a fantastic job with the pacing and the flow of each book. I was able to show one or several to each reviewer and the transitions between books just made sense. Everyone admired the spreads and I got a few "oohs" on the full pagers and compliments on the color. (Yes, me, color!) I wholeheartedly recommend Stephanie's services. 

The other highlight of the trip, aside from dining at B&G Oysters with Robb, was buying my first ever jean jacket, seen here tossed oh so carelessly on the driveway.

a late 1960's LEvi's (the capital E is apparently important) reproduction model 3 in indigo.

Can I rock this jacket? It's too early to say, but I'm sure gonna try.