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Carlotta V2

Carlotta V2: "

A couple of snaps the next day.

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Vassanta: Maternity Becomes Her

Vassanta: Maternity Becomes Her: "

Rays of sun splash through sunflowers and dappled light spreads its warm glow through salty ocean spray as I capture my dear friend and Muse’s form. But there is something different about her. She is softer, more reflective, deeper in spirit than I have ever known her to be. The one thing that has not changed is her deep beauty and naturally powerful presence that is now heightened by impending motherhood. She carries it well and has never been more beautiful. I tease her and say her “little fish” is kicking to come out and play in the sea. For the rest of our visit together playing in streams and forests, past prime sunflower fields, salty seas and grass crowned dunes, I admire the changes in the landscape of her form, and, most importantly, what has not changed – her power in front of the camera, joie de vivre and mischievous smile as she awaits her child’s debut in December. She has just started to really show and I was honored to share this time and share these images as some of the first of her pregnancy. I believe she will be doing a brief modeling tour for those interested in capturing this special time in this extraordinary woman’s life.

This is a sampling from the sets that we did in some mountain streams and sunflower fields in New Jersey and on a Long Island beach. We came back from the sunflower field with a pod. Being her usual creative self, she adapted corn husks shed from our dinner’s roasting ears and the sunflower pod to come up with a funky headdress that we shot in studio. A friend let use borrow some goregous sari’s that we took advantage of in the lushness of a seaside community. I’ll share more later as I focus on each set.

Much blessings and love to Vassanta and Edward as they start their new family, and thanks for sharing the moment.

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Jackie – Misty Mornings

Jackie – Misty Mornings: "

OK…so actually it was rain soaked…but here’s the story.

I had set up a shoot with a new model, Jackie Stevens, to come out my way to shoot in some old cement factory buildings near me in PA. But the skies were dark and raining. She lives near the Jersey shore and said the skies were blue and sunny. So we changed plans and I drove to the coast – Sandy Hook, NJ. The closer I got to the coast the sky started to become just overcast, brightening..yeah…and then…pouring rain as I pulled into the parking lot at the beach where we were meeting. We wanted to do some glam art and fine art nudes so we spend an hour in her car sorting out what clothes she would wear and thinking about locations and waiting for the rain to slow down while listening to big band music and munching on chips. I told her this reminded me of my trip to New Zealand waiting at beaches and praying for the rain to stop.

So finally it was just misting and we had both noticed an abandoned building just outside the parking lot. So we went over there to check it out. PERFECT it had old iron doors, the remains of iron riveted window frames, vines, cement walls, three rooms and a partial roof for some protection from the rain…and great lighting and all this debris. It’s like a ready made studio…WOW. So we shot for a while with some glam art and nudes. The constant misty conditions soaked both of us (and constantly drying camera gear), but added a rich color saturation to all the walls and debris while providing beautiful even lighting. Being near the road…we were constantly ducking down as passerbys’ walked by.

Then we headed over to the beach….or what was left of it. A strong Northeaster (remains of Hurricane Ida) had been pounding the coast for a few days. The boardwalk leading to the beach over the dunes had been swept away and a massive tidal pool had been created before you could get to the beach..beyond the pool…the ocean beckoned with 6 ft waves crashing on the shore. So we started shooting using the remains of the boardwalk and the tidal pool with this lonely, misty feel to some fashion and fine art shots. Again..we both got soaked and as much as I tried to keep my lens clean..the constant mist still added a blurry look to some of the pictures, which in the long run fits the mood of the pictures. Adapt

Jackie was great throughout the “ordeal” dealing with rain, cold wind and water in the pool….and looked fabulous doing it! We shot until the last bit of light left the beach. It’s always a pleasure to collaborate with someone new, having a little adventure, not knowing what the results will be and then having them turn out so well. So…Bravo Jackie! Look forward to future misty mornings (a little sun wouldn’t hurt though).

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Bink at the Beach

Bink at the Beach: "

The sun rises really early at Mission Beach Australia. 5 AM. That’s when Bink and I met to start a day long adventure that included a trip to Dunk Island. See the other posts for details of us fighting off the bitey things of Australia. For now, just enjoy the peace of the rising sun on a tropical morning with a talented English model. Some of these I think rank as the best fine art images I’ve ever created. Additional images coming from our tour of the Dunk Island Jungles in a future posting.

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Rebecca: At Last

Rebecca: At Last: "

I first met Rebecca when we shot at Joshua Tree two years ago and travelled to New Zealand and Australia together with friends last year. I’ve shot with her several times. However, I’ve never felt that I truly captured the best of her that others have. I came close on our trip to the South Pacific with several lovely images, but still felt like I had not done the best that I could She’s a fabulous model and other great photographers have taken gorgeous images of her. So, I was always jealous of their results and it was a personal challenge to me to do the same. It’s something that we’ve talked about several times.

Ahhhhh! At Last!

She recently came to NJ for a visit. Instead of hunting for Easter eggs, we searched for the illusive image. What a fantastic way to spend Easter as we did some studio and location work. WOW! We hit it out of TWO ball parks. We did several studio sets working on some more of my continuing mask series and then played in the dark using just the light of one beauty dish fitted with a 20 percent grid as she danced with black lace, white and a sheer red fabric against a black background. I’m captivated by the way the fabric flows around her almost like water. We then visited a 19th Century village with the early Spring blooming yellow forsythia serving as a colorful backdrop. The one image of her one the porch of an old Victorian mansion is on my all time favorite list now. Her porcelain complexion and new honey blond hair is a lovely compliment and contrast to the off white porch. Almost like a visiting spectre.

Here are several images from each set as a sampler. Future blogs will share more images from each set. Rebecca….thanks for a wonderful shoot. Wow…maybe I really am a photographer after all!

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Sarah’s Saw Mill

Sarah’s Saw Mill: "

On a recent shoot with Sarah Ellis, we did a series in the interior of an old saw mill. With the yellow toned wood on the interior and strong light coming through the windows, we got this lovely gold toned light. However, it was pretty dark inside and I had to go up to 1000 ISO and max out the aperture to capture it. The talented Sarah was elegant in her use of the available light and use of the environment inside the old mill. There is one that I captured of her on a slab of wood resting on some old tree trunks that reminds me of an old master’s painting with the light, her pose and use of color in the image. It is one of those classic images that you pinch yourself and say, “Wow, I created that!” Can’t wait to share images from the other series we created that day!

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