Monday, Monday

This morning I was interviewed by Katrina Perkosky for a new alternative newspaper that will be launching in the Johnstown area in a few months. She wanted to discuss my "Abandoned" project and a bit about my work in general. Before she left, I also made her portrait for "100".

The photographer for the paper was Jacob Koestler and I also grabbed a photo of him taking a photo of me taking a photo of him taking... (yeah, I could run that joke into the ground forever). I'll post more about the article when it goes to print.

100 - Larry

This morning I went to the flea market at the Hi Way Drive-In in Latrobe for the first time this year. Next to watching movies, going to the flea market is my favorite past time and despite today being a rather dreary day, I wasn't going to miss it.

As I explored one of the aisles, I noticed Larry selling Native American knick knacks. I thought he had a great look so I told him about "100" and he posed for a few photos.

100 - Kolt

I met Kolt a few months ago and he really liked the idea for "100" and wanted to be part of it. He plays lead guitar for the band Inside Out and this evening they happened to be playing at Mel's, a local club in Somerset.I sent him a message to see if we could meet up before the show and he happily obliged.

Anyone want to be a part of my 100 project?

I haven't had the chance to photograph anyone for 100 in the past several weeks and the lack of progress is driving me batty. In case you're new to the blog, the 100 project is something I've been working on for about a year now. I'm shooting portraits of 200 different men and women from ages 1 through 100. So, upon completion, there will be a different person for each year.

If anyone is interested in being a part of the project, please let me know and be sure to check out some of the photos from 100 on my collection page.

100 - 26

During the model "shoot out" on Friday, I found time to make a new portrait for "100". Jason's wife was one of the models and I thought he had a great look. During some downtime while the girls worked on make-up, I told Jason about the project and we did an impromptu shot.

100-39

This morning I was scouting locations for an upcoming modeling shoot when I saw a gentleman with a great look walking beside the street. I turned the car around and pulled into a nearby business to wait for him. Once he arrived I introduced myself and told him about "100". His name was Michael and smiled somewhat shyly as I told him I loved his look and would like to make his portrait. He agreed and I made the best use of the light from overcast sky as I shot several photos.

Afterwards, we chatted for a bit. He was new to town and was hoping to find work here and he is currently homeless. Micheal felt he was led to Somerset for a reason and seems optimistic for the future. As we parted ways, he left me with "God bless", a smile and a wave. It was truly a joy to meet him and share his company, even if it was for only a few minutes.

100 - 19

A few weeks ago I met Sydney on MySpace and told her about 100. She checked out my blog and liked the portraits I've been shooting for the project, so I told her the next time I was in Johnstown that we'd meet up and do a shoot. Well, today I was in Johnstown (I went to see The Mist, which was pretty good but not quite as good as I'd hoped) and after the movie we met up for the shoot. I had a lot of fun making her portrait and I think she's a terrific addition to the growing collection.

100 - 18

Earlier this week I met with Bryan to make his portrait for 100. I had contacted him on MySpace after being impressed with his look and when I told him about the project, he happily agreed to take part. It was great meeting and working with him.

100 - 17

This afternoon I was shooting senior photos for Dustin. As we worked on the shoot, I became more and more impressed with his look and personality. When we finished up his session, I told him about 100 and asked him if he'd like to be a part of it. He quickly agreed and I made several portraits of him. I think he's a terrific addition to the series.

100 - 18

I've been itching to do some shooting for 100 lately but due to the volume of work from wedding season, I haven't been out and about much. So, earlier this week I contacted Kristen and told her that I thought she'd be great for "18". Last summer I shot her senior portraits and since then we've become friends. She quickly agreed and after her portrait shoot, I asked her to step outside and help me try out some new lighting equipment which I bought for senior photos. Everything went great and, as always, it was a blast to work with her.

100 - 23

Today at Jeremy and Melissa's wedding reception, I sat across the table from a guy who looks like he could be Kerr Smith's long lost brother. I mentioned the resemblance to Sharon and she immediately agreed. I was so taken by his looks that I asked him if I could shoot his portrait for 100 and he obliged. My two favorite shots are below.

I'm getting much better at being approaching people for 100 and haven't been turned down too many times. One thing I'm noticing is that I'm much better at finding good male subjects than women. I'm not entirely sure why that is, but I do know I'm much more hesitant to approach a woman than a man. I think I psych myself out when it comes to women, thinking that if I walk up to them and ask to take their photo that I'm going to come off like some sort of Ted Bundy wannabe who is going to lure them to my van and kidnap them. (note: I do not own a van and I would not kidnap anyone) I guess I just need to take the risk. What's the worst that could happen? A knee to the groin? Having the police called on me? It's worth it. Right?

100 - 34

While we were setting up our equipment at Kim & Cody's wedding, I noticed one of the ceremony musicians and was immediately impressed with his look. Fortunately, I had my model releases for 100 with me and after the ceremony I approached him as he was packing up his cello. I told him about the project and asked if I could make his portrait and he happily agreed. I'm getting better at approaching "strangers" and am happy the project is steadily moving forward with terrific participants like Franklin.

100 - 35

I try to take my camera with me everywhere I go. Sometimes I forget when I'm in a rush, but I'm getting into the habit of remembering. Today that paid off because when we were out and about, Sharon spotted a fellow who she thought would be a great fit for 100. She pointed him out to me, but he got into his ambulance (he's a paramedic) before I could approach him. Not easily deterred, we followed the ambulance back to the station and once we got there, I worked up the nerve to ask him if I could take his photo. It's always odd, approaching strangers and trying to explain the project to them, but this time it worked out well and Mike agreed to let me make his portrait. I'm happy we made the extra effort to track him down because I love how his photos turned out.

61 & 71

Since I can't keep coming up with unique titles for blogs pertaining to 100, I've decided to simply title those blog with the age(s) of the subject(s).

After shooting so many weddings and engagement sessions lately, I was itching to get back to work on 100 and today I did just that. In the morning, I shot Jay's portrait. He's my first 61 year old and although it took some convincing to get him to look at the camera, he eventually agreed. I really like his portrait, his eyes are so expressive.

In the afternoon it was Harold's turn. I've always loved his look and I believe he's of Native American descent. Harold is 71 and definitely doesn't look it and I love his slight smile.

Tomorrow Sharon and I are heading back to Pittsburgh to shoot Tim Sharyn's wedding. Sunday I have an engagement shoot and possibly another shoot for 100 in the morning. With all of the work, I likely won't have a new blog until some time Monday.

Have a fantastic weekend!

100 - Mother & Daughter

Earlier this week I felt like I'd hit the wall on 100. I hadn't done any shooting for the project in almost 3 weeks and the lack of progress was really bothering me. I decided to remedy that and I started sending some emails on MySpace, telling cool people about the project and asking if they're be interested in having their portrait made.

Deana emailed me back quickly and expressed her interest and said she'd also like to have her daughter, Donna, involved. This afternoon they came by the studio and we got some great shots. Donna was a little shy but I love how her portraits turned out and I'm including some shots of both of these young ladies below.

100 - Shooky

This afternoon I did some more photography for 100. My father works with Harry "Shooky" Shook ("Don't call me Mr. Shook, I'm just one of the boys") and when I asked if I could shoot his portrait for the project he quickly agreed. I stopped in today and worked with him for a little while and got some great shots. Two of my favorites are below.

For those who have been following 100, I'm happy to say that the project is coming along great. Shooting will last at least throughout the year, possibly longer as I fill the various ages of each gender. I feel like I've really hit my stride over the past few weeks and I'm really happy with how the portraits are turning out. If you want to be involved, or know someone who would be interested, feel free to email me (contact info is on my site) and we'll set something up.

Also, in "blog news", I'm increasing the size of the photos displayed on the blog so they're easier to view and display more detail. Hopefully they'll still fit within the constraints of the blog border.

More shooting for 100

Earlier this week, I was surfing MySpace and spotted Ira's profile. I immediately thought he'd be great to photograph for 100 and he also seemed like an incredibly cool guy so I sent him a message telling him about the project. He responded quickly and expressed his interest so we set up a shoot. Today he came by the studio and I had a great time chatting with him. Ira is a promoter for the KISS Army and regularly speaks at conventions for the band. He's a great guy and a lot of fun to work with, and I'm posting 2 of my favorite photos from the shoot below.

Busy day

Today was a hectic day and tomorrow is shaping up to be busy as well.

This afternoon I was fortunate enough to shoot some more portraits for 100. Arlene had called me last week after seeing one of the newspaper articles about the project and expressed interest in having her family involved. I ended up shooting portraits of she and her husband, their 2 daughters and their grandson. Jake is 10 months old, so I'm unsure how I should classify him in terms of years. Should I list him as "0"? I have no idea. Anyway, below are some of my favorite portraits from today's shooting.

Still cold, less snowy

It's still unseasonably cold in western PA, but the forecast is now calling for rain instead of snow. I never thought I'd be happy to hear the meteorologist predicting rain, but after 4 days of snow in April, rain sounds downright wonderful.

This afternoon Jacquline stopped by the studio to have some portraits shot for 100. She had read about the project in the Somerset Daily American when they ran a piece on it last week and called to express her interest. She was so friendly and a lot of fun to work with and we got some great shots. Some of my favorites are below.

100 - At the "senior center"

Yesterday Sharon and I visited the Somerset Senior Center to shoot some portraits for 100. We had done some photography at the center before the holidays and had such a great time meeting the people and chatting with them, so when it came time to get some new portraits for 100, I knew exactly where we needed to go. We did portraits for several couples and individuals and I got some great shots for the project. Some of my favorites are below.

100 - literally

Today I had the great pleasure of photographing Ernie Trent, a "centarian" who I recently read about in the Tribune Democrat. Ernie made the news when he became the oldest person in the world to buy a Mini Cooper, buying the European sports car at age 100. Sharon called Ernie on my behalf and asked him if I could photograph him for "100". He quickly agreed and today we dropped by his home for the shoot. He was such a kind, friendly man and so nice to work with. My favorite portrait is below.

Rainy day

Despite the fact that our driveway and front lawn look like a swamp, I'll still take a rainy day like today over the snow we had last week.

This evening I had the honor of shooting portraits of world-famous tattoo artist and museum curator Mike Skiver and his wife Mary who is an acclaimed tattoo artist in her own rite. Below are some of my favorites from the shoot.

Sorry today's blog is so short. Tomorrow we have a wedding and the day before is always a hectic one.

Spring has finally arrived!

While the first day of spring wasn't headache free (it's a long story but let's just say bringing my Mustang out of storage in the garage didn't go exactly as planned) I'm practically giddy with excitement that spring is finally here. The forecast is also good with the typical spring rains but there's no snow in the foreseeable future. Maybe winter is gone for good.

Later in the day, I broke down my "fear of approaching strangers" barrier. I was enjoying dinner at the Gourmet Buffet in Somerset (the best Chinese food - hands down) and I spotted a family which I immediately knew I wanted to photograph. I took the chance and asked the mother if I could photograph them and, although she was a little surprised, she agreed. After they finished their meal we went outside the restaurant and I shot away. They were such cool people and the boys were adorable. I had a lot of fun working with them and am posting some of my favorite photos below.

In search of a witty title

I just spent 20 minutes trying to think of a good title for today's blog but I can't think of anything. Maybe I'm tired, or maybe seeing Sanjaya rock it out to a Kink's song on American Idol has rendered me speechless.

This afternoon Joe and his wife Rhonda dropped by the studio to have their portraits shot for 100. Both are into "arty" things and I had a great time chatting with them. I was also really happy with their portraits and am posting a few of my favorites below.

100 Women, 100 Men

After a week of shooting for 100, I feel confident enough in the progression of the project to make another mini-announcement. The project will now be two separate series, one featuring 100 men and one featuring 100 women. This was actually my goal from the beginning, but I wanted to make sure I was able to generate enough interest to make that goal attainable before announcing it.
Now we'll be able to see the progression of 100 year through each gender. I feel, by splitting the project in two, that it will be even more powerful and will give a more cohesive view to the collections of photos when viewed as a collection.

Hopefully I'll have some more shots from 100 this week. It's been hectic in Western PA and wedding season is right around the corner.

100 - Family style

Yesterday I went to visit my grandmother at the nursing home. She's in Stage 7 of Alzheimer's disease, the final stage of that horrible, horrible illness.

When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to see my great aunt and uncle who were also there to visit her (my grandmother is my great-uncle's sister - if that makes sense). We chatted a bit and I asked if I could make portraits of them and they willingly obliged. My favorites of each are below.

After they left, I decided I wanted to photograph my grandmother. It's hard to even look at the photos as she's just a shell of who she was even as recently as 3 years ago. What made her "her" is entirely gone, but I wanted to document her as she is now at age 83. I tried some regular portraits but she is very "fidgety" and she has also become very slouched from being in a wheelchair all of the time, so none turned out satisfactory.

Near the end of the visit, I pulled out the camera again and just waited for her to look in my direction and make "eye contact" with the camera. Eventually she did and I took the photo. It's actually much better than anything I tried to pose and more accurately captures her as she is now.

I've had several people email me about 100 and ask about my intentions behind the portraits. My primary goal is to show the the aging processes through 100 different people of 100 different ages. I want to document how our lives are captured in our faces and bodies, how life's highs and lows become a part of us.

As a photographer, I have lots of experience shooting "pretty" people and in many cases, making them even prettier though a bit of Photoshop magic. But I want the portraits in this project to capture who the subjects really are, both in appearance and in personality. I want my subject to look into the lens thinking "This is who I am." To me, they are all beautiful in a way that doesn't need Photoshop or soft focus filters or skin smoothing to exist. That beauty comes from them being true to themselves. And as the person capturing their image, I want to be true to them as well.

More 100

This morning Sharleen and her daughter Raven stopped by the studio. Sharleen had read the article on 100 in the Tribune Democrat and wanted to bring Raven in for a sitting. She told me on the phone that Raven was beautiful, but I was still surprised when I saw her in person. She's such an adorable girl and is a complete natural in front of the camera. I wouldn't be at all shocked to see this girl show up in magazines some day! I'm posting a color portrait and one of the b&w shots I'm considering using for 100.

Later in the day I went on location to shoot another portrait for the series and my first male subject. Ken is a family friend and I've been bugging him for weeks to come in for a sitting but our schedules never worked out until today. I love the portrait we shot and I'm posting it below.

Finally, 100 begins

It seems like it's been forever since I announced 100 and at times I wondered when I would ever begin shooting. That day was today.

This afternoon I had my first official shoot for the project and I was extremely happy with how it went. I was a little nervous when Trudy brought her daughters Brittany and Emily by the studio. I don't have much experience photographing children, so I didn't know how the shoot would go, especially since my intentions aren't to shoot "standard" portraits. Everything went very smoothly and I was able to get shots of both girls which I think will fit perfectly into the project.

Below are 2 fairly traditional, color portraits of each of the girls and after those are the b&w shots which fit my vision for 100. Be sure to post a comment and let me know what you think.

I'm trying to decide whether I should start a Flickr gallery for 100. I don't know if I want to "give away" all of the best shots as the series progresses. I think I'll have to save at least a few until the project is finished. :)

100 Frustrations

No, that's not literally "100" different frustrations, but rather frustrations with "100". I was really hoping to have the project well underway by this point but I haven't been able to get a single person into the studio for a shoot. I do have some people scheduled so hopefully things will pick up this week, but so far I feel like I've been banging my head against a wall. Everyone says they think it's a great idea, but getting them into the studio is proving to be much more challenging than I anticipated.

The delay has already got me second guessing myself. I'm wondering if I made a mistake by decided that all of the portraits in the series need to be shot against the white backdrop. After all, I'm sure it would be easier to find willing participants if I didn't need to get them into the studio. But at the same time, I want the photos to have a uniform look. I do have lots of fast glass so I could shoot portraits in any environment and throw the background out of focus. I suppose, as long as I was careful about positioning and avoided anything distracting that could work... I really wish someone could give me a definitive answer about what to do. Anyone want to lend their advice?

Test shooting for "100"

I've always wanted to make a portrait of my friend and world renowned tattoo artist Mike Skiver. When I decided to proceed forward "100", I knew I wanted Mike to be one of the subjects and this afternoon I stopped by his tattoo museum to do see if he was interested. He is, and we're working on setting up an appointment this week. I grabbed a quick test shot of Mike (which isn't a very good photo seeing as how there are frames directly behind his head), and I also used a photoshop curve sent to me by John Setzler to give the black and white just a hint of warmth. Thanks, John!

I'm already in love with this project and can't wait to begin shooting in earnest soon. Hopefully I'll be able to post Mike's official "100" portrait in a few days.

Technical specs for "100"

Since I want to begin shooting for "100" as soon as possible (hopefully this week if I can convince my first subject to come in for a sitting), I wanted to get the technical guidelines sorted out and I'm almost finished.

"100" will be shot entirely in black and white. This was never really a choice actually. Art, to me, is b&w. What I am unsure of is whether it should be pure black and white or have a very minor tint of brown/sepia. I'm leaning toward pure b&w but that could change.

The portraits will all be shot against a plain white background. White is empty and clean and clearly separates the subject from the backdrop, which is what I'm after. A pure white background will allow the viewer of the images to concentrate entirely on the subject and not his/her surroundings.

I will also be using studio lighting for the portraits. While I love natural lighting, in order for the portraits to have a unifying look I feel they should all feature the same lighting set-up. I am keeping things simple though and will be using just a strobe and a reflector. I'm still trying to decide whether to fire the strobe into an umbrella or through a softbox. I'll have to do some test shots to see which I prefer.

So, I'm pretty much ready to roll. And I can't wait to get started!

100

For months now I've been languishing over a photography project I've been wanting to undertake but couldn't define. While I feel being an artist is about freedom, at the same time I believe that you need a cohesive vision when beginning a project.

People have always been my favorite subject. I love the interaction and the connection that's formed when working one on one with another person. So I knew the project was going to be a series of portraits, but I lacked the focus I needed to really get the ball rolling. Over the past few weeks, I finally came up with the blueprint for what I believe will be my most significant work of my career (so far). The project is called 100.

100 will ultimately become a series of one hundred portraits of one hundred different people. But the real "hook" of the project is that each person in the project will be a different age, with each representing one year. As a result, the final series will feature portraits of one hundred people from ages 1 to 100. Ultimately, I would like to have the series featured in an art book and I'll also be looking into the prospect of some gallery showings.

I'm still finalizing the little details, such as whether I should shoot everyone in the series against a particular type of backdrop, whether to use studio lighting or natural, etc. but now that I've developed the "big picture", I'm sure the rest will quickly fall into place. I can't wait to begin and as always I'll post updates on the blog as the project progresses.