Ready For MY Close-Up!

I have been photographing a lot of Star Wars themed costumes lately for members of the 501st Legion. I have, of late, been shooting with a somewhat dark & mysterious style that I am kind of partial to.  I wanted to somehow try and capture that same style with my costume. So, I set-up and metered my lights, put up my black backdrop, and got my wife to compose the shots and press the shutter button.

I think she did a great job composing the photos. We took about 30 shots altogether, but the photo on the left was my absolute favorite.  I’m actually thinking of making it into a trading card to hand out to kids at 501st events, as well as make it into a 16″ x 20″ for my home office.

The photos below were runner-up’s. The guitar shot was a whimsical, spur of the moment thing, which is something I would eventually like to incorporate more into my costume photography. Sometimes those are the most enjoyable, and make for a great conversational piece.

 

Photographing Dr. Jones

I had an awesome time photographing Adam as Indiana Jones @ the Fells Reservation in Stoneham, Massachusetts this evening. We tried to take a bit from the films out of the session, but also grabbed some fun stuff.

The costume and props that Adam had made this shoot pretty easy to bring a bit of authenticity to the table. What a great character, great costume, and aside from a few mosquito bites, a great time! It was nice for a change to have it rain all day, then clear up before the photo session. Lately it has been doing the opposite. Here are some shots from this evening:

 

Feast Your “Eye” On This!

One thing that I love the most about photographing the costuming community, is that their photos are always VERY entertaining, other-worldly, and unique… you just don’t see this stuff every day. Today I had the opportunity to photograph Chris in his “Residents” costume. Who are the Residents? Honestly, I didn’t now until I asked Chris about them, and googled some information.

From Wikipedia:

The Residents are an American avant-garde music and visual arts group. They have created over sixty albums, created numerous musical short films, designed three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs, and undertaken seven major world tours. Throughout their career, spanning nearly four decades, they have not disclosed their identity.

Just looking at these guys, I thought that I would have seen, or heard something about them over the past 35 years that they have been active.

Anyway, Chris is quite the Residents enthusiast, and wanted his costume photographed, so, we found an old deserted Naval Air Station of course: The South Weymouth Naval Air Station. Shutdown in 1997, it made for a interesting backdrop for the photoshoot. Here are some of the shots that we got:

 

Leah & Harley

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to photograph the wedding of Leah and Harley. The ceremony and reception was held at the Radisson in Nashua, New Hampshire. It use to be The Sheraton, and has that classic “castle” look to it, that made for a nice backdrop to some of the photos.

What a great young couple with a wonderful family and amazing friends.

Here are some shots from the day:

 

Star Wars: The Photo Shoot Strikes Back

Yesterday evening I had the pleasure to photograph Margaret in her Snowtrooper costume from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back! Margaret is a member of the infamous 501st Legion, a costuming group dedicated to raising money for great causes, but doing it in a fun way – dressing up in full Star Wars garb and bringing smiles to the faces of MANY children. The 501st Legion spans the entire globe.

It had been gorgeous weather all day, then the minute I got into my car and headed to Wellesley, Ma, it began to torrentially down pour. It seemed as though the storm followed me all the way to Margaret’s home, and continued to do so after I arrived. So, to start off, we did some portraits in her 9’x9′ kitchen using her wallpaper as the backdrop (seeing the photos, you wouldn’t believe it WAS shot in a small kitchen against wallpaper.) After about 1 hour, we went outdoors into the backyard and shot some more.

Being an insane Star Wars fan myself, Margaret and I had much to talk about, and I had a total blast having the opportunity to photograph a subject that is in the universe I so love!

 

Melissa – Yoga Instructor

I had a fun shoot today with Melissa; a young lady starting a yoga instruction business. She asked me to take some shots for her website, flyers, and business card. I found a nice location called “Straw Point” in Stoneham, Ma, which is part of the Middlesex Fells Reservation. I hiked down a path and came across this particular location. I sent a photo of it to her, and she loved it, so we went with it. It was a perfect evening for a photo shoot, even though it just stopped raining as I parked my car. Perfect timing!

Melissa’s boy friend, Pat, helped out by lugging some of my gear, and holding the strobe light so it wouldn’t fall in the water… Man, I really need an assistant.

 

Dance Photos

This year I am shooting photos for Cheryl’s School of Dance in Melrose. I just did the individual shots last Sunday. Friday the 29th I will be shooting the group photos at the rehearsal. It just so happens that Mary is taking dance this year at Cheryl’s, so here are her photos from Sunday. I was really surprised at how well she did!

 

Photos at the Lake

Being a part time photographer, I thought that it would be fun to start sharing some of my work on a regular basis here in my blog.

On that note, this featured portrait session was for a woman, Christina, and her son Dominic. We shot these at Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, Massachusetts on May 13th. The weather was gorgeous all day, but when it came time for the photo session, the wind began howling! It was so windy that when I was photographing Christina at the edge of the lake, she stumbled on a rock and only God knows how she escaped plunging into the water. My heart completely stopped.  Fortunately, daddy was holding on to Dominic at the time.

 

Beatle Juice Comes To Melrose

I wouldn’t consider myself a huge Beatles fan, but being a musician, I am a lover of live music. Last night, at Memorial Hall, in Melrose, Massachusetts, Judy, myself, friends and family were all treated to Beatle Juice; a New England based Beatles cover band. There is just something about live music that takes any studio recordings that you hear day in and day out on a CD, or on the radio, and transforms it into something a bit more personal, with a little more heart. It rejuvenates your love, or interest in a particular band’s music, when it has become stale. I think I took away a better appreciation for the Beatles music after this performance.

My brother-in-law was kind enough to get us a table right in front of the stage… he’s “in” with the band. Judy and I got to dance for the first time since my cousins wedding back in February, and I got to have a couple of beers!

Three lead singers took turns during the four hour set. All were great! One of them sounded exactly like Paul McCartney. If you closed your eyes, you would have thought he was on stage. I, however, loved the energy and flare of Jimmy Rogers, who is also the singer of “Velvet Elvis.” He tore up the first act, and his performance was a very tough act for anyone to follow. I did bring my camera along and shot quite a few photos of the band performing. If you have never seen these guys live, you have to check them out, whether you’re a Beatles fan, or not. They put on a stellar show. Their performance helped benefit the Melrose K of C Food for the Needy Fundraiser.

 

Photo Fun!

Luke had his haircut for the second time today. We got it cut a bit shorter than we did last time. Anyway, I had my soft box set-up, so I got the kids after their nap, and they somewhat cooperated for a quick portrait opportunity.