This weekend I went to Fright of Fancy Halloween party at the Latvian Society organized by Carrie Collins, the owner of Fabric Horse. It was tons of fun! They had a costume runway show, dance party, “Zombie Brain Toss” (!!!), yummy treats and awesome Latvian beer. Thanks everyone who helped organize it. I had a blast!
Check out my photo gallery for Philadelphia Weekly here.
My friend Kate needed some new shots for her portfolio, so we went to Fairmount park and had some fun.
On Wednesday, September 30, Sarah Van Aken debuted her new boutique SaVa in Center City Philadelphia. The grand opening featured a fashion runway show, refreshments from nearby restaurants, DJs and retail on the street.
I took some photos of the second of the three Philadelphia Weekly’s free Concerts in the Park on Wednesday, August 19. It was Kurt Vile and The Violators with Mondo Topless. Although some “scattered thunderstorms” were supposed to occur, the show had a good turnout. And it didn’t rain at all by the way!
For more photos, visit Philadelphia Weekly’s website.
Due to the rain, the first Philadelphia Weekly Concert in the Park this summer was moved to Lucky Strike bowling alley at 1334 Chestnut St. It was a little disappointing because I was hoping for an outdoor concert, but fun to shoot.The Peace Creeps played first, followed by Welcome To My Face.
For more photos, visit Philadelphia Weekly’s website.
I have had a chance to attend and photograph the NCSL Convention in Philadelphia in July 2009. Bill Gates was one of the speakers.
On our third day of shooting, we drove eight miles south of Santa Fe, NM to Bonanza Creek Movie Ranch. The ranch has been used as a movie set for dozens of films and commercials, from 1950s to present. I was amazed to find out that Easy Rider and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were partially shot here! Bonanza Creek is also a working cattle ranch, with cows, ducks, geese and several ponds.
There were several buildings and barns, with great light patterns and peeled paint, for us to explore. The only disappointment was that we had less than two hours for location scouting, moving equipment, going through models’ wardrobes and shooting. I worked with Tanya and Chris who are both talented professional photographers.
My favorite model for that day was Clara and I got to shoot some amazing photos with her. Clara had very beautiful arms and hands and we couldn’t believe her when she said she was a professional boxer! She had a unique look and followed direction very well. Our second model, Lance, was actually a pro photographer based in Los Angeles and working for the Workshop as a lab monitor and a model. He was certainly good at both! I found some windows with beautiful natural light, used reflectors to fill in shadows on models’ faces and used some Dynalites for several shots inside the barn. We had a great time shooting!
On our second day of shooting we headed to a small town of Cerillos, NM. I heard someone say that the population of Cerillos is 42 people! The day was extremely hot and sunny and we needed to practice controlling the harsh midday sun. After a short demo on reflective and transmissive techniques, we divided into groups and shot models for about 20 minutes each. My group had one male and one female model: Donald and Josie. Josie had some experience modeling and was fun to shoot.
Josie
Donald wasn’t your typical model in any way. Former film director and actor, he probably knew more about lighting than most students and actually helped us a lot with metering and equipment. Donald brought several large boxes filled with hats, boots and props. Working with him was a memorable experience!
