Motion Photography in the Alley

March 19, 2011

Having been involved with the event twice before and even recently built their website, this past weekend saw me venture out to be a part of the latest Arts in the Alley, this time in Church Hill… though not as much as I’d have liked. Leading into the event I’d seen a number of late (4am) nights working on a variety of projects and even a (pretty darn amazing) wedding in Newport News, VA on Saturday night. All told, whereas I’m usually an Arts in the Alley staple, I only got to be there for about a quarter of it this time out. Sad times.

So, with my good friend Jaime Patterson having been shooting still photography the entire time, I decided to use the hours I was able to attend to do something a bit different than i’d done before: namely, make a video. So it was with a dash of determination and a complete lack of steady-cam equipment that I set out and made what is posted above, and even though I debuted this on Facebook yesterday, I figured it was worth a blog post as well. Let me know what you think!

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Photo Phundays

March 2, 2011

Tremayne

Not too terribly long ago, a couple photographer pals (Jaime Patterson and Karlin Lichtenberger) and I had the bright idea of catching up on a day and just spending it exercising our photographic, creative muscles. The Firefly Imageworks studio played host to the first meet-up in August of last year, and once the day was done, we all agreed it was something that should be a reoccurring thing. Thus Photo Phundays were born.

This past weekend saw the most recent Phunday. Newcommers to the meet-up included two other photographers, Cassie Sconzo and Angelica Schmitt, stylist Tremayne Hill, and makeup artist, Heather Toler… and my new dog Halpert (whom you’ll meet more formerly in a future post).

Many laughs, creative moments, and pizzas later, we all found ourselves checking the clock, amazed at what time it was, and noticing that we were coming away with some pretty amazing shots. For me, a huge part of the excitement was utilizing a giant soft-box I’d recently purchased for my AlienBees ABR800 Ring-flash unit. The box allowed it to become a giant soft-box or also a giant ring-flash. Additionally, I played around with an idea I had of only using Christmas lights as lighting. I really, really liked how it all came out, and the addition of people who know what they’re doing in the styling and make-up categories really help add to overall quality of the final shots.

(read more…)

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Arts in the Digital Alley

February 28, 2011

Arts in the Alley's new website!

Since 2008, I’ve been partnering with Offering, a Richmond, VA based non-profit band, to capture their amazing Arts in the Alley (AITA) initiative in photos. Through two iterations, AITA has literally taken me around the world and back, with the first being held right here in downtown Richmond and the second in a migrant worker neighborhood in Beijing, China. The events’ focus is to take a normal run-down alley, spend a day cleaning it up, and then a second day painting beautiful murals; all while throwing a vibrant arts festival with music and visual art. The idea is that this will not only serve as a fun, creative weekend for those in attendance, but also crime rates have been proven to decline when an urban area is revitalized, so there’s a lasting positive effect as well.

The newest AITA is coming up on March 12-13, and in preparation for the next event, Offering’s band leader, Jeanine Guidry, asked me to design a new website that could operate as a great place to showcase the work that’s been done before, but also serve as a digital staging ground for volunteers at new AITA events; all while trying to capture the vibrant spirit of the events themselves in the design. (read more…)

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Adding to the Riot

February 17, 2011

Finger Pickin'

I’ve been working with Richmond, VA based band A Good Natured Riot since Firefly Imageworks started about five years ago. Throughout that time, we’ve collaborated on a number of shoots, a website, two album designs, and I even shot their drummer’s wedding!

Recently, the band welcomed two new members however, and with that comes the need for website updates and new promo photos, so I packed my camera up and hung out with the band as they practiced, recently. Despite said drummer not being there – off recouping from whatever this wintery plague that’s been going around is – I really like how the shots came out.

We’ll be working more in the near future I’m sure, but for now if you’re a fan of good bluegrass/folk/awesomeness, you should really come out and see them around the RVA area sometime, or pick up their album. They ain’t too shabby at all. (read more…)

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Africa in December

January 14, 2011

Rwandan Street Child

The first four days I headed back to Mudzini Kwetu (One Home Many Hopes) where I spent time in March and April earlier in the year, and the rest of the time I spent in Rwanda working primarily with New Hope Homes, but taking an afternoon to collaborate a little with Hope For Life Ministries as well. The adventure all wrapped up with a four day stint in Brussels, Belgium when my flight home was rescheduled due to a lack of aircraft deicing fluid. Fun.

All airline shenanigans aside, It was a really great trip and I had to opportunity to meet and interact with some truly incredible people. The focus when visiting each home was the development of video collaterals for fundraising back here in the states. That said, I took a few still shots of many of the faces I came in contact with and a couple of the gorgeous Rwandan countryside as well.

I’m planning on doing a separate entry profiling each home in the near future to showcase some completed video work as well as a few stories time spent at each, but in the meantime, I wanted to share some of these stills I managed to pick up along the way. Take a look below (or after the break) and let me know what you think!

(read more…)

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