Video Tour of My Friend Troy’s Darkroom

Maybe I am on a bit of a nostalgia trip these last few posts, but I have to share this video with you. We took this while visiting my old friend and college roommate’s darkroom. I used to live in the darkroom while in college. Printing was the art form to learn and become a master at. Now a days, I am spending most of my time in front of a computer doing my craft. Afterall, the chemistry used in making photographic prints was not good to for me and I was having terrible reactions to it. So the computer was a blessing for me to continue my creative process.

….But my buddy Troy is old school. I mean he does it all, from manual film camera- to wet printing with chemistry- to cutting his mats with a Dexter- to building his own frames. I love this about him. These images are stunning, the frames are beautiful, and each piece is truly an art work. I had fun getting a tour of his spaces. This is the first video of our look around the darkroom, which flooded me with memories of my own time of printing in the dark for hours and hours. I hope you’ll enjoy this tour, learn a little but about the craft, and leave comments about your thoughts.

Enjoy…

Read Full Post »

Capturing Personality – A Look at Local Chefs

Many of you know that our favorite thing to photograph is food. Yes, It’s true, working with local – and not so local- restaurants is our passion. We love every aspect of this kind of work. We will often come into a place and photograph the food right there on location. It’s perfect for the chefs, they have all their tools, foods, and and equipment right on hand. They create the dish – plate it  - and out from the kitchen it comes directly in front of the cameras. We spend hours working along side the chefs to make sure their creation is captured just the way they envisioned it. So we get to know these extraordinary chefs – and see just how passionate they are about the work they do…

I wanted to share with you some of the chef portraits I have had the pleasure of creating recently… Afterall, it’s these peoples talents you get to experience while enjoying your dinner at these restaurants…

 

 

Chef Stephen - Gastronomic Genius behind Niche Hospitality

 

Chef Paul -One of the Inventors of Imaginative Menu’s for Pepper’s Catering

 

 

Chef Mike - Wunderkind Sushi Chef at Baba

Chef Jim - Creating Flames at Micheal's

Chef Bo - Inventive Caterer for Harborside Catering

Chef Harley - Creator of Inventive Fare at 10 Center

Read Full Post »

Jazz At Sunset

Every summer the Ecotarium in Worcester, MA has the most incredible Jazz lineup. The series is called Jazz at Sunset and it happens on Friday nights from beginning June to the end of July. We try and go as many Fridays as we can, and we are never disappointed. 

 

Dancing is the norm at Jazz Nights

 

Jazz Singer making the night smoking hot...

Read Full Post »

Trapped Inside a Daguerreotype!

Trapped inside a what??? A Daguerreotype. Go ahead- google it. There are 525,000 results. You’ll learn a lot – but what you really need to know is that the Daguerreotype was the first successful photographic process and it’s discovery was announced in January 1839. Everything changed in the visual world from this discovery! But that’s another blog post for another time…

Perhaps you have seen a daguerreotype and just did not know it? Most folks have – a very famous one is the portrait of Abraham Lincoln.  

…but… I don’t want to get side tracked from the story I’d like to share with you today. I’d like to talk about an email from my college photography professor; Walter Johnson. He was sending me a link to a Daguerreotype web site that he is proud to be a member of.  When we were in college, Walter did make these Daguerreotype’s and even did demonstrations to show us this unique and complicated process. So when I was cruising through the web site he’d sent me too- I realized that he had captured me (and my fellow photo students, including Troy Plair on the left) in one of these Daguerreotypes! I had forgotten all about it…

 

 

Daguerreotype of the SouthEast Center for Photographic Studies Students © Walter Johnson

Yup- that is me standing there – second guy in from the left side. Legs crossed leaning on the van… Looking cool in my sunglasses. But the cool part is this is a Daguerreotype. I personally feel photographers should learn a bit about them. See — There are a lot of processes out there to make images. And this my photo friends- is where it all began. I think it is important to realize and pay homage to the beginnings of photography. After all, it is a passion I share with so many folks. I have to give recognition to the creators of such an amazing invention. I’ve built my life around photography and here it is — the beginnings of a giant industry….

And I am trapped inside one.

And I am not looking for a way out, not even a little bit.

Read Full Post »

It Was a Beautiful Night for Candle Light

Some nights are just perfect. The weather is in that sweet spot of coolness and warmth. The bugs are at bay. There is a clear beautiful blue sky right before the sun fades- we call that the “magic hour,” and we love being asked to photograph at this time. But this time the folks at Harborside Catering  added one more bit of magic to fully create an extraordinary atmosphere. Candles. Lots and lots of candles.

 

Harborside Catering

 

The tent lit up

Read Full Post »