It’s been some time since I’ve written here and its time to update the life around me.
Those who know me well know that I’ve entered a new stage in my life by having to let go of something. Its been tough but these are the unavoidable obstacles in life.
As work goes, things have been very busy. With Hawaii having a “shooting season,” I’ve been shooting loads and keeping myself busy. I’ve done work for Sony, National Geographic Society, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and everything in between. Great images all and all.
I will update my blog as the days go on and will start with a more interesting subject…FILM!
I shot a page for Conde Nast Traveler and the editors wanted me to shoot 4×5 Polaroid! Now you’re saying to yourself…”Polaroid? Do they still make that stuff?”
Actually…yes and no. The company Polaroid no longer makes instant after going kaput in the early 2000’s but Fujfilm still makes instant film, although they stopped making it for 4×5. There is a Dutch company, the Impossible Project, that did buy the patents and technology to make their version of Polaroid but they haven’t made a 4xt5 version yet. They do have an 8×10 version but its pricey. But luckily I found some old stock of Fujifilm locally and set off to shoot a portrait of of Roxy and Matt of Vers Hawaii.
Roxy and Matt design all the clothes on their Vers line and they got national attention from the mag. They were quiet a nice pair to photograph as its never hard to shoot good looking people. The idea was to shoot them near sunset near Portlock and to ensure a nice tilt/shift on the image. Pulling out the old 4×5 proved to be a tough one since the last time I really shot that camera was for a surfer project I shot before Polaroid T55 pos/neg disappeared. To have to rethink like a film photographer after shooting totally digitally was tough yet fun.
With assistant Natalie at my side, we shot about 20 polaroids, rather Fuji45 instant film and lost about 4 to 5 shots to exposure, sand, and unstable film. It might have been easy to shoot if we had more time, more experience with shooting 45, and just a more controlled situation. You forget how quickly the light changes when the latitude of the instant film is clearly unforgiving…unlike digital which captures and sees all.
The shot the mag chose is on the layout along with my shot of an Ono Pop. The Mexican Style palettas are quiet the hit here in Hawaii and the mag figured I had the skill to do both a still life and a portrait. Clearly people recognize my ability to wear many hats while living in the Aloha State. When living in a place where a photography career can have you shooting a football game, a business portrait on an airplane, and a concert by a hip hop artist, you have to learn to do everything. There is very little room to specialize in Hawaii.
So the pineapple vanilla Ono Pop needed to be shot on a white background. Hence I shot the ice cream on a piece of white plexiglass, lit from below and a hard light from above, all the while having my living room as my studio. Shooting white on white on yellow is really, really tough but I managed to pull it off.
