just a sneak peak at the funky tastiness that was The Worlds Largest Afro Wig Photo Shoot….
more to come…
Posts Tagged ‘Street’
The Worlds Largest Afro Wig Photo Shoot…
March 29, 2009Meet Curtis Reliford
March 23, 2009If you have spent any time at all down town Santa Cruz you’ve seen – or likely heard the big white truck pulling the flag draped trailer covered with stencils. Often blaring an R&B tune in his one man parade – all in an effort to draw attention to the still great need of help for the folks hit by Katrina.
Today I met the man behind the wheel. A sharp dressed, well spoken man named Curtis Reliford. When you meet Curtis two things strike you. First you get a sense that you are on holy ground. The second thing that strikes you is this is a man who is tired but not about to relent.
Curtis is in Santa Cruz trying to bring attention to the needs not only of Katrina’s victims but also to offer his truck and trailer to anyone who needs him. A while back Curtis broke an axle hauling a load of books to a school in New Orleans.
Curtis believes that Katrina, and the subsequent failure of the federal government to help its own citizens at the time of their greatest need was a wake up call to all of us to work together.
If you would like to contribute or find out more you can find Curtis @ followyourheartactionnetwork.com
Promo Shoot for The Worlds Largest Afro Wig Photo Shoot
March 15, 2009…whew thats a mouth full.
about a month ago i was out on the street doing my thing with my camera and i saw a giant afro bouncing my way. i maneuvered for a good shot and after i struck up a conversation with the afro’s owner. turns out he is a rad guy. Virgil calls himself a “Possibility Advocate” (i’ll let you explore that more on your own and just say that i like what he’s up to).
he asked if i was interested in helping him out with his plans for “The Worlds Largest Afro Wig Photo Shoot” on March 28th in Santa Cruz. of course i couldn’t turn down that opportunity. last week Virgil brought in some models from over the hill and got Retro Paradise (mucho gracias) to donate clothing for our first promo shoot.
it was a lot of work and a little crazy which is to say it was a blast. i fired off a lot of images not all of which i am happy with, but i did get a few that i’m pretty stoked on. i especially like the very last image. we made that dudes lifetime… ha ha
we will be back out again on the 21st, and if things go as planned, with more models, a set/lighting assistant and sunny skies! so if you are down town on the 21st around late noonish or on the 28th bust out your 70’s clothes and afro wig (be sure to hit up Retro Paradise) and join us!
A Few Shots From the Monterey Bay Aquarium
December 30, 2008
Street Pics
December 15, 2008been a little slack on posting, to make up for it here are some street pics sans words.
enjoy!
Weekend Images: The Great Morgani!
November 30, 2008meet The Great Morgani!
i was out today, shooting of course and The Great Morgani was out on the street. i haven’t seen him around Santa Cruz in ages so i was stoked. if you don’t know about The Great Morgani he’s an accordion player here in Santa Cruz. every time he appears he has a different home made costume.
today he was… balls. i will let you make all the jokes…
if you didn’t notice the sky is a different shade in each of the photos. the difference is all in the exposure. i didn’t get the different sky in photoshop. i did it the old fashioned way, by different combination of aperture and shutter speed.
question: what comes first, the wacky suit or the bad pun? ….
UPDATE: 11.12.08
November 13, 2008so this week has been nutty. full of great things and not so fun things.
Tuesday i chatted on the phone with Amorina Edwards about her wedding in Sacramento in September. i have decided to limit the number of weddings i shoot next year and select only weddings that i believe have the potential to yield the best images. after talking with Amorina via email and over the phone and hearing her story about how she and her fience Ray met i knew i would want to photograph them. we are shooting their engagement session sometime in Janurary. we plan to create little magnets for the “save the date cards.” should be fun. maybe i will post some of the concepts up here.
so i’ve been putting out feelers for second shooters in the Sac-town area. i’m not charging them very much for the wedding so i can’t pay a second a lot, AND i need someone who shoots similar to my style. but i have time and there are so many gifted photographers out there that i’m sure i will find someone.*
Friday i have the first of what i hope will be many sessions with a couple that have been married for 66 years… yeah, 66. trying to comprehend 66 years of marriage… it might as well be 66 million years. they are the most tender and beautiful couple i’ve ever known. they are the parents of the master carpenter i work with on occasion.**
this is part of what i hope will be a larger project of photographing and documenting the stories of a generation that is quickly leaving us.
Saturday i am shooting production stills for an indi film being produced over the hill in San Jose. not sure how that will turn out but it will be a learning experience.
all this while sending out resumes and doing interviews with local construction firms. oh life. ha ha.
* feel free to contact me if you are game. send me a link to some of your work and we will talk. ideally i would like a female shooter. experience has told me that a male/female combo is the best team for weddings. sorry guys.
** yes, surprise documentary photography doesn’t pay the bills. but carpentry and photography both give me the same feeling artistically. i love the process and am never happy with the end product and always think that everyone else does way better work!
Fred Grandy The Alphabet Man
November 12, 2008
I was headed down Pacific hoping to catch some local street kids to shoot some impromptu portraits (and test out some new strobe techniques!) when I noticed this guy at the antique market.
He had what must have been thousands of letters, all hand cut from sheet metal spread out on a couple canvas tarps.
So of course I had to stop and take pictures…
he had these super rad homemade magnets-on-a-stick he used to pick up the letters…
i can’t tell you how friendly the guy was.
he was telling me that he makes all these letters from re-claimed material, even the paint is stuff he picks up second hand.
he was a little skeptical of me taking photos at first. he was telling me that folks will take photos then go home and have the stuff made in China and shipped over here and he can’t compete with that.
i never did make it down to shoot the little street punks.
but this was a lot of fun. i set up my strobe on a stand cross lighting against the sun, on manual at about 1/4 power.
just a couple more nocturne images
October 27, 2008
these images are pretty much as they came out of the camera, except for adjustments to the White Balance i made in photoshop.
Chasing the Light, Capturing the Moment
October 12, 2008photography for me has always been about chasing the light and capturing the moment in a way that tells the story, sometimes the light is the story.
sometimes this results in image making that is counter intuitive, case in point, night photography. how can you capture light when there is none?
recently i’ve started shooting nocturnal photography again. something i did a lot when i was in Canada.
this first image is from down town Santa Cruz. it was a 30 second exposure, which was a little sketchy do to the fact that i had to stand in the middle of the street to get the shot. but if the image is there and the light is there you have to be there as well.
this next image was an 8 minute exposure. the tide was coming in and i almost lost the camera when a wave came in and went up the tripod about 6 inches.
i’ve been a street photographer for a long time, but the medium never ceases to surprise and delight me. there are so many fascinating people out there, esp in Santa Cruz. these are a few shots of Blackberry Raum, a group of street performers/band that had at least a hundred people gathered around to hear their Americana/Hillbilly/Punk/Screamo incantations. great stuff.
what i like about these images is the motion. you can’t get that in day light, well, not easily. while they aren’t “technically good” for me the appeal is that they convey the energy of this band.
