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Keith and I decided to take a trip down to Asheville, NC, to visit our close friends, artist Julie Armbruster and her husband, Dave. They love living there, it’s a very unique little city in the south, great weather year round, mountains, clean air, a lot of young liberal, creative types living there and running cool businesses and restaurants…and a very vibrant and active community of artists. I had been there before and Keith had not so he was curious to see what is there to do in Asheville, North Carolina… During our stay we were attended a time-capsule burying party, played around at a public xylophone garden (so cool), engaged in a lot of ‘stopping to smell the flowers’, and of course, Julie and Dave took us bowling! Check out a few of my favorite images from the trip.
Shaheen is an extremely dedicated and talented young cellist… his mother brought him to my studio in full tuxedo with his beautiful instrument, freshly polished! I let him warm up and play for a while to get loose, then did some ‘headshots’ for his orchestra playbill image and to use in submissions for contests and whatnot. His playing was so fun to watch I asked him to let me shoot some while he was playing– these were my favorites..jpg "009shaheenfavorites")
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Recently I got the opportunity to do a portfolio shoot for Amber Cowan, a glass artist here in Williamsburg– while at her studio where she works at 160 Glass (they teach glassblowing classes and workshops by the way, for anyone who may be interested!), and I met Michiko Sakano, and just out of curiousity about glassblowing I asked if I could shoot them at work in the studio. First of all, it is SO HOT in there, i could barely stand to be near those furnaces… and I was amazed at how physical, delicate, and time-consuming the glassblowing process was. Now I understand why those fancy hand-blown glass vases you buy as a wedding gift cost so much! And I’m shocked by how cheap things are at Pier 1!! Take a look… glassblowing has to be done with a partner, so Amber and Michiko helped eachother out for my shoot. Michiko (below) even gave me the finished vase (decantur, she called it!) and it is lovely, i must say.
Above, Michiko in her personal studio room– she makes the most amazing custom lamps/lighting. Below, Amber Cowan shows me her process…
Forest Fire, a favorite local band of ours, hosted a performance-based party (much like those ‘apartment’ parties at Michael and Leah’s) at their loft last weekend. I took some photos of their set, as well as a great set by Wild Yaks. Favorite shots below…
Pepper wanted to shoot some fun pinup-style images for her portfolio (*and for her boyfriend, let’s not forget him!) so we got creative in my studio, using mostly a black velvet background and her costume selections, but also I threw in a few sheer 1950’s floral curtains for fun. I had a blast processing these as I just made the switch to Lightroom and am now enthralled with the possibilities enabled by develop module preset creation. (photographers know what i mean, sorry for the gobbledygook everyone else). Here are a few favorites from my shoot with Pepper. She’s recently engaged so perhaps you’ll see her here in a wedding dress in another year! Ladies, contact me if you’d like a session to create a private gift-book for your hubby or boyfriend, ready in time for valentines day…