Astoria Park

Study’s of light and shadow in Astoria Park. For the past few years I’ve been returning over and over to this train bridge in the park. Capturing the play between the geometry and the light.

That zipper necklace photo... part 1.

This was a fun shoot to art direct and shoot, retouching not so much. This started at Pacific Trimming ( 218 W 38th St, New York, NY 10018) where I was overwhelmed by the cost and selection of zippers. Who knew that there were so many options? After much back and forth, and some questions the staff got me what I needed to build the set for this jewelry photo.

Building out the set was another set of new challenges. At first I started building on standard white 1/4” foam core but because the zippers were black the background foam core created distraction. Honestly, I would have needed an additional dozen zippers to build out a small jewelry set on white. Switching to black foam core allowed me to create deeper set that would give me more depth and fall off in the image without investing in more props.

To light the set I used Elinchrom strobe lights an impact beauty dish that was heavily feathered. By feathering the contrasty beauty dish light I was able to create deep shadows on what was a shallow set. Those deep shadows really allow the jewelry pop off the dark background.

In the next part I’ll go over my tethering and important aspects of creating this image.

A few words on scanning negatives with the Epson V600

I’m currently working my way through scanning twenty four rolls of film I shot during my Apres SCAD trip. I want to take this opportunity to share my thoughts on my flat bed scanner.

My home setup is an Epson V600 flatbed using the proprietary software. On previous trips and for some jobs I’ve had my lab do the scans but they always leave me thinking I could have done this better myself. However the trade off is time. The Epson V600 while adequate is on the slow side due to its narrow back light used for scanning negatives. It is an entry level scanner that is great for learning and refining your technique but you will out grow it if you are doing heavier levels of photo production.

Dragging the shutter in Times Square

There are places in NYC that are seething with chaos and pressure. It swirls around you, pushes you and ultimately repels you from returning. Times Square is the epitome of it all.