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Tubing and boarding – winter sports photography

January 27, 2010 – 8:12 pm

I’ve spent a few mornings recently standing in snow, wind, and sub-freezing temperatures shooting activities at the Amesbury Sports Park . It’s hard to hide the fact that it was pure fun, so why try to hide the fact. The facility has always been known for its great tubing runs and lifts, but this year they added a new lift – it’s not unlike a moving sidewalk at an airport – and a junkyard terrain park. The junkyard park has semi-buried tires, culverts and anything else that forms the beginnings of a jump for skiers and snowboarders.

Me? I got to walk the terrain park, lie down and let boarders sail over my head, dodge tubes coming down the hill at nearly 40 miles per hour, and convince a couple of tubers to hold my feet so I could shoot as we hurtled down the slope.

The park, which is open Thursday through Sunday is an amazingly good time…flying down hills and you don’t have to hoof it back up! They are minutes off I-495 in Amesbury, Massachusetts, and well worth the drive, though if you can slip away during the week there will be less waiting in line to go down again. You ask me, it’s a must-do this winter, no matter what your age.

And if you see me there ( I’ll be the tall guy in the red coat with a camera and no gloves), wave…I just might take your picture!

By Jay | Also posted in inspiration | Tagged | Comments (1)

Clara’s Dream – NH dance photography

December 22, 2009 – 10:19 am

For those of you who thought tap dance was old-fashioned, stodgy, or simply people clicking away on a stage…WRONG!

A couple of night’s ago I had the opportunity to photograph a performance of Clara’s Dream, a jazz and tap rendition of The Nutcracker produced by Maine dancer and artistic director Drika Overton. The costumes were stunning, the stage lighting and set design phenomenal, the band tremendous…but all paled in comparison to the dancers. They could have put this show on on your local street corner and it still would have been mind-blowing.
From a photographer’s perspective, it was like being a kid in a candy store – almost impossible to choose what to shoot – there were visual delights stage left, stage right, and center stage. If you took the time to look away fro the spotlit dance, all sorts of subtle dances were happening in the background. I’ve never seen anything like it.

My suggestion – send Drika an email (http://www.jazzandtap.com/ ) and beg her to bring the show back in 2010. The show was first performed in 2000, and its been on vacation since 2006.  Don’t let it go back into mothballs again – the 6 musicians and 20 dancersw are a must see-must hear. After insuring its return, Mark it on your calendar, and make sure not to miss this show – it could – and should – be the start of a new holiday tradition!

And support it. Without money, the arts are just a footnote in a textbook. Don’t let that happen to this one-of-a-kind show. It’s too great to slip away.

Here’s a slideshow of some of the highlights of Clara’s Dream.

By Jay | Also posted in Personal Project, dance, inspiration, music, photojournalism | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Body Flow – NH portrait photography

June 29, 2009 – 9:20 am

Last week I was shooting photos at Synergy Health and Fitness in Exeter, NH. The photos were to be used as part of a project to update their website.

Its always a challenge to shoot and give a sense of people using a  facility without having the clients be identified, so mentally I was prepared to shoot lots of silhouettes and backs of heads.

When I wandered into a spin studio I saw an instructor doing what I thought was yoga amongst the stationary bikes. Although there wasn’t a ton of it, the light was really cool, the colors of the room and bikes were outstanding and the instructor, Michele Tillson, was so into her routine of stretching that she barely noticed I was there.

Turns out it wasn’t yoga but Body Flow, which as Michele explains is now being taught all over the world. Originally the program was started by a gentleman named Les Mills,from Australia. Its described as controlled breathing,concentration and a carefully structured series of stretches,moves and poses to music that creates a holistic workout that brings the body into a state of harmony and balance. It has 10 tracks to go through: first is a Tai chi warm up, next…sun salutations,yoga standing strength , Balances, Hip Openers, Core Work, Twists and Forward bends, followed by mindful relaxation.

Looked pretty amazing to me, made some neat photos – want to check it out? Synergy’s website is http://www.synergyfit.com6-23-09 SYNERGY6-23-09 SYNERGY6-23-09 SYNERGY6-23-09 SYNERGY6-23-09 SYNERGY6-23-09 SYNERGY6-23-09 SYNERGY6-23-09 SYNERGY

By Jay | Also posted in Personal Project, Uncategorized, photojournalism, portraits | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Grand Chandeliers

April 15, 2009 – 11:17 am

Last week I traveled to Washington, DC to photograph the installation of four chandeliers in the US Senate caucus room. What an amazing assignment – witnessing a crew of 8 people from Acu-Bright working like a well-oiled machine, working with confidence even while using pipe wrenches above delicate glass structures, swaying in the air as they worked some 40 feet above the floor. All the while being surrounded by the history and power that is in the room.

John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert announced their Presidential candidacies in the ornate room with chandeliers and vaulted ceiling. . Although originally intended for party caucuses, the size and grandeur of the room made it a likely site for major public hearings. For the past eighty years the Caucus Room has served as a stage for some of the most dramatic Senate investigations such as the sinking of the Titanic, the Teapot Dome scandal, Pearl Harbor, the Kefauver Crime Committee, the Army vs. McCarthy, the Vietnam War, and Watergate.
And in the face and force of all that history my task was to light and photograph the installation – and more importantly, the room and chandeliers. No small task since the room is about 75 feet long, 50 feet wide and nearly 50 feet high.

Four monolights and a lot of experimenting later and here are some of the results.4-8-09-acubright0258___tonemappedrt4-8-09 ACUBRIGHT4-8-09 ACUBRIGHT4-8-09 ACUBRIGHT

[caption id="attachment_342" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption="The Acu-Bright team poses for a team photo after the last chandelier is installed."]The Acu-Bright team poses for a team photo after the last chandelier is installed.[/caption]

4-8-09 ACUBRIGHT

By Jay | Also posted in interior photography | Tagged , , | Comments (2)