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Category Archives: photojournalism

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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, commercial photography, dance, inspiration, music | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Angela Ordained! – Mass. event photography

December 13, 2009 – 10:30 pm

Saturday afternoon I was on a road trip to Concord, Mass for the ordination of our good friend Angela Herrera. A short time after we landed in New Hampshire, Angela and Carlos and their two children came to Boston so Angela could attend Harvard Divinity School. They were good friends from our tenure in Salem, Oregon and it was a real treat to reconnect with them.

After almost three years, Angela was ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister. It was so cool to hear speaker after speaker note the qualities that we had known about Angela since becoming friends almost 13 years ago. I sat in the balcony and felt like I had known a celebrity back when she was just a new Mom, part of a Mom’s group that I used to call the crunchy granola Moms. And now here she was – the focus of the beginning of her dreams. People came from Harvard, from Concord and Salem, ( both Mass and  Oregon )to witness and share the moment.Carlos was almost floating with pride that his wife had accomplished this milestone.

The most powerful part for me came when the entire community – friends, family, congregation, professors and mentors all put their hands on Angela in a show of community support that put chills down my spine.

And now Angela is Reverend Angela…and to think, I knew her when!

12-12-09 ANGELA HERRERA ORDINATION0010_2_4_tonemapped12-12-09 ANGELA HERRERA ORDINATION 12-12-09 ANGELA HERRERA ORDINATION 12-12-09 ANGELA HERRERA ORDINATION 12-12-09 ANGELA HERRERA ORDINATION

By Jay | Also posted in Personal Project | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Busman’s holiday

October 22, 2009 – 1:25 pm

Well, if we assume that that expression comes from when a busman went on vacation, he or she had to drive, then the title for the post works…if not, please tell me the genesis of the expression.

My nephew was married recently in Pittsburgh, PA. I went – carrying only 1 camera and 1 lens. In a total test of my willpower, I also only brought 2 flash cards – a 4gig and a 2gig. Since I always shoot raw, that wasn’t a lot of images I could retain.

Pittsburgh was unseasonably cold and rainy, but the morning of the wedding I walked down a typical Pittsburgh hill ( they’re reminiscent of San Francisco if you’ve never been to Pittsburgh) to a church I’d passed a gazillion times but had never stopped to shoot. I found an open door but the interior of the church was as dark as a dungeon, so I played around with the incredible architecture. The church was built around 1901 – the ivy covering the walls seemed that old as well. I’ll admit to wishing I had a tripod and/or some strobes along. I was shooting at a 15th of a second at F 2.8. For those who aren’t photographers, that gobbledygook simply means there was no light and it was tough to hold the camera steady – especially since it was raw damp and freezing!

That afternoon when I went to the wedding ( at a historic downtown hotel), I noticed the rest of downtown in the gloom from a room where I was going to change into a full-blown tux…this was a black tie affair – including 1 poor soul still working at 6pm on a Saturday. Made a few photos using the window as a steadying agent for the camera.

Shot a few wedding photos also, haven’t had a chance to even look to see what I got, so here’s a few photos from a busman’s holiday._JAY0101_JAY0120_JAY0123_JAY0132_JAY0139_JAY0188_JAY0184

By Jay | Also posted in Fine Art, Personal Project, inspiration | Tagged | Comments (1)

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, commercial photography, portraits | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Willing subject, NH portrait photographer

April 4, 2009 – 12:19 pm

I had the opportunity to borrow a great lens for the last week or so from good friend and colleague Al Wood. He was good enough to part with his 12-24mm Tokina so I could shoot some cottage interiors ( they will be the next post) and then I took a little time to play with the lens for fun. Good friends – and having a great kid who is a willing subject for her Dad’s experiments with lights, lenses and other craziness is a wonderful thing. So when I saw her in her “nest” chair and asked what she was doing, I got the answer “Meditating.”
Hey, when you are 12, there’s no sense wasting enegry on extra words – get to the point and get out!
I climbed onto the top bunk, get one of those great “what in the world are you doing looks”…and started shooting.
The light was really weird but I loved the angle and the perspective the lens brought – here’s a couple of the photos.
Breaks my heart but I have to return the lens today.
Bummer! But I do get to keep the 12-year-old, can’t complain about that.4-1-09 ELIZA MEDITATING4-1-09 ELIZA MEDITATING

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

Winter – still

February 22, 2009 – 1:01 am

Took a walk today with my wife – out on  snowmobile trail so the dog could have a run and we could get some fresh air after spending most of the day in the basement trying to make some progress in the madness of the chaos.

As we walked by a frozen beaver pond she remarked that it had been a great winter – lots of snow, cold, no slush. It made me think about the complaining I’ve done this season because, you know, she is right – its been a great winter. Lots of snow, cold, no slush.

Made me appreciate perspective and what I’ve got.

The economy may be in the tank but we’ve got it pretty good – as we suffer through the recession, depression, whatever you want to call it, we still have it better than so many other places in the world – its just we’ve come to expect luxury.

Perspective, what a great thing.

Thanks Donna.

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

George Antoniadis

February 11, 2009 – 12:23 pm

Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph George Antoniadis, the CEO of Alpha Flying ( http://www.planesense.aero/ in Portsmouth, NH.

Alpha Flying is, in simple terms, a time share of flying – you buy in and if you need to go somewhere they guarantee a plane within 8 hours. Pretty cool if you’re in the market to go places and don’t want to deal with either commercial or charter services. In this rocky – some would call depressed – economy George is a man with a plan – and as many companies end up belly-up I think Alpha will be a flourisher ( I think I just invented a word, but you know what I mean).

We went into the hangar to do some photos and George, who is very used to being photographer and is in control, struck a pose that really spoke to the confidence he radiates for the company.

The rest is all work in Lightroom and Photoshop.

By Jay | Also posted in Uncategorized, portraits | Comments (0)

Thinking Day

February 8, 2009 – 5:00 pm

Duly chastised by my colleague Roger Ramirez…”Hey Dude, where’s the blog posts?” shook me out of my doldrums and I’m back in the saddle again with the blog.

Yesterday was Girl Scout thinking day…as I said to my daughter, “But I thought everyday was supposed to be thinking day”…that got me an eye roll and that exasperated expulsion of air that leaves no doubt you’ve said something stupid…once again.

Anyway, a few hundred scouts crammed into the cafeteria at Stratham Memorial School and exhibited and preformed about other countries. Maybe Mexico ( homemade wedding cookies and guacamole) and Switzerland ( chocolate, what else) took the unofficial honors as most popular, but without a little bias I think the belly dancing girls from Newmarket were amazing!

Maybe the best part is that everything I’ve learned about the Girl Scout organization is that they teach tolerance and acceptance – we could use a lot more of that message in our world. And you don’t have to be female to be involved – I was the “cookie Mom” a couple of years ago!

The kids in costumes and dress from countries they researched made some pretty cool photos – and one surprise moment of love and tenderness that in an instant spoke volumes about what the day was all about…so here’s some photos of the day.

By Jay | Tagged | Comments (0)

TJ Wheeler

January 23, 2009 – 11:07 am

Amazing blues and jazz musician.

Musical activist.

Guitar and vocalist extraordinaire.

These are all words that have been used to describe New Hampshire artist TJ Wheeler.

After hearing him perform at The Cornerstone Montessori School (http://www.cornerstoneschool.org) in Stratham as part of a week-long residency working with students about the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King and other incredibly important issues – as well as a ton of music thrown in -  I’d have to call him just plain phenomenal! The school invited me to shoot the concert – here’s a selection of photos that just cannot do justice to the show he and the students put on. Click on a photo to see a larger version.[gallery]

By Jay | Also posted in Cornerstone School, music | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Recovery!

January 21, 2009 – 10:57 pm

Fedex brought me the nicest present today – my old harddrive and a spare I had sent in. On the spare was the recovery of my old. corrupted drive. Seems like everything but my applications was recovered – it will be a bit of time before I really know, but the best part was the folder of images from the jazz and tap odyssey were there! I honestly thought they were gone forever.

OK, lession I always preach has been learned – BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP – no, in a minute again and again.

To celebrate I’m posting a few images from the performance – there are still some shows coming up, I’ll post a schedule in the next few days.

By Jay | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)