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Portsmouth Pro Musica – NH portraits

May 20, 2010 – 9:46 pm

Most photographers cringe at the thought of group shots – so many faces to keep track of, how to manage getting everyone’s eyes open, everyone looking at the camera and  smiling, no hidden faces, no bad shadows on someone’s face. You get the idea. A veritable nightmare.

When I was a photojournalist I’d try to limit group sizes with justifications like ” There’s more impact with fewer people in the photo.”. Thankfully, it usually worked.

So the phone rang a while back – it was a business colleague wondering if I’d be interested in doing a photo shoot of a choral group. “No problem, I’d love to do it.”

Did I ask how large the choral group was? No.

Another small thing I hadn’t counted on – assembling nearly 100 people is no small feat – and it doesn’t happen very often. When it does, they’re ready for a concert…translate that into there’s not much time to shoot. OK, I’ll admit maybe I should have thought of that, but I was pretty consumed by solving the lighting parts of the problem. Did I call that a small thing – long live sarcasm!

Three days before the shoot the final details were worked out – I’ll have a window from 7:15 until 7:30 to shoot and then tear down my equipment before the doors are opened to the public for the concert! Suddenly I needed an assistant, one who knows how to set up big strobes, adjust them and tear down in a hurry. The choice was obvious – my 13-year-old daughter has been around lighting gear almost as much as me. She’s good and she takes directions and orders ( as long as its about photography…anything else, she’s even more stubborn than me!) After some intense negotiating surrounding pay, we struck an agreement  and I had my assistant. Good thing too because in the Murphy’s Law of Lighting, there was no electricity where I wanted to position two of the lights. I was so flustered I didn’t see the solution – she did, and not a moment too soon. We had time for 6 test shots to check the light, then 16 photos with the 97 members of Portsmouth Pro Musica, then tear down and run with our gear so nobody would crash into it.

Technically, the photo was lit using 4 large strobes, 2 alien bee’s and 2 profotos. All were set to full power, we managed shooting at ISO 400 at F/8 with an 80mm lens.

Absolutely a wonderful challange and a type of photo way out of the ordinary for me…and my assistant! We did catch a bit of the dress rehearsal/warmup. These folks are really good and I’d whole heartedly recommend catching them some night. Here’s a link to their concert schedule, http://www.portsmouthpromusica.org/concertinformation.html . Put it on your to do list!

Here’s one of the 16 photos we shot.

By Jay | Also posted in commercial photography | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Lisa and Joe – NH engagement photography

May 11, 2010 – 4:43 pm

The forecast was for rain – cold, windy rain – and the plan was to do the engagement shoot at Plum Island next to Newburyport, MA.

Emails back and forth for three days leading up to the shoot – and finally at 8:30 that morning Lisa said, “Let’s go for it, no matter what.”

Now that is my kind of bride! We met at the entrance to the island, I stowed my truck and the three of us headed for the beach, much of which was posted off limits because the plovers are nesting right now. That didn’t matter – there were so many choices for great places to shoot we could have stayed there forever.

The rain never materialized, the temperatures weren’t nearly as chilly as predicted – though it wasn’t t-shirt weather – and we had a great time.

The absolute moment came when Lisa and Joe kicked off their shoes and waded into the water…yep, next was two people screaming their heads off…it is the North Atlantic after all … and they came bursting back onto the beach. Sadly or smartly, I didn’t get the picture of the reaction. Call me a wimp if you want, but I had stayed on dry land! I’d like to think it was a smart move.

Here’s some photos from the session.

By Jay | Also posted in Uncategorized, esession, wedding photography | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Cody and Ryan – MA. engagement photography

May 5, 2010 – 6:36 pm

I do an engagement shoot as part of my wedding package – it gives us a good start on a working relationship, we get used to each other’s quirks and styles, and the fact is that most couples don’t have many pictures of themselves – lots of pictures of their partners, not many of them together. It’s a nice opportunity to get a start on a collection of “couples” pictures.

The conversation starts with defining a good place for the shoot – a place or environment that has some meaning. As a general rule, that’s a pretty easy process, but Cody and Ryan were stuck for ideas until they said, what about Wellesley College? Turns out Cody is a graduate and they spent part of their “dating” life in that environment.

What a great idea! The campus is beautiful. We hiked around the pond on campus – it was quite a trek since areas were still flooded from all the rains, then meandered through buildings and the chapel. One thing that struck me was nobody paid much attention to us as we shot here and there. Guess I’m not the first person to end up shooting portraits of a couple on the campus – we were as much a part of the landscape as the ivy-covered brick buildings.

Here’s a few photos from the day.

By Jay | Also posted in esession, wedding photography | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Shelby and Mark – Ma. engagement photos

April 28, 2010 – 10:07 am

The New England weather has been so topsy turvy this year – a mild fairly snowless winter, torrential rains and floods in early spring, then hot summer-like temperatures followed by cold, windy, drizzly late spring…those who think global climate change is a farce must have their heads stuck in the sand.

What’s that got to do with an engagement shoot? Well,  scheduling has been a nightmare – and I’ve totally given up on paying any attention to the weather forecasts!

Mark asked Shelby to marry him while the two were at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire, so it seemed a natural place to do their engagement photos.

Forecast, warm, overcast, occasional rain.

Reality, like a fall day – bright sky, chilly and windy!

Shelby was a trooper – she had a jacket but was committed to being in a short sleeved shirt for the photos…Both she and Mark gutted out the temperatures while I was pretty toasty in a sweatshirt and jacket! When all was done, most of the photos I was holding her jacket, she never turned blue from the cold and we had a great shoot.

Here’s a few from the day.

By Jay | Also posted in esession, wedding photography | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Deena and Sean – Mass. engagement photography

April 21, 2010 – 3:28 pm

Deena and Sean are Massachusetts natives now living just outside Washington DC. When they decided to get married, the choice was pretty easy – back to Massachusetts. A few weeks ago they were back home for a visit and we took advantage of the time to do an engagement shoot. Given that they are baseball fans – and opening day was just a couple of days away, shooting around Fenway Park was a natural.

It was a perfect day – cool, breezy, and there was the feeling of baseball in the air – Spring in New England! An added bonus – good friend and Boston photographic legend Mark Morelli came along for the shoot. Mark is an exceptional Boston editorial photographer who I met when we were attending the Art Institute of Boston’s MFA program.

Not all the following photos are from Fenway – after the area around the park we wandered through the victory gardens and surrounding areas. The first photo, by the way, is Mark in front of the House of Blues.

By Jay | Also posted in esession, photojournalism, wedding photography | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Second Shootr – a must have app; NH portrait photography

March 21, 2010 – 4:20 pm

I recently got an iTouch – too many calls when I was in a situation where I’d say ” Don’t have my calendar with me, can I call you back in a few hours” – not a great way to do business. I wanted my calendar and my music ( as constant companion as my dog Sid) in the same gizmo, I’m a committed Mac user, so the touch seemed like the way to go.
And, in case you’re interested, no, I wasn’t interested in an iPhone, for a ton of reasons starting with AT&T and ending with unlocked iPhones are just way too expensive for my blood. But I digress!
So I got the Touch and working really hard to resist “App Madness” I only looked at apps that could have a positive impact on my photography…so I loaded on a sunrise/sunset calculator, a weather service, all my music…and took a look at apps that could help me manage my photography business.
I looked at a lot, but it all came down to two words – Second Shootr.
In a nutshell, I honestly don’t know how I survived without it. To say its a data base of client information really short changes it. It certainly is that – holding phone numbers, email addresses, addresses all in 1 convenient location. But it also holds all those little notes that invariably get lost – like after the initial client conference you want to remember that detail photos make her very happy or her sister is a blinker or bring dog biscuits because otherwise you’ll be mauled by the family dog – there’s a place for all those notes, a place where you can put down who the gatekeeper of the invoices is so when you desperately need the check you know who to call.
Second Shootr started out as an app for wedding photographers, but the new version has expanded categories so its easy to customize it to all your photo business.
The key is it comes from Plinkk Photography in Hampshire, England – the husband and wife team of Tim and Helen are photographers so they know what  photographers need – and didn’t sugar coat the app with any unnecessary bells and whistles.
The only down side – inputting 20 or so jobs at once is a royal pain – but once you get caught up, its a snap to stay current.
Green too – no more a need to print a bunch of emails with directions, gallery passwords, cell numbers – its all there. And here’s the frosting – they ask for feedback so they can keep making the app with what photographers want! They answer emails…QUICKLY, and all the data gets backed up on iTunes so should your iTouch or Iphone ever need to be reformatted, the data is all streamed back in in some mysterious way from cyberspace.
You know what I think…best 7 bucks you’ll ever spend – forgo a couple of lattes and grab Second Shootr in the iTunes store – don’t have an iTouch or IPhone…that’ll cost you a bit more.

Here’s a link to their website , check it out.

Oh, since this is a photo blog, there needs to be a photo or two … so here’s a couple of photos I did of Eliza – lit only from the light off the screen of her iTouch ( a birthday present – she got one before me!)  and one starring  the alpha cat of the family – Boo, all 18 pounds of him.

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

Chris and Kim – NH engagement photography

March 19, 2010 – 3:45 pm

Been sort of on the wagon from the blog lately – lots to catch up on, tons of pictures to share and other interesting items to pass on as well, so look for a spate of posts coming in the near future.
Not in any sort of chronological order of what’s been going on, let’s start with an engagement  shoot I did  with good friends Chris and Kim.
Chris is a former student of mine at McIntosh College – I met him in my second term of teaching in a location lighting course. We’ve remained close over time – he’s sent me a bunch of work and I’ve reciprocated likewise,  a few barbeques here and there, lots of phone calls answering photo questions. His specialty is motorcycle photography, he’s a fixture at New Hampshire Speedway – if you want some mega-cool photos of you and your bike, here’s a link to his website.
A lot of women have tried to domesticate Chris – Kim was the only one to succeed – she’s even gotten Chris out on the dance floor at a few weddings where we’ve both been there. If I hadn’t seen him dancing with my own eyes, well let’s just say I wouldn’t have believed it!
They’re getting married in October and in advance of their wedding we spent some time along the old mills in Newmarket shooting photos – here’s a few from our shoot.

By Jay | Also posted in esession, photojournalism, wedding photography | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Afternoon reading – NH portrait photography

February 11, 2010 – 1:59 pm

There’s a million reasons why having a teenaged daughter is simply ( OK, not simple at all) the greatest experience, but one of the overlooked ones is getting to know her friends. It stands to reason that an amazing person will hang out with other amazing people and my daughter is no exception to the rule.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Helena. She and Eliza have a playdate weeekly after school. Last week Helena was dressed in anything but typical teenage fashion – she looked like a refugee from a movie set about colonial days – and I wasn’t far off. She had dressed in period garb to be the visual presentation for another classmate who was presenting a project set in colonial times.

Helena didn’t care that she wasn’t in modern-day dress down mode, she was quite comfortable in her costume. When it was time for Eliza to go to a meeting, helena opted to wait for her Mom at the house and settled into a chair with a book. As the daylight decreased she turned to make use of the window light to read by and I quietly ran to grab a camera – the combination of the light and costume made a visual treat.

Here’s Helena, reading after school.

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

A new decade – NH portrait photography

January 7, 2010 – 7:29 pm

Wow…2010. A whole new decade, starting off with people undecided how to say it. Is is twenty ten or two thousand ten…or does it really matter?

I was going to post a look back at the last decade, but its pretty overwhelming when I think about the fact that at the beginning of the new millennium – remember the big scare with Y2K – well on New Year’s Eve I was in El Paso, Texas, having just covered the Sun Bowl and people were afraid to fly because they thought all the onboard computers might crash. So I spent New Year’s Eve alone in a hotel room waiting for the next day to fly back to Oregon. Spending New Year’s alone was no big thing – its never been my favorite night, but the digital camera I was using was an issue. Quite simply, it was a piece of junk! Worse, I really had no idea how to massage it to do what I needed – I knew nothing about white balance, using image editing software or the like.

A year and a half later digital cameras had taken a quantum leap forward, I had a clue what I was doing…and I found myself driving through the Columbia Gorge enroute to a new job in Minnesota.

There was no lack of news the next few years: the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, Paul Wellstone dying in a plane crash. Exciting times in the news business, wonderful times with amazing photographers in the Twin Cities, awesome friends and neighbors. But it was, when all was said and done, Minnesota.

In the middle of the decade digital cameras took more quantum leaps…and I returned to New England, this time following my wife. Her father was in poor health and it fell to her to be the caregiver. Not a bad decision – New England’s a great place to live, I had serious quality time with my father-in-law before he passed away, had a great run teaching college until the school closed ( hopefully not because of me!), became my own boss with the start of Jay Reiter Photography, found a summer home at Charles River Creative Arts Program.

Yea, the first decade of the new millennium was pretty amazing…makes me wonder what’s next. Digital cameras are taking yet another leap, the newspaper world as I knew it is virtually no longer, I’m still in New England being thoroughly modern with a facebook account and everything… Oh, and my daughter has blue hair…and I love it!

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

Cayla ~ NH theater headshots

January 5, 2010 – 8:29 pm

Just before Christmas I was commissioned to do some photographs of Cayla for a theater production she’s in. Seems like the East Coast has finally caught up with the west. The requirement used to be straight-on black and white photos – mug shots really. Now its either color or black and white, the personality of the subject is expected to come across in the photograph, and the deer-in-the-headlight stare directly into the camera is out.

Cool!

Cayla has one of the leads – she’s Rapunzel in the Stephen Sondheim- James Lapine production of Into The Woods. The musical features a conglomeration of fairy tale characters – Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, The Baker and his wife, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel…and of course, an ugly and wicked witch.It’s playing at Seacoast Repertory Theater in Portsmouth, NH Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from January 8-24.

I’ll be there – and according to Cayla’s Mom, it shouldn’t be missed. Never argue with the mother of an actress – get tickets and go! More information can be had at Seacoast Rep’s website, www.seacoastrep.org.

Here’s Cayla.

By Jay | Also posted in theater headshots | Tagged , , | Comments (0)