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Tag Archives: photojournalism

Nicole and Joe – Mass. wedding photography

March 27, 2010 – 7:36 pm

I shot Nicole and Joe’s wedding in late February – what a splendid time! The wedding ceremony was in the Acadaemy of Notre Dame where Nicole went to school – a former monastery turned into school – you could feel the history in the hallways. Then off to the Andover Country Club for the reception, with a major surprise on the way. The wedding party was in a bus in front of me and as we came down an exit ramp I spotted a car in the median strip with flames coming from the rear wheel. Nicole’s dad spotted it to because the bus stopped and a tuxedo-clad father of the bride came running out with a fire extinguisher in hand. He’s a professional firefighter and duty took over.

Can you imagine a guy in a tux fighting a fire?!

After putting it out, he cautioned the occupants to stay clear of the car until the fire department arrived, then looked at them and said, ” Sorry to run but I’ve got a wedding to get to!” And we were off to the reception. I swear, do this long enough and you’ll see the most amazing things!!!

The reception was great, not anti-climactic at all – I knew many of the guests from a wedding I had done in October, second shooting the wedding was good friend and colleague Roger Ramirez and shooting video was good friend and amazing video artist Sean Cusick … it was like old home week!

The only thing missing was a gentle snowfall – Oh well, I guess you can’t have everything.

And here are a couple of really nice photos from Roger:

By Jay | Posted in photojournalism, wedding photography | Also 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 | Posted in commercial photography, dance, inspiration, music, Personal Project, photojournalism | Also 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 | Posted in Personal Project, photojournalism | Also 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 | Posted in commercial photography, Personal Project, photojournalism, portraits, Uncategorized | Also 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 | Posted in photojournalism | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)