More angels+demons

Here's another image from the angels+demons project, featuring Chris Harder doing the demonic:As with all angels+demons shots, this was taken with a Canon IS S3, and I've been making 13x19" prints on Canon Photo Glossy Plus paper.

angels+demons

This is a cross-post from my other blog, splattsights, which is devoted to my work as a photographer.

For awhile, I've been working on a photo series called angels+demons where I have actors, models, or other interested folk choose whether they want to be an angel or demon, then see how they interpret the concept. So far, results have been very rich and the project's been a lot of fun. I've got the lighting just where I want it, and it's been a total kick seeing how much the sitters bring to the session; it feels like a true collaboration.

I'm on hiatus until July, when I hope to pick it up again and continue shooting into the fall, with the goal to be a show at some point, but, for now, here's a sample from the project. The model is Cassie Skauge, demon.

Live Woman

A theatre rehearsal shot, from when I was working on a series called "Theatre of Dreams."

Tech: Leica M3, shooting Tri-X, printed on Ilford Warmtone, scanned image toned in Photoshop.

Shaniko

Shaniko is a little town in Eastern Oregon that was once a major wool-producing hub, and then someone got bought off, and the railway moved, leaving behind sagebrush and rattlesnakes. Not many people there now, but there's a wealth of decaying buildings. It is, in short, a ghost town. A buddy and I traveled there last year on a lightly overcast day, which is not much for sightseeing but perfect for shooting detail, of which Shaniko abounds. This is from an abandoned barn...a taste of the real West.

Tech: Shot on Ilford Delta 100 with a Leica M3, souped in DDX, and printed on Ilford warmtone.

Death of a Photographer

The photograph above is not mine. I wish it were. It belongs to Yuri Bonder, a photographer of tremendous talent, who had a great heart for helping other artists. I met Yuri through photo.net, a photography website where I maintain a portfolio, and though we exchanged just a couple messages over the years, I always looked forward to seeing what he was up to next. He had a great eye, a sense of humor, and just seemed like an extraordinarily decent person in a field often bustling with oversized egos.

I learned yesterday that Yuri died on his birthday from complications with pneumonia. He was only 41. Life, of course, cuts none of us slack, but his passing, in light of his age, his talent, and his charm, gives one pause.

You can check out Yuri's work at: http://photo.net/photodb/member-photos?user_id=482452

For those sensitive to such things, please note that his work includes nudes, for which he had a sensitive aptitude.

Goodbye, my colleague.

Poppy Heads

Summer for me means poppies; I've long been fascinated by their brief, crepe-paper blossoms and inverted amphora seedpods. As this photo shows, their color gradations continue after the petals fall.

Tech: Canon IS S3.