Event

Haikyo - Urban Decay from Japan Exhibition

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The flyer for my first exhibition in Florida. Exhibition opens November 13, 2009 at http://www.rawvibesart.com

On Friday November 13th at 8pm at RAW Vibes Art and Performance Space I will have my first exhibition in Florida!  The photographs I will be showing for this exhibition will be my haikyo photos from Japan.  I must admit I never expected this collection of photographs to be the first images I publicly showed in the U.S., but I became very fast friends with the owner of RAW Vibes, Jeff Henriquez, about a month ago and he was a very big fan of the haikyo images.

Over 60 photographs will be on display in prints ranging from the standard 8x10 up to the gallery standard of 16x20 all the way up to a few selected pieces at 40x60!  Prices will vary accordingly with many prints available at very reasonable prices for all budgets.  For those with no budgetary concerns, the 40x60 prints will make a striking statement in your business, home or office.  Orders can be placed on site for any piece already sold that you wish to also purchase (25% deposit required).  

I will be present the full 3-hours of the opening night to answer any questions about the haikyo images.  I will also give a brief presentation on the collection of haikyo images in general, including what exactly haikyo is, how they were found, and what it is like to spend the night in an abandoned hotel!

Admission on opening night is $7.  If you leave a comment below, I will choose at random one person to receive two free passes to the opening (you and a guest).  Refreshments will be served at no charge.  

Please RSVP for the opening on Facebook or by leaving a comment below.

Thank you for your support and I hope to see everyone on the 13th!

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Haikyo - Urban Decay from Japan exhibition

  • RAW Vibes, 2109 Central Ave, Saint Petersburg, FL, 33713 -- 727-557-8266
  • Friday November 13, 2009 
  • 8pm-11pm

"A Night of Fashion" on USF Tampa Campus

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A jabbawockeez inspired performance. I am a big fan of this style of dance. See Shaq with the jabbawockeez.

Last night's fashion and dance event at USF Tampa campus fully titled, "OMEGA PSI PHI presents 'A NIGHT OF FASHION,'" was quite the challenge to photograph.  Very little light.  No overhead light at all.  The little lighting there was, was in the form of hot area lights at basically eye level.  This translated into having to wait of dancers and models to body block the lights before pushing the shutter, or just choose to use the lights and get an effect like seen in the above photograph.

The leader of the Titans step team was very intense and thus a joy to photograph.

For one whole performance, the men's Titan Step Team was right in front of me the whole time.  The leader (above) had great charisma, and of course dance skills too.  After each portion of their routine, the men would stop and strike a self-fist bump pose.  It was not all serious though as they broke into a Bell Biv Devoe "Poison" breakdown that I could appreciate since that song was right from the heart of my time.

Of course there were plenty of ladies on the fashion runway too.

I quickly realized that my best of the bad light shooting spot was not on the map for a majority of the fashion models that strode out.  So in order to get some head-on shots I had to scamper around a bit, hither and thither.  Even then, I just could not get a totally sharp shot.

The performers, dancers and models all brought their "A" game.  The energy in USF's lower gym-cum-runway was palpable.  The Faces Modeling Troupe got the loudest response of the night.  I look forward to the next challenging to shoot fashion show and will take what I learned from this experience and hopefully have a higher success rate the next time.  But who knows what the lighting situation will be then?

Most of the fashion was very urban, from urban street to urban business attire.

Prepping for another fashion show shoot at USF Tampa

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A model in the FACES Modeling Troupe of USF TampaI first met Roseanne and Fonso a few months back.  We did a shoot together at Sunken Gardens and had a great time.  They have since invited me to photograph events for FACES Modeling Troupe on the USF Tampa campus.  Tomorrow night is the next event:  Omega Psi Phi presents "A Night of Fashion."  (UPDATE: photos here)  These events are always very high energy and a lot of fun to photograph.  In between models on stage I like to chat with the crowd who are always very into it.  

Tonight I am going through my usual pre-shoot preparation by charging up all batteries, cleaning lenses, and last but not least securing contact numbers and directions to the shoot location!  I'll also reset the settings on my camera to insure I didn't forget to turn off bracketing from yesterday's sunrise HDR shoot, or the focus mode from shooting action shots of Kiki, etc. The last thing I'll do is format my memory cards.

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Performance: Vanessa Cerallo-Wainwright - professional dancer

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Vanessa Cerallo-Wainwright performs at the grand opening of RAW Vibes in Saint Petersburg, Florida.

I met Vanessa Cerallo-Wainwright at the grand opening of RAW Vibes Art and Performance Space.  She gave a dynamic flamenco dance performance that not only gripped the crowd emotionally, but also physically as some members of the crowd could not help themselves from joining Vanessa on stage toward the end of her performance.

The crowd in RAW Vibes watches Vanessa Cerallo-Wainwright's flamenco dance performance.

The art gallery space in RAW Vibes is capable of being quickly transformed into a performance space complete with a small stage.  With a packed house it provides for a very intimate atmosphere between performer and observer.  There was hardly any space for me to squeeze in to and make these photographs!

 Vanessa changed gears in her performance using a fan and costume twirls.The performance space in RAW Vibes makes for a dramatic setting with its deep red velvet curtain backdrop and high, recessed lighting shining directly down on the performers.  I am becoming a big fan of the red velvet background as it also served well as a backdrop for scary dolls.

I used a combination of flash and non-flash shots to photograph Vanessa's performance. This one of course is using flash.

RAW Vibes Art & Performance Space Grand Opening

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Cutting the ribbon on the Grand Opening of RAW Vibes Art & Performance Space in St. Petersburg

Two weeks ago I first met Jeff, the owner of RAW Vibes Art & Performance Space in St. Petersburg.  I showed him some of my haikyo photography from Japan and to my surprise he really liked it.  Jeff quickly began talking about having an exhibition of my work and of RAW Vibes' upcoming grand opening.

Some of the paintings and photography already on display at the grand opening of RAW Vibes.

I arrived a bit fashionably late to the grand opening (had to stop at Publix and buy more Gatorade!).  Even from half a block away though I could tell the place was already packed as there were some people also outside milling around.  After meeting Jeff at the door and giving him a small grand opening present (a framed haikyo 8x10 print) and getting a water from the bar (I do not drink), being a relatively shy person I just quietly browsed all the paintings and photographs along the lengthy wall spaces.  After that lap I got the ok from Jeff to start shooting away, and I went right to work and as I raised my D300 to my eye all my shyness went away, as it always does.  I now had a purpose and could stop being in the event and switch to being in the event while outside of it via my lens.  This is how I feel most comfortable at such social gatherings--in them, but not of them.

 The crew that helped get RAW Vibes up and running (owner Jeff, center with hat & white shirt)

I was mostly on the hunt for candids and interesting angles, but there were a few posed shots like the above one with Jeff and the crew that helped him get RAW Vibes off the ground.  I know the guy on the far left is the photographer whose work was on display, and the guy second from the right was one of thew two DJs.  The guy to the left of Jeff is an illustrator.  

A flamenco dancer was the first entertainment of the night.

Jeff gave a short speech thanking everyone who made the grand opening possible and to everyone who came out to show their support.  A small stage was setup and and a flamenco dancer performed several dances which got the people in attendance quite energized.  I was focused on trying to get a good shot switching between full power flash, and a bit of shutter drag as can be seen in the above image.  

Jeff takes a turn at the turntables to be the DJ for awhile.

After the flamenco dancing Jeff took over the turntables and did a bit of DJ-ing.  I thought the dark brown wall behind him made for an interesting color background.  Fortunately, he was wearing a white shirt too.  I had to to experiment with angles to get only Jeff in the shot as there were always people ambling in and out of frame.

Pedro put on a strong spoken word performance ending in two hip hop songs.

In a very subtle way, all of a sudden Pedro (above) commanded the attention of the crowd with a seemingly out of the blue spoken word performance.  There was quite a diverse demographic on hand from perhaps his usual target audience all the way up to older family members and kids, so it was interesting to see how the words he was spitting fell on the different people in the crowd.  He transitioned into a hip hop performance with a crowd pleasing number with I think his wife rapping back and forth with him during the chorus.  

David rips into an energetic freestyle in the "Black Box" roomLast but not least for the happening in the main gallery room, was David, a well-known poet in the St. Petersburg area.  I had met him that first night I met Jeff, but this was my first time to hear him speak.  I was immediately impressed as his normal somewhat laid back demeanor dissolved into a rapid-delivery poet of demanding attention.  He gave only a few sentence burst in the main gallery room, and said if you were feeling what he was saying, then join him in the back room, also called the "Black Box" room, a place where Jeff has stated several times there is "no censorship."  A bold performance ensued and I was able to make my best photograph of the evening (above).  

RAW Vibes Art & Performance Space exterior at 2109 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33713 Although the performances continued on, I made my way home early as is also my custom.  

RAW VIBES Art and Performance Space info: 

Cush 'n Shade Shoot Part 1: Behind the Scenes

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Showing the model how to setup the Cush 'n Shade on Clearwater BeachMy membership in the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce has finally paid off!  I had the great pleasure of working with Steve and Stacey of Videosyncrasy who hired me to photograph behind the scenes (mostly) of their video shoot thanks to finding me in the Chamber's directory.  The main client was an Irish businessman who has a new product well suited for Florida, the Cush 'n Shade.  The client hired Videosyncrasy to shoot video for the Cush 'n Shade with my job as the still photographer to document the video shoot and when there was a break in video recording make some products shots with and without the four models (see Cush 'n Shade Part 2).  I learned a lot over the course of the 9-hour shoot!

Steve of Videosyncrasy working the camera as the Irish businessman client watches on the external viewer.

The first thing I learned is that setting up to record video of a relatively stationary subject matter takes a lot more time than it does to setup for making a still photograph of the same relatively stationary subject matter.  The need for an assistant is not optional on a video shoot.  

Under the rising Florida sun on Clearwater Beach, things quickly got hot on the set and Steve took out his video camera umbrella. I donned my trusty gray hat.

The photography was a real challenge on Clearwater Beach in broad daylight.  I was mostly using my Nikon D300 with SB-600 on camera and my Tamron XR Di II 17/50mm lens.  I could only use the flash when it did not interfere with the video being shot, further adding to the challenge.  Of course there was no shade to be seen anywhere.  Then there was also the horizon to keep straight in each and every shot!  This is always a challenge for me when shooting handheld, which I was the entire time.  Even though I used my viewfinder's gridlines to line things up every time, sometimes the horizon still came out a bit crooked.  Still, I was pleased with how many of the shots came out, especially given the challenging conditions.  Thank Buddha for Nik Color Efex Pro's "pro contrast" and "polarizing" filters!

When you only need a single model for the video shot, that leaves a lot of downtown for the other 3 models seen here on Clearwater Beach 

Another thing I learned is that there is a lot of downtime for the models, and even the crew.  On Clearwater Beach we were sometimes subject to a cloud passing over the sun, and often some random person just walking a bit too closely behind the set.  There was nothing we could do about the diving pelicans having a feeding frenzy in the water below us (see the 3rd photo from the top, look at Tom in the black cap).

Most of the time only one model was being used with the product, so the other three just sat and waited their turn to use the product on camera and eventually for pair work with another model.  I wonder if the models, while waiting, are thinking, "nice, money for nothing," or, "I want to get face time with the product on camera to get exposure?"  

Yours Truly holding a reflector on the set at Innisbrook Golf Country Club Resort

 I even put down my lens a few times to help out with the video crew!  These are my impressions of holding a silver aluminum foil type reflector:  it's hard work, especially if you have extend your arms out in an unsupported position; it reminded me of putting a magnifying glass on an ant as a child as you really reflect a strong beam of sunlight onto the models.  It's so strong that you know when you got the light on their face just right because they flinch at first.  As soon as the camera stopped rolling, I lowered the beam dutifully.  

All in all I really enjoyed being on the two locations and had a lot of fun with everyone involved and hope to work with that team again.

In a future blog post I will reveal the product shots I made and show how I tried to photograph the models in direct sunlight the best I could.