I was contacted by an Arizona based company to make headshots for two employees here in Albuquerque, New Mexico following a very specific setup. Well, my usual lighting and shooting style matched the sample they sent exactly, save for the specific Westcott gray background they wanted. I ordered the gray background, which to my surprise felt more like freeze rather than the usual cotton material other foldable backgrounds are made out of. I really liked it as it was virtually wrinkle free right out of the box! The clients paid for and took the background with them, but I may order one for myself. This style gray background looks fantastic to me. It is bold and full of contrast. It also helps when Naomi and Noelle were on point in front of the lens.
If anyone asks me how did I learn photography, I tell them, by walking the streets of Tokyo for hundreds of hours with my very first DSLR camera, a Nikon D80. What is great about living in a city with wide spread public transportation is you can take a train to one area, walk randomly to where your eyes take you, then just hop on another train and get back home without having to worry about returning to where your car is parked. This is how I went about finding one of my more famous photos, at least in Japan, which I titled, “Last Green Leaves Before Autumn.” I submitted it to Metropolis Magazine (the largest weekly English magazine in Japan) and they featured it in the Photo of the Week section. Picking up a copy of the magazine the Friday afternoon it came out and seeing my photo featured inside, I was stunned and even stopped strangers passing by to say (in English), “that’s my photo!” It was a moment of exhileration I have rarely ever felt again.
Dr. Singh wanted new commercial portrait photos for his website so we met in downtown Albuquerque at the Albuquerque Convention Center. I thought we would mostly be using the Civic Plaza area as I had for another portrait shoot, but that was taken over by setting up for an outdoor concert. Part of being a professional photographer is being able to improvise right on the spot, so instead of starting outside, we went inside to the convention center. Having photography many events there, I knew a few spots that would work well. No one told us we could not make photographs inside, so we just went about it!
Dentist Headshots in Albuquerque for an actor or vice versa
Elizabeth is a dentist here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but she visited the JCP Home Studio not just for headshots to make her look like a friendly dentist, but also for her acting career as well! We started out with getting the friendly dentist headshots, then moved on to getting a serious headshot for a dentist role. It was impressive watching Elizabeth change her expressions between shots! Then we moved on to headshots just for acting. Dental jacket off, hair down, but we progressed in a similar way getting some smiling and some serious actor headshots. If you need dentist in your next project, no need to hire a method actor, contact Elizabeth!
This was a return for me to both Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, and also Sierra Negra mountain. I was first in this area over 18 months ago and made one of my favorite landscape photos of New Mexico, so much so I had a print made and it is hanging on the wall in the dining room. The skies were of a different level of drama this time featuring bold clouds, and therefore made the mountain look totally different. Also, I have drone video this time featuring the mountain in the background.
I continue to add to the number of politicians and candidates I have photographed in 2019, ranging from the U.S. Surgeon General to the Governor of New Mexico, to most recently Alexis Johnson running for U.S. Congress NM District 3 in Santa Fe. Alexis had a very busy schedule, but it worked out that right after I finished two drone flights already in Santa Fe, her schedule was open as well and we met outside on location and in less than 30 minutes made this headshot and portrait. I am accustomed to making photos in time constraints, and had my full studio headshot setup save for the background, as I just used an existing wall for that. Then it was a quick change of setup to go make a portrait with a greener background. It was a quick shoot, but we made the most of it for sure.
In my 10-year pursuit of getting a posed photo of Kiki where she does not look like she is being taken back to the pound, I share another unsuccessful attempt at a studio shot of Kiki, where she yet again looks like she is being taken to the pound. Why does Kiki look so sad when I try to take a photo of her?? In candids outside, I can get her looking happy, but trying to get a nicely lighted portrait, nope! She is actually a very happy dog!
