Tank Theory

A little colabo Zach Johnsen and I did a bit back for his t-shirt company Tank Theory just got released. Check them out here. They released two out of a three part series. I believe they still plan on releasing the third "t" at some point. This is our second collaboration. Here is an example of my first t's I did with them.



Tank Theory T's 2008 (photos by Zach Johnsen)

Blog links

So I added a blog link section. Some of these are pretty popular and are the inspiration for my own blogging. I'll try to only put up ones that are regularly updated. I have many many more links, but I feel these are the best, a combination of images and writing.

A must see and a rant

So I didn't mention yet that this past friday I helped out a photographer, friend of a friend, but now now a friend of mine, Wayne Lawrence. Guy is an amazing photographer (and Eddie Adams Workshop alum). I helped him on his first editorial shoot for Vibe which was a tough one due to some technical breakdowns, specifically a camera going bad. But we pulled it off and Wayne shot some great pictures. So if you get a second please take a moment to check out his work here.

Wayne is just another example of some amazing photographers that I personally know or that I am familiar with that I feel could make up a crew that could make images for a great magazine. I would love the opportunity to shape that someday. Maybe curating a show, a book, or limited art mag might fill this need.

Derek

So here is one of the final sheets I shot with the 4x5 polaroid conversion camera. It's just a quick scan.


Derek, Newbury, MA 2008

NY Magazine and the end of my camera search

So my issue of New York Magazine is out. Click here for a link to the web version. The issue is this week's with McCain on the cover. I was pretty happy with the print quality, and the lighting matched up pretty well. What a hard assignment but I think I earned my stripes, hope it turns into more work. Love for people to check out the print version, but here are some jpgs. A little on the cleaner side than my usual steez, but besides that, I'm really happy with them.



3 Portraits for New York Magazine 2008


On another note, my on going battle with the 4x5 polaroid conversion camera has come to an end. I got a refund. Really sucks, but I've decided, due to multiple reasons, that I'm not going to use that camera. I got the camera back and the same issue was there, I also noticed this time that the film plane wasn't straight either. Michael, the guy who made the camera was super helpful and willing to continue to try to fix the problem, but I couldn't wait any longer. So my next decision was what camera would I use now, I thought everything from using my 5D, buying a Mark III, buying a Toyo field camera or even going back to shooting my old faithful, my Hasselblad. But if I was going to shoot my Hassey, I'd need a new lens, a 60mm (the equivalent of my trusty 35mm on my 5D). In the end I decided to go with the Hassey, besides being the 2nd cheapest choice investment wise, I would be able to shoot a lot more for a lot less money. My sometimes overly opinionated friend and talented photographerYoav asked me why was I shooting 4x5 and why not medium format. My reply was the depth of field fall off and that I wanted to really analize a photo before I snapped it, but my problem is that I didn't really want to commit to a tripod. Also, to really explore this project, it will only help me to shoot more, especially because I've never shot anything in this manner before. I will still get a decent short depth of field with the medium format and I will be able to shoot so much more. It just seems like the natural choice and that is what Yoav was getting at.

So I just ordered the new lens and treated myself to a better focusing screen.

North Shore for sure

Man, I love being home. There is something about being near the water up there that chills me out so much. I made a super quick trip to take some pictures for Kate's uncle, Mark Williams. He was a commercial diver for a while and then a lobsterman for 17 years. He's just published a book in the last year or so of stories about growing up in Gloucester, MA and his years catching lobster called, Fishing Vessel Black Sheep. He's now got a new publisher and needed a new cover. Thats where my talents came in. I'll definitely post a link for the book as well as the cover once all is done. Another plan is for Kate and I to do a multimedia piece on him. We basically just drove around for the day, stopping at different spots that related to the book or just favorite's places of Mark's.

So inspiring to be up there, its weird how drawn I am to photographing that area. Can't wait to get the project started in Hampton. I think early June is the reality.





Salt Marsh Grass, Gloucester, MA 2008









Old Pier Stilts, Gloucester, MA 2008







This is where Mark had his first job working for his dad who was a forman there. Great stories from that place which are in his book.

Mark Williams, former Empire Fish Company factory building, Gloucester, MA 2008







Mark took me to several places that he goes to write. This is one of them.

North Shore Salt Marsh, MA 2008





Also got to see my brother Derek. It was great to catch up with him. His new pictures are looking great. I was really impressed.

Derek, Newbury, MA 2008




Shot several sheets of film with my 4x5 camera on this trip. These will be the first sheets since I've got the camera back. I'll post those when I get them back from the lab.
In other tech news I dropped my 85mm lens pretty hard, bounced like a handball down several rocks. Amazingly the glass stayed intact and there was no (heavy) visual damage. The auto focus still works but something is up with the closing of the aperture blades, they won't close down. Lens shoots fine at f1.8 but completely freezes up anywhere beyond there. I'm making a trip to Nippon camera tomorrow for the lens to see the doctor. Hopefully it won't be that much.

This American Life

I love this program and it has been a huge insparation for me. I have to give A Photo A Day credit for bringing this to my attention again.




In other news, I just got my 4x5 back. Hope to shoot some stuff over the weekend.

Back that thang up

Been a crazy week. Shot my first assignment for New York Magazine. Pretty excited about that. Had some great help. Big shout out to Mildenberg and Marty Mar for all the help and laughs. My laptop died and I lost some shit, nothing from the NY Mag shoot, fortunately it died right as I was about to download the first card. But I did loose the photos from the last two posts. Sucks. I really liked them. At least they survived in some form. So I'm now up and running again. The lesson I want all five of you who read this to learn is, back your hard drives up. Loosing your shit sucks. Keep a look out for the issue of New York Magazine, it should be next week or the week after that's issue. I will post the images on here once the mag comes out. Also, I got an iPhone. I talked a lot of shit about it but I am a convert. The thing is pretty amazing, having my portfolio on there is so dope.

The Hamptons

Just got back from a gig in The Hamptons. Was a pretty chill time. Met some cool people and got to hang out on the ocean. The view from the property we shot on was pretty amazing. I was actually PAing on this job, but was paid the same rate I get for assisting which was pretty nice.


Here's a shot of the other PA, Doug. He was a super chill dude. He's got an invention he and his pop have been working on for a minute called Stop A Spill. Check it out here. I actually got iPod invention that I want to contact him about at some point.


Doug Montauk, NY 2008





Also, I have officially sold my soul to the gadget devil. I bought an iPhone...

Cabin Life

Kate and I had such a good time this past weekend with our good friends Marion and Steve. Two of the most talented people I know, click on their names to check out their work. Marion and her family has some land and a cabin in PA that is such an amazing escape from the city. It was just the four of us which was super nice (well five if you include Shug), perfect amount to fit around the fire. We drank home made brandy made by Marion's pop, ate great food and had even better conversation. It was a bit chilly but it didn't bother us. Being there during the early spring was a lot different than being there in the summer with the small group and cold weather, it was super relaxing.



These are a little out of order:

Marion & Steve @ The Cabin 2008








Scape PA 2008






We went for a walk around the body of water that is there. This is some swamp land on the far side from the cabin.

Scape PA 2008




Kate and Marion nesting it up the first morning. It was a bit chilly that first morning but the place was pretty toasty by that night.

Kate & Marion @ The Cabin 2008




Like I mentioned before, the place has a different vibe in the winter, beautiful in its own way. Here the lake was about half frozen. Shug was really funny trying to run over it.

Scape PA 2008






Scape PA 2008




And our wonderful hosts. I can't thank Marion enough for giving us this weekend to get out of the city, but also for sharing this special place over the last couple of years. I know there are many many many more memories to come.

Marion & Steve @ The Cabin II 2008