photography

Unearthed bts from the past few years

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Four images I shot while DP’ing a day with a camera car in Tennessee. The MotoCrane came from Shift Dynamics, and their team (precision driver and crane operator) were excellent collaborators. Also featured is director Brittany Reeber and my 1st AC for this project, Gabe Colvin.

Following that are 3 images taken by Felix Walworth from the two Tomberlin music videos that I shot (directed by Ryan Schnackenberg), and a bts pic by gaffer Gavin Cantrell on the set of a BetterVet commercial in Austin, TX.

B&W BTS Vol. 5

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Shots from all over the place! A drag holiday special in 2020, units of HBO’s Mind Over Murder and Showtime’s Spector (i did stints as 2nd Unit DP and Additional Cinematographer on each respectively), shots from the I Poured Sugar In Your Shoes music video in Boston, a single shot from outside a studio in Seattle where I shot a commercial with a great team, and a few final shots of a corporate shoot in NYC.

All shot on my Minolta X-570 and Nikon FM with Illford HP5+ pushed to 1600iso - except the shot of Danny and Dave in the third row - which was off of my first roll of Agfaphoto APX 400. All processed by hand and scanned on my lightpad setup using Negative Lab Pro.

6 Feet Or More

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2 years and 6 months ago - after being locked inside for a week or two - I devised a socially distanced photo project called “6 Feet Or More”. I rode a bike around taking pictures of friends on medium format b&w with a laser tape measure affixed to the top of the camera. I positioned my subjects all about 10’ away from my 75mm lens and tried to land them in similarly center-punched compositions. I think for myself (and probably the subjects as well), it was much more about seeing a friendly face and finding a way to connect and feel creatively stimulated in a very lonely period of time. I’ve been sitting on these images since then without knowing what to do with them, but enough time has passed that these now feel novel and really mark a particular moment and memory for me.

Anyway, here are a few wonderful people I know.

B&W BTS Vol. 4

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A triumphant return to developing film! After spending the 2 years since the pandemic started shooting quite a bit - i’ve began processing the backlog of shot cannisters filling up my fridge. The first 6 of these images are from pre-pandemic shoots, followed by a series of shots taken in Texas on a branded doc project, and culminating in 3 images back in NYC on a product shoot. The majority of these (if not all) were shot on my Minolta X-570 with Illford HP5+ pushed to 1600iso. All processed by hand and scanned on my lightpad setup using Negative Lab Pro.

On Photography

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I’ve had this photo saved as a draft here for quite a while, along with different disconnected thoughts on my relationship to photography - and how that relates to my understanding of cinematography. I just sat and looked at this image for the first time in a few months and decided to deleted all of that.

I took this photo of my friend Adir embracing his fiancée (now wife) Britt a few years ago while we were wrapping up a music video. I had panned a 750w leko off from set and saw the nice cut it was creating on the wall - so I grabbed my Bronica, placed the two of them, and just waited for a moment. I think I only took two shots and this one came out as one of my favorite still images i’ve ever captured.

The composition and lighting is nice, but it just serves as aesthetic window dressing to capture the tangible emotions emanating between the two of them. I happen to know that Adir was basically dead on his feet from a 14 hour day of performing and Britt had been just as busy set dressing - and maybe that shows in the image, but it isn’t what I feel when I see it. The image feels like caring.

Now maybe only I feel that when I see it. I hope not, but that would be fine. Those who are passionate about creating images tend to hold themselves to a very high standard, so acknowledging that something you created is good can often be a feat in and of itself. To take it one step further and say “this one makes me feel something,” is quite rare (at least for me).

Making an image - whether in motion or not - that can illicit a singular emotional response is incredibly difficult. Most of the time it takes a combination of incredibly talented individuals with a shared understanding of goals, as well as a lot of meticulous planning. Sometimes though, it’s as simple as putting the right people in the right light and waiting.

Color Photography (some recent, some not)

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Assorted color shots. Top row is from 2018-2019 shot on an Olympus point-and-shoot with Kodak and Fuji 35mm stock. Following rows are medium format from my Bronica all experimenting with flavors of Kodak Portra. All of the medium format is from 2020.

Doc Series BTS (in Medium Format)

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Some medium format shots from the set of a Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries:

Assorted Medium Format Photos From 2019

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As far as this is the only outlet that I publish still photography on outside of instagram…i’m pretty bad at keeping it up-to-date.

These are all from various points across last year. Shot on Bronica ETRSi w/ 50mm and 75mm lenses. Variety of stocks used throughout, each noted in the captions.

Winter 2020 In Black and White

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Some b&w’s from this winter. The first half are all taken in Ridgewood, Queens and Bedstuy, Brooklyn. The other half were taken in Washington and Oregon while traveling there for a doc shoot. These are from the first few rolls through my refurbished Minolta X-570 (fixed up by Garry’s Camera in Buffalo Grove, Illinois - i’d 100% recommend his shop if you have a 35mm camera in need of repair). I absolutely love this camera, it’s super lightweight and reliable. I believe all of these were taken with the Rokkor 35mm f1.8, which is stunningly sharp.

As usual, Illford Hp5+, pushed two stops - developed and scanned at home.

Summer 2019 In Black and White

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A few quick snapshots from over the summer.

B&W BTS Vol. 3

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Whew, it’s been a long time since i’ve had a chance to develop and scan my black & white. This edition of B&W BTS spans from late spring to early fall. Only 5 shoots across the collection - there may be a need for a “Color BTS” post for the same timespan - but i’ve also just been a bit too busy behind the camera shooting these projects to break away and shoot my crew!

I believe all of these are from my Olympus OM-2, which has been my “weapon of choice” as of late. All shot with either the Zuiko 28mm or 35mm.

I’ll be posting some non-bts images from these rolls soon as well.

Loose Ends

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A mixture of shots that I like, but didn’t seem to have any other home. Camera and film type are in the caption.

B&W BTS Vol. 2

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Another installment of b&w bts, this one ranging over quite a few months and an array of shoots. The last two rows were digitized using my new Lightpad/Negative Lab Pro scanning process (which I may make a separate post about). Very excited about the results i’m getting. The final three images are also from the first roll of 120 that i’ve developed myself.

The cameras used here are - Olympus OM-2n, Minolta XD11, Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80, Bronica Etrsi. All shot on Illford HP5+, with the exception of the final 3 medium format frames shot on Ultrafine Extreme 400. All pushed 2 stops.

Winter 2019 In Black and White

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Some select photos from this winter. I believe that these were all shot on my Olympus Stylus Epic. As usual, I used Illford Hp5+ pushed 2 stops, developed and scanned by hand.

B&W BTS Vol. 1

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I keep at least one 35mm camera loaded with Illford HP5+ in my bag most of the time. So inevitably rolls end up with a few shots from the variety of sets I work on (when there happens to be a free minute to do so). It’s a nice reminder that one of the biggest benefits of my job is getting to work with so many great people. Here’s a collection of some of my favorites from roughly the last 9 months.

A wide range of cameras represented here - Olympus OM-2n, Minolta XD11 (rip/must replace), Fujifilm DL-290, and Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80.

Black and White Film in Mexico

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A few shots I managed to pop off on a trip to Mexico in December. We spent a few days traveling around the Yucatan Peninsula, and most of these shots (the four daytime ones) are from Tulum.

All on Illford Hp5+ pushed 2 stops, developed and scanned by myself. Shot with my Olympus OM-2n and 28mm f/2.8.

Fall 2018 In Black and White Pt. 2

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More from this fall. All on Illford Hp5+ pushed 2 stops, developed and scanned by myself.

The first eight images are from my Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80, which has some really interesting distortion and flaring. I was happily surprised by at the optical quality it delivers, considering that it’s a cheapo point-and-shoot. This was also my first roll of dx hacked film (the only way to get my preferred push-process on a point-and-shoot) and i can happily say it worked seamlessly.

The bottom row of images is from Thanksgiving at my parent’s house in NJ, shot on my Olympus OM-2n and 28mm f/2.8.

Fall 2018 In Black and White Pt. 1

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A series of images shot over the course of this fall. All on Illford Hp5+ pushed 2 stops, developed and scanned by myself. Final image (of me) shot by Phil Solokoff.

Summer 2018 In Black and White

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A series of images shot over the course of this summer. Mostly hand-developed and scanned by myself, with the exception of the images shot on P3200. 

Cameras Used: Olympus OM-2n MD and Fujifilm DL-290 Zoom