Consider this a preview...

This is jumping forward a bit in the context of recapping 2008, but since I shot it in 2008 I figure it makes some sort of sense:

In April, Baltimore Magazine will be running it's annual feature on "Best Places to Live", highlighting some of the best neighborhoods in and around Baltimore. Since the issue goes into production in February, the magazine needed it shot back in July of '08, when the weather was still appropriate for an April issue.

I can't post any of the images they'll be using here yet, nor can I reveal which neighborhoods made it to the best of list. But now, damn cold February day, I figured I'd share a couple of my favorite shots that absolutely scream summer and warm weather:



I loved shooting for this assignment because it was the first time in a long while that I had the opportunity to just grab my camera and go. I hadn't done such street, documentary style type shooting in years, and it was really fun to get into again. There's a good story to these shots, but I'm afraid it will have to wait until April....

October 2008, Urbanite Magazine

Had this assignment for Urbanite Magazine back in October 2008. The theme of the issue was health care in Baltimore...

The Penn North Neighborhood Center is a facility in west B-more that offers alternative medicine and procedures to recovering addicts, one of which being acupuncture.



The description in the article of a typical treatment takes place in the large conference room, with some 40-odd recovering addicts getting their "ears pierced" by a handful of needle workers. The scene sounds quiet, calm, meditative. Delicate needles still fanning out from everyone's ears, the lights are dimmed and everyone just chills for about an hour - reading, thinking, some even sleeping. The experience sounds much more communal than you'd expect.



The color image is the shot they used, but I really liked the feel of the B&W one. Although the color image certainly grabs you, I think the B&W image feels more real, more authentic to the experience, even though we had to shoot it in the waiting area...

September 2008: Baltimore Magazine

Only a few assignments for the Sept. issue of '08, but I was thrilled with the shots. Here's the first:


(top right image)



which is a "Cameo" Dep't. piece featuring Jim Lucio, a.k.a. "Defekto", a.k.a. The Polaroid Guy". Jim is known around Baltimore for being the guy always toting around one of several Polaroid Spectra camera's, taking shots and shooting portraits of anyone open and interesting enough to be photographed. In fact, over the past 6 years, Jim estimates he's taken over 2,500 portraits in B-more. There's a lot more to be said about him and his work, it's a shame the piece had to fit one page. To check out some of Jim's work, check out his website at lastdaysofpolaroid.com and his Flickr page at http://flickr.com/photos/defekto/

I was really thrilled with the shoot with Jim. We did two sets, B-mag used one in the Table of Contents (sitting at his desk) and another for the article (in front of a wall of polaroids). The one they used for the article was great, here's another one of my favorites from that set:



The next assignment was for an Upfront Metro piece showcasing the famous "Big Boyz Bail Bonds" pens:



If you live in, or even remotely near Baltimore, you've seen these yellow and pink pens. From the article:

"From Owings Mills to Canton, they're everywhere. The owner of a Hampden sub shop takes your order with one. The clerk at a Fell's Point home decor store hands you one to sign your credit slip. Check your pockets: You might have a couple."

And it's true. If you live here and haven't noticed them, then you either haven't lived here for very long or (I'm sorry) you're not a very observant person. Big Boyz orders 400,000 of them a year and distributes them to businesses throughout Baltimore City and surrounding counties. Even during our shoot (which was just out front of a Big Boyz office), the guys were handing them out to passerby bold enough to ask, and whole cup fulls to those bolder few who promised to help give them out.

The last assignment was the opener for the "Local Flavor" section, and is on my list of most favorite shots for the year:



Bert Basignani, of "Basignani Winery". Located just about an hour north of B-more, Basignani Winery is one of 33 wineries in Maryland. It is known for it's free wine tastings where visitors can actually go into the fields, pick grapes, and learn about the process of making wine.

We had scheduled the shoot for sundown to get the best light outside, but unfortunately that means dinner time for most normal folks. The Basignani's were no exception. They were just getting ready for their meal when I pulled in to the winery; I knew this because Mrs. Basignani came out and informed me, in no uncertain terms. At which point I rolled down the window, turned off the car, and explained myself.

Haha, I couldn't blame her- I don't think Bert remembered to tell her I was coming, and by all accounts I would have seemed to her like a late coming tourist looking for a free taste of wine, just as they're preparing for a hard earned dinner.

Anyway, after shooting some quick views and details of the fields, Bert came out with a slew of border collies. I found the best spot for us to shoot - beautiful, thick vines and the sun just going down in the background. Fortunately I had brought my small wireless light kit, which is great in kind of quick and dirty situations where I don't have a lot of time to set up. I knew this would be the case because once the sun starts going down, your time with it is pretty short, but in this case there was also the pressing issue of a good dinner getting cold. I was a little nervous about the dogs running around my light stands, but they were good- just hung around Bert. And the lights proved to be necessary, otherwise he would have just been silhouetted by the direct sunlight behind him. It was also hard making Bert look natural at first; he was very aware of the camera, and a little stiff. When this shot happened, I don't even remember if I had asked him to look off camera - he just did and I was fortunate enough to click the shutter. Overall, the shoot didn't last very long at all, I wouldn't be surprised if Bert's dinner was still warm...

I think one of the reasons I like this shot so much is the layout on the page. Sometimes full page shots are just the shot alone, but this required text and the "Local Flavor" title, etc. It kind of fit perfectly together, and I couldn't be happier with the result.

August 2008: Baltimore Magazine

August was the Best of Baltimore edition of Baltimore Magazine. Whenever it comes to "Best of's", it can be pretty hit or miss, but I thought 2008 was a particularly good one!

First up is Tammie Monaco, owner of Beck 'n Call Services:



Beck 'n Call Services provides servers, bartenders, and other services for parties or events. Tammie is the former director of catering at The Brass Elephant, here in Bmore. We shot it in my kitchen, which was great - while we were setting up, she took it upon herself to unclog the food disposal in my sink! Haha, I didn't even know she was doing it, I looked up and she was like "oh, this was stuck in your food disposal, it should work ok now", holding up a mangled fork. Thanks again, Tammie!!

Next is Susannah Siger, owner of Ma Petite Shoe:



This was the full page opener for the "Indulge" section of the Best of's. Ma Petite Shoe won the Best of Award for "Estrogen Heaven". The store, located on 36th street in Hampden, sells designer shoes and high quality, hard to find European chocolates. They were later featured in American Airlines Magazine and used a different shot from our shoot for B-mag.

The winner for Best Restaurant for First Dates:



was Tapas Teatro. Which was a tricky shoot. To say the least. I had contacted the manager to set a schedule and discuss what we needed, and thought we were pretty clear on the details, specifically that I would need two young staffers who could be available to pose as "first-daters". Don't get me wrong, I could have found two people I could have brought to pose, but I thought it would be fun to have a couple people who worked there be part of it. Long story short, when I showed up for the shoot, the place was pretty swamped and the manager had either forgotten about our discussion or was too busy to care (I assume both). Fortunately, two friends of mine happened to show up just as I was about to leave and plan a re-shoot and were nice enough to let me photograph them throughout their entire dinner. The restaurant was too crowded to set up any lights, even though I had brought my small light kit, so I had to shoot at a relatively higher ISO than I'm comfortable with, but I wasn't too disappointed with the results. If things worked out the way we had planned, I think we could have had a better shot, but with this kind of work they rarely do and you've got to be able to improvise.

And outside of the Best of features:



An Upfront Metro piece that showcases Mike Rudden, who is a partner in the California based company "MotoArt" that makes furniture and art with components from old fighter jets and commercial planes. Him and his wife Lilly also own a salon in Ellicott City called "Lilly MaRitza Salon and Gallery", which is furnished and designed using pieces from MotoArt. One of my favorite pieces in the salon is in the shot to the right - it's a fish tank made from an MK-84 aqua bomb. MotoArt caters to some pretty heavyweight clients including Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Red Bull, and Boeing Company, and even made the desk that the judges sit at on the show "American Idol".

For the Arts Dept. piece:



featuring the performance group Fluid Movement, a community based volunteer dance and performance group. They put on different shows and events throughout the year, and in August they put on "Mother Goosed: The Nurseryland Campaign Tales". The show was actually a water ballet being put on at Patterson and Riverside parks, and as you can see featured the performers decked out in all kinds of crazy outfits. The shoot was pretty easy - they were just finishing up with a rehearsal, and being performers they were natural at posing for the camera. It was pretty broad daylight, but a couple of small lights with umbrella's helped make them pop just a bit from the background, which is the pool at Riverside Park.