Recent tear sheets

Here are some tear sheets from some recent publications, with my images. Most papers and magazines play nice; some don't want to. Where a publication has its own photo staff, I am not about to undermine their positions and give away images. Avon, for example, refused to even give photo credit for published images. I had volunteered as a photographer for the Avon walk. I thought this was a decent use of my time and talent. No credit, no pictures.

Where's your European Cup?

Liverpool broke the Premier League jinx that Chelsea seemed to have over them. Although we have beaten them in other competitions [Champions' League, FA Cup, League Cup and Community Shield], we had a poor record against them in recent years. Today was different. With Mourinho whining about needing to spend more money on players, we flattered them with a 2-0 result. Good to see one of their better players, Petr Cech, back with the fancy helmet; glad Riise didn't hit him, when the ball hit the bar. Said Whining One was uncharacteristically contrite in defeat.

Rangapravesha Album

Alex and I photographed the Rangapravesha of two sisters, just over a year ago. Rangapravesha is a Kannada word where 'ranga' means stage and 'pravesha' means enter. Many people use the word Arangetram [I believe Arangetram is Hindi and Rangapravesha is Sanskrit. More word details here]. After learning dance under the guidance of a guru, this is the occasion for the guru to present her disciple to the public.

We have recently been designing the album of those photographs and having a lot of fun with it. Here is our initial design for the album.

Top hat and tails optional

The name Fred Astaire brings to mind black and white dance movies with impossible energy; and his name lives on, as he co-founded the first dance studio, in 1947. There are now six studios in Massachusetts alone.

I was invited to photograph this dance showcase, a friendly competition between two Massachusetts studios from Norwood and Hanover. Thanks to Elizabeth Anderson at the Norwood studio, for the information and invitation.

Modern dance in NYC

I have been lucky to photograph some seriously-flexible modern dancers, with the New York dance companies, founded by Susan Dodge and Elisa Monte. You can see images from the photo sessions here. Thanks especially to Tiffany and Solomon at Elisa Monte! You'll see many photographs of dancers frozen in the air, taken with high-speed strobe. I also like to slow down the shutter speed and see some motion blur. The slower the shutter speed, the more ambient light contributes to the image. Eventually, you'll see a very impressionistic photograph with long motion trails, as in the entry screen for these two slide shows. Another effect, used here, is to open the shutter before the dancer reaches her peak of movement, and fire the strobe while the shutter is open. You will see a ghosting effect, where parts of the dancer seem transparent. This is experimental and the outcome is difficult to predict. Practice with the timing makes it easier to achieve what you envision.

Lhochaar: Nepali New Year

I was invited to photograph the Nepali Lhochaar celebration in Boston recently. I have photographed these a few times before, in 2003 and 2004, so I had an idea of the events to expect. The dancing was spectacular and the crowd was lively and friendly! The backgrounds had been a little busy, so this year, I tried to use less flash and take in more of the ambient light. They had gelled stage lights and a smoke machine, so these added to the drama. Here are the 2007 pictures. I had plenty of positive feedback on the Nepali cultural site, Sajha.com. There was some negativity from another photographer. The food was great too, from Kathmandu Spice.

Red dress weddings

I shot a handful of Indian weddings last year. The color and bustle and drama make the average white dress wedding a little predictable. I did say I wasn't a wedding photographer. I have photographed some memorable weddings where the bride wore a red dress, so maybe I should limit my brand to targeting those...

Here is an example from last summer...my friends Mike and Lora. As part of the celebration, Mike had arranged to have a scoreboard announcement at Gillette Stadium, during a New England Revolution game. They just couldn't get the spelling of her name right.