A Rainbow Jimmy Spring Weekend...

Hello Lovelies!

How are you all this fine week? I hope very well! Things here are busy and also very good. Let's get started, shall we?

I have some exciting news. The wedding I posted about last week was featured on one of my favorite wedding blogs this week! Well-Groomed is (as the name somewhat implies) a groom-centric blog that focuses on the boys for a change. The site is full of what I consider very high-end, beautiful wedding photography, so I was flattered they posted my work. Take a peek at the post here.

Another piece of business news: I have decided to have all of my art prints over at Stapelia professionally printed from here on out. Which means I am selling my very high-end (and very highly rated) HP Photosmart Pro B8850 Photo Printer. It's in very good shape, very clean (I really take care of my equipment), still prints perfectly and I have all the paperwork etc... I just don't want to print my work myself anymore (too time consuming). Here is more info on the printer. If you're local (it's huge and heavy) and interested, please email and we can discuss price. This is a very nice printer, you guys.

What else? Oh! I found this photo from the Westworld Shoot the other day and decided to edit it and throw it onto my portfolio. Why? Because I hardly ever work in black and white and that old mill and the grays and blacks the model was wearing that day really work in black and white. Such a handsome man, no?

We had a beautiful weekend up here in Maine and I absolutely got out there and enjoyed it. (I tend to work too hard, and I've decided to really enjoy this spring and summer when I can!) I went to a wonderful mindfulness workshop that covered tips to bring meditation practice to your daily life. I met some great people who 'get it.' What a positive way to start the weekend. Then, some hiking, a run around our Back Bay trail (which was beautiful) and wrapped it up with some ice cream with rainbow "Jimmies" (as they call them up here, they're 'sprinkles' everywhere else, I think). I promptly came to the conclusion that Jimmies are tasteless wax, but they sure are pretty, no? Oh, and I found the perfect song for the sunny, warm weather to play when the windows are open: I've linked to it below. (Yes, it's country. Don't judge. Ha!)

And let's wrap with this amazing public space/graffiti artist that I found recently. Aryz's work is absolutely stunning, especially when you consider the fact that he's work at such a large scale with spray paint. The control and design are just breathtaking. Here are some of his works as well as a video there at the end of his process. (He speaks Spanish, but you can turn the sound off and just watch, you won't miss anything.)

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Here Comes the Bride... and Also a Plane.

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all well out there! Things here are splendid as usual, you guys. Let's jump right in with some shots from a wedding I photographed recently. "Wedding?! What?!" I know. I don't usually do them (despite being asked on numerous occasions) because that's not really the market I am trying to break into. That's a whole separate industry from commercial and artistic work which is where I see myself eventually. However, I make the occasional exception for couples who match the level of style, creativity and attention to detail I put into my own work, and this couple blew it right out of the water in that department. (Plus, they're both very sweet and open to playing. Oh, and they had masks...) So, here are some of the shots from the day. The rest can be seen HERE. Congratulations to Mark & Sarah! And thank you for the opportunity to share your special day.

And while we're on the topic of photography, here are some behind the scenes shots from a mini-project I'm shooting for one of my favorite makeup artists. We are collaborating on some ideas for a national makeup competition she wants to enter next year. (This is our second attempt at truly original makeup and I'm quite sure she nailed it this time.) Wow. There will eventually be 4 shots in this series and I'll post the first one next week.

I love being a photographer (obviously), but I am actually trained as a graphic designer and I occasionally take on freelance design work when I have time. Well, recently, I was able to do a simple ID Package (for those not in the know, an ID Package is a logo, envelope, letterhead, business card all designed to match for a business - branding, basically) for a great non-profit organization here in Portland called Creative Space. Creative Space is quickly gaining momentum as an organization that finds old, unused or abandoned space in Portland and pairs these spaces with needs in the creative community. These needs include: art studios, performance spaces, community theater stages, practice and rehearsal spaces and even simple desks with Wi-Fi hook-ups for digital artists. They are doing great things and it's a mission in which I believe very strongly so I was flattered they asked me. Take a look. We kept it very minimal.

And I will wrap up with an absolutely amazing children's fashion magazine I found recently. The photography is so beautiful, artistic and original throughout the entire thing, I can't stop looking. La Petite Magazine is produced somewhere in Europe, and they just get it. I've put some photos below, but take a spin through their magazines, they're all online. The ideas and design, I just can't say enough. I am blown away. It's refreshing to see people still bringing such fresh ideas to both photography and to editorial, and those kids are all just beautiful. Okay, I'll stop, I'm gushing now...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams!

Double the Fun...

Hello Lovelies!

How are you all doing out there? Well, I hope. Things here are busy and also very good. Spring is just around the corner and the weather is finally giving us a break. (Not that winter weather kept me from shooting all season, but my models appreciate this break in the temperature. Haha!) So much to share!

To start, I have finished and entered my Double the Fun series into the portrait section of the Photoville Fence Project out of New York. I think I may have mentioned, I decided to photograph sets of twins for this contest and I put my own twist on it with the introduction of party things to formal portraiture. I hoped it would bring out personalities, and it did. This series became unintentionally tongue-in-cheek and I really like it. Here is the entire series in a layout and then a couple of close-ups.

And because I thought they were so cute, I made a couple of GIFs of the twins with the confetti and those are below. You can't tell here, but one of those girls really thought confetti was hilarious and I guess it is, come to think of it... Fun stuff.

What else? Oh! The next behind the scenes video of another one of my shoots has been put up. My Last Ones Standing series was the subject of this one and I think my videographer Jessica did a great job of capturing all the tiny details that make my photos unique and perfect. Such beautiful work she does. A huge thank you to her and to the entire crew for helping with that project. I have also added a video page to my portfolio if you'd rather follow along there: PORTFOLIO. One centralized place for all good things...



Last Ones Standing Shoot from Jessica Beebe on Vimeo.

And speaking of good things, this past Sunday was my birthday! What a wonderful day it was. I started the day off right getting kisses from my friends' baby who's 4 months old. She's one of my very favorite things. Such a sweet girl. The weather was beautiful and warm, I spent the day doing the things I love with some of my very favorite people and I got a ton of flowers and books. (Both of which I enjoy immensely.) It was a perfect day and I am so very lucky. Take a peek at some shots from the day below... Delicious, aren't they? I have a feeling this coming year is going to be a very good one.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Yep, We Went There...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope this week finds you all doing well out there. Things here are busy and very good! I have a ton of projects in various stages of completion, so let's hop right in, shall we?

To start, I finished up my Mermaids of the Maine Coast project and submitted it to the Water, Water Everywhere competition this week. This was one of the funnest projects I've done in quite some time. (We always have fun, but this was too much.) All humor aside, I feel these shots from an execution/editing standpoint are fairly strong, so fingers crossed! And a huge thank you to the boys who wore the tail... thank you, guys! The mermaid photos are also available as fine art prints in both the Stapelia shop and over at Society6, so if you're interested in decorating your walls with crazy, place that order!

And speaking of Society6, that is a site for fine art prints of all sorts; paintings, photography, illustration and so on. A ton of very talented people are represented in that community of artists. Out of all of the prints made available on the site, Society6 also sub-curates a group of prints to feature/sell in their company store. Yesterday, I found out that 3 of my Zom-B-Vex prints were selected to go in this store, which is very exciting! So, now you can find Baseball Boy, Scout Master & Businessman up in there. Yay!

What else? Oh! I was in the studio all this past Sunday photographing sets of twins for another contest I am entering very soon. What a great group of people. I had a lot of fun. We were throwing confetti and balloons and party things all over the studio. I believe my favorite quote of the day was, Me: "And why are you laughing?!" Model: "Because confetti is funny..." So true. Look out for those shots next week!

This was not the actual confetti used, but I've flung it around my studio so many times, I had this shot available for illustration purposes...

The weather is getting so nice up here and I've been working almost constantly, so Saturday, I decided to take a break and a friend and I headed to a place called Savers down in New Hampshire. Now, I am not a native New Englander, but I find them to be a frugal people. Consequently, there is no shortage of discount stores, thrift stores, salvage stores and the like up here. Which (as someone who loves to repurpose and resell vintage items), is fine by me. Savers was a new one to me and I was not disappointed. 50% of the fun was the customers. While searching through the records, a woman who was leaning all in my personal space, remarked to her boyfriend: "Give me some room, I don't want to fall on this lady and this ain't my good leg." Wowza. But I found some things for STAG as well as a couple of great records, including this Harry Belafonte record with my favorite song of his on it: Suzanne. Not my favorite version, but still good. And that cover? The colors and font are just great.

And these records I did not buy, but maybe someone can tell me about this Ding Dong School, or why that rabbit is all creepy up in the park with all those kids... no one? That's what I thought. Yikes.

And we wrapped a great day at an adorable place called The Friendly Toast, which is full of great vintage advertising things. I want to take up residence in this place, truly. Oh, and the food was also good... Haha.

Until next time: Unpleasant dreams...

Why Did the Merman Cross the Road?

Hi Lovelies~

I hope you're all doing well out there. This ship is sailing at maximum speed these days with lots of exciting things on board! To start, I posted my Last Ones Standing work this morning and I am very happy with how it came out. I think between these shots and the ones taken in the original Last One Standing series, I have a strong set of images to submit to the FOAM contest this week for sure. A huge thank you to my models, makeup people, crew and videographer for helping nail this project and document the process! A couple of the images are below, and the rest may be seen over at my Behance site.

 


I don't know how many of you know this, but I also style all of my shoots: I do all of the costuming, makeup direction and location-hunting. I feel directing the entire process helps me execute my creative vision more effectively. In addition, I work with some amazingly talented people who've now done enough projects with me to understand my "Jess Speak" or rather, the idea boards I use to concretize my vision. This, along with my actual shoot list, help me ensure that things run smoothly, mistakes aren't made, everyone knows what I expect of them and no one's valuable time is wasted! I thought I would show you my costume and makeup idea boards for Last Ones Standing so you could see where we start (some people find this interesting, I guess, hahaha)...

What else? Oh! Goodness. While most people were hunting for eggs and eating ham yesterday, my crew and I were shoving grown men into mermaid tails out on the beach to shoot another contest submission that I'm doing. That's right: mermaid tails. Onlookers in their Sunday best couldn't process what they were seeing and I think the two best quotes of the day were: "Mommy, why is that man wearing a... is that a man?!" and the old man (completely oblivious to the entire scene), who, upon seeing the Narragansett beer we were using as a prop, exclaimed: "They still make Narragansett? Unbelievable!" That's not all that's unbelievable, Buddy. Wow. Oblivious. I will post those shots next week, but until then, there's this:

Hey Sailor, wanna make out? Bahaha.

And I've found some amazing things I wanted to share with you all. To start, are there any audiophiles out there? Yes? Well, you're in luck, because I found an amazing start-up that may interest you: Grain Audio. They create some amazing audio equipment; headphones, speakers, iPod docks that are gorgeous. As the name implies, their equipment has wood graining (which I love) and for those design types out there, their web presence and ID Package is also impeccable. They pay attention to every details. Plus, they have an area on their site called Setlist, which features great playlists weekly! Check it out, you guys...

And I wanted to wrap up with something else that may interest you. Sign painting fascinates me and so do documentaries (dork here). Sign Painters talks to some of the pros about their trade and techniques. (Plus, I find their wild west, cavalier, Hell's Angels-esque approach to a rather benign field both humorous and charming.) Check out the trailer!


Until next time: unpleasant dreams...