Keeping it Simple: One Lens, One Focal Length.
Happy New Year everyone! With the new year, its time to simplify, declutter, focus and enjoy the little things. So, I finally parted ways with my last adapted lens from my time with Canon. Since switching to Sony, I’ve used the Sigma 35 1.4 here and there, but never as much as with my Canon kit. Weight, slower autofocus, etc…It started just staring at me from the shelf. Paired with less than ideal alternatives, I kept it around because I love the 35mm focal length. So, when Sony came out with the 35 1.8, it was time to trade it in and go native. Not to worry, the Sigma went to a good home and is already living its best life.
Europe Photo Diary, Part 3: Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve
Part 3 and the final bit of the European jaunt back in May. We spent a couple of weeks meeting up with friends and family in Portugal heading to Lisbon, down to the Algarve and back up to Porto and the Douro Valley. First, I’m a bit smitten by Portugal, so it was challenging to pare the mountain of images down into something a bit more digestible, and even so, I’m not sure I did that. Great food, incredibly picturesque cities, rugged coastlines, wine country, what more can you ask?
Saigon Punk Chronicles : We’re Loud Fest: Vietnam
Last weekend Slovenly Records’ We’re Loud Fest descended into Saigon featuring acts from all over the globe. From local hardcore heroes, District 105, to Switzerland’s The Monsters, We’re Loud Fest spanned 4 days and multiple venues in Saigon. Unfortunately, I only got to attend the Saturday matinee, but having an international punk fest come to Saigon is super rad to say the least.
Europe Photo Diary, Part 2: Paris and Champagne
These photos have been sitting on the back burner for a while due to an extremely busy summer of shooting, but alas, here are some snaps from our trip to Paris and Champagne to meet up with my good friend Matt and his new fiancee, Liz. We hadn’t seen each other in years, but felt like it wasn’t more than a day or so since our old shenanigans. Not so much for museums and the sort this time in Paris, we opted for the stroll, eat, drink wine, and repeat course of action.
Recent Work: TNT Barbecue Food Photography
Recently, the fine folks over at TNT Barbecue tapped us to update their image library. Being from the southern part of the States, I jumped at this opportunity with a quickness. We decided to lean into the messy fun nature of barbecue and show off the saucy goodness. Below are some of my favorites from the shoot. We’re always looking for fun new projects and this ticked all of my nostalgic and homesick boxes.
Recent Work: Octo Tapas Food Photography
I just realized while we’ve been doing lots of food photography lately, there hasn’t been a post here about it. We’ll remedy that moving forward with some more interesting stories including some BTS shots and technical breakdowns for the photographers out there.
Europe Photo Diary, Part I: Amsterdam
My wife and I headed to Europe in May to meet up with some of my old friends (congratulations on your engagement Matt and Liz!) as well as my parents whom we haven’t seen in a couple years. Before we met up with friends and family, we had a few days in Amsterdam to ourselves to decompress from jet lag. We chose the “wander around without too many expectations” method, and it was perfect way to get lost, explore the city and ease into an amazing trip.
Making the Monotonous Memorable
hear it all the time, “I’m bored of shooting the same old stuff.” Most of the time its from my own mouth and I’ve said it more times than I’d like to admit.
As photographers, we want to see new things, shoot new locations, create new art. That’s all well and good, but there is so much beauty in the seemingly mundane that we could shoot the same location for weeks on end and still find something unique and interesting. We just need to shift our perspective. Coming up with something fresh and different is a challenge, but shooting repeatedly in the same location pushes us to dig deeper, look closer, to slow down. It allows us to become intimate with a place and its people. “Seeing old things with new eyes” can add layers into a story that perhaps a first look had missed.