CMJ 2008 Music and Film Festival

Since 1980, CMJ has been a source for new emerging artist to showcase their talent in front of thousands of music fans throughout New York City. This year, like last year, I was able to cover several of the shows.  Here are a couple photo's from the week that was CMJ 2008.

During the week, I was able to check out several films at CMJ as well that I highly recommend checking out if possible.  

What About Me? 

Pressure Cooker

Sunshine Cleaning

 

It was a crazy four or five days of late subway rides home, but as always CMJ was worth it.

To view more  photos of CMJ and other shows you can go here 

Joining Howard Schatz and the Schatz Ornstein Studio as an Apprentice

About a month and a half ago, I sent an e-mail to Howard Schatz, a fine art and commercial photographer who has more then twenty years of experience in the industry. 

The reason for my e-mail was to inquire about  possible assisting opportunities. He replied letting me know he did not need any extra assistance at the present time. However, he was interested in one of my photographs, after he had viewed it from my website. He offered to trade prints, one of my prints for one of his prints. I thought this was a very flattering gesture, and possibly an unequal trade since his work sells for thousands of dollars in art galleries, and I have never attempted to sell a print as fine art.  

Since he asked me to come by the studio with my print, I realized this would be  a great opportunity to meet him and possibly open the door for a part time assisting position.

I went to the studio a couple of times. Each time I went, I was blown away by the professionalism of the staff and facility. I immediately knew I had to get my foot in the door. 

 So after meeting Howard briefly, I sent him another e-mail letting him know I was very interested in coming by the studio a couple times a week even if it is not paid just to gain more experience.

After I sent over my resume and numerous references, Howard and I sat down to discuss a possible apprenticeship. After our discussion, we determined I would be coming by the studio four times a week for the next year. 

I started the apprenticeship last week. 

To view Howard Schatz's work you can go to www.howardschatz.com

East Brooklyn's Fish Grease Jenkins

I originally met Fish Grease at a hip hop talent show back in April where I took some live shots for the promoter. I gave him and some of the other talent my card; I have had several calls since. Fish Grease is the first I have organized a shoot with. When we first spoke about putting a shoot together, the first question that arose was location. I suggested that we shoot in an area where he was familiar with in East New York since that is where he is from. On the day of the shoot, I took a car service over to his neighborhood as I was getting ready to pay the driver, the driver told me it was the first time he took a white person to the area of East New York in twenty years of service and that he would never personally exit the car because he felt it was such a dangerous place. Being my first time in East New York, the driver's comments made me a little nervous, but once I met Fish Grease, his family, and friends, I was put at ease. In reality, the neighborhood seemed like any other neighborhood. There was a playground where kids were playing basketball and other games. Families were having barbecue's, and everyone seemed to know each other's name.

After I brought up my equipment to Fish Grease's apartment, we decided we were going to take some shots in front of his building. We captured a couple of images that we liked, but nothing that stood out. We continued to shoot at the park, where I found a green brick wall to shoot against. It seemed to work with the blue shirt he was wearing. We decided to take a break after the park shoot, so he could change into another outfit. After he changed, we took some more shots in the stairway of his building. The majority of the stairway was painted an off white, but there was  a section by the door that was painted red which went well with his black shirt and red shoes. The photo of the stairway shot can be seen at the top of this blog entry.

Vita and the City

Yesterday, I had a shoot with Vita who works in the fashion industry as a buyer for Macy's. She hired me to shoot some NYC pics so she could send some home to her family. The heat in the city was pretty brutal which made running around the lower west side a little uncomfortable, especially for Vita who trekked around with four inch high heal shoes on for most of the day.   

I usually like to meet a client before shooting, but in Vita's case we didn't have a chance to meet before hand, so we kind of grew more comfortable with each other as the day progressed.

The original idea for our shoot was to capture NYC moments like the picture to the left where Vita is calling for a cab.  We shot maybe 4 to 5 different takes of her running behind cabs trying to catch them. It was pretty funny because the cabs would stop and we had to tell them to keep going. There was a restaurant to the right of us which I think found it pretty entertaining as well.

Organic Farming at the Stone Barns Center in Westchester, NY.

A couple weeks back, on Memorial Day weekend, I met a young woman named Adriane from a get together in Central Park. We chatted, and she was telling me about an organic farm in Westchester, NY where she has an apprenticeship for the next several months. She went on to tell me about the colorful people who worked there, how beautiful it was, and how much she enjoyed the experience.

I asked Adriane if it would be possible for me to come by and volunteer for a day to learn more about the process. I also asked her if it would be possible if I could bring my camera along. She told me more than likely it would be no problem. A couple weeks went by, and we organized a time for me to come out to what I now discovered to be an enchanting organic farm/restaurant/learning center called the Stone Barns Center.

I wasn't sure what to expect working on a

farm for a day. However, it ended up being an enjoyable experience. I helped harvest crops for the farmers market in the morning as well as with spreading compost over a field of blue potatoes in the afternoon. In the moments in between, I grabbed my camera and took a couple of shots.

The farm, staff, volunteers, and food were all great, and I plan on volunteering again soon. There is something rewarding about getting your hands dirty in the soil and picking fruits, vegetables, and herbs while experiencing a full day from sunrise to sunset.

I highly recommend it!