Swan Island Dahlias
All images copyright 2010 by Ara Roselani
After a few crazy weeks of August, I can’t tell you how excited I was to go bury my face in some flowers for awhile on Sunday. The Swan Island Dahlias in Canby, Oregon offer a spectacular collection–usually far more than I know what to do with. They have great sassy names, too.
There are few things as relaxing as macro photography. You can hover over the same flower for ages, finding new pockets, new angles, new colors and all sorts of beauty. It’s an entirely new way to experience the world, and I always have a hard time leaving.
When Mike and Montana first told me about their wedding, to be at Portland’s Bagdad Theater done 1920′s Flapper-Style, I was so excited. They are both incredibly fun and stylish people, and this was unlike any other wedding I’d ever heard of. They asked me if the photographers could all wear fedoras with press cards. Gee, why not?
The atmosphere was everything I could have dreamed of. They shot a small movie to show on the screen before the ceremony, the wedding reception was in the McMenamin’s Backstage Bar behind the theater, the guests were dressed so stylishly, and the bride and groom looked amazing. I shot all the formals around the pool tables, and the bridal party totally got into the spirit (see below, don’t they all look so fabulous?).
The night before the wedding, the Bagdad put the bride and groom’s names on the marquee. My second shooter, Alex, and I went out with umbrellas and lights and shot a portrait of them in front. Hawthorne after midnight is an interesting place, but we had a fantastic time and I love the portrait we created. What a gorgeous couple.
Congratulations, Mike and Montana!
Playing with Fire
All images copyright 2010 by Ara Roselani.
This spring, I had a happy accident that has now turned into one of my favorite personal projects. It’s also responsible for part of my mental revelation that people are just as beautiful and expressive as anything in nature.
I went to a concert in Seattle and because I never, ever, ever leave my camera in the car unattended, I packed in my D700. I was late coming back from another photo shoot, and there were no seats and very few places to stand. Having the camera immediately got me pushed up toward the stage without a word. Okay. Well then. Why not? Might as well try out the high-ISO settings and see if Nikon was as good as I’d heard.
The venue was pitch black with only a few off-color stage lights. When the band took an intermission, there were a couple of fire-eating and twirling acts. They turned all the lights off except for emergency lighting on the floor. I put my camera down.
…and picked it up faster than I’ve ever grabbed anything. On the stage, a stunningly beautiful fire dancer was lit only by her fire brand. Popping my camera into spot-metering, f/2.8, 6400 ISO and 1/80th, I took a shot and prayed.
It’s a good thing it was black in that room. I can’t stand chimping at the back of my camera, but I went into a full-on happy dance. It worked. Not only did it work, I couldn’t believe how clean and beautiful and downright elegant the pictures were coming out. I went home absolutely ecstatic, and determined to track down the fire dancer. Hopefully she wouldn’t think I was a crazy person, but it was worth a shot to see if I could take portraits another time. I was madly in love with the feel of these photos, and my new-found ability to shoot fire, but what made this possible was the beautiful woman who didn’t seem to have a bad angle.
Asking someone you don’t know to take their portrait is like asking someone out on a date. Seriously! I always get ridiculously nervous, mainly because I don’t want to sound like a creep. I get really enthusiastic about these things, and it can be hard to articulate why to someone who isn’t a photographer. Fortunately, fellow artists seem sympathetic to my misery.
Fast forward to last night, where she invited me to a wedding her troupe was performing in Seattle. We took portraits outside, and I shot her performance. It was like being a child at Christmas, and I left positively giddy. I not only have pictures I love, love, love, but I am able to call this beautiful girl a friend. These relationships are priceless to me, and have made my life so much better and full of beauty.
Fine Art Boudoir & Posing
All images copyright 2010 by Ara Roselani
I spent my birthday with Bambi Cantrell, Scott Bourne and several amazing photographers and models. Bambi, a famous and accomplished portrait and wedding photographer, showed us the science and beauty of posing to truly honor the personality and body of your subject.
Day one, I knew I had a lot to learn. I heard Bambi speak at Skip’s Summer School last year, and she impressed me deeply with her experience, passion and vision of beauty. She’s also a fine businesswoman, both professional and personable to the highest degree.
Here are four of the most memorable things I learned during the workshop:
1) The camera sees both ways. If you aren’t having a good time, if you don’t want to be there, if you don’t care about your subject, if you aren’t involved on a deeply personal level, it’s all betrayed in your subject’s face. On the flip side, if you are enthusiastic, engaged, supportive and communicative, you have a much better chance of seeing that passion mirrored back at you. I know one person who loves being photographed–most people find it uncomfortable. Taking that discomfort to a large degree is very possible, and has nothing to do with your camera. It all falls back on you.
2) The Teapot, and “lift your right foot and put it back down”. I have to originally credit Scott for teaching me the Teapot pose, but he’ll be the first to tell you he learned it from Bambi. Scott took a video of her demonstrating it, and you can see it here. She is incredibly clear about communicating with her models, and saying things like, “point your feet towards me”, “lean forward with your chest”, “look at me with your eyes but don’t move your face”. This is incredibly helpful as I work on improving my communication so I don’t frustrate my clients. “Point what where?”
3) Move. Think you have the perfect angle? Time to orbit your subject–sometimes the angle is better up, down, left, right… never settle on one location. It also allows you to do more of the work, instead of constantly re-posing your model.
At the end of the workshop, I had several-hundred images of the models. We did extensive critique of what we shot, and I walked away with a handful of shots I’m happy with. Most of them could be diagnosed with my new knowledge and made better if I re-shot. It was humbling and exciting to see how much I could learn and absorb in 24 hours.
4) Never, never stop learning. You’re never “there”. The greatest photographers I know are also the most humble, the most eager to learn new things, and the fastest to admit that they don’t know anywhere close to everything about photography. Taking workshops from qualified and experienced leaders will always be on my yearly list.
Mike & Montana – Engaged in Style
I first fell in love with Mike and Montana as they described their wedding, planned for a vintage Portland theater done 1920′s flapper-style. It’s a wedding I dreamed about shooting before they even told me they wanted me to do it.
A few rainy Portland weeks ago, we went around the Portland Arboretum. They showed up with stripes, leather, hats, umbrellas, boots… so much fun. Here they are, in all their fantastic style.
Congratulations, M&M! I’m so looking forward to the wedding!
