Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Gallery Piece

I collaborated on a piece with my good friend and artist Sarah J. Coleman. The image will be on display at the Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery at 537 Broadway, NYC. 9/10 - 9/22. Support the arts and have a look if you're in the neighborhood. (It's very close to Balthazar bakery, Mmmm.)

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Calm Summer Night



I'm glad I have my camera on a nights like this. It's quiet and peaceful and I feel like I'm a kid again, peeking through my AE-1.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Squeeze it!


Okay, here's a funny one from way back. Back in the day as first assistant for Mark Seliger, I would often have to test our ideas and solve technical problems or simply find the best way to capture the image. I came up with the idea of a two "beauty dish" light to get away from the usual Octa Bank soft look. I also had to be sure that the flash duration was short enough to freeze the mustard stream so that it was not just a blur of yellow. After a visit to Ralph's market for the weenies, buns and mustard, we (me and the second assistant) set up the gear in the rear parking lot of what was then the Nikko Hotel on LaBrea. I can only imagine that this scary polaroid of me is a result of being overworked and listening to too much Soundgarden and Metallica! I'm proud of the final result, it made for a great magazine cover.


Sunday, August 2, 2009

Sorry.

Sorry, I am lame to not have kept this rolling. July has come and gone. A good summer has kept me away from this machine. I love my Mac and surely I will post some good photos you can laugh at!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Thin and Crispy Coconut-Oatmeal Cookies

This was a good find and it made for a great tasting and crispy cookie. Like most recipes in Cooks Illustrated Magazine they test these recipe's out over and over before publishing them. You can get the ubiquitous soft oatmeal raisin cooky anywhere, right? If you like a crispy cookie (it's a nice switch up) and you could go for a touch of coconut instead of the usual raisin flavor, give this a go. It seems better suited to the warm weather while the raisin version is perfect for the cold winter months. I'll post the ingredients and measures here but to make these you'll need to hit America's Test Kitchen website for the recipe or improvise with that old oatmeal index card.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Built to Spill



Can you guess?

I just found this print in one of the many boxes of photos. Can you guess who it is? I can say that it's a female singer and that she's also been in a movie, I think? She became a household name in the 80's.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

There are always two people in every picture:  the photographer and the viewer.  -Ansel Adams

Friday, May 29, 2009

Back Alley and the River's Edge

I was asked by Kelly Joe to take some photographs for publicity use. I dig hanging out with him, he's one cool cat. Beside the fact that I think he's one of the most talented singer songwriters of the day, he's just one of the most "chill" people I know. If you want to check out more images of him and give a listen to some great music go here.





My thought was to do a real minimalist thing with the images to carry along the feel of the jazz like improv style of the album. It worked out perfectly because once everyone saw the resulting images they decided to scrap the Illustrations and go with my photography throughout the package layout.

C'mon, leave a comment!

Happiness is perfume, you can't pour it on somebody else without getting a few drops on yourself.
-James Van Der Zee (1886-1983)

Joe Cross

Actor Joseph Cross, photographed in New York. Cool cat and hell to all, he's a Clash fan!

Toss in your thoughts, leave a comment!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Hawk

Dim The Lights

Four panels of a six panel CD package. This is just a rough concept and like some of my creations, it's likely to wind up on the floor of my studio, never to be seen (outside of this blog post). One thought is that the four bulbs would make for a recognizable cover from miles away. The 3 and 1 idea holds lots of meaning and I dig the romance of the dim lights. One of the bulbs and it's round housing could fit nicely on the CD face.
None of the red was added to any of the photos, they were obviously all shot with tungsten light, even the portrait.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Cheeky

Here is a sample of one of my sketched ideas followed through to a photograph. It's pretty close to the sketch. The image is for an album cover. Only one pair of cheeks and a hand would be visible from each side until you open it and are able to view it as you can see it here. Band name is applied to either black or white cheek. The final art has a retro 70's feel, accomplished by manipulating the color curves.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Composite Retouching

Okay, this is kinda old but I'm still diggin' stuff up. All of these people were shot in different locations. Some were photographed in Los Angeles and some in New York and even Jersey. I have tons of background images so finding photos to drop behind the subject is never a problem.
L-R in the composite photo: Tim Lambesis (As I Lay Dying), Mark Civitarese (The Unseen), Hayley Williams (Paramore), Nick 13 (Tiger Army), Ronnie Winter (The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus), Anthony Raneri (Bayside), Michelle DaRosa (Straylight Run), Greg Graffin (Bad Religion).

Hasselblad and Billy Bragg

Yeah, that's me on Broome St. (NYC) with Billy Bragg. You can't see the portable strobe that is just behind me. The strobe allows me to bring that wispy sky down in exposure. My intention was to show Billy grounded and sort of in the thick of it and in this frame he's peering up and over, not as some might see it with his head in the clouds. Chosen for the cover of Mr. Love and Justice. Shot with a 50MM on my Hasselblad @ f16.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Frusciante Scrapbook Page

A page from one of my scrapbooks. John Frusciante from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Starting Line

Okay, a dear friend of mine says that I should start this thing. So, although I don't know exactly why someone would want to follow what I might go on about, here I am at the starting line. It gives me pause and an odd shape to my already odd puss, blog?  I will try to make it simple and treat it as I do my scrapbooks. Maybe even dig through some of the crates and see what I can share from time to time. Too much of my work doesn't get seen... yeah, there ya go, that could be my reason number one.
My disclaimer is that I will not worry over my grammar and I will state whatever is on my mind, if that offends anyone, I apologize in advance. Same goes for any images, some might be graphic in nature but they are only meant to conjure thought and maybe create debate (yum), not to offend any religion, race, sex, or age group.
Cheers, Anthony