The way I shoot one thing is the way I shoot everything
Branching out from the norm is always a nice departure.
...especially when it ultimately brings me back better than ever, :)
Although I have found a home working with thought leaders and change agents looking to gain visibility in order to create greater impact, I do love to occasionally pick up the camera and shoot other stuff.
I mean, you know, the whole “I’m not just a business, but, I’m also an artist” thing, kicks in once in a while :)
As I have mentioned in the past, I do fancy me a nice cigar and I love those events beyond the chance to smoke indoors, :)
But, another event that I shoot consistently is a summertime party in Brooklyn - the Makossa BK Cookout. This party happens one Saturday every month from May-September, and it’s been going on for 9 years.
I’ve been covering this event since Day 1, when it was held in the backyard of my friends retail store in Williamsburg, BK.
Back then, we were happy if 15-20 people showed up. I’d have to wait a couple hours for a crowd to form in order for me to shoot some activity.
Now, I can barely breathe walking around the space because there’s so many people!
I still shoot this event for several reasons; one, it’s awesome to be part of something from the very beginning and watch it grow, especially when a lot of cool and talented folks are a part of it.
Two, speaking of talented folks - the DJ’s do an amazing job and I love listening to what they spin, even though 95% of the time, I have no clue who they're playing, but, at least the beat keeps me moving, :)
Three, it’s this party where I honed and developed my eye as a photographer. During the early years, I experimented and practiced a lot during these parties, and, I am grateful for the opportunity, and I enjoy coming back every year to capture some magic for the organizers, :)
As a result, covering this event is like a training session for my branded lifestyle portrait work.
In order to shoot a party in a way that truly captures the sentiment of the event, it takes a careful mix of patience, timing and composition. These three qualities are essential to shooting candid, lifestyle portraits, as well.
As a result, the way I shoot one thing is the way I shoot everything, :)
One of the most important aspects to a successful, branded lifestyle portrait session is to capture the clients’ unique expressions that illustrate various aspects of his/her personality.
Well, capturing unique expressions and moments during a party in order to present the vibe of the room is also an important undertaking:
When you have hundreds and hundreds of people rotating in and out throughout the party, it can become quite an overwhelming, sensory overload for me, but, it also means we end up with a nice collection of faces and experiences captured, :)
Another important element that both branded lifestyle portrait sessions and candid, event photography share is the need to tell the story in details.
All those years in television ingrained in my mind the importance of capturing the minute detail in order to truly give the viewer a fly-on-the-wall experience.
Now, although it’s important to capture the wide vistas of a rooftop such as this, and, I did for this particular party, but, the juicy goodness of the details really create a deeply resonating narrative on their own.
Either way, I always enjoy returning to where it all began for me to give my eye, timing and patience behind the camera a round of practice in order to keep myself sharp for my thought leader, portrait work.
I mean, listening to some good music doesn’t hurt the decision to keep coming back, either, :)
PS - For those of you who aren’t in the know, I mail out these blogs 3x a week, and lemme tell you, they’re a real party, so, if you’d like to get in on this, sign up for it here and I’ll throw in a free gift for you, because I care, :)