e-Commerce Clothing Shoot

Tamasha-Knit, a Persian based company, asked me to shoot their holiday line.  The company is a family run business and was founded by two sisters.  Priya was my contact for this shoot and she was fantastic to work with.  We spent a lot of time up front talking about the look she wanted and how we would achieve it.

One of the first aspects of the shoot was to choose a model.  I gave them a couple choices based on people I had worked with in the past.  As luck would have it, I had only worked with Cassandra one other time but she proved to be as great selling clothing as she did kicking sand around during some beach volleyball.  The client loved her as well!

I think it really comes across in the images that these colors and fabrics and really nice to wear and look at. Cassandra incorporated some fun movement into each of the items and I just tried to catch it.  

As we got further into the shoot, we had a pretty quick rhythm that we established to make the most of each piece, get something from the front, side and back and move onto the next piece.

In addition to the heavier material, there were also some light-weight scarfs that had some amazing colors to them.

As a part of their holiday line, they are also making travel blankets and the accessories that go with those sets like a pillow and mask.  Overall, such a fun shoot and always great to work with new clients.  I look forward to the next line we can capture together.

Laundrylux washing machines at Queens Laundromat

I was recently hired to photograph a laundromat in Queens to help support the manufacturers, Laundrylux marketing effort for both current and future laundromat owners.  I was connected with the owner of this location and we agreed on a date to shoot.

On the night before the shoot, it was raining...hard. The next morning, no change.  Fortunately, there were only a few shots I needed outside. 

There was a brief reprieve from the rain so I took advantage to get shots of the exterior.  The location is on a pretty busy street relatively close to the LGA airport.  Once back inside, I knew the key to this shoot was to get the color right.  When fluorescent lights are used, they throw off a green cast that isn't terribly visible until you compare it to other light.  So for each of the locations in the store, I would reset my white balance on the camera using a card to ensure I was capturing an accurate, balanced color from each section of the store. 

This shoot went well and the people involved in the shoot were great to work with.  I definitely look forward to shooting additional locations with this group.

Commercial Work: Drive-Thru Systems for VGS

I love when new challenges come my way.  A couple months ago, I stopped by the offices of VGS (Visual Graphic Systems) to provide a quote to photograph a set of drive-thru systems.  There were four separate "systems" in place that each have components that can be swapped out for advertising purposes.  VGS has their systems in a warehouse, which is great for shooting indoor however, it presents its own set of challenges with mixed lighting, reflection and framing the objects with enough contrast that they can be cut-out and delivered as a Photoshop layer. 

I was very fortunate to have some help.  Theresa, who has worked with me on many shoots, helped from the planning to the execution and I can't thank her enough.  Also, all the VGS staff was very accommodating when it came to helping with moving items and blocking out light from some windows.

A couple of the systems I'll highlight here are the Dunkin Drive-Thru and a VGS exclusive drive-thru system called "Burger Bar".  They've put a lot of effort into making and building this system that has a lot of great humor.  They note, "Don't touch / 8'6" / The Bun" on the top of the Welcome Bar.  On the menu, one portion reads, "Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner".  This particular system has a digital menu component on the right side that rotates different signage as you wait to place your order. Here's what the whole system looks like. 

Burger Bar Drive-Thru system with digital menu system

Another system we shot was for Dunkin'.  Its amazing how many little things you notice about what's in and around this system when you look at everything blown-up to 500%. 

Dunkin' Donuts Drive-Thru System

Great clients (thanks Anna & Shannon) and fun, challenging work.  I look forward to additional opportunities with VGS.

Bottle & Bottega Studio Images

I first shot this space last July, when it opened.  I was asked back to photograph the updates to the space.  Rupa, the owner, has remained very busy since she opened and the evidence is on the walls.  There are so many great pieces in this space that weren’t there before.  It's looking great!

There are two sides to the space.  What’s shown above are both sides of the studio.  There’s plenty of seating to accommodate large parties. More shots of the interior here...

It's not common for me to work in Photoshop however, for this exterior shot, I saw the potential in the original image.  We planned this shoot on a Sunday night as it was the most likely time when we wouldn’t have someone parked in front of the building.  We were both disappointed to see that there was one car was parked in front during the shoot.  I continued to shoot inside but the sun was starting to go down and the lighting was nice outside.  Clock was ticking.  I took some shots with the car in front just in case but fortunately, the owner of the car arrived and left.  I quickly snapped the shot on the left and cleaned it up to become the image on the right.

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