Endings and Beginnings

So, this will probably be my last post on Blogger.

Don't worry. Everything is cool! It's just that people have been touting the wonders of Tumbler to me for ages and I've finally succumbed to peer pressure. From now on all of my posts will be at http://marchallphoto.tumblr.com, and hopefully I'll be pushing myself to post much more often. Go ahead, check it out!

So it's goodbye to the simple world of Blogger. For now I leave you with a picture of another ending; the close of summer and the beginning of beautiful autumn light!

Product Photography Portfolio

Since I haven't yet upgraded my website with my most recent work (watch this space) I wanted to have a post here showcasing a sort of "best of" selection of the different categories of things I shoot. That way I can direct clients here to see my work in one place. First up: Product photography.

Aris Publicity Photos

As part of my continuing work With Aris as he builds his music career, we got together this past weekend to film a couple of music video scenes and shoot some publicity stills. This is a basic, window light only portrait shoot but I think the results have tons of mood. I'm really happy with the quality of the files out of my new Nikon D800.

Sometimes a girl's dress invades her face.

While I was creating a zebra, Brigid was working on a really cool concept for Jen's shoot. She decided it would be really cool if the pattern on her dress were to sort of take over her skin! After she spent some time with the black and white makeup, this was the result. Love it!

And then this time I took an ex-zebra and some fabric up to a roof...

After the last traces of Zebra were washed down the sink (see previous post), my crazy creative Sunday could continue! Julia was once again a trooper, climbing up to Jen's rooftop in a tiny dress and bare feet. That probably sounds easier than it is. Jen's rooftop is accessed by a 10 foot long rickety iron ladder that leads to a trapdoor. The ladder is conveniently located behind disused air conditioners and bikes in a darkened closet!

We got up there just in time to catch the dying sunset and Julia posed against an awesome old advertising billboard frame that just has so much character. I'd actually imagined shooting against it months before when I saw it from the street. I had lugged a big Dynalite Pack and Strobe setup on to the roof and ran the extension cable down to Jen's place. I really enjoyed playing with the flash against the diminishing ambient light and using it for some great backlit flare effects. 

So there was this time when I turned a girl into a Zebra...

Just for fun you understand! My friend Jen had the inspired idea to spend a Sunday just messing around and being creative with photography. Then we met Julia, an aspiring model who has the distinction of being the tallest woman I've ever met.

Julia also has an amazing attitude which meant she didn't bat an eyelid when I asked if she'd be okay with me doing a full face special effects makeup job on her even though I have no experience with makeup. She did bat an eyelid when I painted it black and white... Couldn't be helped really.
Stay tuned for more creative experiments. This was fun!

More Artistic Experiments

Sometimes you can find some really nice subjects while just walking around with a camera. Enjoy.

Irina Shabayeva Fall 2012 Collection

New York Fashion week is here again and Irina Shabayeva presented another beautiful collection of pieces. This time the outfits were shown as a static presentation at Midtown's Eventi hotel rather than a runway show. This allowed me to get up close and really hone in on great compositions.

 This show was also my debut shooting video for a fashion show which was a very exciting and novel thing for me. I'm embedding the two finished videos (Edited and produced by Aris Ziagos at Riot Science productions) at the end of this post. Enjoy!!

Irina Shabayeva Fall 2012 from Aris Ziagos on Vimeo.

Irina Shabayeva Fall 2012 Behind the Scenes from Aris Ziagos on Vimeo.