sunset – JWNPhoto.com

Articles Tagged with: sunset

Replacements Weekend in Brooklyn

Last weekend I took a trip with my daughter to see one of my favorite reunited bands, The Replacements, play at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium. It was their first show in NY in 23 years, and it was the 3rd Replacements show I’ve been lucky enough to see since they reunited in Toronto last year. It was also the best one yet, but that might be influenced by all of the friends that were there to witness it with us.

Traveling with my daughter, I didn’t want to impose ourselves on my friends’ couches and spare rooms, so we used airbnb to get a sweet apartment in Brooklyn. Just a block away from McCarrren Park & Pool, we were in a great location for wandering around and checking out the Brooklyn scene.

We took full advantage of the great weather and spent a lot of time walking/shopping/eating in lower Manhattan as well.

We also caught a nice Sunset over NJ from the High Line:

It’s hard not to miss my old stomping grounds when you’re sharing a bottle of wine with friends on a rooftop in Brooklyn while looking at the Manhattan skyline. Good food, good music, and good people. That’s a good life right there…

You can check out the rest of my photos from our weekend trip on this Flickr set.

One last thing – I’ve joined Ello (thanks for the invite Patch Whisky), which is branding itself as the Anti-Facebook – an effort to cure all of the evils of the biggest social network. Check me out here.

Lazy Days of Summer

This has been the longest I’ve waited between blog posts since I’ve launched this site – What happened? Nothing at all. I think the distractions of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Vine, etc have been satisfying my need to communicate in a very basic and concise way. I’ve also been busy with my businesses, my family, and trying to enjoy the summer (albeit a wet soggy one so far). So, I’m going to share some of my photos since last we spoke on this old blog of mine…

That photo at the top was taken this weekend. For the first time since summer began, we made it out to the beach! I went specifically to capture a sunset on Sullivans Island, and I didn’t come home empty handed. A few days before was the 4th of July, where we went to Folly Beach to check out the fireworks. Here’s a shot I made that evening:

More importantly, my brother-in-law & his girlfriend are having a baby, and Mira’s finally started to look the part of an expectant mother:

I’ve also been shooting lots of headshots and commercial stuff. During one shoot for a local veterinary hospital, one of the vets may have posed for a shot of her latest tattoo…

Dr. Davis' new tattoo #DSLR #Nikon #JWNPhoto #Tattoo

Speaking of headshots, it only took a year to get Dr. Colleen Boylston in front of my camera again to update her headshot:

I’ve recently started watercolor painting stuff on a whim. I found some $12 kit at the bookstore and found it utterly relaxing and fun. Here’s a close-up of one of my creations:

Another watercolor painting based on another photograph I made - This one was at Kiawah Island in the spring. The pollen created a lot of cool shapes on the sand. #watercolor #art #painting #CHS #Kiawah

I had one of the most unfortunately soggy and stormy beach weddings ever to shoot, and the couple certainly made the best of it. Here’s a shot of their muddy feet underneath the gazebo on Sullivans Island:

I continue to add ink into my left arm. Margo has been a blessing in this department. She’s really turning my arm into a fleshy art gallery, and I couldn’t be more excited as I have a lot of skin to color in before this sleeve is done.

Adding background to my arm tonight - As always @MargoVenomous rules! #roadtofullsleeve #Tattoo #water #Flames #patchwhiskey #CaiaKoopman #TatianaSuarez

Of course, we took another trip to Disney World. I believe this was trip #4 on the year (I got the family annual passes this past Christmas). In an effort to keep things fresh, I’ve resorted to street style photography of people in the park. I love this shot because it truly doesn’t look like we’re in a theme park (which is not an easy feat to pull off):

We took a trip upstate to Freedom Weekend Aloft to check out the hot air balloons. I may have had drank some bravery during the festival as I was running right up to the balloons and snapping away. This was my favorite balloon shot from the trip:

As far as my other favorite past time is concerned (live music), there has been no shortage of fun this summer in that department. One of the lowcountry’s best events is the annual First Flush Festival out on Wadmalaw Island. This year’s headliners were Old Crow Medicine Show and they were pretty damn awesome.

And I couldn’t help but take advantage of the scenery at the tea plantation and the tattooed attendees. I love this shot of to willing subjects:

Over at the Music Farm, on of my favorite singer/songwriters, Ryan Bingham put on a kick-ass show:

Those are just some of the highlights of my summer so far. I’ll be back to regularly updating this blog now that I’ve had a little break. Thanks for having me back. TTYS

Surreal Color Beach Portrait

I’ve been chasing down my muse lately in one way or another, from getting tattooed to collecting art prints and books, and basically scouring the web for inspiring images and creations (check out some of my findings on my pinterest feed). I don’t think we ever settle down as artists. Sure, we may hit peaks, and sure we hit rough spots where nobody connects with what we’re doing, but we always strive to keep growing either way. One of the worst things that can happen is that you get so bogged down with work that you forget to play. That can drain your soul quite quickly.

Don’t get me wrong, shooting anything is better than doing just about any other kind of work for me, but if I go too long capturing other people’s visions, dreams, and desires, I can start to feel the burn out demon creeping up on me. Every once in a while I need to reset my brain to fine tune that creative spark that got me into this mess in the first place. And with every step I climb up of this ladder, I get a better view of what I want to be doing with my photography and where I could take it.

That brings me to Ashley, who I met via an annual photography event here in Charleston put together by Modstudios. I was hesitant to participate for working reasons (and I did end up passing up a paying gig to do this on Saturday night), but I knew that it would be a no-pressure situation to try something a little different. And, by no pressure, I mean total timing pressure as I lost track of time with my wife at Holy City Tattooing Collective as she got this kick-ass Mehndi-style peacock tattoo by the awesome Margo. Time has a way of disappearing when watching a great artist work. As I rushed to Folly Beach afterwards, I ended up missing a shoot with another cool girl with tattoos (hopefully she understands, I’ll make it up to you Kelsie).

So, back to Ashley. This girl might have the brightest & bluest eyes in the world. Check this out, here’s Ashley with her natural hair color:

And then I pulled out the blue wig and flowers to match that awesome colorful dress:

She looked like she stepped out of a painting by Camilla d’Errico. Once the sun started to do it’s thing, we just made some magical images. A beautiful location, a beautiful model, and an onslaught of color to tie it all together. This is the direction my head is going right about now:

Happy Birthday Amy

Just wanted to take a minute to say happy birthday to my beloved wife, Amy. We’re currently celebrating her birthday (and my daughter’s birthday, which is next week, also) at her favorite place in the world – Disney World.

Caribbean Sunscapes

I made a pact with myself a year ago to start limiting the photos I post and only show my best work. Of all of the theories and practices about being a good photographer, editing yourself is the most difficult for me. Sometimes I like to tell a story and the story becomes a novel. Sometimes I see so many different things that get me excited and I can’t narrow it down. So, here’s the challenge – how can I share all of the wonderful experiences and sights of my recent trip in one post? The answer is simple – multiple posts! Yeah, I’m good like that…

A note about gear – I left my D800 at home on this trip and brought 2 cameras; My trusty D90 and my Pentax Optio W80 waterproof compact. The shots in this post were shot with the D90 and either my Nikkor 55-300mm zoom or my Tokina 11-16mm ultra-wide zoom. The photo at the top was a sunrise over the Caribbean Sea. The 2nd photo is a sunset under a big storm cloud as we left Grand Cayman Island. The one just below is a sunrise over the coast of Cozumel, Mexico.

Here’s a late afternoon split-tone sunburst shot on the coast of Labadee Haiti, followed by a sunset shot of the mountains.

And I leave you with this shot of a sunset using a graduated glass filter. I decided to experiment and flip it upside down, giving me a scarlet red water with a rainbow of color as it leads to a blue sky.

I’ll be posting more very soon – check back this week.

The Philbeck Family

I was laying in the dirt for this shot, using my left leg to hold down some of the brush as I composed this shot. My wife Amy was on hand holding the light stand, and I think I may have disturbed an ant hill or two. The sun was falling so I had to be quick! Moments later, I hurried this family to the other side of the bridge into the tall grass.

The race was to get as many family shots off during the falling sun and to ultimately get this sunset silhouette of Allison & Eric:

My wife & I met the Philbecks a couple of years ago while we were on our first cruise. Like us, they were on their first cruise and they also got to leave their kids at home. Needless to say we hit it off! When Eric contacted me about shooting his family, I was more than happy to oblige.

It was interesting to get to meet their children, hopefully next time they make it down, they’ll get to meet our kids 😉

I was happy to give them a little personalized piece of Charleston to take home with them. Taking iconic photos in Charleston is almost cheating when it comes to location shots!

Eileen’s Bridal Shoot

Just a few minutes before the shot above was made, it started to drizzle. We were questioning if we would be able to catch a decent sunset or if we were just going to get rained out. I had the shot in mind, and in fact it was going to be the “closer” of Eileen’s bridal shoot. Everything was leading up to getting a sunset shot at the Battery, even though we got enough stuff for her to pick one as her bridal portrait. This shot was purely in the hands of mother nature, and man oh man did she deliver a powerful display in the air on Saturday night!

We started out in the studio to get some close-ups of Eileen’s pretty face. Once I got the shot I wanted, we jumped in my car and headed into Charleston. The first shot I planed was at the Judicial Center on Broad Street, but while we were parking, I drove down Magazine Street and remembered this cool church at the end of the street on Archdale. I pulled over and we quickly made this shot:

Next stop was the Judicial Center. I love to play with the square columns. There’s a lot of fun to be had in this little breezeway. I had Eileen’s matron of honor, we’ll call her VAL (Voice Activated Light-Stand), next to her hiding behind a column holding a softbox on a pole.

Next I wanted to get some classic Charleston going, so we headed to Tradd Street to take some shots.

Up next was a trip down East Bay Street to shoot some portraits at Charleston’s iconic Rainbow Row.

And then it started to rain. Just enough to make us nervous. We were so close and ready to go. As we were driving up the Battery to find a clear spot, the rain let up and the sky lit up. It was amazing. I parked quickly and was running across the street, C-Stand in hand trying to wave off a person who was going to park right where we were setting up. Time was of the essence, and that lady would have to just understand (thankfully she did with no question).

Just a note to all of you dog walkers out there: Can’t you just clean up after your dog? I stepped in doggie droppings while doing this shot, which thankfully was pretty dried up, but still… Gross. Didn’t matter in the end, because we got the shot we wanted and all was right in the world.

Emily & Joe

Last month I shot a really cool wedding on Folly Beach in South Carolina. The couple was amazing as they were willing to do just about anything – they truly had fun at their wedding and it shows in their pictures. Lets be honest, how many people have a wedding party photo like this?

I did do a lot of more formal portraits such as this (which is probably one of my favorite shots of the day because of that amazing southern sunset):

But I’m sure a shot like this will make them smile pretty wide when they’re old and gray:

Joe & Emily really weren’t your traditional couple, which is a perfect fit for me since I’m not a traditional photographer! I did make sure to cover the basics of wedding photography though, such as capturing the elements of an American wedding.

Here’s the bride getting prepared:

And the first look:

The respective wedding party portraits:

The ceremony:

And the first kiss:

The signing:

And then of course, everybody’s favorite part of the wedding, the reception. Here are some elements of their tables:

The first dance:

I did grab the newlyweds to do some sunset portraits during the reception. Joe didn’t know that he was going to be my movable sandbag for a few shots:

After the sun went down, they partied:

And Joe found the garter and Emily fed him some cake:

I can honestly say that with couples as fun to shoot as this, wedding photography can be a blast. I consider myself lucky to have been their photographer for their special day.

The Fall Is Awesome!

Day 251 - Sullivan's Island Lighthouse Sunset

This is the best time of year to capture sunsets here in the Charleston area. The weather is beautiful and the sky seems to catch on fire for a brief moment. There’s also no shortage of fun stuff coming up, such as corn mazes, haunted house attractions, hayrides, and pumpkin picking. Halloween just might be my favorite holiday ever – it brings people together. What other holiday makes you go out and ring on your neighbor’s doorbell so they can give you treats?

I have a busy month ahead of me as well. One of the highlights include a wedding shoot this weekend on Folly Beach. I’m pretty stoked about getting some sunset portraits of the happy couple. October 22nd is BarCamp! If you remember, I did a session last year on photo editing (you can check out the post about that here). This year I’ve proposed a session called “Off-Camera Flash 101”

If you’ve never been to or heard of BarCamp, it unfortunately has nothing to do with alcohol. It’s a conference where the attendees are the attraction. Basically anybody who attends can pitch a session to teach. It’s really fun and you get a kick-ass T-Shirt. It costs a mere $10 to participate – get a ticket now!

Next up, I’m doing a photo booth for the Summerville Ghost Walk/ Harvest Fest/ Harvest Moon Hayride sponsored by DREAM and Summerville JSL. That’s on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011 from 6:00PM-9:00PM. I’ll be on the side of the Prudential Southern Coast office at 112 W Doty Ave in Summerville, SC. I hear that Mistress Mira will be doing some fortune telling as well 😉

October 27th-November 5th is the return of the Coastal Carolina Fair. Check out my recap rom last year. I just ordered my prints for the Photography Contest. This year they have changed the rules slightly from last year as you can only submit 3 photos now. I guess the contest has grown a bit! You can see the official rules here.

Of course, I’ve saved the best for last. Just read my rundown of last year’s CupcakeCamp event. It was the single most amazing event ever conceived. All you can eat free cupcakes, no questions asked. If you don’t want to go to this, you’re not human. CupcakeCamp will be on November 5, 2011 3:00PM-5:00PM at Spirit Moves. Check out the Facebook event page here. Look at the sweetness:

Super Full Moon 2011

Last night at sunset, the Perigee Moon rose in the east. This is the largest full moon since March of 1993 I gathered up family, friends, and neighbors to head over to the Morris Island side of Folly Beach to watch the sunset and moonrise.

Taking moon photos at the beach is not an easy task, as I quickly learned. I usually weigh down my tripod with my camera bag, but the wind at the beach made it less stable with the weight than without! Paired with the rapidly decreasing light, long exposures, and quickly moving orb in the sky, it was quite a challenge to get a decent photo of the moon. The other major challenge was the haze – it was quite difficult to focus clearly through it when the moon first appeared. By the time it cleared the haze, it looked no bigger or brighter than any other full moon. No big deal though, as I had the image on the top of this post envisioned when I set out. I wanted a simple graphic image of the scene and I got just what I wanted! I also wanted a moonlight reflection on a soft long-exposed ocean, which I got in the second shot – so I’m quite happy with what I accomplished. I would have liked to have made a shot from behind the trees, but most of the other photogs were getting that shot and I’m sure some of them got some really good results from there.

I was able to grab a couple of shots of the sunset when I arrived, and I think these fulfilled my “through the trees” shot aspirations anyway:

Robert Donovan was on hand as well and we got a chance to talk about photography while waiting for the big show. In fact, there were a lot of photogs there – I thought it looked like a photo studio when we crossed over the dunes onto the beach!

Here’s a shot of my daughter Mac at twilight. I think this was the only split second she wasn’t running around with the other dozen or so kids on hand.

There were plenty of kids running around and having fun, and this girl playing in the sand was the subject of my favorite photo of the evening: