Summer Swinging
A New Camera Means New Pictures
Why is it, when you get a new camera you suddenly start taking pictures of things that you wouldn't have with the perfectly good, and dare I say, more over qualified equipment that you already have? This is the paradox I'm living in right now. I just bought a Fujifilm X100T. It's the business. I love this camera. I suspect that because I can carry it with me everywhere I am using it more often and shooting just, whatever happens to be in front of me that looks good. This past Easter I baked a bread and snapped a few shots of it. I could use these in a cookbook. Well, I think so anyway.
The next test will be to see if I can use it to shoot portraits with off camera strobes.
Yosemite National Park and Half Dome Peak
For a long time Laura and I have wanted to see Yosemite. It's far enough away though from Massachusetts that we often don't have the time or money to venture that far, and although I am in California regularly shooting things for my brother, it's still a 7 hour drive from Los Angeles. This year though we found a three day guided hike in the back-country, and armed with 2 free tickets to anywhere in the contiguous United States from Delta Airlines we had all we needed for adventure. During this same week we also had the kid's first day of school and Laura starting a new job, solar panels going on the roof, and just at the end, myself being called in to interview at an arts school.
Wales Scholar, Michael Witzel
I recently photographed a Wales Scholar of Sanskrit, for Le Point. A French news journal similar to Newsweek. It was one of the most interesting shoots this year. We talked about ancient languages and culture all morning. We even hit two locations and finished shooting in less than two hours.
It's Totally Normal to Be Up Scanning Film Until 3:30am
Kimono
My most recent shoot was for Kitigawa Seiko. She has a new business where she will instruct clients on the proper way to dress into and wear a kimono, in the traditional way. After they do all the hard work, I get to photograph them. Here is what I shot for her website.
Thanks Squarespace for a Good Idea
Ever since Jeff Bridges did the new Squarespace ads I've wanted to recreate the picture using my brother. He's an actor living in California. So when he was home this weekend to do a show I took the opportunity to shoot the picture in my parent's kitchen. If you're Jeff Bridges, let me know what you think. If you aren't Jeff Bridges, then you should still let me know what you think.
I've Been Seeing These Around Lately
Double exposures have been around a long time. Many people may know them as curious accidents that they would find after having a roll of film developed. I've noticed a few of these on the internet lately and thought I should do some. While my images look like double exposures, they are actually two separate digital images overlaid in Photoshop. I could still shoot images like this "in camera" on my Nikons, but the control I get with Photoshop allows me to swap out various images until I find the right fit. Where with film or 'in camera' exposures take planning a forethought. Neither of which I have time for at the moment.
Magic Books & Portraits
TCAN Open Mic Night
I've volunteered to photograph performances at The Natick Center for the Arts (TCAN). Last night was my first night shooting. Everyone did a great job. I was especially impressed by a young man making his performing debut.
Have you Tried Thumbtack?
I've only been using the service one day and I've already gotten three leads. This is great, although you have to act fast. Once the poster has received 5 responses you're locked out. Other than that it's a good service. The cost is pretty low as well.
<a href="http://www.thumbtack.com/Joshua-Barnatt-Photography-Natick-MA/service/1286795">Joshua Barnatt Photography</a>
Brewster, Massachusetts 10:09 PM
If nothing else, I'm really good at standing still.
35MM
Today UPS delivered my negative scanner. A Plustek Optifilm 8200i SE. If you saw my post about the Leica M3 that was given to me, then you would understand why I needed to buy a scanner. Well, I haven't shot too much with the Leica, but I do have a large box full of negatives from my early days. My dining room table is a mess at this point. Here are a few images from my first round of scanning.
Polaroid - To Crop or Not To Crop
Is a polaroid image really any better than a print from Instagram?
I'm having a dilemma. I'm working on scanning a batch of Polaroids that I want enlarge and submit to a gallery, and I can't decide if I like them with the white border on without. If this was the pre-instagram age I would probably just do them without and not think about it much. But now, to stand out I feel like they need to look like Polaroids. I feel like giant polaroid pictures would be cool.
Leica M3
I haven't been shooting much this summer. After California I've been busy with family events. But very unexpectedly I received a Leica M3, with a 5cm Summicron lens. I never thought I would own one of these. It's amazing how well this camera works at nearly 60 years old. So now all I want to do is shoot film again. Tomorrow I'm ordering the Plustek 8100 film scanner. So I'll be able to gets some decent resolution out of the negatives. CVS scans them pretty low. Each jpg was only 700k. Even with all of the extra work, I now feel like I've been reinvigorated. It's funny how getting a new camera can do that.
In the gallery below you can see some images from my first roll through a Leica.
Having a Meltdown - Hollywood, CA
I was asked to shoot a short video for a comedy duo while in Los Angeles. The show was at the well know Meltdown Comics, where the Nerdist Theatre is located in the back. While I was there I was able to photograph the comedians backstage.
Random Encounters in California - Glendale, CA
Some photos of various things I saw while in Los Angeles.
Maratea Family Session
Joshua Barnatt Boston, New England Portrait, Lifestyle Corporate, Executive Photographer,and Commercial Photographer.
Joshua Barnatt Photography is a Boston area photographer who specializes in portrait photography and Wedding Photography in the Boston Ma area. Joshua Barnatt Photography is based in Natick, MA and is available for scheduling portrait photography in the Boston and throughout New England. Joshua Barnatt is an award winning photographer in the Boston and MetroWest area. Joshua Barnatt Photography is not your average Boston based Wedding and Portrait photographer. He's AWESOME!
Charlotte & Brian | Dover, MA Wedding by Joshua Barnatt
Here is a sample of the wedding I mentioned in the last blog post. Charlotte and Brian were awesome. This was by far my favorite wedding in the last year. Not only because of the high flying vantage point I was lucky enough to happen into, but because everything went so well. I was second photographer on this shoot. I was photographing for Meghann Gregory, of Meghann Gregory Photography.
Holy Helicopters Batman - Dover, MA Wedding
This weekend I was asked to second shoot at a wedding. It was the night before wedding day and I received a message asking whether or not I was available. I was so we worked out the details. While the photographer and I were going over the details she mentions that there is going to be a helicopter coming to fly her over the property to shoot a group shot. I thought this was going to be cool and when she asked me if I would shoot some photos of her going up, I told her I would. When the time came for her to lift off, the father of the groom tells us that we are both to go up. I was pretty excited. I stayed cool though. Here is a preview of what I shot.
