Lobos Tab 1

I was assigned to photograph Louie Lobo and Lucy Lobo for various sports tabs throughout the season. I had about one hour to get as many different cover shots as I could that could be saved and used for different games. It was high pressure but very fun. I'm going to publish them on here as they are published. So here's the first and probably my favorite from the night. The poor girl dressed as Lucy Lobo had to keep jumping on my command and I know she could barely hear me yelling "1, 2, 3..." through the costume.

Slew of portraits.

Lately it seems as if I've been on portrait detail. Just my imagination I'm sure...

UNM's new announcers were shot in the studio, where I attempted some film noir look. It sorta worked I suppose. Next was a quick office shot of two Sandia Lab researchers who helped crack the anthrax case. They were finally given clearance to talk about their work last month. Then I photographed a Picuris Pueblo potter. And finally a man who has worked at a local hospital for nearly 47 years cleaning surgery tools.

And there are more portraits of UNM's Louie and Lucy Lobo, but they haven't ran yet, so I'll hold off on those for now.

Tango.

This was for a story about how Argentine tango is growing in Albuquerque. Dance is still my favorite thing to photograph. Some things never change. :)

Broken Amanda

One of our reporters, Amanda, wrote a first-hand story about her soccer career and the numerous injuries that came along with it. I didn't know a person could break both arms four times each.

Jump

Another sportrait flew my way this week. This photo was to accompany a story on the lack of high school senior basketball stars this year but a promising junior class which will lead to an even better season next year. Luckily my chosen subjects were a bit of hams and up for jumping and dunking for me as much as possible before we got tossed out of the gym for a game to begin.

Pool Time

Yes, it's the camera-in-an-aquarium half-in/half-out thing. My assignment was a portrait of 5 swimmers at a local high school, of which, 4 played other sports and they wanted those sports pictured as well. The guys were good sports about standing in the water for a bit of time as I and another staffer tried to get two SB-800s to the bottom of the pool. When we finally got them down there they weren't syncing so we ended up placing them in the 10-gallon aquarium with the camera and firing down through the bottom. The out of water lighting was my two alien bees, one at the left with a 40-degree grid spot and another at the right with an umbrella.

Georgia O'Keeffe?

This woman was unhappy with the local phone company who gave little notice before digging up her backyard to install new lines and then left behind a green power box to be shared between neighbors. But it wasn't until I got back to the office that I thought she has a funny little smirk that reminds me of Georgia O'Keeffe. Must be a New Mexico thing.

In a Manger

This is a bit old now but recently re-found in my files. This lovely lady owns more than 200 nativity scenes and they inhabit every corner of her house. Trust me I got the tour. It takes her an entire month to decorate the house with the nativity sets.

Piano Portrait

Portraits, portraits, portraits...

Clothes I Can't Afford

Business portrait photo, the clothes were gorgeous... and expensive.

Gen Y

I turned this assignment from a photo illustration of a 20-something sitting at a computer into a quick portrait series to better illustrate the generation which I, and my friends, are a part of. It required some fun and well-worth-it overtime. I'm loving the openness of creative freedom here.

In Her Shoes

To highlight an upcoming event by the YWCA, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, city officials suffered through 30 mins of high-heel wearing good times. Halfway through the shoot they all had to sit down because their feet were killing them. Every woman in the office was standing behind me egging them on. Then when we were done one man sat in the wrong spot (in front of my still ready camera) as he gracefully took off his red high-heels. I wish I had video of the shoot. I haven't laughed that hard on any assignment ever. The men were such good sports as I asked them to stand, sit, cross their legs, turn out their front foot, not roll in on their ankles, etc.

On the Railroad

I shot this little guy for the cover of next week's Scene magazine to illustrate the Yulee Days Festival that will be going on in Archer.
He wasn't too bad. Although his mother informed me when they got there that he had decided overnight that this may not be as cool as he had originally thought and wasn't all that happy during the car ride there. Great.
But once he realized I knew he didn't think it was cool to be dressed up like a train conductor, and once I got him to start talking about something he actually likes, Star Wars, then everything went smoothly.
He never did really smile. But I think that may have been a bit too cheesy anyway.
I like the last of these three, an outtake of him sticking his tongue out at his sister who was holding my light stand in the wind. Now that's a normal 6-year-old.

WorkLife Portrait

My options were:

1. Messy and cramped office.
2. New EMPTY office that business is moving into.
3. Small lab with a machine that looked semi-impressive.

And on top of all that the CEO had on a shirt the same exact color as the machine.
I chose a yellow filter to place on the light to the back left of the CEO and had an umbrella give just a bit of fill to the front of him (which is really hard to see).
Not bad since he didn't want us in the lab for more than 15 mins, including set-up and break-down time.

Soccer POY

Another "sportrait."

Ballet

Another dance assignment, wonder why? :)

Basketball POY

POY "sportraits"
It's that time of year again... play of the year.
And sick of the typical waist high portrait I ventured into a different direction with the boy players of the year. Since I had two out of three on the first day I decided on the "look" of the photos and just went with it.
(With the aid of some of the guy photographers in the office and cheering on the basketball players. I guess if one guy thinks it's cool the rest will too.) Either way it worked.
The basketball players loved it and were pumped to keep jumping for me until I got the shot.

Eastside Sports

I have some weird Eastside connection, every assignment having to do with Eastside I get. And then my feature? Oh the Eastside tennis team that just happened to be practicing at some public park.

Church

Church portrait of remodeled church and pastor.
Took a bit of time for him to get comfortable leaning on the pew.

Vertical, Horizontal and Square

My assignment:
Portrait of high school goalie, vertical, horizontal and square, because the design team requested it. Now don't discriminate, what about circle?

The horizontal was the first we did and ended up being the one to run. I was kind of proud of the square because this was a last minute assignment and I had about 30 mins to brainstorm anything. The goalie liked the horizontal the most too so I'm sure it made his day when that one ran.
I know generally we shouldn't let our subjects see the photos as the portrait progresses, but in this case it got the guy more and more pumped to keep jumping for me. So whatever works I suppose. Oh I really don't think he was too impressed with the square one but who argues with a young girl photographer who your soccer buddies are flirting with? ;)