Where I’ve Been

I want to take a moment to apologize to my readers for not posting in almost 3 weeks! Bad Michael!  But Good Michael has been busy shooting weddings and portraits and bears (bulldogs actually), Oh my!  I will be back writing very soon but in the mean time here are a few of the sessions i have shot since I wrote last. And yes a couple of these people are return clients like Grace and Gayle. Leave a comment below and give them a shout out.

Click on an image to view larger images.

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[image title=”Wedding Shoes” caption=”Wedding Shoes”]https://michaelalbany.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/WeddingSneakers1.jpg[/image]
[image title=”Grace 2″ caption=”Grace 2″]https://michaelalbany.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/grace-002.jpg[/image]
[image title=”Shawn” caption=”Shawn”]https://michaelalbany.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/shawn-001.jpg[/image]
[image title=”Fedora” caption=”Fedora”]https://michaelalbany.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/donato-001.jpg[/image]
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Leaping Van Gogh

 

Just the other day I had the opportunity to photograph a local modern dancer. Deneane is a dancer and choreographer in Philadelphia and we met when she needed head shots done for her portfolio. When I photographed her head shots in the studio we got to talking and had all sorts of ideas of how we might be able to get creative and do a few images that would be above and beyond. What better way to go above, than to actual leap over a building!

 

 

I had the idea of Deneane doing high leaps on the top of the Philadelphia Art Museum steps. No matter where you are in the world if you have seen the movie “Rocky”. One of the most famous scenes is of Rocky running up those steps and putting his arms up in a victory stance at the top.

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Looking Special

 

Often when you decide to have your portrait done you want it to look special and you want it to stand out. So how do you achieve that special look?  Themes.

 

You can always choose to do the usual themes that are everywhere: a standard family or personal portrait, the ever popular pinup themes. Some choose to go with a western theme or even the Mafia type images complete with Fedora, cigar and Tommy Gun. There are also many photographers that specialize in things like western themes, barn not included.

 

This past weekend I had a chance to work with a young lady who by nature really enjoyed a retro look. When we met in December she was wearing something that looked straight out of 1938 Paris. Her natural look just screams mid-century fashion. When we setup the photoshoot we decided that a 1920s, 30s or 40s look is just what she wanted, and it was just a matter of her finding the clothes she wanted to wear for the shoot.

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Special Moments

 

How important can images be? I mean everyone has a digital camera these days and the ones in our phones are dynamite, right? Meh, they are OK if the image you want is only going to be displayed on your phone or your friend’s phone. Professional portraits cannot be replaced because it’s not just that image that means something. The memory of you at this age, this time in your life, perhaps your partner’s life and your time together; maybe it’s not about you or your partner but the magic of life the two of you share. The magic of a child.

 

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Portrait Shmortrait

 

“Portrait shmortrait. All my portraits look the same, why do I want to have another one done?”

 

I have written on this blog before about how often it is recommended that people get their portraits done in the articles “Has Your Company Lost Its Face,” “Putting Your Best Face Forward,” and many others. But that seems almost like useless information if each time you get a new portrait it looks just like the last one. That can happen if you go to a place that is creating images en masse and all they focus on is bulk; lots of people with a simple formula that gives consistent results every time.

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Memories Are Priceless

Just this past Tuesday I saw a post from another photographer that about knocked me out of my chair. In short it is a letter that the photographer had received from a former client to thank her for the years of memories that she captured for her family. The client had the note hand delivered as she was too sick to deliver it herself. You can read the article here and I encourage you to do so. Warning: have tissues nearby.

 

Welcome back. I will wait while you wipe the tears away. Now that you can read the screen again I will continue.

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Past, Present, or Future?

 

This week every year we are inundated with blogs that either relive the last 12 months speculate about the bright positive future and hope we all have for the coming new year.  I have been debating all week what to even write about. How can I have a great blog post that doesn’t mention something that will alienate some of you and exclude others for reasons of politics or religion or anything else? It seems to be the time of year where everyone is either self-righteous, preachy, or with the upcoming 2012 elections, political. There is one other category though that we sometimes hear about.

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It’s Simple

 

Simply put, Happy Holidays to all my readers. I thank you for a great year and I wish you all the best this holiday season.

How Photography Piques Curiosity

First let me say that I want to apologize to all my readers for not writing often enough recently. I have been working on a personal project that is very important to me and has taken much of my time. I will make a stronger effort to write more often. More about that project shortly.

 

While working on this project I have been trying to create images that add value to the point and that make people what to know more. The point of the photography was and is to make people take the time to learn more. Each image that I create for the project needs to be impactful and it needs to create a feeling. It is not a stretch for me to make images that tell stories or that make the viewer curious to learn more. In fact, it is my job.

 

The project that I am working on was actually a challenge that was made to a group of men due to a sexual assault that happened in my area. The challenge was for a man to find a way to get out a message about sexual harassment and why our rape culture is not acceptable. I took that challenge.

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It’s About Giving Your All

 

Back in early October I wrote an article about seizing opportunity where ever it arises, in this case the beginning of Occupy Philadelphia, titled Opportunity in the Streets. I really didn’t know what business I might get out of that but I am happy to say that those images and thousands I took at the occupy encampment has led to other shoots and events that I was only able to get because I was there.

 

Through meeting people at Occupy I have gotten events, portrait shoots and a number of other gigs that have kept me very busy over the 56 days that the movement occupied Dilworth Plaza in from of City Hall in Philadelphia. So in a sense I guess I am indebted to the people there and the movement too. But how did a political demonstration/movement/evolution really give me chances to get work?

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