Orlando by iPhone
A family visit run amok. By "amok", I mean exactly as I wanted!
Orlando is not a place I ever saw myself visiting. Despite its obvious popularity as a vacation destination and as a town with a huge and happy population, I just never saw me as a good fit for the area. I'm much more of a mountains and rivers kinda guy. Not gonna lie, though. The idea of mucking around through swamps HAS always sounded cool ... for short periods of time.
Well, no swamp mucking for me. No hunting for feral anaconda and boas in the Everglades. Maybe another time I'll get to go with my friend Tammilee on one of her cool, Florida adventures. This trip was purely personal, a family visit. But me being me, I made it a point to look around and see the things that aren't normally seem.
In the above gallery, the image of the egrets and alligators has become my absolute favorite. It's "Just a stupid iPhone pic" (you know who you are - shakes fist!) but it's a capture and creation that I'm quite proud of. Taken at Gatorland in Orlando, it was a matter of timing and then, a lot of editing to get the colors and composition the way I wanted. All of the images are meaningful to me; looking up from the swamps, a visit to probably the coolest lighthouse I've visited, and, of course, the stork (pretty much a F'n dinosaur) captured with a selfie-stick while he was on (literally) a hot tin roof!
Perhaps it's a character flaw of mine. When I visit places, I do my very best to enjoy the moment and enjoy the company I'm with but I can't help but to see scenes and how they might play out in 1/200th of a second or after some artistic editing. I enjoy walking through a place and having a vision of both how it IS and how it could be.
Allow me to finish this post with an image of an egret riding an alligator. I guarantee you that, although you may be cool, you'll never be "egret riding an alligator" cool!
The Ladies Foursome - Character Portraits
The Modern-Spokane opens another one tonight. I so enjoy being behind the scenes and seeing all the work that goes into making a show ... and the portraits, of course!
FORE! Here we go again ... my 29th show for The Modern Theater ... The Ladies Foursome!
A couple weekends back, the cast and director of The Ladies Foursome headed to The Links Golf Course in Post Falls, ID to create some imagery for the upcoming show. It was the perfect morning to do so while having the cast learn more about golf ... especially the finer points of course etiquette. Replacing divots, how/when to wait for or begin the next hole and where or where NOT to drive the really fun carts were among the lessons learned.
The Ladies were champs when it came to the images, too. A majority of the production occurs, like in golf, when they're waiting for one of their group to take their shot. It seemed a perfect chance for a cool series.
Though there was some sun and blue skies when we started, soon after we began play, the cloud cover increased and the chilly, early spring wind put a slight damper on the morning. Extra layers of clothing were added but when it came time to create the portraits, no one blinked. Everyone was on board to help make these portraits.
Practice swings were taken, form was critiqued by the other Ladies (sometimes quite bluntly) and many attempts were made to find just the right way to capture them at 1/500th of a second. You'll notice that 'Margot' has a different pose than the others. I really did want to capture an image where all the Ladies are in a position similar to the excellent graphic created by David Clemons. Marianne, though, looked so strong and proud and regal in the one I finally chose, it was great enough for me to break the template. If you've ever seen her on stage, you know full well that she's worth making any trifling exception like that.
Theatre (or theater) isn't merely the two hours or so of a production that you see on stage. It's the months of preparations. It's the weeks of rehearsals. It's the countless hours of administration and 'house' prep. For me, it's time spent researching a production to find a style of imagery that I feel works for the piece and a lot of time editing them and find a place in the 'web' for them.
Once the pics are created, it doesn't end there. In a world where Netflix, Hulu and Youtube are content kings, we have to put our stage in front of folks that have countless hours of programming at their fingertips. We at The Modern Theater try our very best to create a production that reaches past the edge of the stage and far into the daily lives of our patrons and community.
A community can be measured by the questions its theater asks
- Liviu Ciulei
A community NEEDS good theater. I do what I can to make certain that the playwright, creative crew and cast are seen in the best light possible by as many people as possible in an attempt to stir interest. I WANT my friends colleagues to have an audience to see their work, to FEEL it.
A Visit to Northern Quest - Revisited
Located in Airway Heights, WA, Northern Quest has so much going on! They're done a wonderful job of filling the space with beauty!
By request, I've gone back and re-edited some of the photos from my visits to Northern Quest Casino and Hotel. The main reason for my visits there was to capture imagery from the cool concerts they had going on during their Summer series and, me being me, I strolled into other areas to find pretty things. Yes, as I have time, I'll get those cool concert images, re-edited and reposted, too.
Yes, I had permission to go into the closed areas, but you know me. Wherever I go, I'll something pretty to shoot ... even a lonely vase in a corner.
This was my first real foray into interior photography. I think I did well!
Art and Nature Under I-90
From Division street over to Latah Creek, exists a special part of Spokane. Under I-90!
I have a long gestating project, my Under I-90 project, to which I keep returning. There's a stretch of Spokane that runs from Division St west to Latah Creek and under/along a stretch of Federal highway. In this stretch, I've found a unique ecosystem. Not all good and beautiful, mind you, but a unique space unlike anything else in Spokane.
Yes, there are homeless folks and a bit of squalor but I can't help but see the beauty in all the angles and texture and slivers of light. I took a walk earlier today and I found bits of green that were absent only a few days back. Plus, the crisp skies seemed to make the urban art and their colors POP a bit more.
I won't pretend that a few bits of green will turn the place is a Shangri La. It's still quite the opposite but I do take it as a sign that if man disappeared from the Earth, nature would affix itself in all of the abandoned corners ... and would do quite well for itself. How would we do if nature disappeared from the Earth? I don't think we'd do nearly as well.
I intend to spend more time here in the next few weeks and I'll do my best to highlight the hidden (in plain sight) architectural beauty that is part of this concrete behemoth!
Bing by iPhone
Spokane is lucky to have such a spectacular gem in the heart of its Entertainment District! Every corner of it is stunning!
The Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane, Wa has a spectacular history. Though it’s previous owner allowed it to get run down a bit, the current owner, Jery Dicker, has spared no expense to bring the place back to its full glory. In addition to just upgrading infrastructure, the new team has added so many flourishes of art and color and style. I dare say that The Bing is more glorious now than it has ever been. I’m lucky to have been allowed the chance to visit the place during off hours in order to capture these images.
It seems that you can’t go anywhere in the building without finding a beautiful angle or color or shape. A walk around the exterior of the building will show you plenty of texture and detail of the bygone days. Lamps, stairways and even walls seem to capture light and shed color in return. Oh, and they have concerts, too.
Do yourself a favor. Go to their event page, find a show you’d like to see and arrive early. Take a walking tour of the place and look for more hidden gems.
Evita at UHigh - Archives
Andrew Lloyd Webber's stunning musical 'Evita' made its appearance at University High School in Spokane Valley. I'm quite certain Mr Webber would be quite pleased ... and you will be, too!
Caitlin McLennan as Evita Peron
These kids are the reason that the Pacific Northwest is a hotbed of theater activity and talent. Time after time, Briane and George Green from UHigh Drama have produced theatrical gems and 'Evita' is yet another. They are superb administrators and leaders but without the high-calibre of students they lead, the shows wouldn't be as wonderful as they are. 'Evita' is the fifth UHigh show that I've shot and though the first of them was already stellar, they seem to be getting better and better!
I've written a little bit about theater photography HERE, but I didn't quite express how difficult an archive shoot can be. For the still images, we have all the conditions that exist in a show: props, sets, lighting cues, wardrobe and wardrobe changes and we have to have all the right people in the right place in the right time. You'd think that if we run the shoot in the order of the show, it shouldn't be so much of an effort, right?
Well, I've never done one where you go in the order of the show and there are many reasons for that. If you want to dismiss some folks early, you get their shots done first. If your leads are in a certain costume at various time, you get all of those scenes together ... regardless of whether the scenes are contiguous or not. For this day's captures, as we were shooting directly after the school day ended, we had folks straggling in at various time because of their school needs or that their school was across town. We had middle schoolers and even younger kids in the cast so we had to wrangle them all from their various schools.
Being part of the show and running it out of order is VERY taxing. Has anyone ever asked you what comes after (for instance) the letter K? What do you do? Most folks, me included, have to sing The Alphabet Song in our heads until we reach the letter we need. Our brains don't memorize things just for the sake of committing them to memory. If we have habits and systems in place, like The Alphabet Song or the blocking/scene order of a show, we don't don't always need to memorize the order of things. We start the first thing and the rest flows behind it.
When the director or stage manager is calling out the shots to be taken and which ones are coming next, they're rarely in the order the show is run and every time, I mean it ... EVERY time, actors forget which prop they should have, light board operators get into the wrong cue, and actors forget where to stand when they are saying the lines from the scene to be caught. It can be absolute chaos getting from one shot to the next. It's always stressful to the cast and occasionally frustrating to everyone, we always get the shots we need and it's always amusing in hindsight.
I always try to keep in mind that these folks are giving up more of their free time in order to help create these images, so I'm very grateful for their patience and effort.
This may be the last time that I get to see a few of these folks on a stage again. Many of these folks are seniors and will be moving on in life. Perhaps even off the stage and onto other endeavors. I know for a fact that a few will be in productions for my home theater (they're THAT good) and , who knows! Some may end up on even bigger stages in bigger towns!
Congratulations to the cast and crew of University High School's 'Evita' on their spectacular show!
The Beverages of The Sapphire Lounge
Inventory or menu photography is an absolute MUST for any business ... but how can you afford to create all the images you need at a small business budget?
Mmm. A tasty beverage ... and an example of what can be captured and created with a simple smartphone.
Recently, the topic of smartphone imagery for restaurants popped up.
A friend mentioned that they've NOT eaten at certain establishments simply because the pictures of the food looked horrible. The problem, another person (a pub owner) said, is that they have so many menu items and such a great need for the use of images on their website and Social Media, that the cost to have a full and complete photo shoot for all the menu items would be VERY expensive.
Well, yes, I thought. It should be! You're having a photographer bring in several thousand dollars worth of gear, they'll be spending countless hours editing and you'll end up with great images for web and print use! I'm a big proponent in the value of a great image and strongly support the occasional high charge for that quality!
At the same time, I totally understand the limitations of time and budget that so many small businesses must work with. They still NEED images, they need LOTS of them and they need them at a rate that won't kill their budget. Then, as if the time taken to create the images is not enough, they still have to manage all those images on SM.
Enter the iPhone! I like to think that I've done OK using my iPhone to capture imagery in a variety of ways!
The camera attached to smartphones will never match a good DSLR and the images captured with them will never make the bigger cameras obsolete ... but the cameras found in phones are fantastic devices that can capture an awful lot of light and data. When properly edited and processed using desktop software, these images can be PERFECT for the needs of most small business; menu thumbnails, web imagery, Social Media posts
For me, the ideal process looks something like this:
- Strategy session to finalize the subjects and to plan the use of their images
- Photoshoot using extra lighting or reflectors if needed
- Image processing, storage and delivery
- Social Media plan scheduling and implementation
All of this can be completed in a very short time, perhaps even only a few days. Images can be delivered in both print-ready and web-ready sizes The end purpose of it all is to have your product in front of as many eyeballs as possible. Simply creating the images isn't enough, they must be shared, too!
The use of this process certainly isn't limited to food or drink items. Any small business that has a large inventory of a variety of products should consider such a project. Yes, it's more involved than simply snapping a quick pic with your phone, but it's still a great way to represent your small business!
Send us an email at daniel@danscape.de to find out more about a visit from danscape to capture YOUR business' images!
The Ladies Foursome - We Begin!
In a few weeks, we'll present another show. But first, we get to create more imagery!
Yesterday (Apr 24), the cast of 'The Ladies Foursome' and I headed out to The Links golf course in Post Falls, Id. It was a multi-purpose trip; partially to capture promotional images, hopefully to have the cast learn a bit more about the sport of golf and certainly to have a great day of fun and team bonding!
Sarah Miller, Callie McKinney Cabe, Marianne McGlaughlin, Nancy Gasper and the Director, Dawn Taylor Reinhart have been in rehearsal for just a week and as much as can be learned about golf through reading, conversation and YouTube videos, they knew that it would take a trip to the links to make their swings look realistic, their trash talk genuine and the knowledge about their characters come to life!
We won't even pretend that the form was perfect! Heck, even the shoes were off but, we all still had a blast playing on the course!
Over the next few days, we'll be showing plenty of new images on our various social media pages so be certain to keep an eye out. I'll have them all posted here AFTER the run of the show.
The Doors and Windows of Railroad Alley
Broken, boarded up, bricked over, replaced and some even still in use! Take a walk along Railroad Alley and you'll see all manner of portals into Spokane's history
Behind, you guessed it, Scratch.
Railroad Alley is actually 2 different alleyways, one north and the other south. It's the northern one that has more access to it, more daily use. The southern one has many areas that are blocked off or are now private areas. That's OK, there is still plenty of territory to cover. With the exception of one block, the portion between Howard and Wall Streets, one has a straight walk from Washington St westward to Adams St.
Along that path, you'll find bits of our mining and logging history in the form of offices and building that formerly housed those offices, stylish new condos and lofts, modernly renovated offices and ones that look as if they're still from the early part of the previous century. You'll also find countless portals that go between the open alleyway and the inside of the buildings
Many of the doors and windows have been replaced yet many seem to be the originals from their era. Many others have been covered in one way or another. Where the paint is chipping, you can see the numerous layers and the different colors attempted over the many years. On the bare brick, the scars of graffiti and its removal ... and RE-vandalism show. How many taggers have "owned" part of the alley at one point or another?
This isn't some quiet back alley, though. It's an active thoroughfare for folks getting from the street to the business to make deliveries and for the many tenants that make their homes in the cool lofts and condos that dot the path.
Every color and texture imaginable is on the walls. Brick, wood, stucco, concrete all have their space in this gallery. Though the newer designs are present, the bulk of the doors and windows harken to older days. There doesn't seem much point in replacing the old ones with newer designs. They're still quite functional and have lasted this long. Thank goodness because, like many things from past eras, they're much more interesting to look at than a solid collection of new steel and glass.
Go on! Go take a walk and what you can see!
Next to Normal at The Bing Crosby Theater
'Next to Normal' is just wrapping up at The Bing Crosby Theater. If you miss this one, you're missing a true gem!
One of our best shows of the years wraps up today (the "our" is The Modern Theater, for whom I work and create images)! We partnered with Coeur d'Alene Summer Theater to present this Pulitzer Prize-winning musical. I've listened to the soundtrack on a number of occasions and while I was always pleased, there was always something lacking. That "lack" was the personal connection of knowing the voices and stories behind the music.
I've known the folks in this cast for a while! I know some of their families, their personal struggles and victories, their stories. Hearing MY people sing these powerful tunes made the music much more deep and meaningful. I mean, the play is all about mental illness and family tragedies ... and how we move past these issues. Heavy stuff and these folks handled the weight of it so very well.
From The Spokesman-Review :
It’s an edgy, occasionally bracing rock opera about one woman’s struggle with bipolar disorder and how her manic episodes send ripples through her household. That description might make the show sound like some kind of postmodern goof – you may wonder how such sensitive material could ever benefit from flashy theatricality – but the Pulitzer Prize-winning show is as stylistically risky as it is emotionally bruising.
This was only the second time that I've shot a full show here. The Bing is an incredible space but it wasn't designed for ease of photography. I had a couple ladders available and, yes, I did monkey-scramble across the chairs a bit. Those armrests aren't always perfectly sturdy.
Using some audio captured by our sound guy, Jesse Worley, we made a short promo video that, I hope, captures the beauty of the cast. you'll hear, in order, Alyssa Day, Daniel McKeever and Cody bray singing bis from their numbers.
Again, Doc Heggem did a fantastic job of not merely lighting the set, but in making the lighting a character in the play. The brilliant ambers, blues and magentas made the story come alive even more! The square footage on the stage is rather minimal so the team designed a multi-level set that fit perfectly and provided ample room in which to perform.
I'll confess that I'd be a horrible set designer ... but I sure know functional beauty when I see it. On my end, it may have been tough to shoot, but it sure provided angles and vistas not normally found in my other theaters.
Next up .... A Bright New Boise!
Portland by iPhone
I'd passed through Portland before but I'd never spent any measure of time in the downtown area. This visit would be different!
This upcoming Monday, Apr 4, the reason for my recent trip to Portland will come to light. It may or may not have something to do with the 2016 Hoopfest poster. I did last year's, my first, and it went over rather well.
This post isn't about that, though. It's about finding wonderful things wherever I go. So much about this trip was "hurry up and wait" with a few false starts and schedule changes. That was only a concern because I really wanted to explore more. This was my first visit of substance to the downtown area and frankly, I fell in love with it immediately. Naturally, Powell's Books was a charmer but ... duh.
Though I did have my grown-up camera with me, I kept in in "ready to go" mode the whole trip so as not to have any last minute goofs happen when we finally got to shoot. That means that I was left my just my iPhone. If you've known me for more than a minute, you'll know that was just fine with me.
Yes, good gear is important but if you wit until you have all the correct tech stuff, you'll be waiting a long time. I encourage you to avail yourself of the best camera that you have at hand, your smartphone, to capture the world around you. The tech involved with those things is amazing and with the smart use of editing apps, you'll be able to tell your visual story to the world.
#Hoopfest2015 from atop The Liberty Building
Spokane's Liberty Building has a front row seat to Hoopfests! I was lucky enough to be allowed on top this year.
I've visited The Liberty Building a couple times before, each time finding more gems held within this treasure. With its prime location at Washington and Main, the building has seen more than its share of Spokane history. Plus, they are in the middle of Hoopfest every year! This year, I was lucky enough to be allowed atop the Liberty Building to get a bird's-eye view of #Hoopfest2015. Escorted by the owner, Shannon Ahern, I went during the peak of the day, with the baking sun directly overhead. On any day, it's one of the best views in town but on this, Day One of Hoopfest, with the games in full swing, there was no better spot in town to catch this special glimpse of Spokane's premiere event!
With 7,000 teams, 3,000 volunteers, 225,000 fans and 450 courts spanning 42 city blocks, it seems that one could see it all from up here. Truly it was the highlight of my day!
Shannon was very kind to enjoy his aerie and I was very grateful to be able to catch this rare glimpse into Spokane and its richness. I hope that you enjoy the view as much as I did.
The Clouds of Sprague
Every view is different; different colors, different shapes. If you're feeling small and lonely, there's no better place to be than underneath such an expansive blanket of sky
I've been in poor spirits of late. A combination of unpleasant life changes and just general shittiness. Nothing that time, yoga and meditation won't take care of but I felt that I needed a bit of a boost. So, I did what I often do when I need a lift.
Road Trip!
Montana has the well-deserved nickname of "Big Sky Country". With their wide expanses of heavens and prairie, their horizons stretch out far, often a 360-degree vista. Kind of like .... Eastern Washington. While this isn't The Palouse, this part of the Inland Northwest has, in my humble opinion, the absolute best views of the skies and clouds to be found.
I drove Southwest out of Spokane on I-90 and again visited the small town of Sprague. The place is quite a rusty gem with many vestigial remains of its former farming and transportation history. As I drove under the blanket above, I didn't so much feel my mood lifted. More like my weight was being acknowledged. The longer that I drove, the more time I had to let the thoughts roll around ... and the longer they rolled around, the less weight they had.
All of these images are available as prints HERE or for use as stock photos HERE!
Eventually, as is always the case, the time spent in the natural beauty and the effort needed to make pretty landscape pictures did their magic. I read a while back about how the Earth's natural vibrational frequency is much lower than the frequencies found in any urbanized area. Makes sense. All of our electrical utilities and power sources, the waves and signal we send ... they add up to create a field of energy that is against our bodies' best interests.
When in doubt of your feelings of worth, when your thoughts are sour and your mind monkeys are flinging poo, go spend some time in nature. Road trips will do you wonders ... especially if you find a blanket of Eastern Washington clouds.
All of these images are available as prints HERE or for use as stock photos HERE!
Next to Normal - Rehearsals
Rehearsals for any show can be a hectic times ... but they're always exciting!
The Modern Theater will be presenting Next to Normal as a co-production with Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre in just a couple weeks! Tonight, I got to visit their rehearsal space and capture the images that I'll be using for their character portraits. Naturally, as I always do, I managed to create a number of extras.
I appear in one or two shows a year. I do well enough that I'm not booed offstage and I always have fun performing ... but I wouldn't call me an "actor" and certainly not a professional. These folks, most of whom are far younger than me, are champs and all seem to have more experience than I do. So much hard work and dedication, so many years getting to this point and so many hours creating the character they plan to portray onstage. They've got a lot of work to do in a compressed time period but a good stage manager will keep a brisk pace at each rehearsal. These folks are up to the task.
I've listened to the soundtrack for 'Next to Normal' numerous times and I certainly enjoy its beauty and the depth of its topic but when I heard the songs sung by those that I know, love and respect, my appreciation for the both music and my friends increased tremendously. Though an already fantastic soundtrack, hearing it performed by folks that I know and respect gives it an entirely new level of wonder.
There are just two more weeks of rehearsal. LOTS of work to do in a short amount of time but, as these folks have done many times before, they're gonna create something magical!
Nuclear Waste - Shooting Day or, For Your Consideration ...
Behind the Scenes of the Behind the Scenes work for this really cool short film!
Shooting day for 'Nuclear Waste' from JJH Productions went along perfectly! More rehearsals and run-throughs and more opportunities to fix small weaknesses and strengthen the choreography of the shoot.
I'm very glad that Jesse James brought me along as I hadn't worked on this type of project before. Many of the elements were familiar to me but the tight timeframe of the project AND the longer term social media needs were a different kind of mix. In my many theater projects, we have a longer time period in which to capture imagery but my focus was a bit different here.
In brief, my goal was to capture as much imagery of the shoot as possible (imagery that doesn't give away too many details) and to get those images in into the Social Media (SM) stream as quickly as possible and in high enough quality as possible.
The plan that I went with was pretty simple but it worked out well. Research the organizers, competitors and Nuclear Waste team members and find out the SM platforms that they use, find other participants, capture loads of imagery on scene with the iPhone, post a few as we go through the day, tag as many folks as possible, edit the best of the images and schedule them out onto the various SM platforms throughout the following days and weeks. Additionally, a few of the short films I created on-scene will be sent to the event organizers to give them a look at what went into the making of the film. Here's a super quick look at some of it!
I won't go into boring detail about all the apps and bits of software that I use (various Google stuff, Snapseed. Lightroom, DropBox to name a few) but it can get to be an involved process.
While I'm certainly having fun doing all this, it's an important piece of the creative puzzle. A film, a play or a piece of art that doesn't get scene may still be wonderful but there will be no one to appreciate all the effort and creativity that go into the creation of it. The world is littered with artwork and events that never see the light of the public's eye because no effort is made to broadcast that art. The fact that we're trying to attract attention for all this effort doesn't make the art less valuable. It just increases the odds that the event's judges see the build-up to the work and have a positive mental association with it all.
Nuclear Waste - JJH Productions
In which JJH and crew make a Super 8 film!
Jesse Jame Hennessey, a local filmmaker and super cool dude, has asked me to assist a bit with his submission for the Straight 8 Film Competition. The limits of the competition are simple> Straight 8 sends you one roll of Super 8mm film and you make a one-take film. No editing, no sound wizardry, no SFX! Challenging and Fun
Nuclear Waste has been in the planning stage for several weeks and Jesse and the team have made a few dry runs but last Saturday (3-19), the whole gang showed up for a few hours of blocking, camera choreography and practice runs. It's fair to say that we had a blast. If you happen to see a few cans of PBR in the images ... those aren't props!
Take a look at the wonderful folks we've assembled!
CAST
Dan Anderson – Heart
Amy Sue Encinas – Flower
Tahlia Rubin – Meadow
Jason A. Young – Patches
CREW
Jesse James Hennessy – Writer/Director/Producer
Shaun Springer – Assistant Director
Tom Edwards – Props and Set Decorations
Amy Calkins, Wild Angel FX Make-UP - Special Effects/Makeup
Annamarrie Gorny - Makeup
Dani Wiyrick - Makeup
John Carl Toth – Composer
Tami Tisha, HB Sanitarium – Poster and Media Artwork
Daniel D Baumer, danscape – Social Media and Set Photographer (That's ME!)
John Austin – Set Photographer
Today, we go out and film the official version. I'll be certain to post some of the images I capture during the filming and the promotional images that I create.
Stay tuned!
Character Portraits - All My Sons
Arthur Miller is one of the finest chroniclers of post-World War II America. His 1949 play “Death of a Salesman” is rightfully held as the gold standard in U.S. theater, with its exploration of the American dream and all the pitfalls that come with trying to achieve it.
Two years earlier, Miller found his first success on stage with another exploration of the American dream, “All My Sons.” Inspired by real-life events, it centers on two families – friends, neighbors and colleagues – whose lives are undone by a selfish act. It’s a powerful piece of theater and the Modern Theater Coeur d’Alene has done it justice.
“All My Sons” is not an easy night of theater. There’s a lot of tension between these characters, and director Davis does an excellent job of guiding his actors in maintaining that tension to maximum effect. The first act builds, then things blast apart after intermission. When the final plot turn arrives, it is a foregone conclusion. But that doesn’t stop it from being a shock nonetheless. - Carolyn Lamberson at The Spokesman-Review
What a fantastic story and what an all-star cast! Such a powerful tale needed striking images. During WWII, newspaper articles and letters from the war zone were important sources of information sharing and for communicating with family back home. Those two mediums have a strong impact on 'All My Sons' and I felt that they should have some influence on the portraits.
As is always the case, the power of these images doesn't come from my fancy camera or special software. It comes from the dedication of the talent in front of the camera. Even young Mr Dixon, Little Bert, did such an amazing job, no?
I love my job and I'm so lucky to be able to meet and capture so many of these wonderful artists. Next show that I'll be shooting .... Last of The Boys by Steven Dietz
The Geometry of Snow
The Geometry of Snow
We live in a beautiful portion of the country. From any part of Spokane, you're just a few minutes in any direction to being in the wilderness, the prairie or the rolling farmlands. Mountain streams and the hidden valleys abound. With this heavy snow, even a walk through the South Hill becomes an escape into nature.
The Wild Party - Character Portraits
Directed by Troy Nickerson, Andrew Lippa's 'The Wild Party' was the wildest thing to hit Spokane in a long, long time!
I normally wait until after a show has finished its run before I post the images on my site ... but this show is so awesome, I couldn't wait. The Wild Party was the coolest thing that I've seen come through Spokane in quite a while. Based on a book-length poem by Joseph Moncure March, the story of the musical comes directly off the page and onto the stage. We shot these images at The Baby Bar, the same place I shot the cool Halloween images for their staff. It's a great location (and a great bar) that suited our needs perfectly; dark, a bit well-worn and the rich, red was perfect. Our idea was to capture the cast of characters as they'd be on an evening on the town.
How'd we do?
Plus a few other promo images we created...
Assassins - Character Portraits
"Why did you do it Johnny?"
It has just been announced that Stephen Sondheim will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom along with many other notables at the White House on November 24th. This seems like a good time to recall the character portraits from the recent presentation of Assassins at The Modern-CDA. I'll let the review of the show speak to its excellent quality but I was thoroughly impressed with this show. Though I'm fond of all of our shows, some are certainly better than others and this one was top-notch.
Recently, a dear friend caught me downplaying the value of the images that I create. I said something about how the images that I create don't have much to do with the final quality of the show and he disagreed firmly. He made a strong case for how show imagery and strong marketing material help to set the expectations that the public has for a production. The stronger the promotional imagery, the higher the expectations. If a cast and crew feel that their expectations are high, well, they'll work harder to reach that goal. For a low bar, they'll aim for that.
There is some sense in that. I do what I can to capture or create themes that are relevant and I'm proud of what I accomplish. I'd be lying if I said that having awesome artists with which to work didn't matter. They're super awesome!
For this show, we took all of these images in the basement of The Modern-Spokane. Though the place is much more well-organized now, when we moved into the space. It was a creepy mess; dirty, dusty and dark. Perfect setting for a bunch of assassins.
