Website done!

Thanks to super website builder Meira, my website is finally done! Visit it here.

Let me know what you think. The about page needs help. I don't know what to say about myself.

A not so preview preview

When you combine all the photographs I've taken over the past few years and condense it into 1 website, it looks decent...



It will launch very, very soon.

JS

Third time's the charm, always. The first time we tried to set this up, Jen was too hungover. The second time, I was too sick. This time it went smooth, except Jen was really tired from not being able to sleep the night before so she was a bit out of it. No problem a little white wine couldn't solve.



I really need to invest in a second light to light those shadows. It's killing me.

Lofts

I'm still very upset about the loft. That's all.

I give up on apartments

I am SO upset right now. I saw a loft this morning in Williamsburg with Kevon that fits all my requirements and we can't take it because Kevon and Julie can't afford it and Julie probably wants a bigger private room.

But it's literally THREE STEPS from the Bedford L stop (off Driggs St) and its a straight up artist loft. The loft is "Studio B". A cute Asian hipster girl that lives/works there came by and said "Do you guys smell gas?" There was a gas leak. I thought it was normal because we were in an artist building.

It's fucking cheap too. Kevon and Julie just don't have enough to sign the lease. I'm not going to look on craigslist anymore. It's going to kill me. SO UPSET.

I think I messed up my lens, more Kendall

The 2 shots I posted from the session with Kendall always seemed a bit off to me. It wasn't not sharp. Just feels weird when I looked at them at 100% resolution. I couldn't figure out what was causing this phenomenon.

The night before this session, I decided to clean my lens. I don't use filters and the front lens element was a bit greasy from 2 years of use and no real cleaning. I think I might have fucked it up a bit. Maybe there is cleaning solution residue on the lens. I think that's what is causing this weird sharp yet not sharp look in some of these photos.

Kendall, finally

One of two scheduled photo shoots this weekend got done. This is Kendall. I met her through my friend Laura. This was quite possibly the most exciting and enjoyable photo shoot I've done so far. Kendall knows how to pose like a champ. She's also participating in my 10 year photo project. Those photos won't be viewable to the public for another 2 years though. I need at least 3 of each person to make it legitimate.

I also need to get a new camera. I think I've outgrown the feature set of my current one. Well hopefully with some proper budgeting (ha, ha) I will be able to buy one before I go to China in the spring.

Daniel

El Presidente, The L Magazine

There is another version of this that I really like but I can't show it until I fix the lens flare on it. Also, what the hell is going on with his tie? Dammit, I should have an eye to correct this type of stuff when we're shooting...

Rapidly dropping post counts

It's creeping up on mid-October and my ratio of posts per month have taken a sharp decline. With the warm sunlight of summer long gone and New York City's pseudo Autumn weather turning into cold, so does my photography output.

It doesn't have to be like this. If only I had a studio space to set up my strobes.

Blair, where are you?

Photo Andrea Rosen

Gossip Girl is filming in DUMBO today. I just went out to get a cookie from Almondine and they were shooting in Bubby's. I couldn't see anyone though. When I walked back, they were wrapping up so all the actors must have went back to their trailers.

It's funny because I twittered it and 5 minutes later Andrea, Becca and Mike are walking towards me to go to Bubby's. Sorry guys. Let's got to Forager's at 6pm and stalk the place.

More Emerging Artist pictures

Photo by Michael Seto. Check out the photos he took for us here.

The Emerging Artist Party

Becca and Andrea.


Jackie and Mercedes.


Why so serious? Nick, Jonny and Kate.


Eléonore.


Susannah with new glasses.

A comparison

Just another day at the beach

My photo shoot with Mercedes fell though so I decided to go to the beach!





Stay tuned for more (a lot more).

Will kill for this camera

Canon unveiled the successor their 3-year old 5D last week- The 5D Mark II. Early indication from highly regarded photograph Vincent Laforet and wedding photography studio BEBB Studios have both said this camera will "change everything" and I am falling for the hype.

I know there is maybe 1 other person who reads my blog who will even be interested in this stuff, but I have to say - I might seriously consider saving up for this $2700 camera for my visit to China spring next year.

This thing can shoot 1080p video footage, which isn't a big deal to me but my gawd, the footage speaks for itself. The BEBB Studios blog also have still examples shot at a an insane ISO of 25600 (Supersonic) and the photo looks 10 times better than anything I can shoot at 1600 ISO on my Nikon (which I can't even shoot as because the quality is so bad).

But this would be a massive investment, as I would have to switch to the Canon system. It will force me to be more serious about my photography though, and actually try to make a living off of it, which is my goal... anyone need me to shoot a wedding?

This is a very exciting time in digital photography. I can't wait for it's released in November and see what people do with it.

Ghosts of the past

I was researching blog software today because our publisher has another genius idea and somehow stumbled across my livejournal account that I have abandoned for 2 years now.

It's really embarrassing to see that period of my life documented. Well, the entire Italy trip is there and that's cool, but senior year stuff is painful. Seeing all the art I made senior year is great though. You know, when I actually had real ideas about art projects and followed through.

Jackie

Hands Down

yes, yes YES.



Holy shit, at the drums.

More of Bexo.

Becca shot with the Holga. It's all fun and stuff, and I love the image quality but it's fricken expensive as shit to keep doing.

Jesse

Senior Account Executive, The L Magazine

Jumping the shark

Wii Music is an insult to the Wii Buying public, even the soccer moms.

Dammit.

Logged into Myspace for the first time in days to see this. Looks like I'm 4 hours later. Fuck. Jenny Lewis and Zooey Deschanel?? KILL ME. Oh yeah, Costello too.

OK. Just looked at Jenny's bulletin. She sent it out Sunday night. Goddammit.

Hello!

She & Him are going to be a part of a very special event in New York City tomorrow night (September 9th, 2008) at The Apollo Theatre.


If you would like to attend this show, please send an email to info@zeitgeistmanagement.com

The first 30 names submitted will be sent a confirmation email with all pertinent details. Please only respond if you can actually attend as this performance will be filmed and all the seats must be filled.


SPECTACLE: ELVIS COSTELLO WITH…….

Jakob Dylan, Jenny Lewis and She & Him

LOCATION:

The Apollo Theatre
235 West 125th Street
New York, NY 10027

DATE:

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

TIME:

Doors open at 6:45 PM
Doors close promptly at 7:30 PM
No admittance after 7:30 PM (No Exceptions)

Evo

Evolution?

Dammit Canon. Come out with a 5D replacement at $2k (wishful thinking) and I'll switch to your camp in an instant.

On the rocks

More from the Cape

Taken with a Holga.

Found hidden treasure

This coupon is now void because of unfortunate reasons.

(Wow, haven't used that tag in a long time... )

This year at Cape Cod

Provincetown, MA

Finally made my way up to Cape Cod with Justine to see Modge this weekend. One of my main goals were to eat lots of seafood, and did we ever... We got there Friday night and immediately went down the street from where Modge lives in Barnstable to a seafood place and bought a lobster for each of us. They were not expensive and fresh from the Cape.


Erika (Modge) prepares the lobsters.


They are all ready to be eaten!

On Saturday Modge had to work from 11-4pm so Justine and I kept busy by going down the street to the beach to take photos. It wasn't a huge public beach - more of a local scene, since almost no tourist go through Barnstable. It started to rain while we were there, which upset me because, you know, I wanted to take photos.



I shot this in very light rain at the pier a block down from the beach. That big boat in the back is called 'The Whale Watcher'. It does exactly as it's name implies. There is a boat on this dock that Erika's dad built but she didn't say which one.

After a terrible early afternoon trying to take photos in the rain, Justine and I stopped by the place we bought lobsters from on the previous night to have lunch. I got more lobster! This time in the form of a roll. I had said after eating the lobster last night that I didn't know if I could eat another this trip, but I was wrong.



I mean, look at this! The only other time I had a lobster roll was from Surf Bar in Williamsburg, which was on the lower end (price wise) to get one in NYC. This one cost a few more than Surf Bar's and uses what seem to be the meat from an entire lobster. It was oozing out of the bun! And look at how there's not a lot of mayo on it. Just all lobster, baby.


At the same exact time a few miles away, the exact same thing was happening.

After that we drove around to kill some time. You don't know how useful GPS is until you have it. Used my iPhone and we drove to another road that led to the water in hopes of finding another beach. Instead we found a marsh!



There was a long wooden bridge that you could walk on out to the marsh but this was as far as we got- the beginning. We didn't even step foot on it. There were way too many flies biting us. You literally could not walk it was so bad. So Justine and I went back to the car and drove back to meet Modge.


The most amazing light ever.

We drove to Provincetown, and listend to Vampire Weekend on the way. As we drove into town the song 'Walcott' came on and they were singing about the girls in Welfleet and the bears in Provincetown. It was prefect. I didn't time it either.

It's funny, as we drove to town, it seemed like it was getting lighter, even though it was during sunset. The rain clouds were not over Provincetown, but around it, as you can see in the photo above. The sun was setting around it, which created the most sought after light conditions for me. We also ran into Emily Salsberg and Ben Willey in Provincetown. Emily's parents rent a house there every summer.

On the way back to Barnstable (where Erika lives now) we stopped by the dunes in Welfleet. The same ones she took me to last year. But now its dark as fuck. Good time to do this...



8 minute long exposure over the dunes and sky. I didn't have a shutter release. Just set up my tripod and had to hold down the damn button on my camera for 8 minutes. Amazing how much the earth moves in just eight minutes looking at the star trails.

DAY 2


Erika, Dan and Justine

Erika had a surprise day off on Sunday so we went to the beach in Orleans! Since she is a residence of Orleans (well, her parents) we got to go on the private beaches at the dunes for residents only. But it was labor day weekend and all the beaches were full! We had to wait a while to even get into the public beach (parking). The above photo is of us at the public section of Neuset beach.

You know what became really apparent when we were at the public beach? There are no young people on Cape Cod. Dan and I talked about it. I guess its out of the price range for most people our age to just go by themselves. All the ones here either have friends living there, like us or have rich parents who can afford to rent/buy houses there. I've also noticed an abnormal amount of people with blond hair on the cape. There doesn't seem to be any brunettes (or minorities) in general. The minority thing I can sorta understand, the brunette thing not so much.

Last year, we got to go on the private beaches that you had to drive to. I can't go to public beach after that! I mean, you drive your fucking truck straight up to the water and set up at the private beach! Anyway, we stayed at the public beach with all the tourist for a while and waited for spaces in the private beach to open up. When it did we drove to it...



Justine and I sat in the back of Erika's father's truck as we drove over the dunes to the beach. She's wearing the sun hat I bought to photograph people with in this photo.



So you literally drive your AWD vehicle up to the water and set up. People can camp out here at night if they want to. These are all residents of Orleans.



Erika in her wet suit. She wanted to teach Justine how to surf but Justine is no fun and didn't try it.



Erika went out on her own. There was almost no surf that day though. She just waded around a bit and showed us.


She got a really small one!



After that we went to Erika's parents house. They were having a clam bake (YES!) for her grandmother's birthday. I got to meet all of Erika's relatives. It was something else! Her father went out that morning to get these steamers. There were so many. And they were so fresh and delicious. Erika's parents remembered from last year how much I loved them and keep making remarks about it to me. "We gotta give Adam more steamers!" I was so stuffed after wards.


Erika playing around with my tripod and night exposures in her and Dan's apartment.

Then we drove back to Barnstable and I passed out. The next day we got breakfast, I drove to Bourne to pick up Bexo, Andrea and Julia and we went back to NY. This trip was awesome.

Check my flickr for more photos. Some are friends only, so you will have to be on my friends list to see them. I've decided to stop uploading private life photos to photobucket and linking them here and just upload all photos to flickr and make them public or private accordingly.

Wait, what?

Back in March, I wrote this post with this quote

"Dapo's ex-girlfriend was there and came over to talk to Kevon and I and she didn't remember who I was and I was like "thats ok, we never really hung out". But they later I realized I had totally mistaken her for another of Dapo's ex and not this girl. This girl and I had never met, but I knew who she was. Oh well!"

The ex-girlfriend in question was Mary, whom I wrote about in a post earlier today of having ran into after Summerscreen. In March, she had no recollection of who I was, and I assumed we were never formally introduced, but I knew of her because she was dating Dapo.

But then tonight I realized she was all "hey Adam!" when we ran into her at Rushmore and the entire night acted like we knew each other from way back when. What the fuck?

An hour later

What we do in the office

Last summerscreen ever in the pool?

Ray and Yudah

Last night was the "last Summerscreen ever" in McCarren Park Pool. I put that in quotes because the city plans on renovating the pool back into a real pool, with water. It will take like 3 years or something and cost millions. That is why I seriously doubt it will happen. Just like how every year Coney Island is threatened to be wiped from its current existance, but somehow manages to "survive" for another season, so too will the pool.

Everyone knows how slow the government is on any large scale project. While this is really small in comparison to say, the Atlantic Yards project (also scrapped from it's initial plan), the city just does not have the money to throw around at fixing up the pool.

Anyway, we showed Rushmore last night. The last time I saw this was with a girl in my apartment in Alfred like 3 or 4 years ago (fuck...) and we never finished it. And it left a really bad taste in my mouth. So I haven't exactly been trying to see it in the longest (3-4 years, fuck...). But damn, I had forgotten how great that movie is. Watching in on a breezy August night in an empty pool with 6000 hipsters is probably the best way ever to watch this movie.


Kendall and her friend

I was also with a bunch of friends from like all walks of my life there at once. It was great. Ray bought along Shoko and Kai (highschool people) and Dapo bought Rita (Junior highschool people). Justine and Mia also came (college, post college people) and so did Kendall and her friend (photo project model and friend). Some of them also bought people, so he had a pretty sizeable group of people.

After the movie we ran into Mary, Dapo's ex girlfriend. She was handing out promotional materials as people exited the pool. Turns out she's working for a promotion company. We (Ray) told her to meet us at Turkey's Nest after she was done. Her (creepy older) boss tagged along and it was mad awkward for us (and especially Dapo). We didn't go in Turkey's Nest though. I realized everyone standing there had gone to LaGuardia Highschool and this turned out to be an unintentional reunion, except for the creepy boss.

Some of us were hungry, so we decided to go to Alligator Lounge for pizza and beers. Mary's creepy boss bought us a round of drinks. He pulled out a crisp Benjamin mad hard. I was gonna get a Bass, but switched to Jack and Coke since it wasn't gonna cost me. Randomly, Kendall and her friend came in (they left after the movie). Then Sandy came also. So many random encounters last night, but it was a lot of fun.

View more Summerscreen photos at the L Magazine's flickr here.