Steve Giralt

With Lance Armstrong in the news for having broken his collar bone in 4 pieces bike riding in Spain, I figured this is a great time to share my story about my broken collar bone.

On Sep 2nd of last year I was out on a training ride for the Mighty Hamptons Triathlon which was Sep 14 in Sag harbor in long island, when I suddenly crashed and flew over the handlebars of my bicycle at 26 MPH. To this day I’m not sure exactly what I hit in the road which made me flip, maybe a rock, or branch, who knows. All I do know is that it hurt like hell and after being driven to Southampton hospital by a stranger who scraped me off the pavement, I had broken my collar bone and fractured some ribs. I was released later that day and went home with my Triathlon dreams shattered and a bottle of Vicadin. The doctor told me to checkup with a orthopedic specialist within 2 weeks to see how the bone was healing and that it would heal by itself with me just keeping my arm in a sling.

After doing some research, I decided that Dr. Andrew Feldman, aka the “Jock Doc”  was the guy I wanted to see. It took 2 weeks to get an lovely Wednesday appointment, but it was worth the wait. The second they did new xrays, I mean the second they came out of the machine, they knew I needed Surgery to fix my collar bone, it was in many pieces. I has surgery on Friday at St. Vincents hospital where Dr. Feldman operated on me. In the surgical report, my diagnosis was that I had a “Severely comminuted 6-part mid-shaft displaced clavicle fracture with muscular impingement.” In other words, really really broken clavicle! After a night in the hospital I was on my way home.

The first 2 weeks post-op I did absolutely nothing exercise related. I did walk around the city as needed and I did go right back to work Tuesday after my Friday surgery but I was highly drugged. After 2 weeks I got my stitches out and new xrays where everything looked like it was still in place. I then started physical therapy, at first very very basic just passive movements and stretching the shoulder which was now made of cement and no longer wanted to move. After about 4 weeks I felt good enough to do some stationary bicycle at the gym, and even some eliptical trainer with no arm movements. At 6 weeks I was finally allowed to be without the sling and start doing some active physical therapy. I think around here I started to do some running again, just short 2-3 mile runs. At 12 weeks I got back on the bike when visiting my parents in Miami and felt great! I did like 140 miles the week I was in Miami. Then at week 14 I started swimming again which was pretty weak for a whil, until about week 16-18 where I started to feel better in the Pool. On March 15th, just about 6 months from Surgery, I competed in my first Olympic Triathlon in Miami and my swim was solid!

So, I wish Lance teh best of luck trying to do the Tour de France this year in May, and he’s trying to do another race which is in 7 weeks. He may just be able to do it, but it may be tough because his injury was similar to mine. And that is my story.

Last Fall I did this photoshoot for Chesterfield Eyewear in New Jersey. We shot at Fosterfields Living Historical Farm in NJ which was a great location. It’s basically a farm museum with animals and barns and all those things you don’t see very often living in NYC. The Agency for the shoot was for Morello+Company design based in NJ. Tony Morello and Carl Horosz were on set for the agency and were an absolute pleasure to work with. It was a busy day but we all were really happy with the outcome.

Hair and makeup styling was done by Sarah Montiel and Fashion styling by Jessica Zindren. Thanks guys!

I have started a new personal project based on photographing my facebook friends. So far I’ve photographed at 55 friends in my studio. Basically, my friends get a free portrait taken by me, in exchange, they have to put the picture up as their profile picture for at least 1 month. They have to wear only black or white clothing, and then I photograph them. The project has been a lot of fun. I don’t think I’ll ever get to the point where I shoot all 700+ of my facebook friends, but we’ll see how far it goes. Enjoy the photos! I will post more soon!

I recently did this shoot for Strawberry frog for Stacy’s Pita chips. It was a challenging shoot but at the same time a lot of fun. We had to make a rotating table in order to rotate the top in 5 degree steps to make a smooth rotation. Trying to get the bowls centered on the table was quite the challenge! To view the website, go to www.stacyschips.com.

The Prop stylist on the shoot was  Jolanda Burkhard, and the food stylist was Margarette Adams.

Last Fall I went to Maine to photograph this story for Good Housekeeping. The article is names “Siblings of a sort”. It’s a story about 3 families that are related by invetro fertilization. It’s a really interesting article discussing the way these kids are brothers and sisters but have different families. It was a lot of fun hanging out with all the kids and taking lots and lots of pictures of them.

The story was written by Amana Robb. It is in the current issue of Good Housekeeping which is published by Hearst.

In January I Photographed Ingrid Hoffmann for the cover of Natural Health Magazine. She was wonderful to work with and her food was just as tasty. It’s on the newstands now so check it out!

Carrie Smith, Kay Douglas, and Tom Voss were on set for the magazine. Food stylist was Roscoe Betsill, Fashion stylist was Katy Robbins, Prop stylist was Meghan Guthrie, Hair was done by Haime Munoz, and Makeup was done by Amy Kernaban. It was a great team, and we produced a great shoot.

The 2nd Issue of the new Food Network Magazine is on the stands. I shot the cover again and the Table of contents page again. Take a look at the magazine, it’s doing really really well! It’s the Feb / March Issue 2009. Everyone is great to work with over at the Food Network Magazine.dd

In celebration of my getting back onto my bike to start training again since my accident 3 months ago I decided to photograph my bike before shipping it down to Miami where I will be training for the Miami International Triathlon. It really is a beautifully designed bicycle. It’s a 2008 Trek Madone 5.2 frame with 2008 Zipp 404 and 808 aero wheels, Selle SMP Pro saddle, Profile Design Carbon stryke aero bars, and a Powertap SL+ in the rear wheel. It’s such a great ride!

It took some cleaning to get my bike which has 1000+ miles on it look this new. I hope you enjoy the photos.

A lot of people have said they really enjoy when I put up pictures of the sets and show how I did the lighting. This is a lighting test I did of myself in the studio the other day when I was playing with a new Profoto 5′ light I recently purchased. I was playing with the effect of spraying water in the air with the hmi/strobe lighting it and the effect it would create. I had 4 strobes and 1 HMI in this shot. I have strip banks on either side of the camera for fill, the 5′ Profoto octabank overhead for main,  7′ Elinchrome octabank for edge light, and an Arrisun 1200 watt hmi for the back light. For those of you less knowledgeable, that’s like 20K in lighting equipment.

It was a great test and it’s a fun picture of my best model ever .. myself. Enjoy!

I never wanted to be a wedding photographer. It’s just not my kind of gig, I much prefer other kinds of photography which are much more enjoyable to me. No matter what my feelings are on the subject, I am constantly asked to photograph friends or families weddings and constantly have to deny them of their wishes.

What I have come to learn is that people don’t think of the average photographer as a specialist, but much more as a generalist. You’re a photographer, hence, you photograph … what you photograph is not as important to them as to the fact that you’re good with a camera. Yet, at the same time these people wouldn’t ask a brain surgeon to do a heart transplant, it’s not what they do. The brain surgeon prefers working on the brain, not saying he may not be able to do the heart transplant, it’s just that the Cardiac surgeon is much better at that. So, why is it that someone would ask a commercial portrait, food, interiors, and still life photographer to shoot their wedding? Isn’t that what we have wedding photographers for?

What these people have learned is that I will take pictures at their wedding if they invite me to their wedding and ask me to bring my camera. What can I say, weddings are a good old fashion drinking and dancing celebration that I enjoy. While having myself a grand old time I will break out my camera and shoot pictures of whatever is going on. I can’t help myself, it’s my inner wedding photographer coming out I guess. It also helps if it’s the wedding of a photographer friend since they will usually understand my not wanting to be “the wedding photographer”.

These images are from some of the weddings I attended this year. My friends who got married were Jess Barnard, Andrea Thompson, and Whitney Dunnigan. The weddings were in Los Angeles CA, Holyoke MA, and Lambertville NJ. I must say, they were great fun weddings and the photographs show that. Enjoy!

If you ever find yourself in Idaho or the general area and feel like seeing something “different” then make your way to Craters of the Moon National Monument. I had the joy of going there on a previous roadtrip and thought It was totally worth the trip. (http://www.nps.gov/crmo/)

You feel like you’ve left this planet and landed on the moon. The landscape is made up of nothing but lava flows and tourists wandering them. In the summer is is really hot on the surface, but if you take a walk down into some of the lava caves it can be freezing cold .. careful for the ice!

This is really a very unique place and if you’re on a road trip or looking for something cheap to do for vacation since nobody seems to have extra money anymore because of the economy, make your way to idaho!

For years now I have been photographing catalog images for the clothing company Johnston & Murphy (www.johnstonandmurphy.com). They have just recently launched a women’s line to go hand and hand with their high quality mens line. I shot this image recently which is on their website currently which displays both their mens and womens items in one photograph. It was a tricky image, but looks great for the holidays.

I photographed this story recently which is now in the current issue of Philadelphia home magazine. It was an amazingly beautiful apartment on Rittenhouse square owned by Laurie Phillips and Barry Milberg. Their collection of art and furniture was impressive to say the least. All the rooms were amazing, and unfortunately there wasn’t enough room in the magazine to include all of them. They also had some beautiful wood pieces made by George Nakashima amongst others. Enjoy!

Over the last few months I photographed some advertisements for Verizon wireless. The ad agency in charge of the shoot was McCann Erickson Worldwide here in NYC. Here I photographed the new Dare Phone and the new LG Chocolate 3. Here are some of the ads that the images were used in.

Just yesterday, Hearst Publications in connection with the Food Network launched Food Network magazine. I was fortunate enough to have photographed the cover of the new magazine. I also photographed the sandwich on the table of contents page as well which was a lot of fun.

On set for the magazine was Editor in Chief Maile Carpenter, Design Director Deirdre Koribanick, and Photo Editor Alice Albert. The food stylist was Liza Jernow, and prop stylist was Gerri Williams. I look forward to hopefully photographing more for this wonderful new magazine.

A few months ago I photographed this home in Chester County, PA for Philadelphia Home. It was a beautiful home owned by Dave Thal and Hope Nichols. On the shoot styling was Mariellen Mekler, and creative director Anne Bigler. It was a fine home with a beautiful artist studio / pottery studio in the back. I could live there!

A few weeks ago I went on a personal road trip to get away and take some pictures. I started the trip in Birmingham, Alabama, and ended in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was a nice journey and there was some beautiful scenery along the way .. and .. lots and lots of corn fields!

Here are some pictures from the road. I will have more to add soon.

On Aug 10th, 2008 I competed in my first triathlon. It was a Sprint distrance triathlon held at Nockamixon State park in the lehigh Valley in PA called the steelman triathlon. I was pretty happy with my performance overall since it was my first triathlon and all. I finished in 1:38 min. It was a 830m swim in the lake, 12.8 rolling hills bikeride, and 5k run.

Here are some of the pictures taken by Brightroom photography. My next event is Sep 14 in Sag Harbor long island. It’s a Olympic distance triathlon, which is twice the distance of this one!

Today I want to write about something a little different. The life of this photographer beyond the camera.

At the beginning of this year I vowed as a new year’s resolution to try to restore some balance to my life. My problem is I’m a very “all-or-nothing” kind of person and have a hard time doing anything not at 150000% effort. This has been a golden truth for me for some years now. In keeping with that attitude about three and a half months ago I decided to start exercising more and dieting. At this point I have now lost 65 lbs and am scheduled to compete in my first Triathlon on Aug 10th. It’s been a wild journey, and haven’t been easy, but I feel great and I feel it’s been absolutely worth while. Unfortunately I haven’t been doing so good at the whole “balance” thing. I have neglected my blog and haven’t been doing personal photo projects as much as I should. With this, I’m starting to realize that no matter what I do, I will always be an all or nothing kind of person, and it is one of my greatest strengths, although it has its drawbacks. I will be more active in keeping with the blog from now on. I have a lot of new work to share and discuss and it’s not fair to you to keep it to myself.

So, I’m back … and better than ever … and looking forward to take many more amazing pictures this year.

Recently I photographed some interesting burgers for Quick and Simple magazine published by hearst. They have a summery feel and I think they’re fun. We even got to play with sparklers!

Food styling was by Susan Vajaranant, Prop Styling was was done by Penelope Bouklas, and on set for the magazine was Photo Director Keri Pampuch.

There is currently a shoot I did for macys.com wedding registry site, or wedding channel site online. It was a really pretty story I enjoyed shooting. Styling was done by Patrick Murphy, and Art Directing by Jill Groeber.

Most people think photographers just sit around and take pictures all day long, but most don’t realize the amount of editing that goes into the process as well. I find it’s more like taking pictures all day, and editing all night. Recently I was re-editing my printed portfolios and wanted to share the process with you all.

I make small prints of my rough edits first, organize them together by type of imagery, then lay them out on tables in my studio and start pairing images together, editing out my least favorites, and eventually coming down to a final edit. The process is very intense, and long. When I’m in editing mode, I may work 90 hours weeks, but at the end, I feel the final product of this process is worth the effort.

I just did a huge update to my main website . I added new images to just about every category. check it out!

Being a very visual person, the spaces I surround myself with are really important to me. This goes for the space I work in, and the space I live in. I figured today I’d share with you the spaces I live my life in. My photo studio which is located on the west side in Manhattan is a beautiful 1,600 sq. foot space with lots of light which I designed to make me and my client’s many hours there enjoyable. I even designed and installed the kitchen by myself. So Crafty!

My apt is in Park Slope, Brooklyn and is a beautiful 19th century brownstone building located right off of Prospect Park. The neighborhood is beautiful and quiet but with lots still going on. These are a couple shots I took of my apt when I had my housewarming party a while back. I have bay windows on both sides of the space which gives me lots of daylight all day long. I may not be home very often as I’m always working, but when I’m home, I love my apt. I’ve rented it out for photo shoots.

Last week I visited Minneapolis to meet with some of the great creative agencies in the city and on my free time, I wandered the area with my camera. The city happened to have gotten some beautiful soft white snow in the days I was there and these images are a study of that blanket of white snow. It was beautiful and became more of a study of what was not white, than what was white. I shot around lake Calhoun and wandered the countryside outside the city as well. Enjoy!

I must say, there is no better subject to photograph than a good friend. They usually ignore the camera, they act themselves when you’re around, and the not afraid to laugh real big in front of you .. in my case … usually to my jokes … oh, wait, maybe I’m not that funny … hmm? I think I am …

Here are a couple images I shot when I want apple picking upstate last fall. With a little adjustment to color and contrast, these images really pop. I love these images. So, next time you hang out with me … smile really big … click, click, click …

For the last couple of years I have been shooting the Johnston and Murphy Catalog. They are a wonderful client to work with, along with the catalog agency Pluzynski Associates who manages the account. Sometimes my images are used for things more than just the catalog and internet, sometimes they are blown up really large and put in the in-store displays. It’s always fun as a photographer to be walking down the street and see your images huge in a store window where thousands of people pass by them every day.

Last night I was walking around town with a friend taking pictures with a pinhole camera I had make myself and at the same time, I was carrying my new Canon 1Ds Mark III camera taking snapshots along the way. The Canon is amazing in low-light situations and it allowed me to capture some fun images. I love the first 2 as a dip-tic.

These are some current images live on the macys.com website right now. These are a combination of 2 different shoots all based on this green british garden theme I did for macys.com. They were a lot of fun considering that we were shooting kitchen ware.

Here are some more images also shot for Quick and Simple magazine recently of savory foods. Most of these were cover try shoots for the magazine. We spent WAY too much time on the sandwich picture, but I think it turned out well. My favorites to eat were the pork and meatballs.

This is a compilation of images of deserts I have photographed recently for Quick and Simple magazine. Also in this series are some images with an Easter theme as well, but since they are sweet I figured they’d fit right in with this group. My favorites were the mini Key lime pie’s!

In the new Spring issue of Philadelphia Home magazine there is a story a shot back in the early fall about a home which is designed very modern, yet works with a family with kids at the same time. This House was absolutely beautiful and I wanted to move in. The house was designed by the LA and Philadelphia based Otto Design Group. Everything was hidden behind closets, and the closets themselves blended so well with the house.

Check out the story in the Spring 08 Issue which is out now. The Story was written by Janine White and the Stylist on set was Mariellen Melker.

Sorry for the delay in blog posts, but I have pretty much been out of town the last 2 weeks.

Here are a few more images from my Craigslist on the Road series. I’m really happy with how the project is coming along. The locations really are adding a lot to the images. Enjoy!

I plan on shooting some more images very soon. I’m excited!!

Here is another portrait series from my new Craigslist on the Road project. I think they’re fun.

Last Saturday I photographed Comedian Dave Lester at the Five Spot Supper Club to kick off of my Craigslist on the road project. He hosts 5 for Funny Tuesdays there and figured it would be a good place to photograph him. He was a lot of fun and very animated. Here are some edits from that shoot.

For almost 2 years now I’ve been working on a project photographing people from Craigslist in my studio. These photographs have been taken in a very uniform manner, trying to bring out the personality in everyone in the very sterile environment which is the studio. It’s been amazing on so many levels, but this year I am adding a new direction to it.

This weekend I kicked off a new part of the project where I placed ads on Craigslist for people willing to let me photograph them in the home or workplace. Shooting someone to their environment brings a completely different existence to the photographs of them. It is no longer just about expression, but about them as part of their environment. I had a great amount of responses to these posts, and photographed 6 people this last weekend.

The mystery of what lies before me when showing up at a strangers doorway is thrilling. Not only do I not really know what this person is going to be like, but what their environment is going to bring to the photograph. Here are some images from one of my shoots this weekend. This was shot in a small apartment in Queens on Sunday. The whole process from start to finish was only about an hour as I had another person scheduled afterwards. This is an excellent example of how an environment can be transformed and how the person fits into it. I will be posting more images from this weekend in the next few days as I get them edited.

For many people the idea of flying in a big commercial plane to go somewhere far away is incredibly frightening. I’m sure that those same people would probably never volunteer to fly around in a tiny 4 seater Cessna plane just for the fun of it. I grew up flying in small planes as my dad has always flown as a hobby of sorts. When I visited for Christmas, he offered to take me up for a quick flight in his plane just for the fun of it and I jumped on the chance.

If you’ve never been on a plane this small, it really can be kinda a relaxing experience. You’re like a leaf in the wind, and you’re moving much slower than commercial planes so you get to see more. You get a chance to really look around and enjoy the view in 360 degrees. Plus, no security checks or lines at the airport to get on the plane, just walk to the plane and jump on.

Here are some images I shot along the way. We took off from an airport in Kendall, FL, which is a suburb of Miami. We flew East over Key Biscayne, then South to Homestead, back West into the Everglades, and then landed back at the same airport. The whole trip was about an hour. It was a pretty day and a nice little trip around the Miami area with my camera.

I have always found it really interesting how man shapes the environment we live in. It becomes even more interesting when we look at how our designs interact with nature. I had an opportunity to shoot some interesting images from a plane of different interactions between man and nature. These images were all shot in the greater Miami area. Enjoy!

Being a photographer is very much unlike any other profession out there. When you’re a photographer, it isn’t just your 9-5 job, it’s your 24/7/365 job. When you’re a Doctor, Lawyer, or Engineer, you’re not expected to work while you’re at your family’s christmas dinner. But when you’re a photographer, you’re expected to be a photographer all the time, and I very much live up to that expectation. What can I say, I love photographing.

Here is part 1 or a 2-part post involving pictures of my family in Miami I took while I was down visiting over christmas. I enjoy photographing my family, especially when it doesn’t involve posed group pictures, but just pictures of everyone being themselves and having a good time. I even photographed the dog. All these pictures were shot on Dec 24th at my family’s “Noche buena” party.

This is part 2 of a 2 part post about my visit to Miami over Christmas to see my family.

Kids and elderly people are similar in many ways. They never want to smile or pose for the camera when you want them to. Here are some pictures of my cousins and my grandparents when they come over for lunch one day while I was in Miami. I like some of the ‘moments’ and expressions I captured here.

For quite some time now I have been shooting the macys.com wedding registry homepage images. These shoots have produced some beautiful still life product images over the years and everytime I shoot it I hope to make it even better. I wanted to share a few of the images from the January wedding channel shoot which I thought were really pretty.

The art director on this shoot for macys.com was Jill Groeber and the prop stylist was Patrick Murphy.

Happy New Year! What is better than a great new years party? I great new years party with a photo setup for people to get their picture taken with their friends.

I hosted a grand party at my studio to bring in 2008 with a bang, and what a party it was. I want to thank everyone who came and celebrated the new year with me. It really was a wonderful time for all. To view more images from the new years party, go HERE. I look forward to a great 2008 and please keep checking out the blog for new images and words by your truly. I update it frequently!

When I moved into my new apartment in Park Slope , Brooklyn I had a housewarming wine and cheese party for friends and clients. I really enjoy planning parties, most probably because they’re kinda like photo shoots. Just like a great photo shoot, a great party needs to be well planned to make everything go smoothly.

For this party, I went to the cheese cave at Artisanal in Manhattan to get recommendations for the cheeses to serve at my party. The staff there is incredibly knowledgeable and you can taste the cheeses before you buy them. They also were kind enough to give me wine pairing suggestions as well.

Nothing goes better with cheese than fresh breads, fruits, and crackers. I stopped at the Park Slope farmers market on Saturday morning and picked up a wide variety of grapes, dried fruits, jams, breads, and more for the party. On the way home I stopped at the local wine shop, ordered my wines to pair with my cheeses, and away I went.

When planning your wine and cheese party, it’s nice to have proper serving dishes for you cheese and snacks. I recommend some wooden cutting boards or slate pieces that are nice and solid and won’t slide around too much. You’ll also need a variety of cheese knives to cut different consistency cheeses.

As a photographer, I couldn’t help but arrange my table as nice as I could and take some quick pictures of the setup.The party was a lot of fun and all the cheese was very happily consumed. Hopefully this gives you some ideas for your own party!

I had the opportunity to photograph Christopher Buckley for AARP the magazine a little while back. For those who may not know of him, he’s an amazing writer and political satirist. He wrote the book Thank you for Smoking which the recent movie was based on.

I only had a short time to photograph Christopher, but he was very entertaining and a good sport, even with my flash blinding him on every pop.

With the Holidays in full swing, I wanted to share a story I shot for Thanksgiving this year for Quick & Simple magazine. We had a grand old thanksgiving feast at my studio this past in September with all the traditional thanksgiving recipes including turkey, gravy, stuffing, creamed spinach, sweet potatoes, punch, and pecan pie. We even put together a leftovers turkey sandwich with a combination of the ingredients.

Food stylist on this shoot was Margarette Adams with Marnie Rose Agency. The prop stylist was Laurent Laborie with Halley Resources and on set for the magazine we had Teresa Wilcox, Kati Korpijaakko, and Keri Pampuch-Tollen.

I have always had a fascination with photographing and living around water. Maybe it’s because I’m a Cancer, or because I was born and raised in Miami, FL and was always close to water. Here are various images all taken on Lake Ontario at different points in my time living in Rochester.

The first image is my favorite of all the images I’ve shot on the lake. The color palate and the softness of the sky and water blending together as well as the addition of a small boat out in the water with a man fishing on it makes this image amazing when printed large.

The rest of the images mostly revolve around a night series I did around the lake. The long shutter speeds blend day into night and offer a surreal feeling to the images. Another fun aspect to these images is the way the poles in the ground, the rails on the pier, and the parking lot poles intertwine when viewing these images as a series. I miss the lake …

I don’t think there is a single photographer in existence who has never taken pictures of fruit. Painters have studied these divine shapes created by nature for centuries. It’s only natural that photographers have followed their path. Now, the challenge, how does one photograph something that has been studied in such detail by mankind for so long? How do you make unique and beautiful images of something that has been painted, drawn, and photographed in so many different ways?

A while back I did a few different series on fruit. The first images here were shot using a method called painting with light. I had like 3 different mag-lights of different sizes (AA, AAA, etc) and mixed and matched to get the painterly look I wanted. I also included some other images done at various times. Some where i put the fruit themselves on a painted background, and some fruit just in a bowl. I can start a whole thread on just fruit in a bowl. Enjoy!

Who doesn’t want to look slimmer in seconds? In the current (Jan ‘08) issue of Good Housekeeping you can find this story I photographed about ways to dress slimmer. Everything worked out great on this shoot. The models were great, the hair and makeup were perfect, the background and props fit everything nicely, and the direction was good.

This story was shot here in NYC at The Space studios a few months ago. On set for the magazine was Fashion Editor Aretha Busby and Photo Editor Bill Swan. Hair was done by Michael Johnson, Makeup by Jane Choi, and Prop Styling was by Richard Owings. Our Models on set were Kate Stone, Tierney Smith, Lauren Houdlett, and Lea Sorenson who were a lot of fun and looked beautiful Pick up a copy and check it out yourself.

I find it interesting how so many photographers feel they need to travel to far away places to find interesting images or to get inspired. The truth of the matter is that you can make interesting images just about anywhere and the most overlooked place is usually close to home.

There is something about going to a foreign place for the first time and the way one’s eye sees things that very first time. For me it’s not just about what I see, but the feeling I get from this new place. It all effects my pictures. At the same time, there is also something to be said about revisiting places you’ve been to 100 times before and taking a fresh look at everything.

When I got a call from AARP the magazine to shoot a story on Spanish Harlem, I was happy to accept the challenge. Shooting in a place so close to home was going to be a challenge. It’s easy to overlook those things which you see everyday. Once I got to the neighborhood and started talking to people, exploring the area, and taking pictures, I felt like I was no longer in Manhattan anymore. It was a great experience and I recommend everyone take a closer look at the spaces near your home … again … you may be surprised with what you find.

One of my favorite places I photographed was Justo Botanica. It has all sorts of religious and spiritual items and statues which are really cool and the owner is really nice. Best meal I had in the neighborhood was brunch at Itzocan Bistro, the eggs benedict were great as well as just about everything else I had there was tasty. I also photographed in the Museo del Barrio, which had some great hispanic artists on display. For a different cultural experience, you should walk by the Graffiti Hall of Fame if you’re ever in the neighborhood, they also give tours.

Changes in weather always provide for interesting images. This shot was taken one foggy frosty night a while ago in Rochester. The frost and the floating cloud of fog above the parking lot made for a cool environment. I just loved the texture of the car and the way the fog affected the lights in the parking lot. Maybe I’ll get another chance soon with winter here.

For almost 2 years now I have been working on a personal project about the people of Craigslist. I have photographed almost 100 people so far and plan on continuing the project indefinitely. Here are some of my newest images from the project. In order of appearance we have Bob James who is an Elvis and Neil Diamond impersonator, artist and musician Chelsea, dancer, choreographer, and actress Vergi Rodriguez, and consumer packaged goods company sales rep Sharon.

The project continues to get more and more exciting for me as I keep meeting new people with ever more interesting stories of their experiences on craigslist.org. You can watch video interviews of some of the craigslist project subjects on the website in the video section. You can also view more images from the project there as well.

A couple years ago while shooting a job in the Badlands for Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine I had the pleasure of photographing Mary “Chip” Tautkus of Chubby Chipmunk Chocolates in Deadwood, SD . It’s a chocolate oasis in a unique part of the US.

The writer of the story, Panio Gianopoulos had come across her little store while looking around Deadwood for interesting things to experience and write about. The next day, I went by with him and photographed some of Chips amazing truffles and also did a portrait of Chip. It was a great experience and we both left with a full stomach. If you’re ever in that part of the world, you should stop in and say hi to Chip who will probably be there working hard on new truffle flavors.

As a photographer I am always striving to make my clients happy and at the same time create images I really like myself. Sometimes these two ideals aren’t always synchronous. I may feel doing something different would be more creative where the client may be more focused on properly spotlighting all the product in an image. At the same time, making the best images is rarely just about just me. Much of the time it’s about the team of people who are working together to make these images.

For the last two years I have photographed the Petrossian Caviar catalog and every year it gets better and better. This year the client gave us lots of creative freedom for the covers of the catalog which made for some great photographs. For the last couple years the crew has been the same. The Catalog Agency was Pluzynski and Associates, the Art Director was Susan Klapholz, Food Stylist was Alison Attenborough, and Prop Stylist was Robert Quadrini.

Earlier this year I photographed an Ad for Nokia N Series with R/GA highlighting the N95 and N800 Devices for a huge campaign running mostly in NYC. You may have seen it in the local magazines and bus stops if you live in NYC.

On some of my more complex shoots it’s always fun to show some behind the scenes images. In this series I am showing the finished Ad, a view of how the background was created, and a view of the entire setup in my studio. In total I think I used 6 power packs, 12 lights, and a bunch of different types of diffusion material and reflective cards to make the final image.

With Black Friday already behind us some of you may be looking for gift ideas for the holidays. Here is a story that I photographed for a new magazine called Organize Magazine on clutter free gifting recently. The story is by Monica Ricci and it was styled by Linda Heiss. The article is about alternatives to the everyday gift and it offers fresh views on gift giving. Either try to pickup the magazine, or email me for the article. They also mentioned me on the contributers page. Thanks!

With the cold weather settling in, I chose to reflect of some warm weather images today. One thing some don’t realize is how far in advance travel images need to be shot sometimes. For example, I just shot a fall story on pumpkin patches and apple picking a few weeks ago for Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine, but those images won’t come out in the magazine until next Fall.

The tearsheets I’m showing today are some images I shot last winter in the Turks and Caicos Islands for S3 magazine which is a beautifully designed and printed magazine based down there. The main story is a photo documentary on the Blue Hills neighborhood. The people were very nice and open to being photographed making this such a great story.

This year I have been shooting a bunch of jobs in Philadelphia for Philadelphia Magazine. Here I am showcasing some recent tear-sheets from both Philadelphia Wedding and Philadelphia Home magazines. The wedding fashion story is about pastel colored wedding gowns and was shot in my studio. The home interior images were shot in a house on Spruce street in Philadelphia where the owner wasn’t scared to use vivant colors in her decorating. Enjoy!

Day 8

Distance: 20 Miles

I arrived in Scottsdale last night and checked into the Mondrian Hotel. I must say that I am a big fan of this hotel. Everything from the room, to the service was great. The weird part is you kinda feel like you’re on South Beach, but you’re really not in Miami at all.

I walked around Scottsdale for a few hours photographing. I gravitated mostly to cool color combinations or nice graphic compositions. I also found a great little church which has been restored recently. It really has a crazy story of being used as lots of different things over the years. Only recently was it reverted back to a church again.

It was different being back in a real city. I drove around Phoenix for a bit before heading to the airport but wasn’t really inspired by anything. Time to take the Red-eye back to NYC. Goodbye nice weather!

Day 7

Distance: 380 Miles

Today I went on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. It’s similar to a ski lift, but it raises you up from 2,600 ft at the base to 8,500 ft at the top, in about 10 minutes. The fun part, is that it’s at a gradient of 26 degrees on average, with a maximum gradient of 42 degrees. That is steep! To add to the fun, the floor of the tram car rotates on the way up and down giving you 360 degree views. If ever in Palm Spring, it’s a must. After the tram, I drove back to Phoenix to just about end my journey. I will have 1 more post to finish up the Road trip portion of the blog tomorrow.

Day 6

Distance: 420 Miles

I woke up today at the Grand Canyon. I had never seen it before and must say that it is indeed quite grand. I explored the Southern Rim and drove along the rim east towards Desert View. If you ever come here, I would recommend the drive. You get some great views of the canyon.

I wanted to do a helicopter flight seeing tour of the canyon, but the timing didn’t work out. I then drove to 29 Palms, ca where my cousin lives with her husband who is a marine. He’s away in Iraq, and since I was close by, I spent thanksgiving with her and her friends. It was a grand old time.

Day 5

Distance: 515 Miles

As a photographer I’m always trying to shoot something different than other photographers, or other people. This usually involves doing things that many may consider a little stupid or crazy. Stepping over the barrier to get a picture that much closer even though you can plummet a thousand feet to your death, driving down a dirt road that the gps says is there but barely resembles a road, in your rental car, not a hummer, and so many other things.

Today I did something stupid which made me drive a lot more than I was supposed to and made me waste a lot of time. I decided to take a random dirt road for 40 miles which my gps said would get me where I needed to go. Unfortunately after about 30 miles, the road was no longer a road by any defninition and and I had to turn around and come right back down that same road. I saw a few Elk in the woods which was kinda cool, but beyond that, didn’t really get any pictures out of the experience. I had to try!

Today I made the long drive from Santa Fe, NM to the Grand Canyon. I stopped at the Meteor Crater just south of Winslow, AZ which was pretty cool, I mean, it’s a crater, made by a meteor, in the desert. I also stopped off the highway a few times to shoot some pictures of the random things we find off the side of the highway. Enjoy!

Day 4

Distance: 410 Miles

What is better than a bunch of brightly spray painted cadillacs buried half way in the ground, in the middle of a pasture, surrounded by cows, in the middle of Texas? Not much, especially when it’s the first thing you run into when beginning your journey for the day. I introduce to you Kadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX.

It was a great day! The land changed significantly today as I drove from the flat prairies of Texas to the mountains of NM. Part of my drive took me along route 66 which was beautiful and kinda nostalgic in a way. What’s more american than driving your car down Route 66 with the windows down and the classic rock blasting. I only had to dodge 1 cow, he really didn’t want to move … he tried to stare me down, but I was bigger than him.

I stopped in Taos on my way to Santa Fe and photographed at the Taos Pueblo. It was waaaay touristy, but worth seeing. It was a beautiful drive to Santa Fe. Tomorrow I venture to the Grand Canyon. 

Day 3 - Part 2

Distance: 350 Miles

These are images from the drive to Amarillo, TX from White Sands. I passed threw Roswell, NM on the way there which was kinda interesting, but not as interesting as I was hoping. I had another day of great weather. I’m not going to want to come back to NYC after a few days of 80 degree weather.

There wasn’t a whole lot going on during this drive. Lots and lots of open spaces.

Day 3

Distance: 350 Miles

Last night I stayed in Alamogordo, NM which is right outside White Sands National Park. I was really excited to go to white sands from the pictures I had seen of it. I get there early in the morning, but unfortunately there were “Missile tests” going on so I had to wait for a while before being allowed in. Missile tests huh?

I shot so much today that I’m breaking up the day into 2 posts. White sands is amazing. It really is unlike any other place I’ve ever been too. I shot a bunch of pictures, and here they are.

Day 2

Distance: 475 Miles

Lots of driving today. I must say for a while, I really was in the middle of nowhere. Driving down an empty desert road, nothing as far as my eye can see, the radio station blasting the only station I could get, county music, with a bit of static. What can I say, it was a great day.

I left Tucson a little later than I wanted to because I needed to go to BestBuy first to solve a technical issue I was having. EIther way, I headed Southeast and got off the main highway for awhile, and made lots of stops along the road. Drove threw the quaint town of Bisbee Az and onto El Paso where I met up with a family I had made plans with to photograph.

Jesse, Chrys, and Jesse Jr. are locals of El Paso, via Hawaii, as well as Craigslist lovers (how I found them). They were a lot of fun, I made them laugh a lot, and took a bunch of pictures of them. I photographed them at an overlook off the side of the road which had a great view of the city. I stuck around a bit and photographed the landscape for a while after they left, then headed to Alamogordo where I will be staying the night. White Sands, Roswell, and Amarillo tomorrrow. I need some rest.

Day 1

Distance: 130 Miles

I landed in Phoenix today, got in the car, and started the roadtrip. I drove to Tucson taking a few detours along the way. It was a nice warm sunny day and a nice sunset. I shot some interesting stuff along the way. Tomorrow I head for El Paso and White Sands, NM.

When starting something new, it’s hard to decide where to start. So I figured for the beginning of this blog, why not highlight a couple firsts in my life. I have posted here a few images from my first jobs.

The first image is from the first editorial job I was ever paid to do. I was still living in Miami, just a year or two out of high school, and got a call from Florida Leader magazine. I needed to photograph 2 high school students for the cover. A cover! WOW! I was excited. Total budget was $300 for film, processing, and anything else I needed to make this happen. I think I made a $100 profit.

The next 2 images were from the first editorial job I got when I moved to NYC. I had only been here about 2 months when I get a call from Saveur magazine to do a shoot. I had showed my portfolio to them the week I moved the nyc. I had to shoot 2 images that day at 2 different locations. A bar in Times square to photograph a bottle of rum, and picture of the maître fromager at Picholine in NYC Max McCalman and a plate of his cheese. I must say, the day went pretty smooth, and they were happy with the images. I continued to photograph for Saveur for the next 2 years.

There is always a beginning to everything, the images are some of my beginnings.

Starting this Saturday the 19th, I’m going to venture on a photographic journey in the form of a road trip in the US Southwest. I will be updating the blog everyday as I shoot new images so check back everyday to see what I’ve been shooting. I’m going to cover some serious mileage, over 2000 miles I believe on the quest to capture the landscape and people of the American West.

Schedule:

17 Saturday - Fly into Phoenix and drive to Tuscon

18 Sunday - Drive to EL Paso, TX and continue up to Alamogordo, NM

19 Monday - Drive up to Amarillo, TX

20 Tuesday - Drive across to Santa Fe, NM / Taos

21 Wednesday - Drive to Grand Canyon

22 Thursday - Drive down to Joshua Tree, CA / Happy T-giving

23 Friday - Drive to Palm Springs, CA

24 Saturday - Get back to Phoenix area and fly back on red-eye

Welcome to my Photo Blog!

As a photographer, I take pictures just about every day of my life. It’s what I do, what I love, and who I am. The addition of this blog to my website will help me share those images with the world on an everyday basis. There is so much more to pictures than just the end image. The experience associated with the taking of those pictures is a big part of what makes photographs so special to me. The people you photograph, the places you visit, the sets you make, and all the creative people who work together to create an image out of a pile of stuff. I hope to share with you all who chose to visit the blog, all my experieces, journeys, and everything that happens behind the scenes of my images.

Thanks for visiting

Steve