Heavy Lifting

Down Texas way, my friend Jeff Lynch, he of Serious Amateur Photography, recently blogged about some landscape photography he’s been shooting. In his post, he referred to Neil Diamond’s He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother song.

Right here, I have to admit two things: One, I had never heard the song. Two, when I first read his post, I read it as Neil Young, not Neil Diamond. So as I was forming this post in my head, I was looking forward to searching YouTube for some cool Neil “The Grandfather of Grunge” Young song.

Instead, upon the re-read, I found I need to look for Neil Diamond.

Annnnndddd…..I found it.

Eh. Sorry, Jeff.

Still, to each his own when it comes to musical taste. One man’s Ian Anderson is another man’s Darius Rucker. So be it.

But what really struck me about Jeff’s post was that I recently processed some images and had actually titled one, He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.

I actually remember this phrase as a tag line associated with Father Flannagan’s Boy’s Town. In fact, their silouette logo is a representation of this phrase.

But I digress. Last week, my wife was laid up with piercing migraines and some other physical issues. She was, basically and unfortunately, bedridden for much of the week (doing MUCH better now though). Anyway, I stayed home to watch over the Little One. While I felt bad for my wife, I did enjoy the one-on-one time with Olivia. Our days were somewhat structured and I’d always try to find a field trip to take her on.

One day, I asked her if she wanted to go look for turtles. She responded with an enthusiastic “Yeah!” so off we went to Allentown, New Jersey. Allentown is one of my favorite little NJ towns and they had a nature path I wanted to explore with Liv and my camera. So we did. And, as you can see from above, we did find turtles.

And ducks too. I was really excercising my inner Moose Peterson on this little outing.

I told you to put the quackers on my bill!!!!

In the hour or so that we spent rambling around, we saw some really cool things and Olivia loved it. But my favorite frame of the day wasn’t of a turtle or a duck. This was one of those times when I saw the image in my head as it developed and I was just lucky enough that all elements held together long enough for me to get it. I really like this one.

Large, On Black

The moment it clicks….I’m already looking to frame this one.

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Oh, I almost forgot (actually I did and am now editing this post). I hated to read this, I hate to hear this. Another of my photographer friends, Chris Klug over at Patterns Of Light ‘n Dark is going through a really rough time right now thanks to this unbelievable economic downturn. Unfortunately, Chris has to sell some gear to help things along. In his Transitions post, he details what he’s selling. Chris is a great shooter and takes care of his gear the way I take care of my two-year old. You can’t go wrong. If something sparks your fancy, contact either me and I’ll put you in touch with Chris, or Chris himself.

To Chris I say…just hang in there my friend. Tie a knot, hang on and we’ll all help you through this. And please keep shooting if you can – your stuff is too good not to be shared.

© Mark V. Krajnak 2009 | JerseyStyle Photography | All rights Reserved
Unless otherwise noted, images captured with a Canon 20D, SanDisk digital film, finished with PS2 and Nik Software

Around The Horn

Man, what a great 4th of July weekend here in the Great State of New Jersey!

Weather was awesome, the grills were heated, I saw some baseball, worked in the yard, spent time with the family, had a few cold ones…what more, really, can a guy ask for? I even got some cool images. Here’s a bit of a wrap up before I have to head back into the office…

Evening comes to South Philly. Shot this while walking around Citizens’ Bank Ballpark on Friday. Sometimes the most interesting images at a game are away from the game….Was at one end and looked over and saw this interesting image across the way…

Still, sometimes you have to keep your eye on the ball…

And I’m just not sure this equipment bag is the answer to the Mets’ bullpen woes….

Yep, it was a pretty great weekend. Next up: Getting back in the office saddle and getting ready for a trip to Chicago next week…

© Mark V. Krajnak 2009 | JerseyStyle Photography | All rights Reserved
Unless otherwise noted, images captured with a Canon 20D, SanDisk digital film, finished with PS2 and Nik Software

Baseball In The Cradle of Liberty

There’s a few things I really like. Three of them are baseball….baseball in the Cradle of Liberty…and baseball on the 4th of July.

Ok, two out of three ain’t bad.

This will be quick post. Just got home a few hours ago from the Mets/Phillies game (Phillies win, 7-2), and was happy with some of the images I got and wanted to share them in case anyone is checking out this tiny, dusty corner of the Internet on the 4th of July. Hope everyone has a fantastic holiday!

Pregame gave me some really cool skies that I did a bit of an HDR-effect to using the Nik filters.

View On Black

A fan razzes Mets leftfielder Nick Evans after he botches a fly ball in the first inning. I had my eye on this guy in the Utley t-shirt. Knew he was going to give me something at some point. Yeah, I know I got some noise in the lower right hand corner from another fan’s shirt. But I still like the image.

A birds-eye view of Citizens’ Bank Ballpark. It’s really a great place to watch a game.

View On White

Oh, and I had the opportunity to take a portrait of two really cool people. Believe they said their names were Ben and Betsy, but I missed the last names…

More to come from the game in a bit….Happy Independence Day to all my American readers.

© Mark V. Krajnak 2009 | JerseyStyle Photography | All rights Reserved
Unless otherwise noted, images captured with a Canon 20D, SanDisk digital film, finished with PS2 and Nik Software

Here’s…..Johnny D!

Ah. It’s the 4th of July Weekend! We got the beer on ice. We got the hot dogs on the grill. The slaw? Yeah, that’s here too.

And we have the BIG LONG WEEKEND MOVIE BLOCKBUSTER scorching hot too.

It’s the Johnny D’s. Johnny Depp as John Dillinger. My genre. My time. My type of movie. Yeah, I’ll be seeing it.

Let’s not forget that I have a little sumtin’ sumtin’ in common with Mr. D. as well. Yep, we’ve both run afoul of the law a time or two. We’ve been pursued. We’ve had John Q. Law slap the shackles on our wrists. The cold steel as it were. The difference, though, is that Mr. Dillinger bought the farm outside of a theater in Chicago. Me? I’ve mended my ways to toe the straight and narrow and become a full time father, sometime photographer and somewhat blogger. We can all reform, brothers and sisters. But the mugshots DO live on.

Hey, even the greats could get popped here in the state of New Jersey. Carrying on with a married gal, running hooch across state lines….Just know a good bail man and be on your way, that’s what I always say. Luckily, I do…

Big ups to Otis Taylor for the killer licks on the Public Enemies trailer. A track called Ten Million Slaves off the album Recapturing The Banjo. Find it at Amazon or iTunes. Good stuff.

© Mark V. Krajnak 2009 | JerseyStyle Photography | All rights Reserved
Unless otherwise noted, images captured with a Canon 20D, SanDisk digital film, finished with PS2 and Nik Software

That Time Of The Year

Sundown, sundown
The carnival trains’ leavin’ town
Where are you now my darlin’ Billy?
~ The Last Carnival, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band

It’s that time of the year here in the Great State of New Jersey, as I’m sure it is all across this great nation of ours.

It’s carnival time.

Block parties, township carnivals or church bazaars, the carney is pulling into town, tapping in stakes and putting up the neon lights. The smell of cotton candy lines your nose and if you’re lucky…if you’re LUCKY….a polka is ringing in your ears.

Ah, summer.

A long time ago, oh about 17 years ago now, when I still fancied myself a writer, I put together a short story called Ferris Wheels. About a young boy that dreams of running away with the carnival that comes to town to escape the mess that was his life. Marginally successful. Got published. Won an award. Maybe the last really creative piece I ever put on paper. One and done as they say…but it stays with me.

Anyway, had the chance to go to a local carnival last week. Took my Little One, the first time she could really navigate the crowds and the rides and enjoy the fact that I’d pay $2 at some crappy game for her to win a .50 cent prize. Bernie Madoff never ran such a scam.

But what the hell, we had a good time. And I got a few neat images that I then took the extreme a bit in post. I don’t really like to over-process my work – though maybe I should – but these images were just asking to be spanked by my Nik filters and pop a bit. I was aided by some really dramatic clouds that gave me something to work with from a visual perspective. These sure ain’t Dave Hill - if you’re into that style – but I kinda think they fit the scenes.

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I would have loved to have done a full-on photojournalistic approach to this setting but just never had the chance to pull it off. Maybe next year…

Larger, On Black.

Like I said, I had my Little One in tow. She’s two. Doesn’t sit still. Not like I had a lot of set up time. So I got what I could, trying to frame things in my head quickly as I heard “Daddy, daddy…carousel NOW” in my ear….

Larger, On Black.

In going with that photojournalistic approached, I caught this low-angle shot. Converted to B&W in Nik and burned the edges a little. I really like this one.

Larger, On Black.

And that carousel that the Little One wanted to get to? Yeah, we got there. Right before the big thunderstorm chased us home. I took the opportunity to again try the lens-zoom technique.

A good time was had by all as they say….

And for Phantom Dan Federici….

© Mark V. Krajnak 2009 | JerseyStyle Photography | All rights Reserved
Unless otherwise noted, images captured with a Canon 20D, SanDisk digital film, finished with PS2 and Nik Software

Sunday Focus: David Spira

Before I start, just want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all that contacted me as a result of the previous post. I wasn’t quite sure if I should put it out there like that, and that’s why I was vague. On one hand, we all have bad days and really bad days. Why thrust mine on you? On the other, yeah it was a rough day, but just getting behind the camera and being able to produce something that I was happy with helped. Kinda helps, you know? So, much big thanks to everyone.

Here is the second in a series of “Who Are Those Guys?” meaning, “those guys (or gals)” over there on the right, listed in my blog roll. Here’s the first.

Of course, this being a blog about my photographic influences and exploits, the lion’s share of those in the blog roll are, well, photographers. But there are a few in there that have a good reason for being. More than likely, they’ve given me knowledge about things I wouldn’t know about and/or are really good people.

My friend David Spira falls into both of those categories – he’s given me knowledge AND he’s a really good guy.

The quick background: I started my current position with my company in November 2007. When I started, I heard I’d be having a graduate student from the local university work under me and support me. All well and good. So I jumped into the job with both feet and in just a scant few days my head was spinning. Like Alice falling through the rabbit hole, I landed feet first into a HUGE project for my company – the relaunch of its corporate website – essentially the face of the company – with a whole host of players from creative to tech. I was just trying to figure out the language they spoke (it was English, for the most part, but with equal amounts of technobabble thrown in.)

David was the aforementioned grad student and de facto translator for all this geek jibberash.

Why was the he translator? Well, when you are The Geek Whisperer…certain things fall your way. Helping the new guy who also happens to be your boss is one of them.

But aside from that, I came to find David to be a very astute fellow, MUCH more so than when I was his age. He’d already had his own computer-repair business, got accepted into a tough Fellowship program, and quickly started to show his corporate chops. We launched the new website in April 2008 thanks in no small part to the role that he played. Plus, he plays a pretty mean blues guitar. Now, if I can get him to watch The Natural….

Ok, fast forward to just a couple of weeks ago. David graduated from his Fellowship program and is now off to make his way in the world. No more teachers, no more books and all that. And once his Fellowship ended, so too did his time with me and my company. But in just a matter of days, he joined a very great small creative team called Local Wisdom, which, actually, is a vendor I use a ton. Even though I’ve lost David from my team, I’m sure we’ll still be working a lot together.

On his last day, I told him I was taking him out to lunch. But of course there was a catch. In return for the lunch, he had to give me 30 minutes to do some portraits. Told him I wanted to do them “edgy geek….” Using natural light and my 75-300mm lens, I like how they came out.

I took him to a local alleyway and did some basic headshots, like you saw above. Then I shot some that in my head I knew would be converted to B&W.

Even hit one that if David ever needs to release an emo-ish album, or a book of forelorn poetry, he may want to consider this street shot.

Now, one of David’s main features are the glasses he wears. He even blogged about them. The man knows his specs. So, I wanted to somehow draw attention to this signature item in one of his protraits.

Not sure it worked, but we gave it a shot. All in all, it was a fun 30 minutes. We even came up with a fall-back career in case the Local Wisdom thing doesn’t pan out…

So give his blog a check out. He’s got a lot of good stuff to share from a technical perspective. He’s adament about backing up your hard drive. Oh is he adament about that. But a lot of other good info there as well. Bookmark it, and hit every now and again. You just may learn something from The Geek Whisperer.

© Mark V. Krajnak 2009 | JerseyStyle Photography | All rights Reserved
Unless otherwise noted, images captured with a Canon 20D, SanDisk digital film, finished with PS2 and Nik Software

Taking The Good With The Really Bad

Wow.

Life DOES like to keep you on a roller-coaster ride, doesn’t she. Don’t get to happy, buddy. You know what I’m capable of.

Like Sinatra sang in That’s Life - “You’re riding high in April/Shot Down In May.”

Except for me, it was more like ridin’ high on Tuesday, kicked in the stomach on Thursday. And uppercutted on Friday for good measure.

Won’t get into the whole long story but it’s been a rough last couple of days for me and my family. We’ll pick ourselves up and get back in the race.

And while I’ll always remember this weeks for the rough spots, it also gave me some of the most favorite images I’ve shot. See my previous post.

And for this one. Well, these two actually.

View bigger.

Unfortunately, I blew the third shot of the ladybug crawling up the Little One’s finger. I was on manual focus and just lost it somehow. Ah well. A dyptch rather than a tryptch.

Still…these images will be what brings a smile to my face when I remember a day that also brought a dark cloud to it as well.

© Mark V. Krajnak 2009 | JerseyStyle Photography | All rights Reserved
Unless otherwise noted, images captured with a Canon 20D, SanDisk digital film, finished with PS2 and Nik Software

Bring The Light….McNally Style

A few months ago, when I heard Joe McNally was again holding his lighting workshops again up in his old studio in Dobbs Ferry, New York, I was really hoping I could attend one. Wasn’t sure if it would happen, but I recently had the great experience to attend one of the day-long workshops.

And…what a day it was.

Alarm went off early and by 6:30 a.m. I was out the door and headed for the NJ Turnpike. By 7:30 I was at the GW Bridge and 10 minutes later I was on the Major Deegan. Pretty soon, I was crawling through downtown Dobbs Ferry looking for coffee.

From there the day took off. The workshop was held in Joe’s old studio which is housed this great old hulking building next to train tracks and the banks of the Hudson. Old brick, peeling paint, rust. It was perfect. After gathering my gear, I went inside and knew immediately it was going to be a fun day. I hadn’t seen Joe since last fall when he did a workshop at Adorama in NYC, so it was nice to say hello in person to him, as well as to Lynn DelMastro, Joe’s studio manager, whom I’ve known for a while, Drew Gurain, Joe’s top-notch assistant (and photographer in his own right) and others on the workshop team.

As Joe and I caught up, he called over someone to introduce me to too, none other than the fantastic Syl Arena, he of the killer PixSylated blog (if you don’t read it, start to. Now.)..and, well, hair. It was great to have Syl there since he knows all things Canon flash.

Then the whirlwind starts. Joe went over some of his photos and then BANG! it’s hands on. Lighting equipment (big and small) are ready to go, and models step in.

Joe starts off, describing what he’s doing, why he’s doing it. Hey, it’s a real class. The first images out of his Nikon don’t always work to what he wants. *shrugs* Doesn’t that happen to you? Figure out the problem and overcome it.

Right from jump street, we get to start working with the talent. They were a great bunch of models from Emmanuel Models in New York so it’s a little intimidating. Each time I’d step up to shoot them, I’d say hello, tried to make them feel comfortable and then got to work. Bead of nervous persperation running down my fce. You only had few minutes with them, better make it good.

As luck would have it, I worked with Jaira more than anyone else. As Joe said, she’s about 6′ 17″….plus heels. Great gal though, sweet smile. Kinda hard to take a bad shot of her.

The other models and dancers that joined us were stellar as well.

And one of my favorites from the whole day. But shhh….don’t tell Joe. This image is actually natural light. Like I said…hard to NOT take a good picture of Jamira.

Sure, a lot of times we stepped into a set-up that Joe had already orchestrated. We knew what to program into our cameras and the lighting was already set. Still, it was nice to produce some cool images. Taught me that while it takes experience and knowledge, it’s not as intimidating as it all looks. Just takes some thinking…and, of course, doing.

As the day went along, everyone’s nervousness calmed down. I chatted more with Syl, with Mark Astmann from Bogen, and Gary Astill, chief designer at Lastolite. What great people to talk with.

But best of all, I got the chance to meet and speak to fellow classmates. They were all really good shooters -These folks knew where it was at. Not all were pros and everyone had different specialties, but man, they knew their cameras and situations. Breaking into the small groups, it was as much fun to work with, and chat with, them as much as it was to work with the models and the instructors.

All in all, it was a GREAT day (even despite my car battery being dead when I came out of the class). I can’t believe how much I learned about small -and big – flash. If you get the opportunity, enroll in this day class. You’ll enjoy it….and you just might learn something too.

Here’s a short video I put together. I think it really captures the day. Let me know what you think.

© Mark V. Krajnak 2009 | JerseyStyle Photography | All rights Reserved
Unless otherwise noted, images captured with a Canon 20D, SanDisk digital film, finished with PS2 and Nik Software

Hello Summer My Old Friend

Ah Summer! Nice to see you again!!

Now if you can only turn up the heat and turn off the waterworks, we here in the Great State of New Jersey (and the East Coast in general) would be mighty appreciative.

So…did you go get your Apple iPhone 3G S? No? Me neither.

If you want an older one, Chase is giving his away. Good luck.

Did you go get a few last rolls of Kodachrome?

Nope, I didn’t do that either.

No, for me the past weekend wasn’t about buying iPhones or watching the soggy U.S. Open.

It was about having a bunch of family around on Sunday and firing up the grill. Four fathers were in attendance, one a first timer. Unfortunately, my pop wasn’t able to make it but we all still had a good time as I got my grill on.

Food, we had a lot of it – cold shrimp cocktail to start, and then on the grill went burgers, large bay scallps wrapped in prosciutto, baby back ribs with homemade bourbon BBQ sauce, and corn. I think there was dessert too but I didn’t have any. I was looking for more ribs.

Larger.

Not a bad way to spend Father’s Day….hope all you fathers out there had a good day as well.

I’m also pretty excited…getting the chance to see my friend soon. I’ll let you know how it goes….

© Mark V. Krajnak 2009 | JerseyStyle Photography | All rights Reserved
Unless otherwise noted, images captured with a Canon 20D, SanDisk digital film, finished with PS2 and Nik Software

A Day At The Museum

The June monsoon continues in the Great State of New Jersey. I swear, it has rained so much in June, I’m about ready to grow flippers.

The one thing my wife and I know is that no matter how much we love the Little One, you DO NOT want to be stuck in the house all day with her. So, we made a game-time decision to pack up some snacks and take a drive down I-95 to Philly. Today would be a perfect day to spend a few hours in the Please Touch Museum.

About 500 other people – big and little – thought the same thing.

No matter, it was all good. First, I love getting back to Philly. Second, the Little One has such a good time, I don’t care that I was leg-tired by the end of the day, or that I had to paddle back up I-95 in a beating downpour to get back home. Que sera…

Plus, I came back with a few images I’m happy with….

Finished this with the Nik Low Key filter.

Large On Black

Way overhead, the foyer ceiling.

View On Black

The Liberty Arm & Torch, by artist Leo Sewell.

And the Woodside Park Detzel Carousel. Crafted in 1908 by the Dentzel Carousel Company of Philadelphia, it lay in storage for more than 40 years. Now it’s a prime spot at the museum.

View On Black

This is a bit of a throw-away shot…family wanted to move on, I didn’t have a lot of time to play around. But I brought my Speedlite for just this reason: Wanted to try stop the action while still getting the movement feel. I think I got it, though I wish I had more time to really nail it.

So, it was a good day at the museum. Got home, ordered a pizza, poured a little French red and started to wind down.

And wouldn’t you know it…the sun came out.

© Mark V. Krajnak 2009 | JerseyStyle Photography | All rights Reserved
Unless otherwise noted, images captured with a Canon 20D, SanDisk digital film, finished with PS2 and Nik Software.