Event: Noir At The Bar Asbury Park #2

A wet Cookman Avenue

It was a dark and stormy night in Asbury Park…

No, really, it was. When we convened Noir At The Bar at the Capitoline in Asbury Park a couple of Sundays ago, the weather was rainy, windy and raw.

An evening not fit for man nor beast to be out in. For sure

Come to think of it, it was perfect for a Noir At The Bar!

It’s been awhile since a N@TB was held in Asbury Park. Almost three years, in fact. But the word went out from Jason Butkowski and Jen Conley a few weeks ago that another was in the works, and could I shoot it?

[Wait, you don’t know what Noir At The Bar is? Well, here’s some background]

Of course I said yes. These crime fiction authors are my kind of people. Plus, it would give me the chance to shoot some new author portraits.

You may remember I shot a Noir At The Bar in New York back in August. This was one was MUCH closer to home.

So, along with the instructions for the event and the directions, Jen also let everyone know my camera and I would be available to do author portraits. I also worked with Jay on the poster, above, that uses one of my shots from a few years back.

Alas, while we had a good stable of writers, I only had a few take me up on the offer.

The evening kicked off with Jason (who goes by Jay). He has some new work coming out and needed some fresh pics, too.

An unused corner booth in the back of the bar would be set-up #1 for the night.

Then I moved Jason upstairs since I had seen a few opportunities there when I scouted earlier.

Double vision….and not the song from Foreigner.

And another, at the bar.

I also photographed Jen, who also said she needed some new headshots.

And, finally, a gal from the U.K., but living and writing in Brooklyn now,  Juliet Fletcher (no relation, I presume, to Jessica Fletcher, though they are both writers). Talk about cheekbones!

We only had time for one set up because the readings were about to start. I even had the bartender pour me a tumbler of cranberry juice with a lime wedge since I knew the color would look good in the shot. Props, everyone, props!

What I liked though, was the back bar booth was very dark. Great ambiance and texture. I was glad I brought some gear, though –  I lit it using a Neewer 160 LED light in a Neewer 47″ softbox. Here’s the setup.

BTS via Samsung phone

The light from the Neewer softbox. There was also an orange light left over from the Halloween party clamped up high on the right of the frame

I feel more comfortable with continuous light and I’m really liking the light output I get from this type of LED set up.

Had to try it with this mug in front of it, too. Light was directly over the camera here, almost like a beauty dish of sorts.

And, of course, I had to get the group shot at the end of the night.

Left to right: Wallace Stroby, Dennis Tafoya, Suzanne Solomon, Jen Conley, Thomas Pluck,       Juliet Fletcher, Jason Butkowski, Scott Alderberg

Big props to Jay’s brother, Robert, who along with one of this Black Flamingo band mates on bass, provided some smooth jazzy/surfer tunes for the evening.

Rob on guitar

Very cool tunes indeed.

As we headed out into the rainy Asbury Park night, we all knew it was another great edition of Noir At The Bar.

 

Here’s to more cool crime – of the literary variety – in Little Eden – The City By The Sea.

© Mark V. Krajnak | JerseyStyle Photography | All Rights Reserved 2017

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Tags: Asbury Park, B&W, Black Flamingos, Captioline, Dennis Tafoya, Fuji X100T, Gear, Jason Butkowski, Jen Conley, Juliet Fletcher, Lighting, Neewer, Neewer 160 LED Light, Neewer LED Light, Neewer softbox, Noir At The Bar, Robert Butkowski, Scott Alderberg, Suzanne Solomon, Thomas Pluck, Wallace Stroby

• November 6, 2017
• Beautiful Light, Events, Gear, New Jersey, Portraits, Projects
• 3 Comments