Too Damn Cold

It's January and it's too damn cold outside.  So cold I'm not going out unless I have to. I'm not even considering going out to go cross country skiing or ice skating.  There is one problem. I'm getting cabin fever!  I'm missing walking around with my camera.  The sun's been out the last few days, which makes going out a little more bearable. The other day, while waiting for my car to be loaded with some type of non- skid material for the walkway to the studio, I found myself watching a small herd of bulls as they were frolicking about at a local farm.  The sun was getting low and it was starting to look real pretty.  I grabbed my camera from the back seat and took a few shots. Boy did it feel good.  The sun was getting lower as I was driving away &  I came across a closing shot.
Photos ©JoAnne Kalish

Photos ©JoAnne Kalish

Holiday Wishes

Would like to thank all of our great students who sent us greetings for a wonderful Holiday Season. 

The Dyna-lite alumni group has recently got in touch with us and requested a second advanced Dyna-lite studio workshop.  We will be adding it to our 2011 schedule. For those interested date will be announced in an upcoming newsletter.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

Capturing the Moment before Losing the Light

It's not even Winter yet and there is never enough daylight for me. Before you know it the light is gone - I hate it!  Luckily I worked quickly and used fill flash to capture these photos watching out for background reflections.  Dan was getting some practice in before he performed that evening. Work quickly, watch your background by keeping it as clean as possible and out-of-focus, by using a wide open aperture to throw it out.  Photos ©MMX J. Kalish

2010 Fall Workshop

Photos © JoAnne Kalish 

We had a great Fall Workshop this past Sunday in the Upper Delaware. I surprised everybody by bringing in two very pretty students, we used as models. The young ladies, Delanie and Jacqueline were great. We started the workshop at the Farm and the Llamas were curious, gentle, and followed us around as we photographed them.  We then went back to the barn as it was feeding time and worked with the animals a little more. In the back of the barn we found a window with some good side light. We utilized this window for our portraits using a little fill.  We worked on body placement, how to get a Rembrandt patch and simple direction. I took them to another favorite spot of mine where the lighting is so soft and beautiful for additional portraiture work.  We then went on to Luna Parc and worked on graphics. Students had an opportunity to meet artist Ricky Boscarino of Luna Parc along with another artist Greg Hicho as they collaborated on a new mosaic piece. We ended our workshop at one of the many local waterfalls learning how to work with the fluidity of water, nature's colorful fall palette, in beautiful autumn light.  

Never a Dull Moment

Our friend Larry came over the other day to give us a hand with setting up a new computer and wiring them and such.  In return he got a new portrait done of himself for his website. It was quite striking I must say and very dramatic - to see it go to Joe's blog -http://joedimaggio-inthiscorner.blogspot.com/

I decided to make some home-made pizza for lunch and it was a pleasant afternoon. Afterward just to keep things interesting, Joe decided to have some fun and asked if I'd please photograph him using his laptop outside in a storm.  Very funny indeed but that's Joe!
© MMX  JoAnne Kalish

Montauk Point Long Island Late September

© JoAnne Kalish 

Recently spent a week in Montauk Long Island staying at  friend's Tommy & Theresa beautiful home. Thank you so much Tommy, Theresa, & daughter Victoria -  it was great!  Haven't been to Montauk in a long, long, time and have always loved the place.  Brought back wonderful memories of deep sea shark & giant tuna fishing, old friends, fun times, good memories & of course the unforgettable Captain Frank Mundus and our Discovery Channel Special.

Made some great photos, swam in the cold ocean, which by the way, was the best!  Had lots of wonderful fresh seafood and chilled out while there.  I photographed early morning sunrises & sunsets at Montauk Point Lighthouse, Fishermen, and waves crashing along the shoreline. Only wish we had more time to stay.

Tips for those wanting to go - bring a tripod ( a must), shoot long exposures to capture the flow & motion of water, remember exposures for back light, silhouettes, when to use lots of depth-of- field & when to open up for shallow depth-of-field. Also remember your  fill flash for added dimension, & keep your photos clean and as simple as possible.

*Photo is available for purchase 

9/11 Tragedy

Photograph ©JoAnne Kalish

On 9/13 I photographed a candlelight vigil at Skyland Park.  It was one or two days prior to leaving for Maryland to be an instructor on the AMERICAN PHOTO/POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY Mentor Series.  So much had happened with the aftermath and I honestly forgot to deal with these photos.  Upon return, my partner Joe DiMaggio came across them and asked me why I had not sent them in to Corbis/Sygma.  My reply was, don't you think they have enough of this stuff already?  But I wound up sending them in and I received a note from Charlie Borst, the Director of Corbis Sygma asking if the photo could be syndicated worldwide.  His comment was "I must say that from all the pictures I've edited of this tragedy, this quickly rises to the top."  "great work; I'm glad I got to see it!"  I was totally, absolutely (but nicely) surprised at this response.  Compliments are not that easy to come by in our business and this was a good one.