The Back Bay Salty Dogs

I think it's pretty safe to say that as a photographer, being let loose to shoot a project as you see it is the dream job - period.  And recently a friend of mine, Alex Peltz, hired me to do just that.  Alex, who runs his graphic design/branding business out of his home in the East Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, recently hired me to shoot a project for his client,  Heritage Shellfish Cooperative. The objective was simple, document the day-in-the-life of the New Jersey Bay area clammer.  Projects like these are always a blast. Not only cause I got to shoot whatever I wanted, but I got to spend the entire hour day eating clams on the half shell right from the bay!

Below are a few images snapped during the average day of a New Jersey clammer. 

New Advertising Campaign - Behind The Scenes

We recently had the pleasure of working with new clients on an advertising campaign for a notable East Coast bank.  The days of the shoot were 72 and sunny and loaded with puppies.  It's easy to sound #sorry-but-not-sorry, but we're pretty stoked to share some behind the scenes video from the two days on set. 

Special thanks to Expressway Productions, Shophouse, and the rest of the crew. I especially want to thank Rocco Avallone for the video edit.  We've been pretty busy lately and over the next few weeks I'll be sharing a ton of new stills along with motion assignments. 

Friends Who Inspire - Keith Greiman

The man eats candy and doughnuts for dinner and somehow doesn't look it. Keith Greiman is my: neighbor,  hip-hop show +1, bartender, baby-daddy, lead singer in a band that may or may not be retired, and friend. 

I met Keith over four years ago and If I'm telling the absolute truth, we met in a bar. It probably took a few times of us making small talk, but I would have to imagine he asked for my number first. Keith tends bar at Memphis Tap (which is the closest, best bar/rest in my immediate area) and home of the best hot-dog cart in Philly. He's also an amazing painter/illustrator who's work has been shown in galleries all over Philly (I would also say other cities but I never got to that question).  Keith's band, Prowler threw a retiring show at Johnny Brenda's a little over a year ago then immediately accepted a gig for a month later. I believe he does it for the attention, and he agrees. 

Keith and his lovely wife, Rita (also an artist) just had a baby who recently took up residence in Keith's studio. He's adjusting. 

Urban Surfers Update

By now most of you reading this post have been picked up and swallowed by the Polar Vortex. With temperatures hitting ZERO in areas around Philadelphia, NY and even as far as Baltimore, many of us couldn't imagine stepping near a beach. Well that's what separates us from these special folks I've been busy shooting lately.

Urban Surfers went on a bit of a hiatus during the last week of September  through the first week of November. I purposely didn't shoot any during that time since I had a backlog that I wanted to hold off until the weather started to really change. I wanted to get a diversity of seasons and the only way to see it would be to wait until the trees shed their leaves, and snow hit the ground. 

When I started this project back in June of last year, I started to a Google doc to keep notes on everyone I shot. The details I would keep were locations of the shoot and exact times in which we started shooting. I also kept mental notes. Mental notes on who surfed year round and had all the gear necessary to stand up to freezing temperatures. Lately I started calling on those brave souls to meet after snowfalls, and near zero degree conditions. Here are a few from the past month that I've shot: 

(please pass this this link along to anyone you may know who lives in the Phila., NY, Baltimore, or any East Coast city. I'm keeping my journal stocked so when I'm on the road, I can keep this going in cities across the US) 

Karmically in Tune

The thing that inspires me most and what gets those creative juices flowing is uncertainty. There's nothing quite like being dropped into an environment and asked to make something beautiful out of any given situation - no matter what! I think that's what makes my job so damn fun. 

Finally I get to share this campaign that I shot with my good friends over at Karma Agency. These images were shot over five days and in tandem with the TV production crew (Neighborhood Film Co.) As with most jobs that have stills and TV shooting together, time with limited. At times my team and I had only a few minutes to shoot with the talent, but I think we made the best of it. 

Thanks to everyone who helped make this collaboration come to life including: Tracy Thompson, Mike Park and Ford Haegele. 

(The campaign is currently dominating Amtrak's 30th St. Station here in Philadelphia) 

Urban Surfers

There's nothing quite like the motivation of a beautiful woman to get you to try a sport that you've always wished you could do but never thought you could pick it up past your 10th birthday. This is the motivation that I felt three years ago when I met the woman of my dreams that would become my best friend and wife. 

I always knew some of my friends surfed but I never REALLY knew what that meant. Being from Philly I knew people surfed at the Jersey Shore, which is pretty obvious if you hit the beach each summer.  But not knowing the culture and the passion that drives some individuals to wake up at 4-5am and drive 1+ hours each way just to get a couple hours in during a swell (which the best surfing in the Northeast is from Fall - Spring), I was basically clueless what surfing really meant to them. 

This project is directly inspired by three friends of mine: Adrian Castillo, Chris "Cakes" Savaiano, and Jim "Hammer" Hammell who took me under their wings and suffered with the humiliation (that I still bring when I go out with them) of helping a newbie. Their dedication to teaching and insisting I go out with them whenever they go, helped me confidently say to that beautiful girl I met for coffee three years ago that, "I surf". 

(Stay tuned for more info regarding this project as I have big plans for next Spring/early Summer)

Metal, Tattoos and New England Fishermen.

Recently I was approached by Jamie Leary, art director extraordinaire at Decibel Magazine to shoot the band, Doomriders for a collaboration between the magazine and Converse. The idea was simple - interview the band, shoot an ad and get at least a 3 minute video of the guys - and that we did.  

Doomrider's front man, Nate Newton and his wife recently had their first child so I wanted to capture some elements of him with his family at home.  We spent a part of a Saturday shooting at his home in Ipswich, MA and the following day at Congress St. Tattoo in Portsmouth, NH where each band member decided to all get tattoos by bassist/vocals, Jebb Riley.

For this trip I decided to stay once again at a home I found on Airbnb.com. And just like my last few stays, this one was once again special. My gracious AirBnB.com host was an older ad guy who was the 9th employee at Boston's famed Mullen agency. He offered to wake up with me at 5am (with coffee already brewing) and show me spots only a local would know. Stories like this is why I just love staying with AirBnB hosts! 

Stay tuned for the final ad and video which should release by end of June.  

Farm Shoot

I'm finally able to share a short motion piece that I captured in March during an editorial still shoot. We had about two hours to shoot on a beautiful 50 degree day at the 7TH Heaven Farm  in Tabernacle, NJ. Farm owner, Carla Growney was gracious enough to allow us to shoot with full access to the farm and animals. 

Models:  Nicolette and J Lynne ( Reinhard agency)

Editing: Bruce Pinchbeck 

Music: The Bees "I Love You"  

All footage was captured with a canon 5D Mark ii and edited in FCP with Lightroom and VSCO color grading