Iris douglasii coming into bloom.
I’m very excited to be working with NATGEO this afternoon helping photographers get the most out of their camera! The 2014 Bioblitz is already looking to be a tremendous success as more people get out and learn about the natural resources in the Bay Area’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area. I hope to see you all out there geeking out on nature!
So, it’s a bit of a stretch from conservation to the world of glamor. But hey, conservation work can be glamorous at times… right?
As most of you know, I don’t usually stumble into the world of bright strobe lights, make-up, outfits, and striking a pose – well at least not for work! Headshots, photo-booths, portraiture all feels comfortable with me working to expose what exists. This felt a bit different. I had a captive audience trained to be photographed professionally. This made all the difference.
When I saw the SF Meet and Shoot group offer its inaugural meetup focused on models and glamor I decided, why not. I had never worked in such a fashion – no pun intended – and I was interested to see how different it would be from my shoots. Well- it was different. Most notably, the ability to direct became critical. The range of emotion a model can pull out of a hat is amazing. Truly. Now, I understand Blue Steel in all its glory.
Leah and Adam are about the sweetest people you’ll ever meet. They have kindness in their souls. And they’re good listeners too, making for a really fun engagement session at Stow Lake, in Golden Gate Park – San Francisco. The cherry trees were going off, and it was green as green gets for our golden California. It was lots of fun, and no, no one went swimming in the lake today!
Sometimes you’re just at the right place at the right time. And sometimes that’s enough, but if you don’t have the right people, the place and time are almost meaningless… well at least for photography. And actually, as I think about that a bit more, it’s a truism that rings throughout everything we do. Pleasurable, fulfilling life experiences become so much richer when place, time, and personality come together.
So here we are at Golden Gate park enjoying a remarkable spring day when we come across a gang of people.
I recently photographed a wonderful marriage in City Hall. Kim and Tim (the Im’s) looked stunning especially with the grand architecture and history surrounding them. They are fantastically warm and kind people who have been in love for some time and finally tied the knot.
For me, it was great to be a part of their wedding and to witness what happens in City Hall. After delivering their finished photos, I spent some time finalizing a few pics in a low-contrast, high ISO feel with grain and old times. This isn’t typically what I offer clients (unless they ask specifically), but I thought the BW finish and the feel of the event worked nicely. Continue reading
If there’s a magazine in the Bay Area that seems to sing to my skill set and interests, it is Bay Nature. Bay Nature is an organic journey into all things natural that shape our landscapes and inspire the people who live in them. Everything from redwoods, to tiny rare annual plants to mushrooms to the people who help conserve the resources live in this regional magazine. Its the whole ecosystem, the anthropocene at its finest. (I just learned to embrace this word at the 1st ever Society for Conservation Biology Congress in Oakland at which I spoke on some of my ecological work in the Oakland Hills and beyond)
Lech Naumovich Photography 