Dancer In The Mist

This morning the fog was burning through a beautiful mist that hung over the water and it reminded me of this picture.  Joe McNally has said that if you put a dancer against almost any background and you will have a good photograph.  This summer when I was over in Tofino I was on the beach and I was feeling a bit sorry for myself because I had made the drive over the island in the early morning specifically to photograph in the morning light.  There was a thick cover of fog and there wasn’t any morning light.  I did get some decent pictures of Black Oyster Catchers but then this couple came by.  One of them clearly was a dancer, she moved with the grace and poise that only dancers posses and then she started to dance.  It was a truly beautiful thing to watch her dancing through the morning mists across the beach and I was so glad that I had gotten the “bad light”. 

Two other beach portraits that I have done

Grandpa Look!

Lovers

-Russell Berg 

www.seeingberg.com

The Pour

A little while back my son asked if I would photograph a coffee shop for a website that he was designing for them.  It was an interesting challenge and I enjoyed the work, the next three blog entries are going to be from that project.  I love to be able to tell a story in a photograph and for me this image goes a long way to telling the story of The Buzz.  There is motion in the image as the coffee is being poured (1).  The lighting is warm and soft and through the steam there is a couple of friends talking in the background (2).  As I was shifting around trying not to appear in reflection in the coffee pot I noticed that I could achieve a position where the stream of coffee appeared to reverse itself and flow up into the cup that is reflected in the pot (3).  I love it that we can see both the outside of the cup and the inside in the reflection.  If you would like to see the website check out The Buzz.

-Russell Berg

www.seeingberg.com

Friends

The old man turns to look at me from where he sits and from eyes that are hooded with age he starts to smile. It is a gentle and knowing smile, a smile from a man that has grown very comfortable in his own skin. He has paused for the moment in his gentle banter, his back and forth with the woman who is cutting his hair. They have clearly been doing this a long time. This Saturday morning ritual where he comes and sits and she stands and cuts and they both talk. He knows the names of the children who are in pictures pasted on the mirror and she knows exactly how low his hairline should be at the back of his neck so that it does not rub on the collars of his shirts; he hates that. They share a quiet knowing intimacy that has never extended beyond this chair and these Saturday mornings but it is, nevertheless, important for each of them. They are friends.

As a photographer, imposing yourself into these kinds of situations can be intimidating and difficult. I have, however, found that people are usually willing to engage in some conversation and will let you you photograph them. That was sure the case with these two I had to force myself to go in and talk to them but once I did we had a great time and I got some amazing portraits of them. For more on the story of this portrait and another shot from this series check out this post.

-Russell Berg

Benetton

Three friends lie on the deck of a ship talking as the ocean washes by. Konica DiMAGE Z10 20 mm f/3.4 1/640 ISO 64

The deck was only place where air was moving.  The boat moved slowly through the equatorial waters and inside the heat was unbearable.  Even here the humid air clung to your body.  

I was walking on the upper deck of a ferry in Indonesia with a group of my students as we headed out to the jungle to do a service project.  I looked down and saw three friends laying on the deck.  They were in scattered positions and as I watched the came together to produce a very interesting composition.  The open and engaged attitude of the two girls on the left pulls in the girl on the right who appears to be listening.  I really liked the position of the black girl’s hand, in fact the photo really is about their hands rather than their faces

Portrait of Friends

Portrait of friends. Canon XSi EF 50mm f/1.4 at f/4 1/40 ISO 200

They look at each other and a smile is made in the moment between two sentences.  Their smiles begin, pause, and crack into laughter.  They each know the story that the other is remembering without having to acknowledge it with much more than a smile and a tilt of the head.  The friendship was born in sandboxes and sleepovers and now it is something different, something stronger.

I was doing headshots for a couple of young actors and two of them wanted to do a portrait together.  They were clearly good friends and I wanted to pose them in a way that reflected that.  I had the girl on the left lean in and touch heads, that little bit of contact seemed to speak clearly to me of their friendship.  At camera left I had a flash in an umbrella to balance the fill from a large window at camera right.  I was really happy with the way the catch light from the window is reflected in the eye of the girl at left.  They seemed to be suppressing the laughter that rises from the memory of a funny story and I was very happy to be able to capture that moment.

-Russell Berg