Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The Art Of Fashion...


Who would a' thunk it... Me shooting fashion? Well it happened... and it was a whole lot of fun and didn't turn out half bad.
The shoot was for G Magazine... The editor, Jack Bacot, came to me with the idea of combining fashion and art... in the sense that we'd actually stage the shoot in an art museum. The initial plan was to use the galleries of Bob Jones University... they claim their museum to be "recognized as the finest collection of religious art in America." It is in fact amazing. When asked, they said no... for obvious reasons.
The Greenville County Museum of Art, on the other hand, was willing to assist and absolutely amazing to work with. Mary McCarthy, the media relations director, and her fellow employees were more than helpful. There were some really neat works of art which provided fantastic accompaniment and contrast.
I had some awesome folks backing me up... Mary Ann Sudnick and Taryn Scher styled the whole thing... They were crucial in the selection and pairing of the clothing to the art pieces. Karen West came in from Charlotte for the hair and makeup. These images are as much theirs as they are mine.
Matt Tierney, Paul Mehaffey, Sally Morris, and Jay Vaughn were also more than crucial to the entire project... a big thanks to everyone. You can see the rest of the images and the story here at G's Website.
See more HERE!

Friday, October 23, 2009

New Website!!!

Guess what, folks? I just launched my new website! I did every little ounce of design and coding myself, and I am looking for your feedback... honest critique, please, not just typos. If you hate it, just say so, and tell me what you hate.

Some of the galleries (especially in the world-map area) still need to be updated, and some of the full-screen features aren't working as they should. If you run into any other technical flaws, please holler!


Commercial, Editorial, Portrait, Documentary Photographer... Asheville NC, Greenville SC, Charlotte NC, Charleston SC, Atlanta GA...

Thanks!!!!!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Meet Angel Cruz...


Meet Angel Cruz...
She is a young lady, early twenties, and has already made a bigger dent in 3rd world malnourishment than most of us will with a lifetime of participation in "...only 30 cents a day..." charities. Angel Cruz spends her days in El Salvador teaching folks how to develop successful community farms.
It was a rainy day, the day we were slated to shoot her portrait. I met Angel at a coffee shop in Burnsville, NC. I had scouted a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farm called FireFly Farm; Angel knew the owners and they were gracious enough to allow us to shoot there. I wandered around the grounds looking for an awesome (dry?) place to shoot... what I found was not dry (look closely and you can see the raindrops!). The saving grace of shooting battery-powered small portable strobes (Canon Speedlites), is that they fit inside of ziplock bags. I wrapped my camera in my raincoat, sacrificed my warm dry clothing, asked Angel to stand patiently in the rain, and with 2 kickers and 1 umbrella I had my shot.
Please visit Angel's blog and show your support to a damn cool chica.
Shot for WNC Magazine... read the article here.
No Behind-The-Camera-Timelaps on this one... my G9 was still in the shop awaiting the technician to replace a $200 copper wire... ug.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Meet Brandon Raab...


Meet Brandon Raab...

A few years back Brandon and a friend of his, Dave Elmore, started a non-profit foundation on the island of Routan off the coast of Honduras.... it's called SOL (School of Life) International Foundation. They are working to initiate and support community-based programs designed to promote education and increase the quality of life of kids around the island.

Brandon's been a teacher most of his adult life... so I knew I wanted to shoot him in a school-type setting. A few months back I photographed a kid named Summit Jaffe at Asheville Middle School... Since I had already scouted that classroom location, and the folks there were awesome, I figured I would give it another shot. I brainstormed an idea and ran it by Brandon... he was game. I planned to have him write on the whiteboard as if he'd gotten into trouble, but incorporate the idea of making the world a better place... I came up with the phrase "I will not let life go unlived." Sure, unlived might not be a real word, but it's in our lexicon enough to make sense.

One umbrella and two kickers later, I had my shot.

Note to self, try to remember to turn the time-lapse G9 on before the setup is already 1/2 over...
Patrick Cavan Brown :: Editorial and Commercial Photographer :: Asheville, NC