During the recent cold snap, I went up to Snoqualmie Falls with a friend to see what kind of pics I could get. I was actually expecting it to be more iced over than it was. It was difficult hiking to this spot in the snow; we passed a stuck car, a stuck pickup, and a car about 15 feet down a bank off the road. The spray partly obscured the view. But still, some pretty unusual photos of the falls.

     Click to enlarge:

     I recently did a gig where I shot about 600 Santa photos in about 3 hours. As a photographer, this is a bit of a grind. I think I’d go completely crazy if I had to do this for an entire holiday season. There are screaming infants and toddlers who are terrified by the big guy in the red suit. There are teenage boys who are too cool for Santa and flash gang signs at me when I try to take their photo. There are 300 pound guys that think it is hilarious to get Santa photos (more of a problem for Santa than me, really). And with a huge long line, a big part of the job is to just get through them quickly, so it becomes sort of like the photography version of an assembly line. I have to be fast, but need to make sure the pictures are cute and not inappropriate (imagine in your mind a little girl sitting spread-eagled across Santa’s knee with her pretty little Christmas dress hiked up a bit too high. “No, sweetheart. How about putting your legs together.” Then tug the hem of the dress down to the knees for the photo.) Parents don’t like Santa photos that make Santa look like a perv.

     Doing it for one day is kind of fun. It was for a holiday party a local company was putting on for their factory workers and families. It is one thing for a big wealthy high tech or professional company to do a splashy party. But I think it is generous for a smaller company to do this for regular workers. This was my third year shooting their Santa photos, and the only Santa gig I did this year. 

     By the end, I thought my shutter finger was about ready to fall off. The poor Santa must have bruised legs from having hundreds of kids (and adults!!) sitting on them for 3 hours. The photo above was my parting shot at the end (shot by another photographer I was working with; thanks Morgan!).

     I recently won an award from a website called Model Mayhem. It is a networking site for models, photographers, and other associated professions. The award is a “Concept Shot of the Day”. A theme is chosen, and photos are submitted that fit the theme.

     The concept for the day I won was “Mask”. Here is my photo that won:

     I did my civic duty and voted. I did some work and went to a meeting. I went home and watched the election returns, McCain’s concession speech, Obama’s acceptance speech. I thought about going to bed. Then something strange happened… people started to celebrate.

     A huge, spontaneous street party erupted just two blocks from my studio. Thousands of people poured into the streets. Seattle is one of the most liberal cities in the US, and voted overwhelmingly for Obama. Seattle, obviously, was happy with the results of the election. Very happy. How could I pass that up?

     I decided to go light: one camera body, 2 small lenses, no flash, no tripod. Totally guerrilla. I shot until about 2:00am. The lighting was terrible. All the shots were completely spontaneous.

     People were screaming non-stop. I don’t know if my photos can convey the sense of manic celebration. I called my mother in the middle of it (probably waking her up), and held my cell phone up, just so she could hear all the shouting. A gay bar set up a speaker system on the roof, and a drag queen led the crowd in a rousing (if camp) chorus of the Star Spangled Banner. Police wisely didn’t try to break it up; they simply blocked off about a 4 square block area, and let the party go. Around 1:00am, a similar street party that was going on in the University District marched up to Capitol Hill, and merged with the party where I was. A few people got lifted into the air and passed along like in a mosh pit. I was doused with champagne once (I fear my camera will be pretty sticky in the morning). If the constant cheering, shouting, and singing wasn’t enough, there were also bottle rockets and firecrackers. Good times.

     So… on with the pictures (click “Read More” below to see 15 more photos):

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I’m sure that my choice for president will surprise exactly nobody. But I decided to have some fun with it.

     “Is that your foot in the picture?”

     The writer was referring to this recent photo:

     I had to check. Because I have actually found my foot accidentally in a few photos. Normally those photos are discarded, and are never seen in public.

     Normally, when doing my painting-with-light photography, the model holds perfectly still for the whole exposure (usually 30 seconds or so). I move around with a hand held light, selectively lighting parts of the model and backdrop. Early on in my experimentation with this technique, I would occasionally pass the light over my own foot by accident. I was more conscious of where the model was and how I was lighting him/her, and not paying attention to myself in relation to the photo. It looks pretty strange, like a disembodied limb in space. I’d also sometimes accidentally light a section of extension chord, or silhouette myself against the background. I’m more experienced with this technique now, and seldom make this kind of mistake any more. I couldn’t imagine not even noticing it in a finished photo.

     But that is not my foot in this photo. This is one of a new series of photos I’m working on. I’m experimenting with movement. For the last 3 years or so, I’ve had the model hold still. In this photo, I lit him up and then asked him to move while the shutter was still open, then lit parts of him as he moved across the floor. That is the model’s foot you see. And his streaked and blurred arm. A stylist did his hair so it looked like it was flinging aside when he was standing still.

     I love the look of this. People have often commented that my photos often look like there is movement, even when the model is holding still for long exposures. So I decided to experiment with moving models. I have plans to do more of these. I’m trying to find more space. My studio is fine for still photos. But the first thing I discovered doing this is that a 9′ wide backdrop is not much room if the model is moving. A photographer friend thinks she knows of a couple of dance halls I might be able to use. That would be great. I’d love the added space, and think the wood floors would add to the feeling of it.

     There are not a whole lot of fashion shows in Seattle. Nothing like New York or LA. But there are a few, and I work with a company that shoots many of them. 

     Most of the shows I shoot are put on by major retailers, showcasing the new fashion for the season. One that stands out is the Luly Yang show. Luly runs a pretty exclusive boutique that does custom clothing. Nothing off the rack. Her clientele is upper income. 

     Her shows are always extraordinary, at least for Seattle. Her clothing is more exotic and theatrical than what you’d typically find in retail stores. And her runway shows are always a bit more exotic and theatrical as well. 

     Here is one of my favorite shots from the show from a week ago. Click to view larger:

Luly Yang Show. © Scott Aitken for Team Photogenic

     Recently I was hired to shoot an engagement proposal. At dawn. 

     The setup: Some friends of his had put out a blanket, candles, food, and champaign breakfast on the shore of Matthews Beach in Seattle. She didn’t know anything about it. He would lead her to the park at sunrise under the pretext of a morning jog. As soon as she saw the candles/blanket/champaign breakfast, he would drop to his knee and propose to her. I was to come out from behind a tree and snap photos of the proposal.

     All didn’t go entirely as planned. She freaked out a little when I stepped out and started taking pictures. She thought I was a mugger or something until he told her he’d hired me to be there. 

     Nevertheless, I got some great sunrise photos of the champaign breakfast.

Sunrise Proposal, © Scott Aitken for Team Photogenic

     Update: Yes, she accepted. They flew to Hawaii later that day to celebrate their engagement, which has undoubtedly warmer beaches than Matthews Beach at dawn in October. Brrr.

     A friend of mine, Juan Alonzo, just published a rant on his blog about charities asking artists to donate.

     I mostly agree with him.

     I do a lot of event photography, including a lot of charity auctions. Consequently, I am familiar with a huge number of charities in the Seattle area, and many of them are familiar with me. So I get asked often to donate art photos to charity auctions. Like Juan, if I donated to everyone who asked, I’d give away far more art photos than I sell every year. And that’s not right. Although I have not decided to stop donating entirely, as Juan has, last year I decided to strictly limit the number of donations I give each year.

     Some charities treat donors and artist well. Other charities are rather cavalier. One auction I donated to a few years ago put my photo on the floor at the auction (after complaints from a number of artists, they dramatically improved how they displayed art the following year). Some of their donations are from large companies, and their items are a tiny fraction of their operating budget, and they consider it one method of marketing. I don’t think some charities realize (or care) that donating art by an artist is a much more personal and emotional donation, and that artists are often among the lowest income earners.

     A couple of arts organizations I’ve donated to give a small percentage of the auction sale price back to the artist. That can at least pay for my raw material costs for a print and a frame, or at least part of it. I am much more likely to donate to a charity that treats artists a little better like this.

     I also agree with Juan that it is very irksome how artists are treated by the IRS. Art has no value to the IRS. The only thing I can write off as a charitable donation is the raw material costs for the print and frame. That’s ridiculous. If I donate a gift certificate for a portrait session instead, I would be able to write off the full retail value of the photo shoot as a charitable donation. I suppose the rational is that there is a fixed specific price for a portrait session, but the value of art is subjective. Still, I would think that you could fix a value based on what it sold for at the auction. Or perhaps a price based on what my work sells for in galleries. Or find some way to quantify the value in some rational way other than the raw material costs.

Juan Alonzo, 2007 PONCHO Artist of the Year. Photo © Scott Aitken

     I was saddened to hear that Paul Newman had died.

     As a smalltime photographer in Seattle, I rarely have an opportunity to photograph celebrities, but I actually briefly met and photographed Paul Newman twice.

     In both 2006 and 2007, I was sent to San Jose, CA to photograph events related to the San Jose Grand Prix. One of those events was a celebrity go-cart race for charity (the Canary Foundation). Paul Newman raced both years. It combined 3 of his great loves: acting, racing, and philanthropy. I was assigned to photograph the events for the Canary Foundation.

     By 2006, he was beginning to look kind of frail. He moved kind of slow and rickety, like many very old people do. But he was quite alert, despite his obvious frailty. He was kind and polite to me and other people involved in the event. His kindness seemed completely genuine, not a put on. I tried not to be an obnoxious paparazzi, but it was my job to photograph him and the race. He didn’t seem to mind. Either that, or he was used to it after a lifetime as a celebrity.

     They had to have a specially padded seat installed in the go-cart, and he had a special neck brace, but otherwise his go-cart was the same as the rest; it was randomly chosen. They had to help him into the go-cart and help him get buckled in. But once he was ready, he really seemed to come alive. He insisted other driver not “give” him the race. He drove aggressively and skillfully. It was a challenging race, with other drivers from the Grand Prix included among the celebrities. After cruising through the qualifying rounds, he won 1st place in 2006 and 2nd place in 2007. As far as I could tell, he won legitimately; it didn’t look like the other drivers gave him the race.

     The first movie I remember seeing him in as a kid was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1969. By the time I photographed him in 2006, he was no longer the handsome young man of the 1960s, but he still had the same piercing silver-blue eyes. A classy and genuine guy till the very end.