05Jun

Ireland and Beyond


Ireland

So I’ve seriously neglected my blog since I got back from Ireland the 1st of May.  It was hard to come back from a 14 day vacation and jump back into the swing of NYC life.  I could have stayed on vacation for oh….say…the next 80 years.  For those that don’t know I got engaged when I was there.  I proposed to my fiancée in the Wicklow National Forrest 3 days into the trip.  I just couldn’t wait any longer.  The funniest part was when I’m down on my knees saying “will you marry me?” and she replies “are you F#*%ing serious?”….uh yeah…I’m on one knee…I have this ring…especially funny if you know my fiance, for those that don’t her name is Sarah, but I only ever call her “Sass”.  This is a nickname she picked up years ago before I met her and it’s all I have ever known her as, and it fits.  Perfect response, she then of course said “yes”.


Needless to say Ireland is just as beautiful as you would expect it to be, VERY green, excellent Guinness, and fullof the most honest and welcoming people you could ever meet.  The landscape is amazing, and  full of rich history and color.  I shot about 2,000 images while I was there, not all great, but I did come away with some great stuff.  If you feel adventurous, I purchased a GPS unit for the D3s, and loaded about 100 or so of the ones I liked on a google map for the family to see which was fun.  Overall…rockin’ time!

Beyond

So on to the beyond part.  I love NYC, after coming back I kind of hit the ground running.  I’ve come to the realization that my little dream of starting my own photography business has become a reality, and I’m fortunate enough to be working.  I’m excited to see what lies ahead.  It’s been a interesting journey up to this point, and now that the business is starting to come together, my mind has been rolling with the idea’s for personal projects I want to do.  I’m excited to get working on them and hopefully before too long I can reveal what they are.  I never realized that the challenge of shooting for your clients, and making pictures for yourself, can be hard to balance in some respects, and that is the challenge I’m looking to tackle this summer.  I’ve been privileged to be surrounded by amazing people in all creative aspects that have provided endless encouragement in my endeavors.  To all of them… I give them massive amounts of thanks….and probably a few pints too.   For those that don’t know….I’m not a full time shooter just yet, I bartend 3 days a week, but shooting full time is so close I can almost taste it (damn NYC for being expensive).  Soon it will be a reality and I’ll just be making pictures for a living, and that in itself is awesome.  Until then, it’s full steam ahead, I have a few hotels to shoot this summer, and some great people lined up to make pictures of as well…..and with any luck a trip to the top of the Empire State building…not the observation deck…the part that you have to wear harness and pray that your eye-hand coordination is up and working that day so as to NOT be the grown man crapping his pants and trying to make a picture at the same time….lets be honest…thats high up!  More to come…

03Apr

The Finished Products

 

 


I thought I would show you all a few examples of the finished products.  I shot Allison not too long ago and she is looking to break into commercial modeling so we did a very basic shoot, focusing on getting a few different looks without getting too into the “high fashion” stuff.  Showing the basics is a good way to start, and adding more shots of different looks and styles is easy to add on to later.  The shot on top is her 8×10 Headshot with the font she chose, bordered and laid out ready to print, and below is the back of her 5×7 comp/zed card (contact info and measurements withheld for privacy).  A great simple way to start getting some stuff out there, and when she finds out how she is being cast we can do mini shoots to target that area.  Allison is a very sweet and pleasant girl, so we wanted to give her some very different looks.  The picture on the left has a hint of “The Gap”, the top right is a good “girl next door”/interacting with a product or enviroment shot…think Staples or something of that nature.  The middle is showing what fun you can have with her and a great makeup artist (Ford Page) and the bottom shot is very elegant and shows her lines well.  Better to start smaller and build a good foundation because then it’s easier to build from there!  For info about different shoots you can check out the Pricing page or contact me directly for more info!

 

27Mar

Missing the Sky

Being from out west sometimes I take it’s big sky’s, vast open landscapes, lakes, rivers, and mountains for granted.  Don’t get it wrong, I love NYC but sometimes I just miss the west.  NYC is an amazing place, full of amazing people.  I always say NYC is proof that the human race, people of all colors, religions, and ideals, can all come together to make ONE thing work without tanks rolling around on the streets.  However this doesn’t change the fact that sometimes I miss the sky.

Yes, NYC has views of the sky, it’s not that you don’t see it, you just don’t see it like you do in the west.  Free of obstructions, and distractions, just landscape and sky.  It’s a beautiful thing, and there are beautiful sky’s here for sure, just sometimes in order to make a picture the way you want, you either have to have roof access or be 20 or so floors up, because the view from the street, unless you are in Brooklyn or on the westside at the water, it just isn’t enough.  But hey, you make do with what you have….and visit home a bit more often…still the city and the sky are pretty spectacular in their own right.

 

15Mar

The Rewards of Trespassing

 

So I’ve never been the type of person who always follows the rules.  Shocking I know, anyone who knows me knows this, and like most people, I get a thrill out of doing things I’m not allowed to do.  Most of the time I conform like a good monkey but, every once in a while I gotta push it.  Lots of people are like this in their own respective aspects, and I encourage the practice, as it can be liberating.  Now obviously I don’t condone a lot of illegal activites, however pushing the envelope within reason sometimes can be fun and rewarding.  I’m pretty good at assessing risk, both to myself and my relation to whatever is happening in my enviroment so I don’t generally do things if I think I’ll get caught or die or whatever.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m talking about mischievous childlike things you would do in your teens…yeah I’m 28… and your point is?

Case in point, and I do this a lot when I’m out shooting.  I’m out with my good friends Thomas and Keir, and we were out shooting some night stuff in Brooklyn.  I see this pier that is under construction and thought that would be a cool place to make a picture, so we wander over there, I do a little recon of the area, assess the risk and say to myself “well hell, you walked all the way over here didn’t you?”.  Now in many rural places doing this would be no big deal at all, but in NYC they never know what you are up to, for all the cops know you might be a terrorist.  Most good photographers know that in order to get “the shot” sometimes you have to go where no one else will.  So I jumped the fence.  Thomas handed me the camera and tripod and I ran out there and made a few pictures.  Did I mention that NYC staffs 24hr guards at construction sites, and their little trailer was right in front? (well maybe 40-50 yards away).  Anyways, it was no big deal made a shot I really liked and hoped out, certainly wasn’t conflict photography, although that is something I would really like to do at some point.   The shot on top is from the pier,  and the others are  from earlier in the night, enjoy!  Props to Thomas for the idea of a long exposure on us taking pictures (2nd from the top) Thats Thomas on the left and Keir on the right, man they look kinda messed up…wonder what they were drinking…hahaha

28Feb

Allison Elliott



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Allison.  We had a great shoot Sunday!  This poor girl came all the way from Richmond, VA  to NYC just to shoot with me!  Talk about making me feel special!  She is an aspiring model, so we did a few things to get her started, focusing on the basics, some commerical print styles, a few headshots, and a few classy full body shots.  Then my amazing makeup artist Ford Page got to have some fun, as did I.  As you can see Ford ROCKS!  The top shot reminds me a bit of an “Alice in Wonderland” sort of thing, the middle shot is just plain classy, and the bottom she brought some mischievous thoughts to the shot that worked well for the look.  The colors Ford used came from the paintings on the wall behind her which I then shot a purplish/magenta gelled light at, and my Lumodi Beauty Dish just rocks for this type of work, in fact the beauty dish was used in all three of these shots, creates a nice light.  A big thank you to Rodd Chant and Laura of Parlor Creative for letting me use their AMAZING space, and Laura saved the day by bringing the coffee, fruits, and assorted snacks!  Thanks so much!

25Feb

A City on the Move

 

It’s amazing sometimes how fast this city moves, and how fast time flies.  It truly brings to point the saying “a New York Minute” seems like so much can happen in that time.  I’ve been very grateful the last 2 months have kept me busy with headshots and a bunch of freelance stuff with The Empire Hotel, but man 2 months went by in the blink of an eye.  This is going to be a good year I can feel it.  I hope for those that read this they find themselves feeling the same way.  just a quick thought I wanted to add.  I’m determined to try and jot a few things down on this blog every other day or so.  It’s weird I think sometimes when you see yourself moving so fast and yet through your eyes it’s in super slow-mode.  Which lets face it…with the right bartender that could be entertaining :) Enjoy the weekend!

20Feb

In The Beginning

First off…Welcome!

Have a hotdog…:)

So I’ve gone through many variations of my website since I began my adventure in photography.  I started with simple stuff then I found Flash, and then began to realize that while my flash website was slick and sexy, the notorious GoogleBot that reads web pages and ranks them doesn’t read flash….bummer.  To top that off I couldn’t pull my site up on the iPad or the iPhone, and lets face it…that is no good.  So after a few conversations with my good friend Rodd Chant, I discovered the power of WordPress.  Easy to update, easy to maintain, lets me keep my blog and my website on the same page, beautiful flash-like galleries, with the potential to reach those customers “on the go”.  I’m really happy with how this came out, and I’m sure I’ll be adding and tweaking along the way, as being a creative tends to mean you are never really satisfied with one version of a project for a great length of time.  I’ve also been asked quite a bit if I sell my work, and this new site gives me a much easier way of doing that.  Check out the “Buy Prints” section of my Galleries for more info!

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If you are an Actor in need of some quality NYC Headshots at a reasonable rate and are enjoying what you are reading give me a call and I’ll treat you to coffee or a cocktail and we can discuss what your needs are and the best, funnest way possible to get there.  Headshots are very important, and getting the shots that represent YOU the best way possible whilst giving those casting directors and agents what they need as well, is top of the list for me.  I’m a very chill laid back guy, who knows when it’s time to go to work, and have fun while I’m doing it.  It’s my feeling that the second you decide to put a bunch of limits on actors it can create a stress that can sometimes influence the shot, due to this you will never have a set limit of exposures, or even a time limit as I don’t want to stop shooting until we are both happy.  Having fun, and getting the job done in a comfortable enviroment is what I’m about.  No stress, no drama, a getaway from the world if you will.  Drop me a line if you are interested and we can take it from there!

Cheers!

Dylan Patrick

More to come to this blog soon enough!