When my friend Margaret from Red Light Management put me in contact with country rock band, Sons of Bill to take photos for their upcoming CD and promotional material, I was thrilled. Music is a huge part of my life, and the more I can incorporate it into my photography, the better.
The shoot itself was great. Sons of Bill are one of the nicest bands I have ever worked with. We had a great time running around Charlottesville, photographing everywhere from James’ amazing yard to the IX Building, Millers, and The C&O Restaurant. It was a full day, but all of the guys were cool and worked hard to make good imagery. This is exactly the type of shoot that makes me realize I love what I do.
This was my son William’s first Christmas where he really got in the spirit. (He is 2.5 now). Here is William playing in his new chair with Jocelyn’s parents, and my superhero brother Steven doing pushups with William on his back. I tried doing just one William pushup, no dice. Also, head over to my wife Jocelyn Johnson’s blog to see more holiday fun.
For my last wedding of the year, I had the pleasure of photographing Wistar and Darren at Live Arts in Charlottesville. Wistar and Darren, not to mention most of their guests, are friends of mine, which was both awesome and challenging. Also, this was the first wedding where I had a “photobooth” set up, which was also awesome and challenging (people get crazy in a photobooth. Who knew?) Here are a few images, with more to come next week.
I recently photographed the Sons of Bill for their upcoming album. This shoot was super exciting, as I have been wanting to do more band photography. Unbenounst to me, my friend Andrew Shurtleff photographed Rebekah Girvan Budnikas and I making my magic. I will show you some of the photos from the shoot soon, but I want to know, do my pants really hang that low?
Tiffany and Joey are my kind of people. Fun, engaging, and a pleasure to be around. Their engagement shoot last weekend on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall was good times. If I had not had to relieve Jocelyn watching William, I think I would have continued photographing them for hours, just for the pleasure of their company. I can already tell their wedding is going to be amazing.
My friend Rachel Zahumensky is the photography teacher at Charlottesville High School. Yesterday she organized a project called “Dawn to Dusk on the Downtown Mall,” where students spend the entire day photographing at locations in downtown Charlottesville. The weather was miserable; rainy and cold, but the students pushed through, just like pros. Anna, one of the students in my Video as Art class was there. I stopped by while she was working with Rachel and Jon Golden, a professional photographer who coordinated volunteers for the event and offered technical assistance. The students at CHS are lucky to have such a dedicated teacher and community of photographers to help them learn.
Betsy and Danny’s wedding in Suffolk was great. As I mentioned before, Betsy is Eddie’s twin sister, so right from the beginning, I felt like a part of the family. This in no small part to the kindness and generosity of Betsy and Danny’s friends and family.
My greatest challenge at this wedding was not to over-photograph the amazing ice sculpture of Betsy’s dog, Colonel. Several times I had to tear myself away from him, in all his frozen glory. Whatever Suffolk artisan created The Ice-Colonel, I salute you.
OK. Maybe some of you have noticed, I have been posting videos as of late. I know what you are wondering. You are saying to yourself, “Billy, aren’t you a still photographer?”
Well, I just got this new camera. Its the Canon 5D, Mark II for you nerds out there. Anyway, it is a still camera that also shoots high definition video. I have been running around all week, shooting photos and video, back and forth like a kid with too many toys at Christmas (which is not too far from the truth). The difference between photography and videography is going away. What a great time to be interested in media.
So, to make a long story long, Gene, Zach, and I opened for, Pantherburn at the Box last Friday, and after we were done, I took some video of their performance. Notice how well the camera does in really low light.
Through an odd series of circumstances, I have been working with Talley and Jonathan on their wedding for over a year. My normal turnaround time for a wedding is closer to a week, so this is pretty significant. The wonderful upside is, I have become good friends with both Talley and Jonathan, have shared with them in life’s inevitable ups and downs, and have gotten to see their relationship together grow ever stronger. I am so happy that they chose me to photograph their wedding, and look forward to spending even more time with them in the future.
Also, I would like to offer bonus points to whoever can spot the banana in one of the images.
Together with Anna Ma, I am currently teaching a Video as Art class for Lighthouse Studio to high school students. Tonight, we did a brief lighting exercise during class, and I thought I would share the results of these brilliant students imaginations. Tell the truth, it is a masterpiece, right?
