Happy Monday everyone!  I hope the weekend treated you all nicely.  We had a real relaxing weekend in (very needed) – and the crazy storms all day Saturday worked just perfectly with our plans to plant ourselves in our apartment for some hardcore chill time.  And of course, now that Spring finally seems to have arrived (sort of) in NYC, my allergies are suddenly going nuts.  Just perfect.  I’ve started eating a teaspoon of local honey every morning – I heard that works to combat seasonal allergies.  I’ll let you know if it works for me at all!

Anyway – before all the Saturday storms started storming, I managed to fit in a photo shoot with Joe Overstreet – the artist who lives on my block.  I’ve only done a few real photo shoots at this point – and mostly with friends.  But even with friends (hell – even with my husband), I tend to get really nervous being in that director role.  I think it just stems from the fact that I’m not super confident in my portraiture abilities yet – but I’m trying to do more and more, because just like with everything else, the more practice I get, the less nervous I’ll be.

Joe is a pretty non-threatening guy.  He’s in his mid to late seventies; he’s quite jovial and relaxed and he seemed genuinely flattered by my interest in him.  All of this enabled me to loosen up a bit and not take myself so seriously.  I decided to take a more documentary approach with this project.  I wanted to show Joe as the artist he is, around art – both in his gallery and in his studio.  I also wanted to capture him outside – on the block where he’s spent the last forty years.  He has such a deep connection with this neighborhood, so I thought that was important to document.  I went to the shoot prepared with some locations in mind and I told him to pick out a couple looks beforehand.  He got all dressed up in his fancy duds.  Cute.

Here are some of my favorites.

Joe in the Wilmer Jennings Gallery he owns with this wife Corrine

Joe in front of mural outside his building

Joe in his garden

Joe's reflection in an antique mirror in his garden

Joe in his studio

I feel fairly good about these – this being my first attempt and all, but I’d definitely like to go back and get more if possible.  There were many challenges (as there always are) – lighting being one of the major ones.  Speaking of – that’s the next class I want to take… a lighting class!  Lighting is EVERYTHING and I want to get better at using it to my advantage – maybe even investing in a few tools (like a flash).

So that’s that.  Now – it’s chicken soup time baby!  I’ve got a pot of homemade soup that’s been bubbling away on my stovetop for the past three and a half hours and I think it may just be time to attend to that.  See you tomorrow!