2nd Week in Maine

During this week I was encouraged by my instructor, John Goodman, to try and create portraits differently than I had in the past. Specifically, John wanted them to have an edge, even if that required me to find characters with an inherent edge to them. I shot them all on my 4x5 camera which allowed me to play with the focal plane and restrict what could be in focus in the picture. The first guy that I photographed was named Todd Carballo. I was driving around Rockland aimlessly and stumbled upon a softball game about to begin. I figured of all the places to find characters a softball diamond could be among the best. I got out and started to talk to some of the players. I kept looking around for the player with the most personality. Todd showed up a little late and so quickly got warmed up. (By warming up I mean he started smoking a big cigar) I thought he might have potential and then he reached over to grab a Heineken beer and was struggling getting the top off the bottle so he simply smashed it against the bench and broke the top off. Todd then proceeded to drink from the broken shards of the bottle. I had found my guy.

The next day I stopped at a tattoo parlor. (A little obvious I know but I just let that one slide) There was a cool looking couple named Shawn & Holly sitting on a bench in front of the store. I explained what I wanted to do and they were very cooperative. While I was setting up the camera I watched them and they were being very tender with each other so I asked them to continue and just ignore me. I thought it turned out well.

These next few were taken at the Lobster Festival in Rockland, Maine. (Yes, there apparently is a festival for everything. Even though the Lobster Festival seems pretty mainstream compared to the festival for Mike the Headless Chicken in Colorado) The two kids are named Eliot & Liam.

..and this is Kabryn.

This one was my favorite. Even though it was not a portrait...obviously. I thought it was successful because I felt like it reflected a memory of the place more than the place itself.

This image was taken on Friday. I had experienced a little burnout from trying so hard to be different so I took a little time off and went down to Rockport Marine and allowed myself to simply photograph the way I see the world. This image was my favorite.