Ranting Details

Picture of the Day: 2/08/10

(Tonight was the final rehearsal for Ryan's "RSO at Kennedy Center" performance so Alex Brightman and I stuffed ourselves into a corner to shoot a little poster for the event.  Off to DC to brave the snowy streets at 4AM!  Eeek.  Have a few fun shoots in mind; let's see if they happen!)

Picture of the Day: 2/07/10

(This is Chantelle.  I took a picture of her face.)

Welcome!

Welcome to the redesigned Ranting Details!  Look for more frequent updates and new and improved content over the coming months.  Thanks to Wicked's Alex Brightman for supplying his zany waves for the above images.

Dynamic Duo

Last night I had the opportunity to crawl around the floor at Joyce Soho.  Now, not only had I never been to the theater, but I'd never seen the duo I photographed: Casebolt and Smith, who are in town from L.A. until Sunday performing their wonderful evening of duets.  The rep they're presenting has humor, athleticism, drama, and even a little "Single Ladies," (we all know how I love Beyonce).  What more could you ask for?  If you're in NYC this weekend and looking for something to do, be sure to pick up a ticket and head down to Mercer street! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rolling. Jumping.

This morning I woke up bright and early to head to Dixon Place.  No, that's not a location in the deep south, it's a performance space in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and one that, until about ten hours ago, I had no knowledge of.  Well, call me a convert because I was entranced by the space as well as the rehearsal I photographed, a piece choreographed by Marta Renzi for dancers Amos Wolff and Tina Vasquez. 

After weeks of shooting mainly music, I was hurled back into the madness that is dance photography, where a moment's rest means a missed shot.  (While shooting musicians it's much easier to predict when 'the shot' will come; and much easier to know if you've gotten it or not.)  Fortunately I had the freedom to capture each section a few times, but some of my favorite shots were the first batch of the day.  Here they are! 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture of the Day: 1/28/10

(Did a photo shoot with Broadway's Carly Jibson recently.  Presented a fun opportunity to see how much I could do with two strobes and a green wall.)

RSO Explosion

Monday night marked the final performances of Ryan Scott Oliver's Rated RSO. (Let's shed a collective tear.) I first got attached to this powerhouse showcase of musical theater's next generation when I photographed the evening more than six months ago at Joe's Pub here in NYC.  Since then, I've traveled uptown, to LA, and finally back to Joe's Pub as a photographer for the show.  Only, for this last incarnation I was an actual collaborator since Ryan and I are now working on a theater piece entitled 35mm--a musical exhibition of sorts--that made up the first third of Monday night's show. 

The whole experience is actually a bit of a blur in my head, and rather than go too much into detail now, I thought I'd just share some images of the fantastic cast.  There will be a more in depth post coming up chronicling my experience creating the imagery for "Crazytown," which opened the Joe's Pub concert.  But for now...

(The boys sing "Mrs. Sharp.")

(Alex Brightman, Lindsay Mendez, and Jay A. Johnson sing "The Ballad of Sara Berry.)

(Blake Daniel sings "Mrs. Sharp.")

(Kacie Sheik and Andrew Kober sing "Hemming and Hawing.")

(Eric Michael Krop leads the cast through "Odyssey.")

(Matt Doyle performs "What I Wouldn't Do For You.")

(Alex Brightman performs "Never.")

(Jenny Powers dances her way through "When Lily Came.")

 

(Natalie Weiss performs "On Monday.")

(Matt Cavanaugh and Jenny Powers perform "Make Me Happy.")

(The cast of Rated RSO.)

(Alex Brightman performs "Lost Boy.")

 

(Natalie Weiss, Alex Brightman, Lindsay Mendez, and Jay A. Johnson journey to "Crazytown.")

 

(The cast performs "The Ballad of Sara Berry.")

Birds. Eyes. View.

I have been busy cleaning out my computer over the past few days (it's amazing how many bad photos one can take in order to get to the gem) and I was excited to find some images I passed over during my first round of edits.  These come from the shoot I did on a roof in Brooklyn a few months ago with makeup artist Ariel Vega and model Stephanie Voelckers. Nothing quite like having a man standing on the adjacent roof flocking birds for the purpose of photographs!  Going to be collaborating with Ariel a lot in the coming months; get ready for some more gorgeous models and makeup! 

 

 

Soledad

A few weeks ago I photographed Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca during their run at the Lucille Lortel Theater in Manhattan's East Village.  Whenever The Times sends me to shoot something, I usually go in rather blind to what I'm about to see, but I'd read a lot about Barrio over the past year (much of it from The Times' own Alastair Macaulay) so I knew the evening was bound to impress.  Coming from a family of tap dancers, I found myself particularly enthralled by the similarities and differences between tap and flamenco dance; both forms seem to exist largely on a mix of choreographed sections intertwined with improvisational flair which requires an intense amount of focus as a photographer.  Barrio was, of course, the star attraction here, and she performed with a presence that seemed to indicate both heartbreak and passion within the same moment; completely mesmerizing! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Floating Bloven

I did a photoshoot earlier this week with my former colleague (and one of my oldest friends) Blaine Hoven of American Ballet Theatre.  We had fun running around the studio trying to come up with some interesting and diverse shots.  Here are the results!