Transforming ordinary locations into portrait backdrops is really fun (and quite the addiction of mine). Today, I thought I’d share two contrasting photos of the same person to show the possibilities you can find in everyday locations.
Jonathan Parker is a hidden gem of the DC jazz scene. He’s an original voice on the saxophone as well as a talented composer and arranger. I’ve been lucky enough to play with his octet now on several occasions, and it’s always a great time— for both the musicians and the audience.
I actually got hooked up with Jonathan through one of his former teachers, Bill Mulligan, who is another great saxophonist (and woodwind doubler) here in town. Jonathan has played all over the place, so I was excited to pick his brain about his time in China, New York, and now DC. We also got into his compositional process and how he ended up playing the types of venues he plays.
Sometimes not having a whole lot of free time can be a good thing.
In the case of photographing drummer and composer Ian McColm, we ended up doing three different photoshoots over the course of about two months. My schedule is fairly crazy at times and, combined with Ian’s, we rarely had a chance to meet for much more than an hour at a time. Keep in mind that it’s not just time needed for shooting photos, but also for doing a somewhat extensive interview.
So how does this end up being a good thing? Well, for me, I was able to let some ideas kind of percolate in the back of my head. Instead of doing one big photoshoot and cramming in some different looks, I was able to plan ahead and think about things like environment, background, and lighting schemes (schemes… muahahahaha).
One of the great things about living in Alexandria, VA is the breadth of fascinating people residing here. I met Ian at one of my favorite coffee shops in town. They always have good music playing- usually jazz. I think we started talking about something that was playing on the sound system and I soon found out that he was a jazz drummer (who studied with the great Billy Hart, no less), composer, and multi-instrumentalist.
Ian’s music is intense, beautiful, and deeply layered. His journey in this art form is just as unique. After the interview, be sure to click on the links at the bottom of the page to hear samples of his work!
In a post I wrote last month I discussed some of the reasons why I decided to start this blog. Today, I thought I’d dig a little deeper into my thought process and, more specifically, my journey as a photographer.
DC Jazz Photog 