Hollywood Noir

Being a big fan of the old Hollywood portraits of George Hurrell, I started experimenting with my own style in the studio. Playing with different types of lights and modifiers, working with different models, it's a different approach than I'm used to in my commercial world. I'll be posting more as time goes on...

New Personal Project - Sardar Ji

Started a new personal project a few weeks ago. Every month, one of the Sikh temples (Gurudwara) in NJ has a change in their spiritual musicians known as Ragis. I've noticed over time some of them have faces that would make for great portraiture. Depending how far this goes, perhaps some day I'll put together a show. Until that time, readers of my blog can view them at www.davidverdini.com under the gallery "Sardar"

This first image was shot side-lit with two Nikon SB 600 flashes and a Nikon SB 800 as the commander. Meeting Joe McNally a few months ago at B&H (see previous blog entry) really inspired me to use these little lights.

This Ragi was lit with conventional strobes (two Elinchrom heads on a white seamless). It's a pleasure to work with these Ragis. Not one of them whom I've shot have had their formal portrait done. So these portrait sessions for them are a special time spent.

Sikh Warriors

Last night I attended a Sikh cultural event. It was mainly for the children of the NJ Sikh community, but there were performances by some of the adults as well.

Watching these "warriors" perform almost seem to defy gravity. Reminiscent of the Matrix at times the way they flew through the air.

The lighting inside the room was absolutely horrible. The Nikon D3 performed flawlessly without any flash!

Assisting Claudio Basso's Fashion Workshop

Last year I started as a student of Claudio Basso's. This year I became one of his assistants for the original Fashion Workshop I attended. It's funny how things happen. 

 

On the second day after the shoot, everyone was encouraged to ask the panel questions. The panel consisted of:

From left:

World Famous Fashion Photographer - Claudio Basso

Fashion Designer - Loris Diran

Model from Ikon Agency - Geoconda

Celebrity Hairstylist - Dan Riccio

Fashion Stylist - Elle Horton

Ikon Model Agency Founder & CEO - Cynthia Aktipis

Celebrity Makeup Artist - Anita Nouryeh

Br. Prabodh Chaitanya of San Jose, Ca., visited NJ this past week and I had the privilege of creating his portrait. His presence and teaching left me with a different perspective towards life that will remain with me forever. 

Hari Aum Prabodh Ji

Verdini's Portrait By Claudio Basso

My portrait done by Claudio Basso at the Power of Light workshop.

Claudio Basso - The Power Of Light

Attended Claudio Basso's "The Power Of Light" two-day class in NY this past weekend and what an eye-opener that was. I left with a tremendous amount of lighting knowledge from the Master. Relatively simple lighting sets that yield amazing results.

I had the extreme honor to photograph Claudio's good friend and artist, Santo Bruno (www.santobruno.net), using a high-key approach; the result was beautiful.

Towards the end of the second day, the "Image Award Winners" were announced and one of my submissions (upper right) was chosen as first-place winner for "Extraordinary Image" by Claudio. 

Thanks to Keith Rinearson for the above image of Claudio and me.

Met Joe McNally at B&H

I attended the one of the B&H events in NY with Joe McNally. It is amazing how he controls light, especially his work with the Nikon Speedlights. I just have the SB-800, but after seeing what can be done with these lights, I plan on getting a few to work wirelessly and create some new projects. 

Elected To NJ ASMP Board

Was elected to the Board of Directors to the ASMP New Jersey chapter (American Society of Media Photographers). This is a great honor and I'm looking forward to making my contributing efforts in education and the monthly salon. 

www.asmp.org

www.asmp-nj.org

Indian Movie Star - Sonia Gill

I had the extreme pleasure to photograph Indian movie star, Sonia Gill. She is here in the US filming a full-length film, and I was offered a two-hour photo shoot with her and her make-up and hair stylist. Truly a wonderful experience to work with a such a warm and down-to-earth lady. Hopes are that I may have a future session with her.  Thank you Sonia!

Working With Dan Macey

Had the experience to work with food stylist, Dan Macey today. We were creating images that may be used in a future cookbook. Hopefully, I'll have more news in a few months regarding these images.

My Intro To Fashion Photography / Claudio Basso's Workshops

Since people were some of my first photography subjects, I decided to go back to that area and learn a specific type of  lighting. I still, and always, will enjoy photographing food, but I felt the need to pursue an aching question: How do I properly light people as the ones I've seen in the fashion magazines? An online ad made it to my email, bypassing the SPAM filter and was linked to some of the images I've seen around for quite some time. I've always admired this person's lighting, but never knew who the photographer was. I finally got the chance to meet him and be formally trained by the master himself - Claudio Basso. 

I've taken three of his classes so far to assemble a new portfolio and will be attending a new one coming up in March. What an experience!