Category On Location

Dove Tail Bats Makes it in the Major Leagues

April 19, 2017 3 Comments read Blog, On Location, Recent Work

Across the country, spring has begun and with it, a new season of major-league baseball. In Maine, where spring is more concept than reality (often referred to as Mud Season), baseball is a sign that warmer days are ahead even if the weather hasn’t yet gotten the memo.

Maine, a staunch member of Red Sox Nation, now has another reason to get excited about the sport. The Dove Tail Bat Company, headquartered in tiny Shirley Mills, Maine–not far from Moosehead Lake, smack-dab in moose country–produces one-of-a-kind, custom-designed bats for the major leagues that look more like art and less like tools for knocking the stuffing out of a ball. Increasingly, across the major leagues, they’ve done just that.

Down East Magazine sent me to photograph owner Paul Lancisi, a former baseball player himself who once tried out for the Red Sox, along with his crew as they turned Maine hardwoods–ash, maple and birch–into glossy things of beauty.

Please read more about the DTB story in the May issue of Down East Magazine. I had a great time getting to know Paul and his talented crew. See below for additional images.

dove tail bat

Workplaces, Work Faces

February 15, 2017 2 Comments read Blog, On Location

Faces of Work

Work. It’s always been a big focus of my life and definitely a focus of my professional body of images. I photograph people at work, doing work, and showcasing the results of their work. Work—hopefully, meaningful work—gives our lives value and helps us get up in the morning, ready to put in long hours away from family, from home and from friends. I’m fascinated by what drives people to give so much blood, sweat and tears to companies they own or companies they punch a clock for.

To me there’s no better lens through which to view our changing society than by photographing the work people do and how they do it.

This is one of my favorite portraits from the last year, part of a series of images (here and here) documenting the changing look and feel of the modern workplace. It’s of Nate Tower, who leads marketing strategy efforts at Energy Circle, a marketing and technology company and one of the fastest-growing businesses in Maine in 2016.

Stay tuned to this blog for additional work that I’ll be rolling out throughout 2017, showcasing the interesting workplaces…and the people I find there.

How to Make a Hero…out of a Truck

January 4, 2017 0 Comments read Blog, On Assignment, On Location, Recent Work

How do you make a hero out of a truck?

That was the question I was forced to ponder when I was hired by Pierce Manufacturing to photograph Fire Station One in Cambridge, Massachussetts last year.

The story was simple. The department was taking delivery of a brand-new fire rescue apparatus, built by Pierce, and the company wanted images that captured scenes of daily life at the station and in the surrounding community. They also wanted to showcase the gleaming hulk of steel and chrome on wheels that the department had just purchased.

I contacted the chief, Gerry Reardon, and explained that I wanted to follow his guys around for the better part of a day. Oh—and can I borrow your truck for a couple hours and potentially tie up traffic next to the station? He mentioned something non-commital like, “we’ll see what we can do,” and we made plans to meet on the appointed day.

Then came the inevitable wrench in the works that always seems to happen when shooting on location. When I arrived, the firehouse was largely empty. The apparatus was nowhere to be found. Later we discovered it was parked across town, turning up just before we were slated to shoot. The chief was amenable to a portrait, but he wasn’t as receptive to portraits or photos of the crew. “They said you just needed photos of the truck,” he pointed out, not unkindly.

Somtimes you need to try a different tack. So I hastily revised my plans and beat a retreat to nearby Harvard campus. I photographed some of the more iconic views around the area and came back to the station just when the light was getting good. Late afternoon.

The crew had appeared, and the chief soon arrived with the new firetruck. Gleaming and gigantic, it looked too large for the small apron of asphalt in front of the station, bordered on both sides by busy roadways. I convinced them to take us to a nearby park for some daylight photos of the truck. When we returned, the sun was on its way to bed and it was time to set up for the shoot. While that was happening, I heard the strains of a bagpipe wafting out above the traffic, floating over Harvard University, located just across the street. It took me a minute to realize that one of the firefighters was upstairs on a balcony, playing to the setting sun. Not waiting to ask permission, I ran upstairs, through the living quarters to the balcony, and got a few frames before he finished.

Back downstairs, we had time to set up the truck on the entry ramp to the station. It blocked almost all of the truck bays. With busy roadways full of traffic and bicycles on either side, we set up eleven different lights, in and around the firetruck, and once the sun went down we made that truck look like a hero.

I love the final image of the apparatus, but my favorite shot from the evening was the stolen moment of the firefighter playing bagpipes into the evening. One day, one evening, two heros.

Beauty, Revisited

December 7, 2016 0 Comments read Blog, On Assignment, On Location, Showcase

ballerina_portlandco_01_by_brian_fitzgerald
The second in my series, “Beauty in Unexpected Places,” takes us to Building One of the Portland Company’s historic complex in Portland, Maine. Savannah Lee is a dancer with the Portland Ballet Company and is wearing a tutu from a production of the Nutcracker.

I love the look of the space, which contrasts so well with the intricate ballet costume. The challenge was to light enough of Savannah to set her apart from the environment. I also had to light key elements of the large space around her while not over lighting, in order to preserve the character and mood of the environment.

I think the best images happen when you let things happen, to some degree. Definitely a guiding motto is: “Set the stage, but let the pieces fall.” So we planned the lighting and envisioned the scenes, but I encouraged Savannah to move and perform as she felt appropriate. In the end, a great artistic collaboration in a historic part of Portland’s past.

With location shoots there’s always an unexpected wrinkle, and an unexpected gift—the gift that the photo gods give you when you show up, repeatedly, to do the creative work you should be doing. A few days before the shoot, the space was booked by the Portland Fire Dept. to do training drills. We arrived not knowing what portion of the space—if any—we’d be able to use, but were determined to make it work regardless. We showed up and the fire department didn’t, due to a last-minute schedule change (Had they done so, I’m guessing we would have somehow incorporated them into at least one shot). That was the gift. The wrinkle? The cavernous location was very, very cold, with a concrete floor—exactly the opposite of ‘ideal conditions’ for a professional dancer. Thanks, Savannah, for making it look easy and being a great sport. A true pro.

beauty revisited

Portrait Moments

November 9, 2016 0 Comments read Blog, On Assignment, On Location

I live for location work. Put me in a random environment, with changing variables and I’m in my element: solving problems as they occur. Capturing the flavor of the location in a true way. The person in the photo matters, but they are playing a duet with the background, each of them heroes in the final image.

What happens if you can’t rely on a cool and interesting environment? If you force yourself to strip out your background and all context, what are you left with?

Portrait moments, that’s what. Take out all of the other stuff that clutters the eye and what remains is mood and moment. The choice of lighting accentuates these moments, expressed subtly by eyes, lips, and posture. Here the subject is truly the hero of the image, and every subtle gesture speaks volumes.

Pretty lofty words, I know. But capturing the moment—that certain look in the eye, that lift to the chin—that’s the good stuff that keeps photographers going. That’s authentic truth, even in the middle of electronic flash mumbo-jumbo.

Case in point: this image of actress Liz Freeman that I’m publishing for the first time. It dates back more than a year, when Liz posed as a model during the Maine Light Workshop I was teaching on the creative use of off-camera flash.

I’ve been lucky to photograph Liz many times before this, but what made this situation different was that the shoot felt more like a hectic location shoot: constantly setting up gear and continually on the move. In situations like that, I have a loose ten-frame rule: if it doesn’t look good in ten clicks of the shutter, then it’s time to move on.

What struck me, going through the images, is just how present and serene Liz is in the middle of all of the activity going on around her (but not visible to the camera). I love this kind of quiet look: subtle, but an undeniably powerful, spontaneous moment.

Great job, Liz.

Faces of Industry

November 2, 2016 0 Comments read Blog, On Assignment, On Location, Showcase

A unifying theme of my work can be boiled down to, “people who work”. The people in front of my lens tend to do interesting things for a living, and my job often is to show them going about their duties. In the course of a week I might find myself in the cab of a delivery truck, perched on a platform above a factory floor, or scrunched into a corner of a conference room, camera in hand.

ecomaine is a waste management non-profit in Portland that generates power from the stuff the rest of us throw away. I’ve photographed their people for years and I absolutely love working there. As a location, it’s often dirty (they process and burn garbage, remember), the lighting can be an extreme challenge and the environment tends to be either freezing cold or stiflingly hot. But….on the other hand, they have cool smokestacks, pipes, walkways and big pieces of colorful moving machinery. Sign me up!

Recently they had me document and photograph many of their people at work and I wanted to show some of the results of that ongoing project. Produced completely in black and white, the images look timeless and give a human dimension to the industrial facility. Instead of the more intensive scenario-based images I might create in other settings, these are ‘quick-hit’ portraits done in work areas all over the plant and buildings, with minimal lighting. Basically, I have a lot of fun and get a workout at the same time.

Finding Beauty in Unexpected Places

October 25, 2016 0 Comments read Blog, On Assignment, On Location, Recent Work

As a photographer, I’m fascinated by juxtapositions and contrasts. I dig the unexpected (as a newspaper photographer I lived for moments like these and these). I like finding beauty where it’s least expected.

That’s the idea behind this photo shoot involving Portland Ballet Company dancer Kelsey Harrison. She’s the ‘beauty’ in this scenario.

The space? That’s the ‘unexpected’ part: a cavernous, dirty, dusty, rough space with unpainted walls, exposed subfloors and 15-foot ceilings. The kind of space that photographers dream of but also tend to be challenged by, too. Plenty of space for Kelsey to move around in and do her moves. Plenty of space to position lighting on all sides of her, creating an envelope of light. The goal was to use extremely fast flash duration—up to 1/13,500th of a second—to freeze Kelsey’s movements as she did her thing.

With enough portable batteries, lighting was the easy part. Too much and I’d kill the mood and drama of the place. Too little, and there goes the ‘beauty’. So I directed and shaped the light onto Kelsey and enough of the background to separate her from the environment.

Kelsey was a trouper. If you’ve ever walked around all day on a hard surface with no padding and no ‘give’, you feel it the next day. Kelsey spent an hour leaping and jumping, all in the name of art, and didn’t complain once. She made it look easy….but ‘easy’ it isn’t. A true pro and a joy to work with.

Finding beauty in unexpected places, indeed.

Finding Beauty

Inspired Mainers: Pat Gallant-Charette

October 13, 2016 0 Comments read Blog, Inspire Maine, Mainers at Work, On Location, Recent Work

Inspiring Mainer — Pat Gallant-Charette wears the names of two of her now-deceased brothers on her arm for every swim.

This week I published an Inspire Maine issue featuring Pat Gallant-Charette, a 65-year-old grandmother from Westbrook, ME. Some would say being a rockstar grandmother is inspiring enough—one that’s written her own children’s book, no less.

But that’s not the inspiring part. Gallant-Charette recently returned from the U.K., where she became the oldest person to successfully swim the North Channel. That’s the 21-mile stretch of freezing cold North Atlantic brine that separates Ireland from Scotland. At 65, Gallant-Charette was the oldest person to ever do the swim, by 13 years.

And that isn’t even the amazing part. This is one of five swims she’s completed as part of the “Oceans Seven”(No, that’s not a buddy movie). It’s seven channels of water, from Japan to Hawaii to California…and the British Isles. To boot, Gallant-Charette finished the Strait of Gibraltar swim faster than any American woman since 1928.

To her grandkids, she’s just grandma who travels a lot. But trust me, she’s amazing and a nice person, too. I photographed her at Kettle Cove in September and we had a great time despite the windy, chilly day. I loved the images but even more, I loved getting to meet with Pat. So do yourself a favor and check out her full interview over at Inspire Maine. You’ll be glad you did.

Inspired Mainer — Pat Gallant-Charette, photographed at Kettle Cove in Maine. Being a Mainer helped her train for her marathon swimming success. “This is the best training ground outside of the North Channel and the English Channel,” she says.

Inspiring Maine — One of my favorite outtakes from the shoot, which I think looks best in black and white. I can imagine Pat swimming alone in the dark and the cold, but fueled by her bright, optimistic nature.

Faces of Portland: Sam Smith

October 5, 2016 0 Comments read Blog, Inspire Maine, Mainers at Work, On Location

The thing I most love about Portland is definitely the diverse, interesting people that it attracts. Creatives, entrepreneurs, craftsmen, free spirits.

I recently photographed Sam Smith, a blacksmith who operates the Portland Forge out of the old Portland Company complex on Fore Street. All of the adjectives—creative, entrepreneur, craftsman, free spirit—apply.

Sam has a well-deserved reputation as an artist and a craftsman. When he’s not operating a portable anvil out of his van somewhere in Maine, or teaching workshops in Europe, he’s hammering steel in the dark corner of a former train locomotive foundry that dates back more than 150 years. By the way, that space, and much of the complex itself, will soon be part of Portland’s past. The city’s master plan proposes a 10-acre complex of condominiums and retail shops to occupy the space that these red brick, charmingly dilapidated buildings now occupy.

For now, Sam continues to work a forge that he created himself, in a small corner of Portland that—for now, thankfully—remains firmly rooted in the past. Thanks, Sam, for letting me and my camera into your world for a little while.

Arrested: Stories Behind the Badge

September 28, 2016 0 Comments read Blog, Editorial, On Location, Projects, Recent Work

For the first time, I’m publishing a few images from a project on Maine’s Peace Officers that I’ve been working on for over a year with the working title, Arrested: Stories Behind the Badge.

‘Arrested’ is a series of portraits of law enforcement officers from across the state of Maine, photographed at the actual locations where they experienced a life-altering incident on the job.

The diversity of situations the officers I’ve interviewed have been incredible: some have been shot; others have had to use their weapons. Some have been injured, some have saved lives. All have had to react in situations that required skill, judgement and humanity.

Nationally, the idea that cops are dangerous and out of control, and are to be feared–this is an additional burden on officers in Maine, many of whom police the same communities they and their families live in. When a difficult incident occurs, they are reminded of it every time they pass the spot where it occurred.

This project is an attempt to convey the reality of the difficult work officers do every day. I’m thankful to the officers who have participated. I’d like to say that it’s been a good experience for them to share their stories, but I also know it’s not been easy for people who tend to avoid the spotlight.

It’s been an incredible experience for me as well and I hope to share the complete project, as well as the many stories, soon.