Ian Curcio

This is a series I did over the weekend for a family member. Senior portraits I guess, I mean, she's a senior and these are her portraits. We only shot for about an hour. We ended up, by accident, at two different abandon grocery stores. It could have been anywhere really, a parking lot or parking garage, an alley, a park, main street anywhere, a bridge, a field, a backyard, creek, river, lake, ocean, it didn't matter.

I have to admit that although I love shooting in the new studio and I think the possibilities associated with having the space are endless and enormously valuable to the growth of my business, there is still a great deal of excitement linked to just grabbing some gear, jumping in the car and driving around looking for opportunity. It's all around.

I went one light for these. It was an AlienBee 1600 and the Vagabond. I mainly used a 24x24 softbox and 40-degree grid. With the exception of the last one, I added a Nikon SB-80 to bring out the cinderblock wall in the foreground.

Posted by Ian at 08:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Lots of people keep journals, mine just happens to be visual. To help keep me creative, interested and inspired, to help keep what is familiar, unique, I've been shooting pictures with my iPhone and Holga cameras for the past few years. Which has lead me to start experimenting with a lot of different cameras, iPhones, Holgas, point-n-shoots, disposables and now a Polaroid.

It’s not always about the tools, sometimes it’s just about the vision.

The above images are some recent work I’ve been enjoying with an old-school Polaroid Sun600 and PX 600 Silver Shade Instant Film. It has to develop in the dark. I kinda miss those days.

Check out The Impossible Project if you're into the Polaroid thing.

Posted by Ian at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nothing to see here, just showing some personal work shot and edited with the new iPhone4.

Last fall I posted a blog on five must-have photo apps for the iPhone, at the time I was using an iPhone 3G. I’m still currently using those five apps as my go-to photo apps, so naturally when I received my iPhone4 last month I wasted no time taking pictures with it and running all the photos through some or all of those apps.

I can’t speak for anyone else using an iPhone4 but I’ve been happy with mine.

Posted by Ian at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Getting big portraits with little gear isn't as hard as you might think it is. You need a little imagination, that's all. The above image took all of 5 minutes to set up and execute. It was about 5pm, a 100 degrees and we were in the backyard. The below image shows the simple set up, a "28" Westcott softbox", "AlienBee 1600", a "Vagabond" and a box of instant mashed potatoes. It was also shot with a circa 1977 manual focus "105mm 2.5" lens that cost me about $100.

Posted by Ian at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's tough times out there. No one will argue that statement, especially not a working photographer. Jobs are far and few in-between and competition is in full swing. I shoot more assignments nowadays were I'm standing next to a soccer mom or Nascar dad with a Nikon D3 and an SB-900 hanging around his or her neck then ever before. As an old newspaper photographer I used to gaffer the name on my cameras so I wouldn’t draw attention to the professional equipment I was using. I'm still doing that today but not for the same reasons.

I poke fun but the situation is a serious one. The old "don’t take $200 assignments" truism is a painful one. As professionals and even the professionals-in-the-making we have to educate or clients and future clients on the value of great photography.

Photography is not much different that anything else out there. You have your Mazda and then you have your Mazarati. There are buyers for both. If you give your client a Mazarati for the price of a Mazda, you're not only hurting yourself but you are hurting your industry. Know how to turn down a job. We simply can’t shoot a $2000 job for $200. It doesn't matter how badly we need to pay rent.

Posted by Ian at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Before heading out to San Francisco last week to work on a commercial shoot, I had made the decision to work on a self assignment as well. You know, one of those GOYA assignments that are motivated by nothing more than the urge to create what you want to create with only the restrictions you've given yourself. And I gave myself plenty.

Working for newspapers and travel magazines I've always had to go out and shoot strangers in the streets. It's either grip and grins for the newspapers or low budget magazine assignments where they need someone doing xyz but can't seem to come out of pocket for a good model. Editors and DOPs are too often saying "just find someone who's already doing xyz and use them". It doesn't matter if it's someone shopping, cycling, dining in a restaurant, whatever; nine times out of 10 it's a stranger already in that situation. And it's our job as assignment photographers to be able to approach them, make them feel comfortable and get a great image out of it. In order to do that we have to feel comfortable ourselves and that's what this project was about.

So I decide that I would get up-close and personal with the different people of SF. My goal was to shoot 12 portraits of 12 strangers in 6 hours and I did it. Knowing that I wanted to be able to light my subjects if needed and I would be moving around the different neighborhoods alone and without an assistant, I chose my lighting set up carefully. I used one Speedlite attached to a monopod with no modifier, that was my set up.

I also chose to shoot exclusively with a 20-35mm lens. I did this for several of reasons; first, I wanted to feel comfortable getting into their space and I wanted them to feel comfortable allowing me into their space, after all, that's what the exercise was about. Second, I wanted to be able to show some of the environment that each subject was in and the wide angle allowed me to do that. Third, being close to my subjects allowed me to easily light them from above or the side holding my Speedlite on the monopod. And forth, I walked around the Mission, Castro, Haight-Ashbury and Golden Gate Park without ever allowing any of my gear to leave my hands. It was very minimal, a camera in one hand and a light on a stick in the other.

It did and always does get easier as I went along. I found that about half the people I approached would say yes while the other half would say no and of the half that said no, all of them were very polite and respectful about it.

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Posted by Ian at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the things I enjoy the most about providing a service is that I have the option to take advantage of the barter system. As a photographer, especially for aspiring photographers, bartering can be a great tool. It's a great way to add to your portfolio and it's the perfect way to hand pick your assignments. Don't misunderstand me here, this is not shooting for free or undercutting other photographers, this is a straight up trade; my service/product in exchange for your service/product. I've bartered, a year's worth of haircuts for me and my family, I've bartered a credit to some of the best farm-to-table restaurants around, I've even bartered plane tickets and vacation time across the country and they're all assignment I'm proud to show, blog about and put into my portfolio.

Posted by Ian at 06:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)