San Francisco, Fall of 2007

SF 1107 0444, originally uploaded by jsevier14.

This image was short-listed by Schmap.com for inclusion in their summer 2008 Travel Guide for California. I didn't think much of it when I shot it, actually. I thought it to be too contrasty, and my eye tends to want to goose colors a bit, so I worried about that too. The composition wasn't perfect either, but, as with many things in life, you can think about them too much sometimes. And that's generally how it goes when I do a shoot. Rarely do I see anything I feel strongly about immediately. There was a time when I was disappointed with everything in the short term, so I started letting them sit a few weeks, or maybe even months, so I can review them more objectively. See the set of one of my favorite cities ever...

Downtown Cincinnati, A Different Perspective

CIN 103107 0002, originally uploaded by jsevier14.

There is no shortage of photographs from Downtown Cincinnati. The skyline contains such a breadth of architectural representation, from the Art Deco early 20th Century Centerpieces, the PNC and Carew Towers, to the more modern structures that surround them. Then there are the bridges, the river, and the stadiums. This night I wanted something different. Shot on Halloween night with a sky I thought would be disappointing, I set up under the Taylor Southgate Bridge, which ended up blocking out some fairly boring space. I'm breaking rules here, in a way. The rule of thirds I threw out the door by blocking out an entire sector of the top third of the frame, then using the horizon to position the skyline itself. It works though because the shapes rendered are interesting as triangles, and they end up framing the subject matter. It doesn't hurt that the light-play in the sky was exceptional, and the reflections on the river after the long exposures worked well too. This shoot is smaller than most, click here to see it...

CRG Dames of Destruction vs. Full Metal Corsets, From September 8, 2007

CRG 090807 0268, originally uploaded by jsevier14.

This would be the last time the RollerGirls Cincinnati teams would skate against each other as the Full Metal Corsets and Dames of Destruction. The Corsets are in black and gold, the Dames are in the Air Force Blue. Cool unis on both sides. This set features a little bit of everyone, and has plenty of intimate shots on both sides. This shoot would end up being very productive as I because many of the images hanging at the Southgate House show Jason and I did came from this bout. See the whole shoot...

Gem City at CRG at the Cincinnati Gardens from August 25, 2007

GRG 082507 1089, originally uploaded by jsevier14.

This effort was better. A rematch between Cincinnati and Gem City from last August, again at the Cincinnati Gardens. The Gardens continues to be a challenge to shoot because of its size and relative lack of light, especially compared to other venues, but the colors are popping a little better in this set. See the whole shoot...

Cincinnati Roller Girls vs. Bleeding Heartland, from August 25, 2007

CRG 082507 0631, originally uploaded by jsevier14.

This bout was not my best effort for sure. Some of the pictures are a bit noisy, which results from trying to get by without using a mondo flash unit. Jason and I are available light guys, and these noisy shots represent my first foray into Lightroom. My misuse of that tool led to the noise, but, these images needed to get out the door. See the whole shoot...

CRG 081107 1128

CRG 081107 1128, originally uploaded by jsevier14.

Another fine night of roller derbying as the Cincinnati team traveled all the way to Wright State University's Nutter Center all the way up by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. The girls skated fast and hard on the "grippy" surface of the arena and dominated the Gem City team, and pretty much dominated the whole night. This night's shooting was marked by more personal work as I am continuing my attempt at capturing the intensity of this fledgling sport. I like to capture everyone's participation, including Geniene and Matt pictured above, who provide the PA services at the Cincinnati Gardens when the girls skate there.



See the whole shoot...

THCDR 051207 0480

THCDR 051207 0480, originally uploaded by jsevier14.

A few months ago I had a chance to spend a Saturday night at the Southgate House. Kelly Thomas organized the event, a CD Release Party for a local band, Tupelo Honey. It took awhile for me to get to this post because I've been dealing with inadequate computer resources, a problem I am happy to have now resolved with my spanking new MacPro. No more problem. Where this shoot would have taken months to process, I got this one done in less than a week after I started it. Now I have a huge backlog to keep on slogging through.

Tupelo Honey stole the show that night, but there were also contributions by Lauren Houston, Wojo, Pete Dressman and S.U.N.
and last but certainly not least, Kelly Thomas and The Fabulous Pickups...

Check out shoot on Flickr.