Holiday Ships 2011

It is that time of year again. The Christmas Ship Parade through the waterways around Seattle. I remember a few years ago when we had a big snowstorm for the event. Other years were pretty cold. But last night was one of the warmest I can remember, being around 45 degrees. It feels too warm and dry here in Seattle for it to be Christmas.

Here are a few photos of what seemed like hundreds of boats all decked out in holiday lights. I saw Santa Claus on a motorcycle, a few snowmen, reindeer, and lots of people have a grand time. The mild weather really brought out the crowds.

As usual, the Seattle Girls Choir was out on the lead Argosy ship and I have to really hand it to the technical crew. The sound this year was really great. In past years the sound system on the ship was extremely shrill and did no justice to what I assumed were wonderful voices. This year everything turned around. The voices sounded great through the speakers. Good job!!

If you want to see more, please check out this photo gallery.

Thanks for a great year. It isn't quite over yet, but it has been wonderful and I expect to close out in the same fashion.

Be well!

John

Recapping 2011

I can't believe it is that time of year again. It sounds cliche, but time really does fly as you get older and more busy.

In addition to a lot of photography sessions, I also did a lot of work with creativeLIVE this past year. Bambi Cantrell, Vincent Laforet, Zack Arias, Penny De Los Santos, Gale Tattersall, Mike and (Unknown Photographer) Andy from Lighten Up & Shoot, Mark Wallace, Rick Sammon, and Matthew Jordan Smith rounded out the crew of photographers and videographers I worked with at creativeLIVE. And creativeLIVE is currently running a bunch of sales on these recorded classrooms, check them out. Can't wait to see what 2012 brings. January is already filling up with iphoneography with Jack Hollingsworth and weddings with Zach and Jody Gray. And I'm presenting my own class on working in a home studio.

But enough of that. It is time for me to gather some of my favorite images from the past year.

Click for a web page of images

It was quite a varied year with The Bobs, burlesque, circuses, portraits, nudes, zombies, underwater, head shots, iphone images, and more.

I hope to see you through my lens in 2012. Until then, enjoy the holiday season!

John

QR Business Cards?

Its all about the relationship.

Kim recently told me that she met someone who was pushing to have QR codes replace headshot photos on business cards for their company. Ack!!! Even if I wasn't a photographer, I don't think I could go for that.

Its all about the relationship.

When I first saw a sample card my reaction was, "my, you're looking a bit pixelated these days..." Kim's reaction was "I think she looked better before the facelift."

Well, what do you think? Here are some sample business cards that feature a QR code and a head shot. Which one is going to leave a better impression on you? Which one do you think you will remember? Who do you want to do business with?

  
Remember, its all about the relationship.

Put a QR code on your business card? Sure! But put it on the back. Then contact me for the head shot to put on the front. See my headshot samples on Google+.

Thanks!

John

creativeLIVE home studio class

For those wondering, the purple item under my arm in the promo photo for my free class at creativeLIVE coming up on January 10, 2012 is not a flotation device from a swimming pool. It is a roll of purple seamless paper. Yes, someone did ask...

It is interesting, sometimes challenging, to work in a home studio. Many years ago (around 1982-85 or so) I had a studio in New York City on 29th Street, between 7th and 8th Ave. Last September (2010) I got a chance to go back and visit that studio. Paul Gelsobello, who I shared the space with back then, is still there. And it pretty much looks the same as when I was there, except for new windows and a white floor (it was gray back then). Here is a photo of Kim and I from that trip.

Good memories!

But now it is time to look at the future. Check out the forum at creativeLIVE set up to talk about the class and ask some questions that we might get to during the class.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

John

Little Bird Therapies

Last weekend I got to work with Joe Kelly and Jessica Chung of Little Bird Therapy structural medicine photographing images for a new website. I've known Jessica for some time as an aerial performer and I've also known her as a physical therapist. We had been talking for a while about creating these images and our schedules finally coincided.

Here are some of the photos that were created on location in their office on Roosevelt Ave in Seattle. For these images I went to my "go to" light modifier, the 60" Photek Softlighter II. For most images, including the head shots, this was the only light. For a few image I also added a bare-head flash in the corner of the room to provide a (very) little fill. The lights were Speedotron 202 heads powered by a Speedotron 805 power pack.

Special thanks to Ryan Mather and Nadia Losonsky for modeling for the photo session.

Please keep me in mind if you need new promotional photography for your business advertising, websites, etc. Thanks!!

Testimonials

A great big Thankyou to people I have worked with for providing these kind words...

John - When I left tonight I was so exhausted not just physically but emotionally as well (something I had SO not anticipated). I was so overwhelmed I wasn't able to hug you goodbye. I had emotions that I still have not been able to put in place. I actually had to sit in the car and cry...not from sadness but coming from someplace else. I do know that you have made it so I could begin to look at myself differently...It is like a door unlocked in me tonight...leaving me with overwhelming but amazing feelings. Thank you for being a part of that experience. You were amazing. Words just stop in my throat but I can say THANK YOU! I will never forget what you have made possible for me.
--Chris G.

"I love to work with John he is so much fun and I always get back great images. He knows how to make a shoot fun with silly props and ideas which always make for funny images. Not to often you find a photog that can get super awesome images and make the shoot fun at the same time. I always look forward to working with John when i'm in Seattle. His images are some of my best work on my port and i'll always keep them up." 
--Eleya M.


"John Cornicello, is my all time favorite photographer. Not only for his fantastic skill behind the camera but also his ability to be playful while remaining professional. I've never felt more comfortable with another photographer, posing nude or dressed. Whether its underwater, fine art, portraits, performance, or maternity, John has put me at complete ease and delivered some of the best work I've ever seen. I now cannot imagine Seattle without him and I do see John as a part of my Seattle family."
--Tristen W.

"John Cornicello is not only a highly skilled and creative photographer, he has the charm, grace, and maturity to make you comfortable expressing yourself in front of the camera. My session with him fulfilled my wish for gorgeous, sexy portraits that show me at my best!"
--Lisa E.


" I always look forward to modeling for John because he is great at making a shoot fun.  It is easy to feel comfortable around him even from the first time you meet and work together.  On the other hand he is also exceedingly professional and always treats his models with the most respect."
--Audra P.

"The experience of doing a pin-up shoot with John Cornicello was way more fun than I could have anticipated! We didn't really know each other, aside from a handful of casual conversations. His calm demeanor put me at ease right from the start. The nerves I felt were more the excited kind, anticipating the surprise when my husband sees the book of prints for our 10th wedding anniversary. He loves seeing my curves in lingerie (and bless him for that!), so this seemed like an appropriate way to give back to the man I adore. Because I love dressing up (or down as the case may be here) I enjoyed that part, but as an amateur model, I didn't know how to position my body for the camera, John had great suggestions of how to hold my arms, or place my feet, or look to the light, that really complimented my figure. The results didn't just impress the man in my life, but admittedly, I'm a little smitten with them too. It's a fabulous feeling to let go, and let a professional like John capture your essence and express whatever mood is true for you. It was such a rush, I kinda want to do it again...

"Who knew taking your clothes off in front of a near stranger could be THIS much fun!"
--Sheri H.


"I'm ALWAYS amazed at how you are able to cultivate a relationship of trust with your subject so quickly, and then bring out the most spontaneous beauty in every situation (studio or out on the street)."
--Kim P. (my wonderful wife)

Working in a home studio

Let me start with a big Thank You to the folks at creativeLIVE. It has been a year since they asked me to come in and help out with a live workshop with Jeremy Cowart. That was an amazing weekend that has grown into a year of workshops. And to celebrate that, I'm going to do a 1-day workshop with creativeLIVE on working in a home studio to start the new year on January 10, 2012.

I am greatly encouraged by all the viewers who have commented about me during the workshops this year and who have written in asking to have me do a workshop. I'm a little nervous. I did do the fireworks class in July, but before that the last time all the cameras were focused on me alone was back in the mid 1980s when a TV show called "World of Photography" did a segment about me when I had a studio in New York City. I think I was so nervous there that they only showed me working and never used any of the footage of me sitting in front of the camera just talking. If anyone out there knows if these TV shows are available anywhere now, I'd love to hear about that. I lent my VHS copy of the show to someone many years ago and never got it back.

Anyway, that was around 25 years ago. I've come a long way since then. But I've also gone back to working at home. I started out at home, right out of college with a Norman A202 strobe pack with a couple of heads, reflectors, and umbrellas. I worked out of my bedroom at home, photographing things in the middle of the night while I had a day job working in a large catalog studio as an photo assistant.

Now I'm firmly entrenched in the digital world, but I do still have some of my film cameras, such as the 5x7 Deardorff view camera shown above. I still use studio strobes instead of small camera flashes for most work--that's what I've grown up with. But I have actually done a few recent jobs using camera flashes. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks (thanks to the Lighten Up And Shoot and Rick Sammon workshops on creativeLIVE).

I want this to be a very interactive class with lots of audience questions. So I invite you to start preparing some questions now and ask them here. And have more ready to go when Kenna joins me to take a look at my studio. You can ask about specific images shown below. Or ask about the equipment I use. Or ask about why I do things one way versus another. But it is mostly about helping you get set up to take photographs in your space.

Below I'm showing a selection of my of photographs and I am asking you which of these were NOT done in my home studio? Here is what I can tell you about my home studio. The main room I use is about 12x18' and I sometimes use an adjacent room that adds about another 12 feet to the 12' of the main room, creating an L-shaped area. My ceilings are a standard 8 feet high, and there is a wide doorway between the two rooms.

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Looking forward to your questions and to seeing you online in January!

Thanks!

John