Bambi Cantrell Workshops

I first met Bambi Cantrell at JVH's 2009 Digital Festival in Bellevue, WA. She was a guest speaker and I was very impressed with her attitude, knowledge, and teaching style. I knew then that I needed to take a workshop with her. I just had to figure out the time to do it. Come November 2010 and I noticed that Bambi and Scott Bourne were teaming up to offer a Boudoir and Figure workshop at Scott's new project studio in Las Vegas (Henderson) the week after WPPI. The price was good (plus, I got an early bird discount) and the timing worked out.

Little did I know at the time, but Creative Live was also in the process of hiring Bambi to do a 3-day free online workshop in Seattle for which I will be assisting. Sometimes all the cards fall into place. The workshop will take place online March 18-20, 2011. Click on the Creative Live link above for more information about all their upcoming free online workshops (Vincent Laforet, Jasmine Star, Mark Wallace, Rick Sammon, Zack Arias, and more coming up this year).

Anyway, back to the workshop. It took place this past weekend and I had a blast. Bambi and Scott were very hands-on in the workshop, side by side with all the students (limited to 6, so everyone had good access to the instructors). Bambi has a very energetic style. Watch the Seattle workshop to see what I mean. Scott gave great technical and business guidance. It was a great team. They were always there next to you offering critique, encouragement, guidance, etc.

I try to go to a few workshops every year, but lately I've been getting to the point of wondering if they really help. I can tell you that this was one workshop where I never questioned why I was there during the entire session. I highly recommend that you keep an eye on Scott's Workshop page to see if another Scott/Bambi workshop comes up. Bambi also lists her workshops on her site.

Without any more rambling, here are some of my images from the weekend. More can be seen at http://johncornicello.com/vegas.

Caela and the Dangerous Flares

Had a busy weekend here, culminating with a photo session for Caela and the Dangerous Flares. Here are images from the session, which had a number of wardrobe and background changes.

The lighting, however, remained pretty much the same. It consisted of 4 or 5 lights. The "main" light was a 60" umbrella to camera left, about even with the subjects. That was augmented by two strip lights from each side of the rear of the set for edge light. Front light was from a Paul Buff 86" silver PLM with a Speedotron head plus an Alien Bees ring light. I stood with the PLM behind me, about 14 feet from the subjects, and the ring light on the camera. Camera was a Canon 5D mkII with a 24-105 lens. Speedotron lighting, except for the ring light.

Here are more examples...

 

 

 

 

 

Meet The Bobs

Many of you have probably known The Bobs longer than I have, but for a few of you, this may be an introduction. The Bobs are a great a cappella group who I recently got to work with on new publicity photos. I've been holding them back, but they recently released this on on their Facebook page, so you get to see it here, too...

 

Dan "Bob" Schumacher, Amy "Bob" Englehardt,

Richard "Bob" Greene, and Matthew "Bob" Stull

Here are a few individual head shots:

 

Come out and see The Bobs at the Moisture Festival where they are described thusly, "This is not your run-of-the-mill a cappella quartet -- not by a long shot. Now in its third decade of musical mayhem, The Bobs’ Grammy-nominated musical gymnastics combine astounding vocal agility, deliciously ridiculous original pieces, and wildly imaginative arrangements of tunes by the likes of the Doors, Kurt Weill and the Beatles."

Burlesque at the Skylark

Here is one that is still going on, so you can get out to see it. Next show is Thursday, February 24, at 9:30 pm at the Skylark in West Seattle.

Whisper De Corvo presents Emperoar Fabulous!, June Cle'vage, Chesty LaRue, and Miss Elaine Yes in the next show.

Here are some photos from the January show...

Sc Andal from Bohemia

Jaqueline Hyde

Whisper De Corvo

Come on out for the next show on February 24. See their Facebook page for more info.

The Moisture Festival

It is almost here! The 8th Moisture Festival, featuring vaudeville, circus, aerial, burlesque, and more. Tickets are already on sale for the 50 or so shows taking place at Hales Palladium, ACT Theater, Georgetown Ballroom, Open Space for Arts and Community (on Vashon Island), and SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival).

Things got started last night with a Valentine's Day fundraiser at Hales Palladium. It felt great to be back "home" there. Love the lights! Here are a few images from last night's show, featuring Mae West (Caela Bailey), Acrophelia & Dr. Calarmari, and Hugh Sutton (Salamity Clam).

Michelle Bates, Mark Gardinder, and I have also put together a book of photos from the first seven years of the Festival that you can find on the festival website. Please note that the bookstore listed there (Fremont Place Books) is sadly closing their doors at the end of February 2010.

Acrophelia & Dr. Calimari

Caela Bailey

Hugh Sutton

Caela Bailey

I look forward to seeing you at some of the shows!

SANCA -- Up, With A Twist

The School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts (SANCA) in Seattle held their annual fund raiser last week in the Teatro Zinzanni tent. They raised over $63,000 that evening that will be used to support SANCA's programs, including our Youth Scholarship Fund, Circus Outreach Program and Youth Performance Programs.

Here are some images from the event...

Looking forward to seeing more of SANCA at the Moisture Festival.

That's Impossible!

Magician Tony Comito just finished up a run of magic shows at Egan's Ballard Jam House in Seattle this past week. With this show, he ended his time in Seattle and has left for the wilds of New Mexico. The final show featured folks like Just Sage, Philemon Venderbeck, and Maritess Zurbano.

Egan's is usually know for its music and the lighting was a bit challenging for an individual performer moving around the stage. But it all worked out. Here are some photos from the evening. Sorry, I didn't get everyone's names. I'll come back and add the missing names as I get them...

Tony Comito

Just Sage

Philemon Vanderbeck

Maritess Zurbano

Not All Clowns Are Bozos III

I recently had the opportunity to photograph Ear to the Ground Theater's show Not All Clowns Are Bozos III (January 13-15, 2011) at Theater Off Jackson.

The show was made up of individual performances from some of Seattle's best clowns, including Luke Saylor and Garth Brewe, Christopher Bange, Linda Severt, Xan Scott and Noah Parriott, Jenna Bean Veatch and Naomi Russell, Janet Rayor, Unicycle Collective’s Mary Purdy and UMO Ensemble founders Janet McAlpin and David Godsey. The show was directed by Ear to the Ground Artistic Associate Cecelia Frye.

Some photos from the show...

Naomi Russell and Jenna Bean Veatch

Mary Purdy

Janet McAlpin and David Godsey

Naked Girls Reading

Yes. It is just what it sounds like. Started in Chicago about 2 years ago, Naked Girls Reading now has a few chapters around the world. One of them is here in Seattle, hosted by Polly Wood, Heidi Von Haught, Jesse Belle-Jones, and Elsa Von Schmaltz. They also bring in guest readers for each event, such as Trixie Little, Belle Cozette, Fuchsia Foxxx, and others. Readings happen every other month at Oddfellow's Hall on Capitol Hill. Click on their link above for additional info.

This past week was a Valentine's themed show, Love Stinks, with Belle Cozette as the guest reader. The featured book was Philosophers Who Failed At Love by Andrew Shaffer. Here are some images from the reading:

Polly Wood and Jesse Belle-Jones

Belle Cozette

Belle Cozette and Polly Wood

Heidi Von Haught

Coming up: All Clowns Are Not Bozos III, Tony Comito's "That's Impossible" magic show, burlesque at the Sky Lark, The Bobs, SANCA, and more...

Seattle Performance Photography

Though I mostly talk about portrait and figure photography, I also do a lot of performance photography in and around Seattle. Over the next few posts I will be showcasing some recent work in this field.

Today, I'm starting with a burlesque performance on January 28 at the opening of Henry Horenstein's exhibit at Photo Center Northwest (PCNW). Members of Miss Indigo Blue's Academy of Burlesque and others performed at the opening.

This was different than many performances, as the artists were mixed in with the audience, milling around the photographs on display. Instead of curtain or other "traditional" backdrop, there were windows to the outside world. I was almost tempted to photograph the expressions on the people walking and driving by seeing the burlesque performances going on inside.  Here are a few of my favorite images from the evening...

Lulu Bell

Polly Wood

Next up: Naked Girls Reading