That noise you heard in Takoma Park on Sunday, Jan 17th was from all the creative energy unleashed when cultees convened at the newly refurbished (and open-to-the-public) photo studio at A-Salon for a four-hour marathon of studio portraiture.Frank, Mark, Paul, Steve and Jonathan tested their portrait chops with amazing results. (The studio is the combined work of A-Salon members, including Frank and Judy, who have joined with other shooters at the artists' cooperative to spruce up a great shooting space--including a big white cyc--that had been left vacant and crowded with old gear after the death of the previous tenant. The idea now is to make the space available to all for a low hourly rate--$15/hr for A-Salon members; $25/hr for non-members, regardless of how many use the space during the session.)
Mark did some wonderful stuff using gels to change the color of the cyc (a really easy way to do away with rolls of seamless), Jonathan created other-worldly pix of Mark emerging from a pool of milk (or at least that was the effect he created beautifully), Paul channeled his inner Platon using his cool beauty dish, Steve learned innovative ways to use his softbox to light large groups with only one light, and Frank recorded the entire process like the documentarian he is. The really wonderful thing about the session was how everyone bounced ideas off each other, leading to more and better pictures. It truly was a "salon" experience.
Stay tuned; this is a great facility and one that is available to us at Frank and Judy's member rate.
