Photo Shoot for The Hello Strangers

I am really excited about the recent photo shoot my sister and I did with my husband for our band, The Hello Strangers. I am cross-referencing a blog post from my husband's and my photography business blog, Playing Work. Ryan describes the details and processes from the shoot. He also asks for opinions about black and white photos versus color. We'd love to hear your opinions!!

My sister and I are recording with the band all this weekend. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

I have learned over the years that being a photographer is not just about taking pretty pictures, but more importantly is about solving problems. It could be said that I am not really a photographer, but a problem solver who figures out the necessary steps to complete a photograph. Some photos come easily, while others may involve various equations that must first be interpreted before the image can be captured.

I’m not talking about calculus here . . . I’m talking about problems like how I am going to get power out to the middle of a field, or what type of light I am going to create that will best tell the story I want to tell.

Larissa and her sister have a band called The Hello Strangers. They are an alternative country band and have a very distinct sound combining beautiful harmonies, fantastic melodies, and, often-times, haunting lyrics. You may think I am biased because Larissa is my wife, but I have a feeling if you listen to their music or see them live you won’t be able to disagree with me.

Last weekend, weeks of brainstorming and planning came together for a few hours of creativity and photography for The Hello Strangers. Brechyn, Larissa’s sister, arrived at 4 p.m. with makeup done and wardrobe in hand. Earlier in the day I had picked up the retro chair from her apartment and borrowed a 5000 watt generator from my Dad. While Larissa and Brechyn finished getting ready I loaded up the camera, strobes, light stands, sandbags, chair, generator, ladder, props and beer into my trusty old Nissan Pathfinder.

As soon as they were ready, we loaded up three very special dogs and the remaining props and caravanned back the lane and into the field about 1/2 a mile from the house. Nestled in the middle of a tall patch of grass, we started by creating our set. Once we had the chair and small table in position, Larissa and Brechyn stepped in. We shot for about 15 minutes with natural light before setting up the strobes. A front moved in just as we were beginning the shoot, and a cold, damp wind blew across the set, causing Larissa and Brechyn to tense up and look very cold in the photos. They warmed up in the car with some beer while I set up my preconceived light formation and cranked up the generator. After a few tests, I was ready to go and they took their positions on set while the 3 dogs were busy working on finding something to eat.

Having the dogs along creates a fun, but slightly chaotic obstacle
Larissa and Brechyn try to tame the chaos

We shot quickly because the temperature was dropping, the wind was picking up, a few sprinkles were beginning to fall, and one of the dogs disappeared. Not the best circumstances to shoot in, but we knew we wanted a cold winter feeling to the images so it worked perfectly.

I knew we had the shot so we quickly packed all the equipment back into the vehicles as the rain came down. Once we were back at the house and had located the missing canine, we began to setup for the second half of our shoot. Although I am primarily a location shooter, I love shooting in a controlled studio environment from time to time. Brechyn had the idea of doing a shot of their boots lined up in a row with the two of them on each end. We wanted this to be a square format for the possibility of being the cover of their next record so we had to exclude a few pair of boots. I played with the light until I had the look we wanted and then took a series of shots with boots in different positions and the girls in different colored skirts. Once we had the shot, we decided to improvise a little and shoot close-ups of the instruments and some details of the Hohner Accordion that is featured occasionally in the band's repertoire.




The total production time for the day came out to be about 7 hours and in this time we were able to capture some fantastic images. These are the kind of shoots that I absolutely love to do. Not only do I get to photograph and collaborate with two beautiful, talented women, I also get to fully exercise my problem solving abilities to create intriguing, polished images.

Below are a few shots from the The Hello Strangers photo shoot. These were originally intended to be in color, but after some thought, I decided to see what they looked like in black and white.

Here's where you come in: What’s your opinion? Please leave a comment and let me know what you think about the images in general, as well as which versions, either color or black and white, you like better.







Happy Problem Solving!

Gastronomy and the Divine Creative Impulse

What drives us to create? What is the explanation for something formulating in one's mind, like a melody or a verse, and what drives one to want to manifest it in some tangible form? Artists whom I have interviewed seem to agree that creating is something you feel you must do, and if you don't, then you are denying your mind and body a basic nourishment, like food. Though my need to create ebbs and flows like many of my other impulses, I am always struck by the almost cathartic nature of this drive.

How can we explain creative impulse? Why do I want to bake a pie, just out of the blue? Perhaps I wish to see the magical transformation of tough stalks of rhubarb melding with strawberries and sugar, or the crust rolling out just right, and the lattice top cutter rolling merrily through the dough. Perhaps I wish to experience the simple satisfaction of admiring a work in completion as it comes out of the oven, smelling like all the comforts in the world. Of course, unlike writing a song, one of the many perks of baking is that you get to put your creation in your mouth and savor it.

Unlike baking, songwriting allows for a longer-lasting savor. Sure, I don't get to put my song in my mouth and chew on it. But I get to sing it, which is another oral (and aural) experience altogether, and I can do so as many times as I want, indefinitely. Singing is one of my favorite things to do. There's great mystery in being able to open one's mouth and release air and vibrations to form notes wrapped in words. No other instrument can accomplish this. Moreover, unlike many other instruments, the voice is not man-made. We were created with this instrument already built into our bodily functions. How divine!

Recently, my sister and I brought in new members to our band, The Hello Strangers. I have been compelled ever since by the need to create once again. To be honest, when I am not focusing on running our photography business, it consumes my thoughts. Melodies greet me upon awaking, prompting me to grab my guitar and bring the song to life, so to speak. It seems effortless; in just a few minutes the song is alive and ready to share with others. Visions and ideas about the future of our band inspire me during many of my waking hours. All of a sudden, the thought of touring sounds marvelous, whereas before it seemed intimidating and somehow out-of-reach.

My sister and I, having talked about playing with a full band for years, are amazed to watch things falling into place around us, as if they were meant to happen right here and now. The energy of our new band mates is contagious, and the support of our small but growing fan base is humbling. I know that my creativity is spurred by this new context in which our music exists. I am grateful for it everyday, because my life has become enriched with the textures, melodies, and visions of creativity - that divine, mysterious force that we cannot rationally explain or deny.

Our first gig as a band is tonight, and I cannot contain my excitement about sharing this energy with others.

© Ryan Smith

MCFA Mixer!

Dearest Readers,
I am still reeling from a recent event that I organized with my fellow council members of the Mercersburg Council for the Arts. I recently wrote about it on the MCFA blog. Please check it out! It affirms that the Arts are more and more important in this day and age!
All my best!

Larissa

Announcement: Mercersburg Council for the Arts

Hello dear readers,
I am pleased to announce that my husband, myself, and several other wonderful people have successfully created an arts council in our lovely town. We are currently working under the auspices of the Mercersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, but plan to be our own entity within the next two years. We are very proud of this accomplishment! I thought I would share this happy news with you and direct you to our links:

MCFA Webpage

MCFA Blog and Event Listing

Cheers!

Another Poem to Enjoy

It's funny, I read through my poetry and often feel like I am such a different person now. Then I look at the date and it just doesn't seem that long ago. Time is impalpable.

Here is another poem, untouched since the day I wrote it.

I live on a river beach
just for one day
the wild Salmon river has turned
into my bedroom fan
just for one night
and smooth round worry stones
formed by the dancings of
such a river
they are my linoleum for today.

What of the rest of the world
when I can watch the sun light
this treasure chest beach,
hear canyon wrens laughing
way up the walls,
see a proud osprey on his loft
after a fresh catch dive
and the stars of Idaho spinning
just for one night.


Salmon River, Riggins, ID
May 12, 2002

©Larissa Chace Smith

I hope you're having a wonderfully creative day. Do share your creative endeavors with all of us!

Uncovering former talents can embolden current ones

When I was in my early twenties, I loved to write poetry. While I still love to write, poetry has been a medium I have pushed to the back burner over the years. Since I always seem to have a plethora of projects going on at once (i.e. knitting, blogging, songwriting, reading, fitness, qigong, etc.), I do not worry about becoming lazy or passive about my creative urges, or about letting one or two fall by the wayside.

Yet, it is important to revisit these talents that we once nurtured, whether it is from 5, 20, or 50 years ago. Everything we do leads us toward something else. We may retire old talents or hobbies, but they will always stay with us and continue to influence our current projects and interests. When I read the poem I have featured below, I remember the young woman I was then. At the same time, the person I am today is reflected in these words as though I am looking at an old photograph of myself. Ironically, Fats Waller is an old-time jazz musician that I have listened to with my father since I was a child. So the influences in this piece (and all our creative endeavors) are innumerable and timeless.

I have not modified this poem or its structure in any way. This is exactly as I had typed it 5 years ago:

WALKING WITH FATS

Fats Waller has been my
soundtrack since the days got balmy.
I feel he would sing
about the cottonwood spores floating
as he walks down the lane with me;
about the wheat fields growing
and churning as we drive past
farms of joy.
He’d say “You’ve got it good here,
Sister, ain’t no other place like it.”
As the sound of his twinkling piano
tickles me something, I shed
my skin for another summer.


Summer on the Palouse Prairie, Idaho
6/5/02
©Larissa Chace Smith

Tell me, what are your hidden or forgotten talents, interests, and loves?

Magnum Opus

I had the chance this evening to watch, for the first time in many years, the best movie I have ever seen: “To Kill A Mockingbird.” It reminded me that the greatest and most beautiful achievements of nature and man are often rare gems, not often found or experienced. When you chance upon one of these gems, you know immediately the great importance of it; how you feel all at once the weight of it in your gut and the soaring of your heart, just to have had the honor to experience it for yourself. With all the muck we have to wade through each day – watching our fellow humans display immense ignorance, apathy, bigotry, and avarice – it is comforting to know that true works of art, breakthroughs of science, miracles of nature, and pure kindness of heart are expressed and created every second of every day.

I am reminded that there is a greater reason for being on this earth besides the basic motives of propagation and survival. With the rest of the natural world, we humans share the ability and entitlement to express in some way something inside ourselves that cannot always be explained through logic or rhetoric. Creativity coexists with functionality. The spider’s web glistens with intricate beauty as it fastens its tiny threads ever tighter around the carcass of the arachnid's next meal. The flower not only inspires the bee to pollinate and continue the cycle of life, it inspires the human mind to conjure up the most poetic of verses. We have the ability to create films that inspire the masses, and piece together sound frequencies to form musical sequences that summon up emotion in even the most detached souls. Even the creation of a child demonstrates our ability to pass on, through the nurturing of this new being, expressions of deep-down love, emotionality, and ingenuity.

In essence, we were created to create. No matter what our religious or spiritual affiliations, this ability to craft, invent, and design is truly a gift from some higher power; from a source of unfathomable influence. But it is manifested from within us, forming like a seed inside and springing forth when the conditions are right. It comes from us and not from us, for we are in the universe and the universe is in us. And though there are those rare gems and masterpieces that we experience from time to time, every creation has been nurtured by someone or something in order for it to manifest. Of course, humans cannot help but critique everything that crosses our path. But we must remember that at its basic form, no matter what motive someone may have for making it, a creation represents something so pure and true that no amount of subjectivity can undermine it. We must bear this in mind as we walk through this world and experience its many creative expressions.

Photo by Ryan Smith