The Hood Internet

Another day, another set of DJ promo photos!  These two dudes are known as The Hood Internet.  They started posting mash-ups to their blog and got pretty big.. and now they also do live DJ gigs.  And one of them is a C-list local celebrity.  Ok that is an inside joke

We did these photos a while back and I hate to admit that I wasn’t totally satisfied with the shoot.  Sometimes magic just doesn’t happen.  There are some good shots for sure but nothing that will win anyone an award anytime soon… and yeah, I went back to revisit these as part of my new “spend more time editing” mentality.

As always, let me know what you think!

Enjoy,
Clayton

Bald Eagle & ish

So… yeah… my gosh!

It’s amazing how much time I spend shooting and how little time I spend editing.  Well, okay that’s not true.  It seems like half my life is spent editing.  But the ratio or shooting to editing is perhaps a lot less than many other photographers.  I tend to get my shit sorted and cropped and put thru my special photoshop action and then tossed out the door as quickly as possible, because it always seems there is another job (or drinking to be done) later in the day.  Rarely do I take an image and spend some quality time on it and really go the extra length with it.

Earlier today I was browsing thru one of the best wedding photographers’ website and it really struck me that shooting a good photo is only part of the battle.  It’s amazing what can be done with a little TLC on an image.  It’s one thing to take a shit photo and make it passable but it’s another to take a good photo and make it extra cool.

So with that in mind.. I aim to spend a little more time on my photos from here on out.  I’m going to revisit a bunch of older shoots and see what I can pull out of them.

On top of that, I’m going to be traveling a ton in the next few months.  I have no idea who reads this blog but if you are in NYC, Vegas, San Francisco, Tokyo or Hong Kong.. hit me up because I might be in your backyard very soon.

Here are a few shots from a fairly simple and somewhat uninspired shoot I did with a Chicago DJ named Baled Eagle a few months back.  Bald Eagle will be playing a set at this summer’s Lollapalooza here in Chicago.  I remember being so tired this day and I don’t think I was on my A-game.. but I like these two particularly.

enjoy,
Clayton

new york city layover

These photos are from my extended layover in NYC on my way to the Dominican Republic.  I opted to spend the time in Manhattan instead of waiting 10 hours at JFK.  2 cab rides to and from the airport cost me $100.  Yikes!

Started the night at Le Royal.  There was some The Wire party going on, with the people who did the soundtrack performing and some of the actors hanging out.  I’ve still never seen the show so I didn’t recognize anyone, of course.

My new friend Samantha.

Switched to the 50/1.4.  Hard to get sharp focus at such a shallow dof when the subject is moving very rapidly.

Igor, the guy who does drivenbyboredom.com

my drink ticket and plane ticket.

OK so now we are at Annex

Cool lighting, wish that guy wasn’t leaning into the shot though.

Yeah yeah, setup.

Nick Rhodes aka nickydigital.com

 

Friends who I always seem to run into in NYC or LA, Elise and Meryl

The end of a drunk layover.. off to the airport to drunk video chat with Lauren Flax and wait for my plane to board, which ended up being the worse plane ride of my life.. and not just because I was hungover.

Enjoy,
Clayton

Dani Deahl

A shot I did for Chicago DJ Dani Deahl a month or so ago…

Enjoy,
Clayton