Photos of people I worked with at Plaxo. For fun, I started taking pictures of people around the office. The portraits were well received and were used for business cards and marketing materials.
NATURAL LIGHT. SIMPLE BACKGROUND. CANDID MOMENTS. People get nervous when having their picture taken. They get stiff, have a worried look in their eyes, and put on a fake smile. For these photos I used a camera with a swivel back so I was looking down at the viewfinder screen so that I wasn't looking at the subject. I also photographed people in pairs and had them talk to each other while I blended into the background. I turned off the shutter sound on my digital camera to be as unobtrusive as possible.
Photographing my coworkers started as a fun thing to do on breaks between work. Soon people were asking me if I could take their picture. It was a wonderful morale builder to capture these memories for the team.
CLOSE YOUR EYES — AND TRUST ME. The eyes are the window of the soul. Rules are meant to be broken. Before I take someone's picture, I often ask them to close their eyes, take a deep breath, and think of someone they love. My shutter sound was turned off, so they didn't know that I was photographing them with their eyes closed. There's something magical and serene and unexpected when they close their eyes.
BUSY PEOPLE. A GROUP SHOT. The team was racing against the deadline for the Mac version of our online address book. I grabbed some props — the office dog and apples from the kitchen — and shot my colleagues in rapid fire in the hallway facing a big window. Outside, the mountains of Mountain View were dusted with snow. It all came together in short order for a fun press release photo.
HOW DO YOU GET 36 PEOPLE TO SMILE ON CUE? It was supposed to be a standard group shot of the team for a press release about how our startup was acquired by Comcast. I got everyone corralled for the group shot. Just as I was about to snap the picture I asked everyone to JUMP! It's really hard not to be happy when you're floating in the air.
HILLSDALE HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA CLUB
Photos for my son's school theatrical troupe
WHY PORTRAITS? Some people like to shoot landscapes. I'm drawn to portraits. It's weird that a lot of people will look at a portrait I've done for them and tell me straight away, "I don't like that picture of me." I usually get this from adults. Occassionally from kids. But when their friends and relatives see their portraits I often hear, "Thank you! That's the best photo of them!" It's a great feeling to give people a photo that captures their essence.
I take a lot of photos with rapid clicks of the shutter. I sort through dozens of shots for "the one". Each photo is meticulously retouched but with an aim for an invisible hand. I'll take out blemishes, leave in scars and freckles, sharpen and brighten irises, and work to make the background recede into the background.
