I have to admit that one of the most enjoyable aspects of photography, for me, is handling the unexpected. It’s where all of your experience, knowledge of theory, practice, and your toolbox come into play. The mission is always the same: Don’t screw up Don’t let your client down.

The day illustrated below began as a routine assignment – photograph subjects X, Y, and Z at their respective locations, for a magazine piece on the efforts of doctors and their students at the university. The catch is that when you show up, with one assistant and a confident stride, the shot list grows. Doubles. In this case, triples. Now I’m not a guy who says “No, I can’t do that…” very often, because the truth is that I probably can do it  (I believe that we all can, if we choose to); my client, who I like to think of as a best friend who doesn’t want to be let down, needs something – and if I can deliver, I will.

So, Jen and I exchanged a few looks throughout the day, but we pushed through. Tore down one set after another, moved up a floor, set back up, and kept listening carefully to what our client needed, and kept shooting. We shot in tight hallways, enclosed rooms where closing the drapes was the only option to create a compelling image, set up strobe after strobe, tried out everything we had to. We even stood next to about 7 corpses, who were quietly reclined in the anatomy lab, to get the shot we needed. In the end? We broke a record for most sets in one day on location, had every shot requested “in the can,” and discovered just what my old, crackling knees can do in just under seven hours. Big thumbs up to Jen for being a trooper, and a toast: to never saying, “No, I can’t do that.”

Several weeks back I had the pleasure of making a series of portraits for a magazine at Jefferson Medical College. My subject was Dr. Michael E. Ciminiello,  a Long Islander who was drafted out of Princeton University by the Detroit Tigers. After a season in single A-ball, the Doc decided to pursue orthopedic medicine as a career, walking away from  baseball. He now practices at several locations on Long Island, specializing in joint replacement, and I met him at Peconic Bay Medical Center. The Doc has an intelligent, friendly, warm presence, and his hand enveloped mine when we shook upon meeting. From there he continued on with pleasant patience as we fulfilled our assignment, and in the end we made some fantastic images together. Thanks to the Doc, his great staff (and tall ceilings), and of course my trusty assistant Daniel.

With a new addition to the Appoldt family, it’s been tough balancing work, sleep, and diapers – but it’s all well and good, and sleep? Sleep is for the weak. Replacing your blood with coffee helps, too It is also good that I’m in such amazing physical shape!

Gabriel Sloyer, who aside from being an active actor, is a clever and fun guy to make portraits with. He’s been to the studio twice in the past few months for a variety of images that display not only his physical attributes, but his range as an actor and chameleon. Here’s just one of about 1,000 images I’m going through of Gabriel; I’ll post another soon, where hopefully you can compare and contrast what we’re trying to do with his comp card.

We also just delivered Carly’s headshot set, and a few of the images I really loved – her eyes are ice blue, and they just pull the viewer in. Carly, you’ll be great!

Here’s a quick post about a very noble and dedicated young man at NYIT in Westbury, where as captain of NYIT’s cross country team and ECC Preseason Male Runner of the Year, he seldom fails to pace himself with both his running and his studies. He plans to return to Kenya after graduation to open a community health center in Chuchuniat, but took the time to pose for a location portrait to be featured in the university magazine.

We had to overpower the ambient light for this, using several carefully-aimed strobes to create the dramatic effect that lets the sky become a detailed part of the image as well.

Also,  if your caught the Oscars the other night, you saw Christopher Plummer finally get what was coming to him! It was a great pleasure to meet him a while back, and make his promotional portrait in Huntington. Cheers, Christopher – you know I knew.

Andrea Correale, the (deliciously) talented mind behind Elegant Affairs catering here on Long Island, posed for my cameras during an editorial shoot in Westbury several weeks back – with wonderful results. The job was a location shoot, with the mansion used for the original Arthur film as the backdrop. Instead of fighting the sun, I used it as a backlight and let large softboxes do the rest. Thank goodness for mild winters, eh?

Well, the Giants and the Patriots are about to go at it. Last week Jen and I had the pleasure of making some portraits of Edward Burns, who’s sporting his preference for the Superbowl win…cheers to that!

Ed is a remarkably affable fellow, as I’m sure anyone who’s worked with him will tell you – we found out we likely know some of the same peeps from high school back in the day, but that had nothing to do with his willingness to be a great subject for a few stills. For some reason, all the gals wanted to see the pics from this shoot before the camera batteries had even cooled off, too. Check out his website to see the great stuff he’s writing, directing, filming, and starring in here: http://www.edwardburns.net/

Giants…Ravens…Patriots…Mets? Are any of these teams headed to the superbowl? I wish I could say I followed football – but oddly, I simply never have. Baseball/softball are fun for me to play, but I’ve always been more of a Frisbee and fishing guy – never rooted to a TV screen. Alas, that hasn’t stopped me from willfully participating with the local Coors Light and Miller Light promotional team of gals, with more to come soon. For the shoot illustrated below we had about 5 wardrobe changes with just over a dozen gals. Long night, but fun work if you can get it!

Melvin Van Peebles is the stuff of legend. Maybe you’ve seen one of the films he scripted, directed, produced, or starrred in, or maybe you’ve read some of his novels. Maybe you’ve followed his son Mario’s career, too – including the movie Badass that  Mario wrote, produced, and directed, a half documentary/half homage to his father Melvin’s 1971 film, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.

I’ve seen a lot of Melvin’s work, and meeting the legend himself was an absolute pleasure. While we only had a few minutes together for the shoot, we were able to talk about film, his home in Paris, and how absolutely cool it was that he could produce that cigar (half smoked) from his pocket while having his portrait made. Melvin, I’m going to take you up on that invite for a coffee in Paris one day – I mean it.

On a recent shoot with America’s VetDogs, several images we made together were selected by American Greetings for holiday cards, as shown at left. If you’re not familiar with America’s VetDogs, take the time to read this link here. Located in Smithtown, they work with some of the same great staff and crew that train the great pups of The Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind. They’re fantastic clients to work with, and every job I see in print (or on their website) from our time together makes me feel great, knowing that they’re making a difference. Happy holidays, everyone.

It’s been an amazing six weeks of making sure all of my clients needing their pet portraits ready for the holidays were all set and taken care of. I’ve been everywhere from Manhattan to Montauk in the past several weeks to make images of pets, and the studio too has been plenty booked. Locations are always geat for the four-legged pals, but most of my favorites have been right here at the studio – including this just-brought-home French Bulldog pup, now a member of the Herold family in Huntington Bay. You have to appreciate that this little guy fit in my palm…adorable.