Artists get inspiration in many different ways, sometimes it’s a place, sometimes a color, sometimes it’s a person. I was surfing the web a while back and came across a project that the the great photographer Douglass Kirkland had done for Vanity Fair Italia to celebrate the magazines 50th anniversary. Kirkland did “remakes” of 25 famous scenes taken from Italian cinematic classics, with well-known contemporary Italian actors playing the legends of the past.

One picture that struck me in particular was Kirkland’s remake of La Ragazza con la Valiglia 1960 (Girl with Suitcase) by director Valeri Zurlini (photo seen to right). I liked starkness of the scene and the look of simplicity with the lighting.

The idea to do an updated version had been rattling around my head for a while. I had a session scheduled to shoot with a versatile model I had worked with before, Crystal,  and after talking about it a bit we figured we’d give it a shot. I decided to use the railroad tracks close to the studio and update the look to a 60-mod feel, maintaining the stark backgrounds and simple lighting, but keeping the idea of a young ladies departure as  consistent theme. Crystal had a great dress and borrow the vintage suitcases from her father, both of which worked perfectly for the “updated” look I was going for. We were racing an incoming rain shower, which actually really worked well for the atmosphere for the shoot.  Below are the results of the session, which I was very happy with….thanks again Crystal, as always great working with you, looking forward to another session!

-Enjoy-

Summer is over and well…it’s been a while since I posted anything here. Not that I haven’t been shooting. Since my last post I’ve traveled to Alaska and Seattle AND cyclocross season has started here in the Pacific NW. I’ve been spending time shooting CX races for the last month or so. Early season Central Oregon CX=dust, dust and more dust. The rains will be coming and I plan to be shooting some up in Portland this fall/winter and CX Nationals are once again going to be in Bend so there will be plenty of CX weather to come.

I started a YouTube channel for my event photography company where I have been posting the highlights reels for our events: http://www.youtube.com/cascadeeventphtgrphy

We also started a Facebook fan page to keep everyone up-to-date on what going on: http://www.facebook.com/CascadeEventPhotography

Here are a few of my favorite pics so far from this season, stay tuned for more.

Enjoy

-t-

Well I had a pretty busy past 2 weekends. Hard core cyclocross racing was in full effect in the Pacific NW.

First came the The Stanley Portland Cup US Gran Prix of Cyclocross weekend–2 days at Portland International Raceway.Then, the next week, 4 day here at home in Bend for the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships.

Morning racing in the fog at PIR

First up was the USGP racing in Portland. The conditions and the crowds didn’t disappoint. The first morning saw the course fogged in and the racers battling the chilling wet air and the sticky mud. As the day progressed the sun came out and the racing got even hotter. Here are some highlights from that first day.

An OTB rider takes the opportunity to make a buck from the crowd

Day 2 for the The Stanley Portland Cup saw conditions change again. The temperature was crisp and the morning sky’s were clear, mostly due to the raging wind that was blowing most of morning (so fierce that several of the team tents that were left up overnight were found that morning ripped up and blow out onto the course). As the day went on the winds blew in the clouds and the temperature went down more. As the racing heated, up so did the crowds–mostly from bbqs and propane heaters…and the occasional beer. Some of the less serious racers were actually able to make a couple bucks by pluck dollar bills out of spent beer bottles the spectators were placing on the course. Here are some highlights from that day’s racing.

A racer takes a flyer...not your typical flyer for racing

The second long weekend saw the racing and the crowds migrate South to Bend, OR  for the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships. Bend is a hot-bed for cycling and outdoor activity and has been bless to host both the road and the CX National Championships for ’09 (and will again in ’10). CX Nationals consisted of 4 full days of racing for  men/woman, Jrs/master’s, amateurs/pros. And in typical fashion, Bend rolled out the red carpet for the visitors and put on what some are saying is one of the best (if not the best) CX Championships ever. Many are already looking forward to coming back for next year’s event.

The crowds enjoying the pros throw it down in the elite men's race

As with the last race in Portland, the temperatures dropped and some of the racers were starting their races in temps hovering around 0 degrees. The ground was frozen and had snow for most of the first couple days and then the temps started to rise and the mud started to come out later in the weekend (ahh Bend has everything to offer a CX racer). With the frozen ground the first couple of days, the less fortunate were hitting the deck all around the course (someone was joking they were averaging 3 broken bones a day…probably not far off). While we had 4 days of racing and thousands of pictures taken by myself and my Cascade Event Photography partner Dina Boswell, I’ve decided not to subject you to all of them unless you want   Here is a sampling of my favorites from the 4 days of action here in town. If you want to see more, we’ll have all of our race photos up shortly on the Cascade Event Photography website.

So as many of the pros head to Europe, the CX season in the PNW is pretty much in the bag. Hope you enjoy seeing what I’ve enjoyed shooting this year.

I got a late start this morning, but finally got out of the house and down to the Mills to get shooting. I parked a bit away and started walking down the river knowing there was some good swampy marsh next to the path…unfortunately by this time the light was full on and I wasn’t going to get anything good from the marsh so I headed to the back side of the Shops @ the Mills. I found some cattails which had blown, they were looking a little scraggly, but had some good texture and that was what I was looking for today. After a while I got a call from Dina my event photography business partner and she decided to join me and shoot some. I found some great backdrops for my portrait work while I was out today…and some nice textures as well. Hope you enjoy -t-

I figured since I’m not ready to be out racing myself yet this year, I’d go shoot some of my friends who are.

I decided instead of getting the typical face shots, I’d focus on showing the motion involved in bike racing (and a little pain). I didn’t shoot a bunch, but here’s some I hope you enjoy. -t-

I’ve picked the topic for this Friday’s too, texture @ the Mill District