Acute Resolute

New York has always had a magnetic attraction for me, but on this trip she lost some of her sex appeal. I'll visit her again in a heartbeat, but let me explain.

I once passed up an opportunity to go work for Richard Avedon. It's a long story, but I chose to go backpack in Europe for six months instead. I came back from that wonderful & LONG trip- broke and lonely. It was perfect timing to meet and fall in love with my wife. We moved to Denver soon after we were married. Here's my point. I have often wondered, "What my life would be like if I had jumped on the opportunity to join Avedon's team?" 

I just got back from a 9 day trip to NY.  This trip and other visits have been confirmation for me that New York is truly one of the greatest cities on earth, but I'm happy for the divine providence that put me in my current place.  I'm loosing my regrets.

I hope I'm not stepping on your toes if you live in NY. I'm just forming a personal resolution that I love where I am now (In Denver) more than ever, (and that pretty woman with the ruby red lips off in the distance isn't my type now that I've seen her up close. Perhaps if we had met in another life...)

Here are some random images from my last two days:

Here are some random observations:

-I believe that printed portfolios are becoming a thing of the past. (Do you agree?? Please comment if you do or don't.)

-Don't clip your fingernail on the Subway. It's disgusting.

-If your watch alarm goes off in the Subway, turn it off immediately.

-The sun is much warmer in Denver, even at the same temp.

-Don't go to show your book the week magazines are closing.

-The rowboats in Central Park are an excellent date.

Thanks again to Jonathan and Lynn for letting us stay at your place!

Physiognomy

phys⋅i⋅og⋅no⋅my [fiz-ee-og-nuh-mee, -on-uh-mee] The art of determining character or personal characteristics from the form or features of the body, esp. of the face.

Between my scheduled appointments, I had some time shoot some NYC street photography. I sat with my coffee on Broadway this morning and tried to think of what to shoot.
Everywhere I looked, tourists were shooting the same sites and scenes as me. I wanted something unique. I don't get inspired to shoot architecture much and I don't have a reputation of a pure photojournalist, but I do get hyped up by people. So I decided to use a small white background to capture a few NY faces. Maybe it was the coffee, but I felt energized when I had a goal. So here are some people who graciously shared their faces for my anthroposcopy.

Misc. snapshots

Balance

Things have been so steady and strong for me this year that I decided to drop all my photo related priorities this weekend and focus on my greatest relationship ever, my family. It's been a great weekend, and an exhausting one too.

I've grown in appreciation for anyone who has two or more young kids in NYC. Getting around the town with a double stroller is quite a chore. We have literally walked for 12 hours at a time both days. Its great exercise, but it's left me beat.

My friend Mark made a comment about Manhattan and I concur. He said that while you are in The City, you feed on the energy that's all around you. But when you get back to your apartment and all the stimulus gets unplugged, it's easy to get wiped out. So true.

So, I don't have much imagery to show for the weekend, and it's fine with me. There's no greater reward than the closeness I've felt with my family. It's a balance worth pursuing.

Groundwork

Yesterday, I spent most of the day doing the not-so-glamourous part of what I do when I visit NYC... making lots of phone calls and connections confirming and laying the groundwork for my meetings, most which are taking place on Monday.

 I did have the pleasure of meeting on old friend from Boulder.  Lauren Jones is a clothing designer who modeled for me many times in Denver and is now attending Parsons.  

I didn't shoot much today, but on my way home I ran into a beautiful Jamaican folk artist named Monique Fagan Smith.  The colors of her fabrics and the contrasting color of the cool blue sky light mixed with the warm reflection of light off a building stopped me in my tracks. I loved the mix of cool and warm light, each on one side of the face.

NYC, Day 1

I spent the day today in Central Park with Christie, Ian, and Olivia. The leaves aren't peaking colors yet, but it was still a nice crisp fall day.

We went to the Central Park Zoo and hung out with a polar bear.

We saw a few nice leaves.

I met up with Kristen, an ol' school friend from high school year book staff... it's been 16 years!

We hooked up with my friend Mark Swanson.

We ended the day with a trip to Crumbs and took home some monster cupcakes.  Attention Parents: No child should consume this much sugar!  Olivia only had 1/4 cupcake and we are still trying to calm her down.

Halloween is just around the corner and skulls and goblins abound.

Memorial Statue 

This is the view out our condo window at dusk.
I'd like to thank my friend and very talented photographer/producer Jonathan Ragle & his lovely wife Lynn for letting us stay at their place while they are out of town.  I'm humbled by their generous hospitality.  

Smooth Moves

If you want to shoot with the big boys, you have to learn all the smooth moves. Here I demonstrate two master yoga shooting positions that have taken me many hours of practicing in front of the mirror to polish to this level of skill... obviously. Actually, I think my wing-man Randall is trying to show me just how uncool I look with these great behind the scenes shots... ha ha. Well, here - Randall demonstrates HIS coolness factor sporting matching super hero shirt and hard hat. That's the way we roll, people!


It's been a really busy week with two large ad jobs and an editorial shoot. I'm wiped out and operating on my last ounce of energy to get a few things in line before I fly to NYC tomorrow for some meetings with art directors and photo editors. I'm also prepping the launch of my new website, BryceBoyer.com. I think I've averaged 5-6 hours of sleep this week and mostly worked between the shut-eye. I'm glad my wife and kids will be in NYC with me to enjoy some time in Central Park with the leaves changing colors. I can't wait!

Before I go, I'd like to give a shout out to Matt Chiabotti and Danielle Bryan of Cactus Marketing Communications who has been such an incredible client. Cactus took home 15 awards from this year's ADCD annual show... they are clearly one of Denver's best, and an honor to work with. We shot 4 models in 7 locations in two days. I'll post pix when I they become unclassified.

Layers

I was out location scouting early yesterday morning and it was unusually foggy for Denver. I was scouting construction sites and came across this scene. A little selective composing and this could be anyplace in the world. I was drawn to the mountainous layers of dirt caused by the atmospheric conditions. Glad I was up early enough to catch it. Half an hour later, the shroud of fog was gone and so was the magic.

Studio Update

The ceilings are finished being power washed. It took a whole week to complete and the construction crew is now on to new chores, such as scraping paint from the cement floors. Isn't it a beauty!?


Framing may start tomorrow. It was delayed because of the ceiling and I am still making last minute decisions... where power outlets need to go, door placement, floor treatment, wall treatment... etc.

At the same time, I just took on a nice sized shoot for Cactus Communications this week... AND I'm prepping for a trip to NYC next week to meet with some art directors with an updated portfolio set that I have yet to print updates...uh.... when? Lots to do, but I'm thankful to Cactus for keeping me busy the week before I go! Thanks Matt!

I'm so happy to have had a great vacation last week!

Yurt so cool!

"YURT" - a circular domed dwelling that is portable and self-supporting.

I just got back last night from a Yurt camping trip near Walden, CO.  The yurt was sort of like a cabin, but more like a permanent tent. Like a tent cabin.  And with 4 young kids, it was a circus.  Like a circus tent... cabin... thing.  Anyway, it was a new experience for me, and I love to experience new things.

The colors in northern Colorado were at their peak = a photographer's feast.  I shot all day while frolicking through the woods with my wife and kids.

The crackle of the wood burning stove would fade and I'd have to rekindle the fire throughout the night while shooting 40 minute exposures of the night sky.

It sounds like work, but it really was a vacation.  You can see more pictures from the trip on a separate blog I'll write next.

I'd like to thank our dear friends, the Hasners, for setting up a trip with their family and ours.  I had no idea how cool this would be!

No Coast

They're not east coast, they are not west coast, they are a Denver based band called No Coast. I shot this band a few weeks ago but haven't have time to blog it. I'm blogging on vacation. Go figure.



The fun thing about this shoot happened after I said we had what we needed "in the can". The band said they had another change of wardrobe to make... then they came out in ridiculous 80's apparel and wanted a photo for their Wii Rock Band photo. I love a good laugh and we started having so much fun making fun of 80's band photos. Good times!

Just for the fun of seeing

I had a client ask me today if I had any recent work that leaned toward landscapes. It seems most of my assignments involve people... I felt inspired (and challenged) and went out and shot some stuff in the magic light of a Colorado sunset... just for fun. I also wanted to play around with the newer Lens Baby 3G.




I feel so blessed to be in this business... the business of seeing. So often, I stumble through the day looking, but not seeing. And then a client asks me to stop and see what I'm looking at. Colors pop. Lines compose. Action freezes in the decisive moment. All that matters is the chaos becoming "something else" in the boarders of my frame. I love my job.

New Studio Update

The studio is coming along painfully slow as we strip the wooden ceiling from years of industrial guk. (Is that a word?) From my calculations, it could take 9 more days to power wash the ceiling. I asked my contractor if we could get a second power washer so two guys could work on it at the same time and split that time in half.