Jérôme Aoustin Photography

September 28, 2009

“A Clay Statuette”

One of my talented wife’s first sculpture, and a perfect subject to play with lights and shadows. I set it up in less than five minutes in my homemade lightbox. Two work lights were used on both sides, at different angles. It’s amazing to see how the slightest change in lighting affects the overall look of a photo. It was even more blatant on such a small subject. I usually blow out the background but I thought it complimented well the subject here, with a subtle gradient of gray.

September 27, 2009

“An Old Abandoned Barn Door”

On our way back from the Adirondacks, we came across this old abandoned barn. The vegetation was clearly starting to take over, with branches forcing their way out from the inside. Since it had just rained, the colors were very vivid, contrasting with the weathered wood of the overall structure. The rusted lock and hinges were a nice little touch which completed the shot. I thought it was interesting to see some dead vegetation laying in front of the door, as if the barn attempted to contaminate it as some sort of eerie retaliation.

September 26, 2009

“Auger Falls”

It was such a great location with so much potential. Too bad a sunset doesn’t last longer! Getting this shot wasn’t that easy though. You had to climb down slanted rocks and any mistake in foot placement would have been dearly payed. My faithful 50mm would not allow me much fudge room either, so I had no choice but to position myself accordingly. I was very happy to reach this vantage point and be able to compose my photo the way I wanted. The one second exposure helped capture the essence and power of the waterfall.

What I didn’t expect was the shot to be so sharp, a very pleasant surprise. Given that it’s one of my favorite photos of the trip, I will be printing it… big. Being very critique of my work, there are very few photos that I am ever fully satisfied with; this is definitely one of them.

Further reading:
A Week-End In The Adirondacks

September 25, 2009

“On The Road To The Adirondacks”

This shot was a bit of a hit or miss… and I kind of missed the focus on the back of the school bus. I’m still selecting it as photo of the day for the subject. We were heading to the Adirondacks on an unusually smooth portion of the highway. It was raining, naturally saturating the colors and turning the road into a reflective surface. I tried some panning shots prior to that one but it was just not going to happen. I stuck to high ISO and faster shutter speeds.

Since Ben launched the “New School Of Photography” forum in 2007, numerous meets were organized between its members, whether in Texas or New England. Eric generously proposed to gather at his place in the Adirondacks for the week-end. In total, we were a group of 9 adults and 4 toddlers around Jasmine’s age. Needless to say, everybody had a lot of fun. Also, with the foliage turning, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

We got up early Saturday morning to catch the sunrise on Lake Pleasant while the wives and children were still asleep. There was a great atmospheric fog which unfortunately hid the sun a bit too well at times. Nothing to be disappointed about though, quite the opposite. It was a beautiful scenery. We were lucky enough to even witness a brief courtship of two blue herons right in front of us.

After breakfast, we all packed up and got ready to go hike Panther Mountain. An hour walk which led us to a magnificent panorama of the surrounding mountains and lake. Jasmine did really well, both on foot and on my shoulders. Our little daredevil was not afraid of running up and down the rocks, something we obviously had to refrain on a constant basis. Once we got back to the cars, Elias – Ben and Nikki’s son – was already sleeping. Jasmine followed suit right after we started driving. So did Sarah and Samantha, Jeremy and Jennifer’s daughters. A much needed time off for us all.

In the late afternoon, we – the guys – went to take photos of Auger Falls at sunset. The weather was way too overcast for the sun to pierce through but we still got decent shots. Jeremy and I climbed down to the bottom of the falls, something I wouldn’t have done by myself. It was way too easy to slip and fall, which apparently happens to visitors from time to time. That’s probably a reason why there’s a register you need to sign at the entrance. Or black bears. I did slip, so did Jeremy, but tree roots were there to stop our falls. The tricky part was to set our tripods right. Maybe it was a little dangerous, but it was all worth it. What a great feeling to come back to a nice dinner afterwards.

It was supposed to rain on Sunday, so we decided not to shoot another sunrise. We simply enjoyed each others’ company before parting our own ways: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. It was a really great week-end and I couldn’t thank Eric enough for his invitation. Till next time!

Further reading:
“NSOP weekends!” & “Adirondack shots!” , by Ben

September 24, 2009

“Grocery Shopping”

Who said grocery shopping can’t be fun? Jasmine would certainly disagree, strolling through Trader Joe’s aisles with her baby shopping cart. The only difficulty was to get a shot in focus as she wouldn’t stop moving. Just as we were done shopping, a manager came to tell me that photography was not allowed in the store. Thankfully, a little late for that. If it was Walmart, I would understand… that store is a real embarrassment. But Trader Joe’s? If anything, it’s free marketing guys. Actually, there was a second difficulty: getting Jasmine to leave the store without her shopping cart.

September 23, 2009

“Nicolas Sarkozy At The Hammerstein”

While in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, President Sarkozy invited the French community to an evening reception at the Manhattan Center Studios. It took place in the Hammerstein ballroom, a century-old opera house which is now host to a wide range of events, including concerts. We had very nice seats on the second balcony, which appeared to be a better option than to stand down below.

Sarkozy delivered a well-received, forthright speech, at times punctuated with humor. It ended with the traditional Marseillaise, which was sung by pupils from the Lycée Français de New York. I took this shot at that very moment. As you can see, I didn’t bring any zoom, but the lack of a tripod would have rendered it useless anyway. In situations like this, where light is scarce, it’s all a matter of compromise to get a decent shot. Zoom in at a low shutter speed and you will get blur… bump up the ISO, noise comes into play. There’s only so much you can do at a distance, unless you can afford something like the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS. I sure can’t, but I wasn’t going there with a headshot in mind, so my 50mm prime was all I needed to capture the event.

A very pleasant surprise were the delicious hors d’œuvres and petits fours accompanied by Champagne that followed. Not that the French taxpayer should worry though, most if not all of the reception seemed to be sponsored one way or another. For such a large gathering, it was a real success.

September 22, 2009

“My Daughter’s Favorite Toy Car”

Instead of using the lightbox, I decided to go with my flash for a change. I simply put Jasmine’s toy car on a piece of black foam board and took the shot. In post-processing, I added vignetting so the focus remained on the car. Voilà! I will see if my daughter approves in the morning…

September 21, 2009

“Garage Sale”

11:30 PM… no shot… going for a walk. I could hear a distant conversation coming from a SUV parked at the end of our block. As I passed it, they locked their doors. I chuckled. I don’t really look like a thug. I guess it is odd to see somebody in slippers take photos of an empty suburban street at that time of day. I kept walking and stumbled upon this “garage sale” flyer. This type of sales is very popular in the USA, where the owner traditionally sells his unwanted belongings in his garage, or on his front lawn. While most often it’s just junk, sometimes there are great bargains. There’s usually a good reason for those items to be unwanted. I got lucky with the lighting as a car pulled up just enough to illuminate the flyer when I was about to take the shot.

September 20, 2009

“A Portrait Of My Wife”

Another perfect day. We spent part of the afternoon in Manor Park, Larchmont, where I was to take portraits of my wife. Our baby daughter was more preoccupied with the squirrels than with my reflector, which helped a lot. She didn’t even mind it as I took a few photos with her as well. The golden hour bears its name well: the late afternoon light is really precious. I use silver/gold as the reflecting material, which works well to soften features and add just the right amount of warmth. My biggest satisfaction was to hear my wife say “I like it” with a smile on her face.