Tony Richards Photoblog

We've moved!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:47:00 +0000

The Tony Richards Photoblog that you know and love has a new address. You can either go to www.tonyrichardsphoto.com and click on the 'blog' link or go straight to the blog at www.tonyrichardsphoto.com/blog.

Portaits and concrete

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 02:11:00 +0000

One of the buildings in Georgetown has a fantastic undeveloped space full of exposed wires, concrete floors, and randomly painted pillars that was just begging for a portrait session. Melissa was generous enough to pose for the camera in a couple of outfits to create some different moods and attitudes for me. Isaac even jumped in at the end to create a "cool, casual" type of photo. We had lots of fun and I definitely want to shoot up there again.

The Great Outdoors

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 03:04:00 +0000

I spent a couple days taking in some sunshine and just enjoying some time outside. One of those days was spent at Great Falls National Park photographing some kayakers. One of my goals is to photograph people being active and this was the first step on my journey...

The second day was spent at the Mall. I was there to photograph the joggers who run around the museums and the monuments. Unfortunately none of those photos really came out. But I did shoot the reflection of the Washington Monument in my sunglasses as I was leaving...

Studio Portraits

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:47:00 +0000

Spent some time with photographer Gaston Lacombe in the studio last week photographing Juan Luis and Fabien.

Baseball photo featured in Pixcetera

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:04:00 +0000

This post is only about three months late but that's ok. My baseball photo that won for best student advertising at FotoWeek DC 2009 is part of a featured gallery at Pixcetera. If you haven't visited their site before now is your chance. They have a great selection of galleries ranging from fashion to food to lifestyle:

http://www.pixcetera.com/pixcetera/fotoweek-dc-2009-award-winners/70776

Dancing With Light

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:18:00 +0000

Last week Melissa was kind enough to come into the studio for some dancing photos. Her graceful dancing motions were crying out for some lighting accents. Enter the two flashlights - one in red and one in white. This "painting with light" technique allows a flash to freeze Melissa at the start of her routine while the remaining 29 seconds of exposure only captures the flashlight motion. (click on photo for larger version)

Beauty in nature

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:41:00 +0000

It was warm and sunny today so I decided to grab the old camera and spend the afternoon at Glen Echo Park near Bethesda, Maryland. The area was originally a giant amusement park in the early 1900's and has since been converted to an arts educational center. Many of the original buildings are still being used for offices and classrooms. There is a small creek that runs along the side of the park and feeds into the Potomac River. This is where I spent much of the afternoon - precariously balancing on rocks in the creek trying to get the perfect shot without falling in the water and destroying my ankles or my precious equipment.

This is the first time that I feel my nature photos actually do justice to the real thing. Normally I photograph some pretty trees or water and it comes out looking flat and boring. Somehow everything came together today to produce something that might even make Mother Nature proud.

DC Rollergirls Bout

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:02:00 +0000

Here are a few photos from the DC Rollergirls bout at the Armory on January 16. I had spent a couple weeks photographing the rollergirls during their practices back in November so I was familiar with the league and the action on the track. But I was not prepared for intensity of an actual bout. The skating was fast and the blocking was furious as the two teams battled it out on the track. At the end of the day it was Cherry Blossom Bombshells over the visiting Harrisonburg Rocktown Rollers while the DC DemonCats fell to Scare Force One.

I am currently working on a multimedia piece showcasing the DC Rollergirls and the craziness that is a rollerderby bout. Stay tuned.

(click on photo for larger version)

Washington Wizards

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:40:00 +0000

I am now on month three of my Washington Wizards photo internship. It's been an interesting experience. These large sports arenas are like little cities, and just like any new city it takes a while to get used to the layout. There are places I can go where no one pays attention to me, there are places I can go where I get a stern warning, and then there are places I go where someone immediately escorts me away under threat of violence. Guess which places produce the best photos?? That's probably true for a lot of photography. You gotta have thick skin for this business.

Anyway, my actual internship consists of photographing the scoreboard but I occasionally point my camera toward the court for a little variety. Here are some samples... (click on photo for larger version)

CDIA Celebration

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:58:00 +0000

We had our last day of school on Friday. It has been an awesome seven months with a great group of people and I'm sad that the program is finished. Here are a few photos from our final class (thanks to Kristen Finn for taking the group shot at the end):

DC Rollergirls

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:02:00 +0000

The lovely ladies of DC Rollergirls were kind enough to let me interview and photograph them a couple of weeks ago. DC Rollergirls is the women's flat track roller derby league for Washington DC and is made up of a great group. Between the crazy stickers and derby gear and unique personalities there was a wealth of material to work with. They were all very nice and patient with me as I kept showing up at the practices to stick a camera in their face. My goal was to document the story of the rollergirls and their league. Unfortunately the story isn't finished as I haven't been to a bout yet to catch the real action. But this is a good start.

Shooting in a giant gymnasium with very little light is tricky. It's even more tricky when that light turns everyone an ugly shade of green. Since they are humans and not aliens from Mars I went with black and white so the focus would be on the girls and not their skin color. Being able to shoot at 6400 ISO also made my life much easier (thank you Canon 5D MkII). It allowed me to shoot with ambient light and avoid setting up a stadium-esque set of lights and corresponding umbrellas.

Skeletons and chains...Oh my!

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:37:00 +0000

Why take a well-deserved Thanksgiving vacation when you can hang out in a dark studio photographing skeletons and chains? That's messed up. At least it was a skeleton with pizzazz and flair and a yellow silk scarf and a purple hat. (click on photo for larger version)

And the winner is...

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:22:00 +0000

"America's Pastime" by me. I spent the evening with my wife Grace at the DC FotoWeek awards ceremony where I was awarded best photo in the "Student Advertising" category. They even gave me a certificate to make it official. It was an honor to be mentioned along side some amazing photographers.

DC Fotoweek answers to be revealed tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:56:00 +0000

Tomorrow night is the awards ceremony for Fotoweek DC at the National Geographic Society Grosvenor Auditorium. It is here that I will find out if my baseball photo wins the prize in the 'Student Advertising' category (I should start working on my "I'd like to thank the Academy" speech just in case.) Win or lose, it's exciting to be a part of such a big photography event held locally in DC. The Fotoweek DC organizers have made this event into a photographer's dream: there's the NightVisions all-night shooting party, the photo demo's by some of the top professionals in the field, the portfolio reviews, and the exhibits. Everyone should attend something related to this event even if you're not in a photographer.

Leo In Wide Angle

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:22:00 +0000

Just got the Canon 16-35mm f2.8L II lens this morning and decided to try out some wide angle action on Leo. You can just see the excitement on his face... (click on photo for larger view)

New Washington Wizards photographer for the winter

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:07:00 +0000

I will be the new photo intern for the Washington Wizards when they start the regular season on Halloween night. I'll be there for every home game covering the game itself, the fans, and the general game experience. This will be a great opportunity to flex my creative and lighting muscles. Arenas are basically black holes of darkness with a little light shining on the action so I'll really have to push myself to get high quality photos that capture the moment.

Next time you're watching a Wizards home game look for the short white guy running around the arena with a bunch of equipment around his neck.

Chloe' and Hans Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Here's a sample of the photos from Hans and Chloe's beautiful wedding last weekend in Newark. Having photographed many ceremonies in incredibly dark churches, I was thrilled with the venue that they used for their wedding. Big windows? Check. Lots of open space to move around? Check. Lots of colorful details? Check.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

FotoWeek DC 2009 Finalist!

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:18:00 +0000

FotoWeek DC is an annual photo festival that just started last year. It consists of exhibitions, talks, and contests and attracts some of the top photographers in the industry. Imagine my surprise when I received the following email this week:

Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you are a finalist in the FotoWeek DC Awards Competition. This means that your image will be exhibited in one of our FotoWeek galleries in Georgetown throughout the length of FotoWeek DC and you might be the first prize winner in the category you entered. You are also invited to the Awards Ceremony and Reception to be held at the National Geographic Society on November 5, 2009 where the winners will be announced and prizes will be awarded.

I had submitted my baseball photo in to the 'student advertising' category and apparently someone really liked it:

Fun With Props

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:45:00 +0000

Good evening boys and girls,
We had some fun around the photo studio and in the neighboring areas last week. I've always been impressed with the photographers who could turn boring environments into fun images. Who knew a copy machine, water, and a stone thingy could be such great props? (click on photos for larger version)

You're never too old to play with toys

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:32:00 +0000

There are no small roles, only small people.

Photo illustrations with toys are fun. The best part is you can have the little guys pose for hours and they don't complain. I didn't even get to the boombox, the delivery guy, or the police car. I smell a sequel.

(click on photo for larger version)

My beautiful wife

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:06:00 +0000

Studio portraits

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 03:12:00 +0000

We spent the week doing portraits in the studio at school. There was a wide variety of models (thanks to Sarah, Sarika, and Sanjay for volunteering!) and studio setups to shoot with. It was a great experience to pair up different lighting and poses to bring out the personality in each subject (click on photos for larger versions).

Fun In The Studio

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:40:00 +0000

Here are some old photos from a studio session we had a few weeks ago.

Giant Leo and Little Gaston

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:00:00 +0000

Here's a fun little composition of my cat Leo and my classmate Gaston. The Leo photo was first shot in the apartment and Gaston was then shot in the studio. The studio lights were set up to mimic the lights from the window in the apartment. After that it was a matter of getting Gaston the right size and giving him shadows. Click on the photo for a larger version. (Props to Gaston for being a great model)

Take Me Out To The Ballgame...

noreply@blogger.com (Tony Richards) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:11:00 +0000

buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks.