Adrien Bisson Photography Blog

A Break in the Weather

Adrien Bisson — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:49:19 +0000

Around here, this "summer", you have to be ready to take advantage of the breaks in the weather when they happen. I had an actor's headshot session scheduled for last Monday, which, as it turned out, was the only good day this week. Not funny, really. It's July 9th as I type this and I think we hit 68F for a high today, and when I looked at the thermometer at 8:30 this morning, it was 60! At least it wasn't raining today, even though we haven't seen the sun to speak of since Monday.

Anyway... Monday... Justin Carrasco, an actor who has recently returned to the Greater Boston area from Florida was interested in having new headshots done outside. There are several locations in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts that I like to shoot in because of the colors, textures and the shade.

I'm sure if you are familiar with downtown Lowell, you will recognise at least some of these locations.

But we also did some nice work in the afternoon sun, balancing things nicely with small strobes. Justin didn't choose this next one, but I really like the look of the scene, and his expression.

Lowell Latin American Festival - 2009

Adrien Bisson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:06:38 +0000

I stopped by another great festival in Lowell last Saturday. The Lowell Latin American Festival (http://www.lowelllatinamericanfestival.com) was at the North Common Park. I cannot believe that it was pretty much the only good weather that we've had, all last week, and it looks like this week as well. But it was an intensely sunny day. I unfortunately was unable to stay past the middle of the afternoon, so missed the music that was planned, but I did meet many really interesting people.

I plan to be at the Lowell Folk Festival, held downtown in Lowell every summer, in my ongoing personal project to portrait who we are. I hope to see you there!

Building The Book - My People Portfolio

Adrien Bisson — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:03:34 +0000

I have been spending a lot of time recently building a new portfolio book of my portraits. The portfolio content is exactly what I show on my web site, at least initially. I envision the web version being somewhat more dynamic in content. This is my web-based people portfolio : http://www.adrienbisson.com/people

I settled on a Lost Luggage, green translucent, hard plastic housing. Someone looking at it recently asked me if it was glass. It's not, but it definitely doesn't have a "plastic" look. It's a very rigid and thick, ground-glass-looking, and translucent material.

Preparing the prints is a much bigger job than you might think going in. I have 25 shots in the book, plus a cover and back page, with contact information. So 3 books makes it 81 pages. And my book is 11x11, so I used 11x17 paper. Moab, who manufactures the paper that I am using, makes an 11x14, but it required a special order which would have delayed this for a couple of weeks. The waste is perfectly usable for 5x7 prints or proofing, so I didn't throw anything away, which is a bonus. I use a Moab paper called Entrada Rag Bright 190. It is double sided, although I am printing only on one side. But not having to check orientation is a plus. On the other hand, it is very heavy, and needs to be fed manually into my Epson 3800, which is pretty tedious. But it has a really refined, rich quality to it that makes the colors really pop. It is well worth the effort.

Putting the book together was mildly frustrating. You need an extra hand to thread the posts through the hinges. Plus if you have more than about 8 pages, you need to buy the extension posts from Lost Luggage. Otherwise, the separators don't fit. You can use fewer separators, but that pinches the hinges together. The hinges take a little practice, but once they are on, they work very nicely. Although these strips of Mylar with adhesive are a little pricy, they really do the trick, allowing the pages to turn freely and not folding the prints themselves.

And here is the final product. It does look really nice when you have it all put together.

Lowell African Festival - 2009

Adrien Bisson — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:02:15 +0000

I spent an enjoyable Saturday afternoon this weekend at The 9th Annual African Festival, in Lowell. It happens each year at the Sampas Pavilion on Pawtucket Blvd. Here is their web site: http://www.africanfestivallowell.org/program.html

If you missed it this year, it's worth checking out next year to spend a Saturday afternoon by the river enjoying great food and music. Here are a few of my images of this year's festival...enjoy!

I met some really nice people there and had some great Kenyan food, although I had to leave mid-afternoon so I am sure that I missed much of the live entertainment on stage.

I am hoping to attend most of Lowell's cultural festivals this summer seeking out interesting people to photograph, so maybe I will see you at the Lowell Folk Festival or next weekend at the Lowell Latin American Festival. If not, please come back here, to my blog, for a small sampling of the photos as I create them.

Lowell Open Studios - 2009

Adrien Bisson — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:30:41 +0000

Lowell, Massachusetts

Lowell Open Studios is almost upon us again. This is the weekend in which the artist studio venues in Lowell open their doors to the browsing, and hopefully buying public. It really is a cool and relaxing way to spend that Saturday or Sunday.

And please do check out the 2009 web site, because it features a photo of mine on the home page! Click here for the Lowell Open Studios web site.

And here is that photo. If you've been in Downtown Lowell, you have probably seen it and know where it is.

The art show that you can see, smell and hear

Adrien Bisson — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:17:29 +0000

It all started with a carefully crafted, and highly detailed plan. Yes, that's a 3M^TM Post-it®.

The PlanThis year was the second year for the curiously named, Dirty, Smelly, Noisy art show at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell, Massachusetts. The origins of the show have to do with some characteristically Lowellian politics, which you can learn about here at the Dirty, Smelly, Noisy web site. The show is open to anyone, so there is art from both the Lowell art communities and from artists who may have never visited Western Avenue, nor Lowell for that matter. But the issues and the show has an appeal to artists for whom industrial-age buildings hold a special interest.

This year I decided to do something that didn't especially relate to the building, or its environs, but rather me and my experiences this winter with the construction in the building that some of us endured. Let's just say that it was dirty, smelly AND noisy. That, therefore, seemed like an apropos theme, and title for my photo.

Dirty, Smelly AND Noisy

It was fun to plan, and to execute. Especially because it appeared to some other artists looking out of their windows at the time as though I was putting on a one man show for the guys at the adjacent junk yard.

Well, I'm off to plan the next thing...

Why A Professional Headshot is So Important

Adrien Bisson — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:54:38 +0000

Even though there are cameras that rival professional models and that are simple to use, one thing is as true now as it has ever been: the camera has almost nothing to do with a good photograph. That is especially true when it comes to a portrait.

People at Work - Part 9

Adrien Bisson — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:47:03 +0000

Last week I had a very interesting visit and shoot with artist Darlyne Michaud. Interesting, not only because she is a really friendly, outgoing person with a unique perspective on her art, but because our birthdays are on the same day, as is Barb Petricone's, who introduced us. Maybe that's a little more bizarre than interesting! Darlyne's work is currently on display at Starbucks in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, at Drum Hill.

I really like the way that the colors work in these shots. Let me know what you think!

Stories From The Shelter

Adrien Bisson — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:37:37 +0000

Last Friday evening, May 15th, Western Avenue Studios hosted Stories From The Shelter, the art show that many of us have been working on for the last few months. The art, the company and the food were great! If you weren't able to make it, here are some shots from the reception. There are more if you follow the link at the bottom to my flickr gallery.

The main attraction :-)

Follow this link for more photos from the show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adrienbisson/sets/72157618328798335/

So busy!

Adrien Bisson — Sat, 09 May 2009 21:39:07 +0000

I have been SO busy lately. That's a good thing, right? So I thought I would just show you a smattering of shots that I have taken over the last week or so. There is lots happening art-wise, business-wise, and otherwise.

A couple of weekends ago we enjoyed the early spring in Boston...

Well we had Open Studios last weekend at Western Avenue. Here is fellow photographer Meghan Moore, who was hunting down other artists in order to create some editorial-style portraits for a portfolio of Western Avenue that the owner is putting together. He needs a photo of Meghan, so...

And last weekend the 10th annual Westford Road Race was held here in Westford, Massachusetts. It is organized by by the Westford Charitable Foundation, and it goes through the center, which is a short walk from here.

Stopping the action is too easy :-)

We are also getting ready for the Lowell Humane Society benefit art show at Western Avenue, and I had one more staff member who I wanted to include in my work. Suellen has an ginormous Flemish rabbit and very kindly invited me to photograph her with her friend. If you come to the show, this and several other photos of mine will be on display.

And finally, last night was the reception of the excellent show currently at the Loading Dock Gallery, "People Standing" by painter Rebekah Wetmore. It runs until May 24th and is really excellent!'