I'm not sure if I ever posted this image of Alycia. Over a year ago we did a shoot in the back of a friends studio, its a crappy little back room that was once a darkroom. I used a floor lamp leaning on a chair and this little video light that smelled like it was melting if I left it on more than 5 minutes. I can't imagine what Alycia must've thought she was getting herself into with this very non-professional approach. The truth was, I preferred the light I was getting from these cheap lights far more than I did the expensive studio lights in the front studio. We used those as well that night, but the best, most interesting images came from this little back room set up. I like to remind myself of this every once in awhile because now I have some very nice lights and equipment to do my work more efficiently and higher quality, but sometimes I have to remember to step back and look at other ways to accomplish a photo and perhaps try more unconventional ways to get something different. SayerMotter file photograph by Richard Sayer.
We're getting ourselves ready to tackle some of the area youth wrestlers this week and next. Above were 2 12"x18" posters we designed last season. We have new designs in mind already for this year! SayerMotter photos and poster designs by Harmony Motter and Richard Sayer.
I remember people telling me years ago that a picture wasn't very good if not everyone in the picture was smiling and looking at the camera. Seriously--I actually have had this conversation. And in someways this is still true in many people's minds. We are becoming more and more known around here as doing 'different' things and people have been coming to us for this reason. We are often surprised by conversations we end up having with people during the sessions about how they don't want anything 'too weird' or they 'just want something pretty standard!' Usually I'm taken aback a little by this because it is soooo not what we really do...yet when a client asks for something we try our best to get them what they want in the best way we can. Mostly though when people come to us now they know what to expect---the unexpected. We like making goofy photos as much as serious ones and each has a very important purpose. Ok I know a group of cheerleaders sticking their tongues out is likely to make it onto mom and dad's wall in an expensive frame over the couch in the living room, but the purpose of something like this is to remember the fun each of these girls has had with each other over the season and perhaps years. Lets face it--most of life is serious...but in most of this serious life we're trying to live for those moments that aren't so serious, because thats the fun stuff and the things we want to remember. SayerMotter Photographs by Richard Sayer.
Tonight I photographed the Meadville Wrestling cheer team photos etc... I haven't had much of a chance to look at the photos having only downloaded them now at ... you know...bedtime. But I wanted to acknowledge the shoot and show some of the fun the girls had. I got a kick out of watching the individual classes work out what they wanted to do for their class photos. Some jumped in the air and some made funny faces...well they all made funny faces. I asked them to stick their tongues out and since this is the 4th or 5th time I've photographed many of these girls, they understand that these face pictures will eventually end up somewhere for them to post and have more fun with....and that right there is what I think it is all about! SayerMotter Photograph by Richard Sayer
Ever have one of those moments you do something and then the second you do it you realize 'oh no!' In computerese this 'oh no!' generally happens after you hit close and save changes only to realize--at the moment you watch the work disappear from the screen. I had one of those moments just a few moments ago. Guess who forgot to save the part of the job that would save him from completely rebuilding the sports memory mate from scratch? Go ahead guess!!!! Now I have opened up a fresh box of tissues and begun to wipe away my tears and will start on the next girl on the teams' memory mate and this time save it in the proper stages that I need to. Its not a total loss, I do have a the team cutout saved luckily and I think I might want to improve upon a couple things and add a little more texture and depth in the flat yellow and blue areas and this will help overall I think--and in order to do that I pretty much have to start over anyway! SayerMotter Photography design and photos by Richard Sayer.
Luckily I still have a near full box of tissues, my instincts and good habits helped me out of a jam. I actually only lost a few steps that were pretty easy to fix and I was able to determine a way to add some of the layering and depth I had hoped to afterall. So the amount of time the rest will take now will be significantly less than previously thought---though I'm still looking at quite a bit of time for each.
Where does inspiration come from? I find in the creative process that I stat with something and then everything else gets added into it....everything. I do a lot of different kinds of work. Some client based work, some art, journalism and even just snap shots. And everthing I do is influenced by something around me or from my past. I spent a fair amount of time studying the paintings of Thomas Eakins. Seeing his painting 'the Gross Clinic' really had a profound impact on me. But the majority of his work that really attracted me as I studied more and more were his paintings that were simple. I remember thinking about a painting of his of a man standing with his head down was just not finished. As I thought about it more and more I realized that it was. Its a portrait of a man, but many people have come to call it the Thinker. I look back at this painting probably a couple times a year and have used some of the ideas within the painting to make some of my own work and work for clients. I really believe that more I refer back to what I've learned about art and other artists and the more I look back on my own work, the more I grow as a person in creative fields. Its like building blocks I think... SayerMotter photograph by Richard Sayer and reproduction of a painting by Thomas Eakins.
I photographed Mariah Harned's senior portraits this afternoon. Mariah is a senior at Meadville Area Senior High School. With it being January and all, we braved the Winter weather, thought warm thoughts and hit the snow. Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot.
I have been reading a lot lately, about the artist, Patti Smith. She is a musician, poet, photographer, painter and just so damn cool. In her book, "Just Kids", she talks about moving out of an apartment that she shared with photographer, Robert Mapplethorpe. She left some things behind and one of the things was her name written on the wall "Patti Smith 1946." I got to thinking about work, the jobs that we do, the things that we make and the impressions that we want to leave behind. I am not sure about what I would want my impression to be. I mean I am 34 years old. I can only imagine that a few of my impressions would be, a pretty smile, people would think that I was a photographer and some people would remember how impatient I could be at times. Above are some photos that I shot last month in New York City. My Nikon camera is in the shop for repairs (seems like it didn't really want to work properly, after I dropped it into the Mediterranean Sea while touring Italy in September). So I ventured to N.Y.C with Holga. Holga is a medium format 120 film toy camera. It often leaves room for blurring and light leaks. But, I didn't mind. That's what I was hoping for. The photos are of one of my most favorite places on Earth. The John Lennon Mosaic and Strawberry Fields. I could hang out there for hours. This was my third visit and by no means my last. While I was in N.Y.C I also saw Patti for the first time. She read us love letters from Photographer, Alfred Stieglitz and Painter, Georgia O' Keeffe. I was enamored by her. Also in her book she talks about people she adored such as William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. Patti, I know that we have never met, but if you are out there and you want to sing, my name is Harmony and my phone number is (814) 282-1440.
Folks that have come to SayerMotter Photography have found out we love the 'out-takes' those pictures in-between the pictures. We like to horse around, we like our subjects to horse around, but be aware our camera is always locked and loaded!! I like to joke around with people and tell them that its ok -- there is no film in the camera...but then I admit that its digital and I did just get that! We don't ever expect these will end up on clients walls, but that will never stop us from taking them. Maybe occasionally we'll make it onto the most important photo gallery in anyones house with a 4x6 of one of these...you know the refrigerator photo gallery where more family pictures are put than probably anywhere else in the house! Yesterday, after only about 8 inches fell I met up with the Saegertown basketball cheer squad to make their team and individual pictures---and in between got a few out-takes. Quote of the day came from Tiffany who simply stopped, put out her hand(middle right) glared right at me and said 'hey now!' I also got a kick out of these girls trying to pick a lock to the bathroom with bobbie-pins. It was accidently locked--they weren't breaking and entering! Sayer Motter Photographs by Richard Sayer
Layers add visual interest. I think the best lesson I learned as a painter was how to let a color show through from underneath a layer of paint. Sometimes this color--even though it wasn't the color of choice in the end somehow creates a visual vibration and it makes it much less flat and creates a sense of depth and atmosphere that is hard to achieve with just a single layer of paint. So I think when I'm designing something (ie a sports memory mate) this is a big part of what I'm thinking as I work up the image. This so far is the most complex memory mate design I've made in terms of layers and depth(I hope I can pull it off with every girl's individual photo in this design!). When I started to design this this afternoon I had no idea that it would end up looking like this and I admit, every time I made the decision to do something that would take a bit of time and add complexity I considered having my head examined. The notion that time is money in business gets lost on me when I'm doing these--to me it is more important to make something unique and good and not be concerned how long it takes to do it. SayerMotter photographs and design by Richard Sayer. Below are a couple of the goofy team photos I took for the girls--its incredibly important to me to have fun and make sure the subjects do too!