ASMPNE Photo Annual Winner!

I’m proud to announce that three of my images were selected as winners in ASMP New England’s 2023 Photo Annual contest. The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) is the premier trade association for commercial and editorial photographers, and the New England chapter is the third largest after only New York and Los Angeles. The contest jurors selected the 50 best single images and three best series produced by the chapter’s almost 200 members during 2022.

Thank you to the fantastic panel of jurors:

• David Barreda, Sr. Editor at National Geographic, core team member at Diversify Photo
• Art Streiber, renowned commercial photographer
• Jenna Teeson, owner and artist rep at Teeson Reps

The image above is from a pro bono project for Boston Farms Community Land Trust, which converts unused urban lots into Black- and brown-owned farms. This project was also a winner in New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility (NHBSR)’s 2022 Sustainability Slam – check out my blog post about it, including a 90-second video about the project.

This image was from a project for Native Plant Trust, a nonprofit whose mission is to protect and preserve the native plants of New England. They have invited me to photograph their field education classes for their marketing materials, and many of my photographs are featured on their website and marketing materials. Most of the classes are outdoors but this class on managing soils was at their Nasami Farm facility in Whately, MA, and included a lab portion. Because it was a working class that students had paid to attend, the client asked me to take a documentary approach with minimal intervention, so finding the right background and the best angle to see faces and get good light, and anticipating the moment were key. You can see more of my work for Native Plant Trust and similar organizations in my Outdoor Education portfolio.

Walla Walla University in Washington state asked me to make some portraits of an alumna in Maine for their magazine. Terri Neil runs Quilting Rubies, a longarm quilting service, out of her home workshop in Farmington, ME. This was my favorite setting, showing her with her centerpiece, the longarm sewing machine, with the texture of the materials and lights behind her. The challenge was how to make an interesting photo of her working at the machine. Although her previous sewing machine required her to manually guide the machine through the quilting stitch patterns, this newer machine was computer guided so using it consisted only of pushing buttons on the screen. After discussing what tasks she does as part of her work, I pulled her away from the screen and set her up in the open space where she and the background would be more visible. Using a speedlight and mini-softbox for lighting due to space considerations, I had her cut loose threads off the quilt, and added the tape measure as the finishing touch. We also took it as a straight portrait, but I like this version best. Check out my Makers portfolio for more images of craftspeople and artisans.