My Encounter with an Evil Man Masquerading as a Lawyer

I wrote this article a while back, but shelved it because I did not want to relive a certain event. However, with the rise of politically hateful rhetoric in the news, I decided to dust it off and let it see the light of day. April Fools Day seems an appropriate day since the article talks about encountering one of the biggest fools I have ever met. It is lengthy and just my opinion. Read it or not... at least I got it off my chest.

During a routine legal meeting, my wife and I had to sign documents and interact with a lawyer who was handling the paperwork. The procedure should have taken about 45 minutes to sign a stack of forms, but it took almost twice that. The reason it went over was that we were preached the most morally repulsive, racist and misogynistic "sermon of the 1%" by the man assigned to us.

I consider myself open-minded and independent when it comes to politics. To me, there are very few black and white answers in this world and no one party is completely right. Both have made favorable and terrible decisions that have affected Americans. I have no political agenda here except to relate a story of a very selfish and privileged man and his view of the world.

The identity of Mr. Jones has been changed, but the rest is the truth.

The lawyer, who I will call "Mr. Jones" (not his real name), seemed friendly enough at first. He was a Vietnam veteran and those guys automatically get my highest respect. Perhaps that is one reason I did not tell him where he could shove his opinions. I felt like I was jeopardizing our mortgage refinance if I got into a confrontation with him. I believe he thought this too, which is why he took advantage of the situation to push his unsolicited world view onto us.

At first "Mr. Jones" let us know his position on women's roles, which seemed to be that women have the "right to look pretty" and "know their place as a happy little home maker or toy for men". To him, women are "doe eyed" weak creatures meant to be protected by macho men like himself.  He kept calling his wife a sweet little innocent thing, kinda like what some would say about a kitten in a bathtub. "Aww... bless her heart". This was mysteriously said right after he learned my wife is a very successful and professional woman in with a "real" career.

With all his talk of protecting women, he had no problem crossing the line of decency in front of MY wife. Within 10 minutes he had disclosed that his female assistant and his wife deserved a spanking. I am sure that he felt qualified to administer their "punishment". He started ramping up the nastiness of his randy talk from here.  He seemed to enjoy being hateful towards women who dared to think for themselves.

No matter how we tried to deflect him back to the paperwork, he kept divulging less favorable stories about himself. He had been "embarrassed" on Facebook when he accidentally broadcasted crass sexual harassing comments to a young female law student who sincerely wanted to visit his practice on a professional basis. He was not sorry that he acted inappropriately and unprofessionally... just that he got caught by his wife and colleagues on this new "fangled social media". There is a big difference there. He was actually chuckling about the incident. We were not.

"Mr. Jones" just kept blabbing, even bringing up his sexual escapades when he was a young man cheating on hist first wife. He almost went misty eyed at that point remembering those "good ole days". If you thought "Mr. Jones" was going to stop there, then you are wrong. He proceeded launching nuggets of racial and societal hate speech our direction. He assumed that since we are caucasian too, we would be standing in his aisles with our hands in the air singing "Hallelujah brother! Preach that gospel!", but he could not have been more mistaken. We were squirming and biting our lips.

As we kept signing papers, he "shock and awed" us with even more brain-numbing rhetoric of how the U.S. government is completely evil and mistreats rich people, and how the top "1% of society should have absolute preferential treatment" since they make the economy that trickles down for the rest of the peasants in the lower economic levels.

He said that poor or underprivileged people should be left to fend for themselves thus saving the resources of society for only the smartest and most deserving people (like him). He did not go into specifics on how that would work, but he gave an example of how some ancient societies threw deformed babies over a cliff, and he was "okay with that". His inference was that parts of our society might benefit from a purge. Wow! Really? At this point, I started looking around for Nazi memorabilia and the quickest exit.

"Mr. Jones" was probably the biggest self-righteous creep that I have ever met. He thought so highly of himself and so little of everyone else that he felt compelled to tell two complete strangers how the world should be according to "The Imperial Emperor Jones". He did not care how mean or ignorant he sounded because he loved the sound of his own voice. But the scariest realization is that this man was a trained lawyer, yet had no sense of decency or visible morality.

While I believe in free speech and that "Mr. Jones" has every right to believe whatever he wants and to voice his opinion, I also believe that his clients should not be subjected to his one man hate show. I am hoping beyond belief that the karmic toilet bowl of life flushes that turd as quickly as possible. Enough said.

Matching the Portrait Style of Another Photographer a Continent Away

Photographers often dissect each other's work to see how a photograph is made. We look for subtle tell-tale signs that show the environment and the light sources for the scene. Trying to recreate another photographer's style can be very difficult, especially without all the facts. That is what I was asked to do when I was hired to shoot some pickup portraits.

I was tasked to photograph a few of the local Atlanta employees and match the style of the South American office portraits that were already completed. I have the utmost respect for the photographer who took the photos that I was supposed to match. This guy was good and had a wonderful look to his shots. Unfortunately, I do not know this gifted shooter's name, but his work can be seen in the three photos below.

I was tasked to match these wonderful portraits from another photographer

Try as I might, I could not recreate the scene in the very small office I was given to work in. I got the results below "after the fact" with some photoshop. It was the only way I could do it.

I took the portraits on a white background so that I could composite a background into the scene. The background was pieced together from several of the source photos plus some illustration to extend the blinds.

Later on, the client share a very important clue about the original portraits. A behind the scenes picture revealed the extent of the original photographer's portrait setup inside an office made of frosted glass. The photographer used the large glass wall as a humongous diffuser. Brilliant!

There was zero chance of me using the same techniques in the space I was given, but it all worked out regardless. Whew!

Photographing a Wild In-Home Discotheque for an Audio Visual Company in Atlanta

I was asked to take photos for a prominent Audio and Visual installation company working in the Atlanta area named Performance Audio and Video. The photographs were needed for an online industry article written about PAV.

If you are the type of person who gets excited about home automation and advanced control of the distributed A/V, heating, lighting, security and window blind components in your house, then you should consider giving them a call. All the information you need is located at www.pavatlanta.com, which is a web site I completed for them last year.

I got a glimpse into what PAV does by taking photos of various installations in a recently renovated mansion in north Atlanta. At first, this may just look like a regular living room. The great thing about the home automation products is that they work in the background, and are accessed using television screens, iPads, iPhones and wall control panels. You may never even know that they are there, until you need them.

The photograph was tricky because I was mixing several different colored light sources with my large  flashes. The room was tight and enclosed with rough hewn divider walls, which essentially determined my choice for viewpoint. Below you can see a little behind-the-scenes of the flashes.  

The other shot needed was for the daddy of all outdoor porches. There are a lot of hidden details here so I am going to mention a few. Along with inline heater units, there are speakers faux-painted to match the wood used in the ceiling. You can barely even see them even a few feet away. There is an outdoor television and fully automated floor to ceiling screens that close the porch off from Atlanta's famous mosquitoes. We lowered the screens to act darkness the brighter outside yard. They acted like neutral density filters allowing me to make the photograph in one shot.

Normally, several images might need to be composited together since the exposure of the darker porch and the lighter yard is beyond the latitude of my camera's sensor. I used a couple of flashes the light the foreground area. Below is what the camera would see if I just clicked the shutter.

Behind-the-Scenes: How the camera would see the terrace without my flashes

The last room was quite a challenge. Try to make a photograph of an in-home discotheque that has black walls, a fiber optic star ceiling, mirrored dance floor, DJ booth, VIP couch and a professional level of booming sound, lights, lasers and smoke machine. I had my work cut out for me as you can see in the disco video here.

This disco is intimate and everything can be seen in the wall mirrors. Using a wide angle lens meant that it was difficult to hide my light stands, the camera on a tripod and myself.  Smoke allowed the laser spots and lights to be seen. I might have breathed in a quart of the oil based smoke. Delicious!

If I cannot light something directly, then lighting the space behind it works even better. I added a remote flash that was gelled with pink behind the DJ booth. This gave a focal point to the room.

I asked Jason Caponi of PAV to program the disco lights to slow down and stay in one spot for as long as possible. This was needed because the long exposure combined with the constantly moving lights rendered the colors that you see in the image above practically invisible to the camera sensor. It was quite a balancing act and I am glad that I was able to get something before our time ran out.

Shooting a Variety of Male Portraits with Ronald was Like a Walk in the Park

I enjoy making portraits both in and out of the studio, but when Atlanta is in the full "bloom" of Fall, it pays to head outside and take advantage of the beautiful foliage, crisp morning air and lovely vistas.

I was contacted by Ronald to make a variety of photos for social media, business and personal use. We decided to meet in Piedmont Park and take advantage of the weather which was darn near perfect. My plan was to go with the flow and take as many different styles of photos as we could fit into our session. This was more informal than many portrait sessions that have a specific shot list in mind. I kinda like the looseness of it.

On the way to the park, I noticed an irresistible stairway that was being lit with sunlight bouncing off of a building across the street. That was our first stop.

I like to surround my subjects with framing elements like these defocused leaves.

Ronald wanted formal and informal photos so we shot in wearing just about everything he had in his wardrobe bag, including a snazzy tuxedo.

Once in the park, I used repeating architectural elements as a background. Something about columns and well-dressed people just go together. I call this pose "the knuckle sandwich".

The columns were attached to arches which make a perfect framing device.

And one more...

Changing the direction with me shooting from inside the building creates a whole new scene. I liked the canine passerby.

The sun was blaring bright by now but there was still some haze to diffuse it a bit... a very little bit.

Shooting with the sun to the subject's back makes a great rim light. Even shooting in harsh lighting conditions can produce good images, but it was challenging. Even the ivy and dead leaves were like little white mirrors pointing sunlight into my eyes.

A quiet moment and rest from the sun glare.

A quick swap of clothing and location in the park changed the feel of the portraits. I like to use natural landscapes to my advantage. Here, the hill was hiding a playground full of children.

I like the structure of the cement background and even the very intense contrast. It's okay to try different techniques in one photo session because it gives more variety to the client.

We took a break in the shade which allowed me to capture backlit color on the bushes and trees.

To shoot Ronald in front of the Atlanta skyline, I used the only source of shade available, which was a monument. He is literally standing on a shade sliver.

Locals know where this scene is, but to everyone else, it might look like a metropolis anywhere. This image just used available light.

To increase contrast, I used a flash to camera right, which is opposite of the background's light angle. I wonder how many people might have noticed this? It was the best way to control the light on his face. Regardless, I got the shot that I wanted.

And here is the setup I used...a single naked fill flash balanced with ambient light.

I am not sure who had more fun on this photo safari, but it was a wonderful adventure. Thanks Ronald!

Turning Test Shots Into Portraits

When I traveled back to Virginia I ended up in a city park to take photos of a childhood friend and her mother, but this blog is not about that photo session. Instead I am writing about the test shots that came before the actual session. I will often show up to a new location in advance and try a few different vistas. lighting scenarios or lenses.

My mother, sister and nephew were with me so I was able to use them as guinea pigs. There are cases where I have had to photograph myself in various spots but that is much more difficult to do with a remote control and tripod. My sister is a few years older than me, but that did not stop her from scampering up a tree. She was pretty high up there. I thought about throwing her a banana. Her son, Tyler soon joined her.

I had several cameras with me and believe or not, my pocket camera had a faster frame-per-second rate so I used it to snap Tyler jumping out of the tree.

I was keen to check my 70-200 lens since I thought that there might be a focusing issue. 

I created tight portraits and checked the eyes to confirm that the lens is tack sharp.

Though reluctant, Tyler did allow me to move him to different settings and snap away.

This kid is getting taller by the minute.

Lastly, my Mom who is more difficult to photograph than Bigfoot, sat still for a 1/2 second... just long enough to steal a single frame. I already know that she will hate it, but I don't. This is how I think of my Mom... surrounded by light.

Soon the real subjects showed up and the job began, but having help developing my modus operandi was excellent.

Bruce Munro's Light in the Garden Show in Atlanta's Botanical Garden

Last week I got a last minute invitation from an old pal of mine. He said that he would be touring the Bruce Munro "Light in the Garden" installation in Atlanta's Botanical Garden. His date fell through and he was going solo. I grabbed a pocket camera and hit the door...

Photo by Scott Dorman

Having a pocket camera does 2 things. One, it prevents people from saying "You can't bring that big camera in here" and it also frees me from obsessing over the photos. I used to shoot things just for fun so the limitations of the gear make is a no stress situation.

The images in this blog were created with the Canon S100 which is the size of a deck of cards. Grain... yeah, we got it. Crazy chromatic aberrations? Sure... we got those too. But, it also captured some of the color that I was seeing in the light sculptures that were lit entirely by miles of fiber optic cable... just like those fiber optic displays from the 1970s... but on a massive scale.

These towers were made of the same oval shape twisted and extruded. 

Did I mention is was pitch black while my eyes adjusted... 

These vantage points are identical but you can see how the colors changed over time.

My compadre, Mr. d

It was an unusually clear night with low haze.

I decided that I would love one in my back yard.

A longer exposure revealed some tennis courts right beyond the tree line.

 The last installation reminded us of the science fiction movie Avatar, and looked like Pandora, the fictional alien planet in the film.

The fiber optic "roots" connected everything together and added to the illusion of glowing organic plants.

See how quickly they can change? Now multiply that effect by thousands and you start to get an idea of the immensity of the show.

One thing is for sure... seeing art like this with your own eyes is something you should not  miss should you ever get a last minute call. However, you will have to do it somewhere else. The Atlanta show is officially over.