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Good questions: Portraits?

2004_7_question mark.jpgHello AT,

I would love to decorate my studio with a great picture/portrait of my friends and myself. I m looking for a photographer experienced with working with groups and can create artistic pieces w/ creative composition rather than those Sears portrait type work.

Of course, if possible, I d love to keep the cost as low as possible. I'm clueless about how much these types sessions would cost, but is $200-300 a ridiculous range?

Best, Heidi

2004_11_11_portrait.jpgPortraits are a high end profession, especially in NYC, but student artists would probably love to make some money and practice at the same time. We recommend getting in touch with the New York Academy of Art down here on Franklin Street, where student train specifically to paint from life.

The same approach would work at other local art schools: Parsons, Pratt, and Cooper Union. We recommend calling and putting up an advertisement on the student bulletin board.

[oops, we missed the "photography" part]

When you find someone, let us know and we'll post them here. (Thanks, Heidi!) MGR

 
 

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Comments (9)

I'm a freelance photographer in New York. You can check out my work at www.alexandrahuddleston.com.

If you like it, send me an email!!

posted by Alex on 2004-11-10 14:50:10

For a tight budget, one route may be to take some snapshots yourself and then use a service like those at photowow.com for a more artistic interpretation. Some of the options are really cheesy (Heart Pop is especially bad) but a few could be fairly cool (I like the one called Interpretations.)

I know there are other places that do similar things - probably some that are local, too.

Hope that helps!

posted by christy on 2004-11-10 17:46:03

Why does MT keep flagging my comment for "questionable content?"

posted by Joshwa on 2004-11-10 18:42:24

Another shameless plug --
www.kyomorishima.com
reliable, flexible, works with all budgets
and an excellent documentary photographer to boot

posted by Janna Morishima on 2004-11-10 21:04:35

I will shoot a portrait of you and your friends and give you a print for free if you guys sign a model release.

I am a professional photographer and have been shooting for clients around the world for over fifteen years, you can see my work on my website www.hannert.com

One of the clients I shoot for is Getty Images and they are always
looking for good groups of people. You can look at thier website too at gettyimages.com

If you are interested or have any questions just email me at info@hannert.com

posted by Peter Hannert on 2004-11-11 10:44:14

There are some very talented wedding photographers that specialize in candids. It would be cool to throw a party for (or outing with) your friends and have the event/day documented by one of these folks. On the off-(wedding)season, you could probably get a pretty good deal.

If you have any photos already, another thing to consider is something that Exposures offers-- combining several shots into a canvas collage. Go to exposuresonline.com and search for "collage canvas" (it's not allowing me to post the actual link).

Finally, another way to create high-end impact with existing photos (and upgrade existing snapshots to "art"!) is to have them all scanned/output as black and whites (cropping and/or enlarging for interest) and them framing them all identically, or at least in the same color frame/matting.

posted by patrick on 2004-11-11 12:44:58

Peter-- Your work is really great. But I think some clarification is in order, about the signing of a model release-- that would mean the subjects of the photo would have no financial claim to any profits the photos generate, and the purpose of submitting the images to Getty (or any other stock photo house) would be to sell the ability to use/reuse the image for either advertising or editorial purposes. It also usually means the subjects have no say in what the images are used to promote (for example, cigarette advertising, to which some might be disinclined to support).

The (very) cool part would be that you are providing your skill and talent to people who might not otherwise have access, but people should understand what rights they are signing away in exchange for the privilege.

posted by patrick on 2004-11-11 14:28:02

Very good also is Noah Smith, who we blogged last week. He is at www.helicopterpictures.com. M

posted by maxwell on 2004-11-11 15:09:21

One more for the archives...

joshwand.com/gallery/

Unique fine art images--guaranteed not to look like anyone else's conventional photographs.

posted by Joshwa on 2004-11-11 16:27:35

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