Stephen Loewinsohn Photography

Giraffe

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:06:00 +0000

Dude, where's my cube?

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:03:00 +0000

Last March I took photos of some very interesting sculptures for an Artist named Guy Overfelt. Some of the works included a life-sized inflatable Pontiac Trans-Am and some two-story tall inflatable cartoon smoke trails. Recently I took some shots of a new Overfelt sculpture; a 2'x2' cube that was once an actual Pontiac Trans-Am.

Guy has a show at the Oakland Museum at City Center (1111 Broadway) from January 21st until April 30th. There's an opening reception tomorrow (the 21st) at 5PM.

Here are some more photos of Guy and his work:

East Bay Express: A Father's Quest

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:20:00 +0000

I shot another cover story for the this week's East Bay Express. This one is about as uplifting as the the last story I worked on. The article is well done and makes a strong case for family court reform in general, and specifically that this guy should get full custody of his son.

When I went to take pictures of Arianas and Tyberius, I was struck by how much this guy loves spending time with his kid. It was heartbreaking to see how much they enjoy hanging out together, and then to realize that they're only together for 48 hours of every week. The rest of the time, he remains in the care of his mother (who has been arrested several times for prostitution) and her gun toting boyfriend.

Here are some more photos that didn't run:

Feeling Misty

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:01:00 +0000

We've been having some amazing foggy weather here in the Bay Area lately, so I went up to the hills and took some photos. The fog was so thick that day that you could only see about 20 or 30 yards ahead of you in some places, and everything you could see had this strange dreamy quality to it. At one point the trail went along the edge of a little cliff, probably not a huge drop, but it looked like the end of the universe because everything past the edge was just a vast expanse of pure white, like everything else had been erased.

It's Chinatown

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:50:00 +0000

I went to visit Felix yesterday, but his office was gone. I asked some of the guys who work on the loading dock across the street what happened, and they said that "they" (the police?) had torn it down. Evidently it's happened before, several times, but he always rebuilds it. I hope he does; there can never be too many strange and interesting things in the world and it's really a bummer when one of them disappears.

Anyway, I had already paid for parking so I wandered around Chinatown and took pictures of some of the strange and interesting things for sale there:

Corner Office

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:28:00 +0000

I was walking around downtown Oakland with my camera a little while ago, and I came across this strange little "outdoor office" situated in a little fenced-in area beneath a freeway overpass. There was a man working at the desk, so I introduced myself and asked if I might take some pictures of him and his office. He introduced himself as Felix, and gave me permission to come around the fence and take some photos.

I talked to him a little bit, and he said he was not homeless, and that he did not live here, although there was a bed in the office. He said he had an apartment nearby, and that he just liked to come here to work.

In addition to the desk and bed, the office also had a very old set of encyclopedias and an electric organ, which unfortunately wasn't working when I visited. He said I should come back and hear him play sometime. I'm going to stop by today and bring him these prints. To be continued...

Resolute

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0000

Happy new year everyone! This year I've made some photography related resolutions, and I thought I would post them here. I've tried to make them measurable and realistic, so feel free to make fun of me if I screw up on any of these.

1. Go out and take more pictures for fun. Sometimes I get so caught up in taking pictures for clients that I feel like I don't have time to take pictures for myself. But whenever I actually make the time to shoot for myself, I have a great time and end up with great shots. At least once a week, I'm going to just go somewhere and walk around with my camera. I've actually been pretty good about this lately, but it never hurts to set a specific goal.

2. Make more prints. These days a lot of the pictures we take just end up on the internet, and never become anything more than ones and zeroes. I think that's sad. There's still something great about holding an actual printed photograph in your hands (especially big ones), and I plan to make at least one print every week.

3. Post something on this blog at least once a week. Obviously I've not been doing a great job keeping this blog updated since, um, last September. But there's no point in dwelling on the past. I've set a goal, and I plan to stick to it. If a week goes by without anything new showing up here, you have my permission to call me a big, dumb flake in person or via email.

That's a wrap!

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:38:00 +0000

On Saturday, we finished shooting for my latest short film, Call Me Back. The shoot went really well, and we even finished ahead of schedule. The crew and actors did an amazing job, and it feels great to finally have all the shooting done. There's lots more work to do (editing, voice-overs, sound effects, color correction, etc.) but at least the most stressful and expensive part is finished.

We started this project in December of 2008. We scheduled two days of shooting, which probably would have been just enough time if our generator hadn't stopped generating at the beginning of the second shoot day. Eight months of scheduling conflicts, weather delays, and low-key anxiety later, it's finally done. We may have set some kind of record for the longest production of a 10 minute film ever.

Huge props and thank yous to the actors, the crew, and especially Briana, who was an actress, production assistant, still photographer, and craft services on this shoot.

Here are some still frames from the footage we shot in December, as well as some of Briana's production stills from the first two days of filming. I'll put up frames and stills from the latest shoot soon.

Still frames from footage shot by cinematographer Jessica Fisher:

Production stills by Briana Miller:

Centerfold and slideshow

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:19:00 +0000

I have another centerfold spread in the East Bay Express this week:

They also made a slideshow of my photos from the event with music from some of the bands that played the party:

Video - Green For All - "A New Sound"

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:44:00 +0000

Green For All released this video today. I shot a little bit of B-roll and recorded the voice-over. The rest was done by Black Powder Media, and Ryan Dexter. Enjoy!

Event Photography - Best of the East Bay Party 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:59:00 +0000

I did some more event photography for the East Bay Express this weekend. This time it was the annual Best of the East Bay Party at the Oakland Museum. The party was crazy - 20,000 attendees, 13 bands on the main stage, live wrestling, food, art, shopping, etc. Here are some of my favorite shots from the party:

Outtakes - "What's Killing East Bay Soul Food Restaurants?"

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:24:00 +0000

I did some editorial photography for this week's East Bay Express cover story. It's kind of a depressing story, and it's difficult to take photographs to illustrate something that isn't there, like a restaurant that no longer exists, but I did my best with it and I like to think the photos help to tell the story.

Here are some shots I liked that didn't make the cut:

Last day to vote!

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:53:00 +0000

Today is the last day to vote for the Best of the East Bay Runoff election. Several of our friends (including me) are finalists this year, so if you haven't done so already, please take a minute to cast your votes for:

Best Photographer: Stephen Loewinsohn
Best K-12 Teacher: Briana Miller
Best Winery Periscope Cellars
All clothing categories: Pretty Penny
All record store categories: 1-2-3-4-Go! Records
Best Sculptor: JB Lowe
Best Painter: Lark Pien
All bar categories: The Missouri Lounge
Best Album: Ole Hole - Hole Mole
Best Camera Store: Looking Glass
Best Local Innovator: Van Jones
Best Community Organizer: Alli Starr

Here's the link:

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/poll?poll=oid%3A1026897

Make it happen!

Video from The Uptown Unveiled

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:20:00 +0000

I made a little video from footage I shot at the Uptown Unveiled last week. I'm looking forward to making more short videos like this, but it's actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. I think the night shots look great, but it's really difficult to keep people in focus when shooting video in low light. In fact, it's really difficult to keep things in focus in general with this type of camera (manual focus/35mm sensor). The audio is also not great, obviously.

But it does have its moments. I love the people in the video who think that I'm taking a photo and start posing. Also the kid dancing with his mom (right around the 3:45 mark) is possibly the most adorable thing I've ever seen.

Best of the East Bay 2009 - Bands Photoshoot

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:41:00 +0000

Last Saturday I did a shoot for the East Bay Express with the bands that will be playing on the main stage at the Best of the East Bay 2009 Party. All 13 bands:

Souls of Mischief
Goapele
Fracas
Superfinos VTO
Mystic Rage
Maldroid
CU Next Weekend
7th Street Band
The Thrill of it All
Dizzy Balloon
The Heavenly States
Swann Danger
Social Unrest

The idea was to do a double-truck layout that would look sort of like one of those Rolling Stone Magazine covers where they take a bunch of separate photos of famous people against a white seamless background and then combine the images in Photoshop so it looks like they're all part of the same photo, but with the twist that the band members would be all mixed up, so you've got hip-hop dudes posing with metal dudes, R&B singers next to punks, etc. It's a very eclectic lineup, so there are some pretty amazing combinations of people that you wouldn't expect to see together.

I was a little nervous about this job since there were so many people to shoot and I don't normally do a lot of composite work, so I wasn't sure how it was all going to come together. It actually went really smoothly. Once I got everything set up, the shoot was really fun, the bands were a blast to work with, and I'm totally happy with how it all came out. Other than spending a truly ridiculous amount of time working on this project in Photoshop, it could not have gone better.

I won't post the final image until after it runs in the East Bay Express in a few weeks, but here are a few of my favorite individual photos from the shoot:

You can see the rest of the shots at www.stephenloewinsohn.com. And the gigantic composite group photo will be in the East Bay Exress in a week or so.

The Uptown Unveiled

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:36:00 +0000

There was a big festival in Oakland last night called The Uptown Unveiled. There was a lot of stuff going on (skateboarding, BMX, bands, dancing, welding demos) and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Plus there were no riots or shootings. So that was nice.

I took a few pictures, but I shot a ton of video. It's going to take a little while to get the video footage edited into something I can post online, but here are some photos:

Kids punching kids

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Last weekend I went to the Northern California Regional Boxing Championships at my gym, Pacific Ring Sports in Oakland, CA. These fights decide who will go on to the national championships to compete for spots on the 2012 USA Olympic Boxing Team. Some of the kids boxing looked really young to me, and while I'm not morally opposed to boxing or even to kids boxing, I couldn't help but feel a little bit weird about watching kids punch other kids in the face. There's just something about it.

But once I got over the weirdness, I was really impressed with the level of self control these kids showed in the ring. Most of them really did box well, and they were all good sports and hugged their opponents after every match. It was interesting to see, and I'm looking forward to shooting more fights in the future.

I also shot video of one round. I've been severely underusing the video feature of my new camera, and I plan to start shooting and posting more video in the future.

Northern California Regional Boxing Championships from Stephen Loewinsohn on Vimeo.

Berkeley Community Chorus

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:04:00 +0000

My mom is a soprano in the Berkeley Community Chorus & Orchestra. Last weekend Briana and I went to see their performance of Antonín Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, and I (quietly) took a few pictures. BCCO is a non-profit which allows anyone to join and sing. They put on six of these free concerts every year. Their next will be Schubert - Mass in E Flat Major in December.

Ultimate Lighting Champion

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:16:00 +0000

I just shot these portraits for a Muay Thai/MMA fighter named Eddie Lopes. Most people want portraits that make them look beautiful, so it's refreshing when someone just wants their photos to make them look badass. This guy had a wonderfully expressive face, and was able to go from looking like the nicest guy you'll ever meet (which he was) to looking like he's about to beat you to a pulp (which he can) in the blink of an eye.

Pig Party

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Loewinsohn) — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:58:00 +0000

I went to Meat Paper's launch party for "The Pig Issue" at Camino restaurant in Oakland recently and took some photos. Despite the unfortunate timing of happening during the height of swine flu hysteria, the event was completely sold out.

The evening was centered around the butchering of an entire pig, which was performed on a large counter near the back of the restaurant where everyone could watch.

Parts of this pig were used to make pork sausages, bacon flavored marshmallows, corn-dogs, and even graham crackers (made with pig fat instead of butter). There were also pork-free cocktails, beer, and wine.

Click for more photos from the Pig Party.