Tom Hall for Baltimore Magazine

By Cory | Published: March 28, 2012

This is an editorial portrait of WYPR radio personality Tom Hall. WYPR is Baltimore’s NPR affiliate, and Tom is the Arts & Culture Editor for Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast and the host of Choral Arts Classics. He is also celebrating his 30th year in 2012 as the director of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society.

We shot this at the rehearsal room for the Choral Arts Society at Grace Methodist Church in Baltimore.  The stage was pretty bare, which was great since it gave us a lot of room to work with.  It also gave us a lot of lights to play with in addition to the ones I brought (even though they were a different kelvin temp).  I shot a lot of 220 film with the Hasselblad for this one, here’s a contact sheet with some of my favorite shots from the shoot on it:

One of my favorite reasons for shooting film is that it changes the dynamic of a shoot.  When I’m shooting with a digital slr, or even a digital back for the Hasselblad, I’m looking at the lcd screen a lot, pushing buttons, turning dials, making on the spot editing decisions, etc.  When I shoot film, the relationship, or maybe the attention, shifts from me and the back of the camera to me and the subject.  I feel much more in tune with the subject, and it’s something they seem to pick up on as well, which has a really significant impact on the results.  It was great in this case to photograph Tom with film because he’s such an interesting person with so much to say that it really can and did have an impact on the shoot.  His interviews and coverage on the radio are diverse and always phenomenal.  We had a great time shooting, a lot of really great discussion, and I highly recommend tuning in to Maryland Morning to catch Tom on the radio!

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE BY JANE MARION IN BALTIMORE MAGAZINE

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Little Ivory Blues Band at Dogfish Head

By Cory | Published: February 17, 2012

This is from another shoot for “The Beach After Dark” piece for the June 2011 issue of Baltimore Magazine. The assignment was to shoot the nightlife in Ocean City, Rehoboth, Dewey, Lewes, and Fenwick Beaches. It included a variety of things to do when the sun goes down, covering everything from mini golf and karaoke to clubbing and after hours dining. In an earlier post, I covered The Party Block in Ocean City.  Another venue featured on the shot list was Dogfish Head, in Rehoboth, DE.

This was a great part of the assignment for me since I love Dogfish Head and have been to the Rehoboth alehouse dozens of times.  While there’s a lot to say about Dogfish Head, the focus in the article was to highlight the fact that they have live music every weekend.  The band that was playing when I showed up on this particular evening was The Little Ivory Blues Band, a funky bluesy band from PA.

The band put on a great show, and had no problem with me shoving my camera in their faces and firing a few small lights strategically placed around the stage.  The crowd didn’t seem to mind either- one customer even assisted me for a bit.  I shot a lot of 220 film for this one- Fuji Pro400H with the Hasselblad 503CX, triggering multiple speedlights with a remote.  It was a great shoot, and although I might have a had a few more Indian Brown Ales than anticipated, the shots came out great.

 

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My Grandfather, at f/12.7 and 1/2 sec

By Cory | Published: February 15, 2012

My grandfather spent his adult life working in the chemical department at Ansco, an old photographic company predating Kodak (click here for more info on Ansco). I was very close to my grandfather, and he used to always share stories with me about working at Ansco. He didn’t live long enough to see me become a photographer, but I like to think that he somehow had something to do with it.

In addition to some of his random photo equipment, I’ve inherited boxes of negatives and prints stashed away in his basement.  This self portrait of my grandfather is an 8″x10″ color transparency.  The book he’s holding is open to a page discussing various color processes, and he wrote the exposure info on the bottom of the left page – “1/2 sec at f 12.7″.  I only slightly color corrected as the transparency seems to have acquired a green or cyan cast over the years, otherwise it’s pretty much seen here as shot.

Since he worked in the chemical department, and the book he’s holding is about color processes, I imagine he was doing some sort of test for something related to how he processed the transparency.  If you look closely, he’s wearing his ID badge on his shirt pocket.  Besides thinking that there is just something so inherently cool about this, I’ve done similar types of tests myself- incidental self portraits for the sake of testing lighting, exposure, etc etc.  It’s cool to think that we did the same sort of nerdy crap at similar times in our lives, though separated by decades.

Here’s another photo of my grandfather, a black and white print of him a bit younger and wearing his lab coat:

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Okan Arabacioglu for Baltimore Magazine

By Cory | Published: January 27, 2012

What a great assignment!  Last month I had the opportunity to photograph one of my best friends from college, Okan Arabacioglu.  Okan and I became close friends when we attended MICA together, and this month Baltimore Magazine featured him on the opening page to the UpFront section as an “Artist to Watch”.

Congrats Okan!  The piece looks great, and everybody seems thrilled with how it came out.  It’s also great press for Okan’s upcoming show at The Metro Gallery, opening February 2nd from 6pm-9p.  The show- “OUCH! New works by Okan Arabacioglu”- will be up from February 2, 2012 – March 17, 2012, so if you can’t make the opening, be sure to check it out.  I’ve seen some of what’s going to be in it, and I think you’ll like it.

In the meantime, here’s another photo of Okan from the shoot, which was highlighted in the Table of Contents for the February issue:

Love the red shoes, buddy.  Haha, “There’s no place like Okan’s studio, there’s no place like Okan’s studio”  ;)

 

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2011 from my phone

By Cory | Published: January 15, 2012

2011 from my phone from Cory Donovan on Vimeo.

This is a little late, but I didn’t get the idea until I saw somebody else do it. 2011 was an awesome year and I thought this was a great way to show it! A lot has been edited down- I take a lot of pics with my phone and just grabbed some favorites. Would love to do a version with more photos when I have more time…

I got the idea from Jesse Rosten’s much better video, posted here: vimeo.com/34418822

CHEERS EVERYONE! To an excellent 2011, and very happy 2012!

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Three Priests for Loyola Magazine

By Cory | Published: December 7, 2011

Father Linnane at Loyola's Chapel

Last month I had the pleasure of working with Malia Leary, a fellow MICA graduate who now works at Loyola University as the Assistant Director of Creative Services and Art Director for Loyola Magazine.  Malia contacted me to photograph three priests at Loyola who were celebrating their 25th year anniversary as clergymen and are highlighted in the December issue of Loyola Magazine.

Rev. Brian F. Linnane, S.J., is the president of Loyola University.  We had the opportunity to photograph in the university’s beautiful chapel, which was a great backdrop and gave us a lot of room and different lighting options to play with.  The shots above was taken on the choir balcony over looking the alter.  I loved the light coming through the stained glass windows in the first shot above, and used a little lens flare to exaggerate it.

Rev. Timothy Brown, S.J.

The second priest was Rev. Timothy Brown, S.J., Loyola’s special assistant to the president for mission integration.  The campus at Loyola is really beautiful, a lot of really great architecture and gorgeous interiors.  We photographed Fr. Brown in the lounge area of the Humanities building, which used to be the old Jesuit residence.

The lounge area has lots of built in dark wood bookcases, shelves, and some stained glass windows.  I particularly liked the stairway, and thought having Fr. Brown stand between the warmer tungsten light from below and the cooler, whiter light coming through the windows from above seemed appropriate, if not too dramatic.

Rev. Jack Dennis, S.J.

The third priest was Rev. Jack Dennis, S.J.- aka “Fr. Jack”- the director of Campus Ministry.  Fr. Jack was very charismatic and seemed popular among the students, so we photographed him out and about on the campus.  The shot above is in front of these gorgeous doors which I think- if I remember correctly- were outside the building the chapel is in on the second floor.  We had moved up to this spot after getting a few shots from further away, in the much hotter, harsher sun:

This was a great assignment to work on- Loyola’s campus is full of photo opportunities with plenty of beautiful locations and backdrops, and it was a lot of fun working with a friend from college.  Thanks again to Malia for the great assignment, as well as Fr. Linnane, Fr. Brown, and Fr. Dennis!

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