Suds and Silver

Andy and Praveen send off/Summer Cult BBQ

2010-06-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

This year’s Cult BBQ to kick off the summer did double duty.

First, it was a great excuse to get together on a gorgeous night on Graeme and Misha’s deck downtown to sample great eats: from sausage, to halibut to mussels to scallops—not to mention all the accompaniments, solid and liquid.

Second, it gave us all a chance to wish a fond “buon viaggio” to Praveen and Andy, who were about to embark on a cross-country adventure that will see Andy spending he summer as an outdoor tour photographer in Alaska—and start Praveen on an odyssey of discovery that will take him ‘round the world.

They will travel to the west coast together in Andy’s way cool converted van, staying with friends all along the way. Then they will part ways for their separate adventures, promising to keep us all up to date with photos and e-mails.

Tentative plans already are in the works for a Cult welcome back BBQ in mid-September, to coincide with Andy’s return to DC and with Frank and Judy’s return from Maine (a brief stopover for them as they prepare to lead their first-ever Photo Workshop in Umbria Italy the following month.)

Mirror to the World 2010 - Bigger and Bolder

2010-03-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

Friday March 19th saw the opening of the 2nd annual Mirror to the World photography show at Glen Echo PhotoWorks.

Image: Seawall Shops, Galveston Island (2008) by Timothy Hyde.

From the distant night markets of Seoul to the inner sanctuary of a child's ballet class, Mirror to the World lived up to its name in what was one of PhotoWork's busiest opening nights ever. This years show, curated once again by Frank Van Riper, featured the dazzling work of 8 cult photographers in an even bigger and bolder display than last year.

The invitational show filled both rooms at PhotoWorks and was notable for its larger prints. "I wanted the show to grab people as soon as they walked in," Frank said, "so I told all participants this time: 'no prints smaller than 11x14.''"

No problem for Tim Hyde and Josh Yospyn, whose huge prints--from Tim's dramatic "Repossession" series and Josh's RennFest coverage--dominated the PW computer lab.
Rounding out the coverage there were Praveen Mantena's evocative images from a desert rite of passage , Frank Turner's cinematic portrait take on his neighbor Zilda and Jonathan Zuck's aforementioned images from street markets in Seoul Korea.

The main teaching room featured three disparate, yet remarkable, picture stories--again each anchored by text: Sonia Suter's gorgeous take on her daughter's ballet class, Mark Silva's beautiful bxw essay on a Russian Orthodox church's preparations for Easter and Sean Bowie's dynamic depiction of skate parks in Baltimore--and the young people who give them life.

As the March 19th opening wound down, Erica Wissolik caught on video the happy chaos as Frank and Judy made the now-traditional group portrait of the exhibiting photographers. And one week later, thanks to Wee Frank's contacts with Italian television, Big Frank recorded a commentary on the show--in Italian--for the Italian cable arts program "Artisticamente." The segment is to be aired once Wee Frank records his own voiceover video tour of the exhibit--also in Italian--and produces a seven minute video that will give the Cult its first-ever international exposure.

Finally check out some of the press that 'Mirror' has been getting:

http://www.glenechophotoworks.org/2010/03/14/mirror-to-the-world-exhibit-highlights-documentary-excellence/
http://www.weta.org/local/calendar/event/254446
http://www.princeofpetworth.com/tag/mirror-to-the-world/
http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2010/03/look-zilda/

Studio Portraits at A-Salon

2010-01-20T10:44:00.000-08:00

That noise you heard in Takoma Park on Sunday, Jan 17th was from all the creative energy unleashed when cultees convened at the newly refurbished (and open-to-the-public) photo studio at A-Salon for a four-hour marathon of studio portraiture.

Frank, Mark, Paul, Steve and Jonathan tested their portrait chops with amazing results. (The studio is the combined work of A-Salon members, including Frank and Judy, who have joined with other shooters at the artists' cooperative to spruce up a great shooting space--including a big white cyc--that had been left vacant and crowded with old gear after the death of the previous tenant. The idea now is to make the space available to all for a low hourly rate--$15/hr for A-Salon members; $25/hr for non-members, regardless of how many use the space during the session.)

Mark did some wonderful stuff using gels to change the color of the cyc (a really easy way to do away with rolls of seamless), Jonathan created other-worldly pix of Mark emerging from a pool of milk (or at least that was the effect he created beautifully), Paul channeled his inner Platon using his cool beauty dish, Steve learned innovative ways to use his softbox to light large groups with only one light, and Frank recorded the entire process like the documentarian he is. The really wonderful thing about the session was how everyone bounced ideas off each other, leading to more and better pictures. It truly was a "salon" experience.

Stay tuned; this is a great facility and one that is available to us at Frank and Judy's member rate.

FVRBBQ - Summer 2009 Kick Off

2009-06-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

Quesada Street, Washington DC was the venue for the first and hopefully 'annual' FVRBBQ for the Cult. The weather was perfect for a late afternoon BBQ on the deck and beautiful garden of Lord and Lady Flash. On the menu was extra picante chorizo, asian peanut noodles, smokey potato salad (amongst other delights) and plenty of cold beers to wash it all down.

It was a top night for food and banter as well as the 'world premier' of the Bill's Mirror to the World featurette video which he brought along for viewing. Check it out here:

Mirror To The World trailer from Bill Putnam on Vimeo.

Of course being a bunch of geeks with cameras there was plenty of quality chat about who had the biggest sensor but more importantly there are an abundance of cameras and shooting some of it from the cult leader himself - here are a few select pics (© Frank Van Riper) :

Mirror to the World 2009

2009-03-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

The first show from Suds and Silver/the Cult of Frank Van Riper was a HUGE success. I think I can speak for everyone and say that we certainly made 'our leader' proud. Frank did a wonderful job organizing, editing, printing, curating - the list goes on.

photo courtesy Frank Van Riper

photo courtesy Steve Goldenberg

There was a great turn at Glen Echo PhotoWorks. I estimated around 70 people turned up and from what I heard - everyone seemed to enjoy themselves as well as the great work on the walls.

photo courtesy Steve Goldenberg

I hope it won't be too long before we have another one.

Also! I propose we meet up next week 3/19? for a post-show analysis/celebration.

The first Cult Show

2009-02-11T19:10:00.000-08:00

“Mirror to the World—Documentary Photography 2009”

Photoworks exhibition to feature the work of not-yet-famous photographers who have studied at, or been influenced by, the Glen Echo Park documentary photography program

Dates: March 7- April 12, 2009

Curator: Frank Van Riper

PhotoWorks at Glen Echo Park presents an exhibition of documentary photography by a group of young photographers who have tried to show more than the surface of their everyday world.

Curated by nationally acclaimed documentary photographer, author and writer Frank Van Riper, “Mirror to the World—Documentary Photography 2009” will offer a series of mini-picture stories covering diverse topics, including a firehose baptism, the controlled pre-dawn chaos of one of Washington’s largest wholesale food markets, and a 24-hour stakeout on 14^th Street to record the faces of scores of passersby.

Said Van Riper: “I invited my best students over the years, as well as members of the informal photo collective that they formed with me, to contribute their finest work. It was a pleasure to curate a show that is as fascinating as it is diverse.”

Frank Van Riper has taught at PhotoWorks for the past five years. He is the author of the Pulitzer-nominated book Down East Maine/A World Apart, and co-author (with his wife and partner Judith Goodman) of the just-published book Serenissima: Venice in Winter. An award winning former political writer, Van Riper currently is the photography columnist of the Washington Post. (Photo: Madonna of the Penny Candy, © Frank Van Riper)

Kicking off ’09 in Frothy Style

2009-01-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

The first S&S get-together of the New Year was a 6-person nacho, burger and beer affair at The Saloon January 2nd, in which several members outlined plans for documenting the historic inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States.

Chris and Matt converse in Vulcan sign language © Frank Van Riper

[Unfortunately, Dan--or Senor Dan to his Mexican colleagues--the impetus for this fun meetup--had to cancel at the last minute. Wouldn’t you know, his in-laws wanted to have dinner with him that night. Sigh.]

But we soldiered on through a vale of beers, er, tears.

Matt said he plans to make inaugural panos as close as he can, using the 35mm pano converter for his medium format Mamiya 7.
Holly has signed on as a volunteer for the Obama campaign and plans to shoot her day as it unfolds.
Erica said she will load both her film cameras (one color, one black and white) and walk from her downtown apartment, capturing the faces of people on the historic day.
Frank, who has covered more inaugurals than he cares to remember, said he would stay home with his lovely wife Judy and watch everything on the telly. BUT he is looking forward to seeing everyone’s take, with an eye toward doing a column on “The inauguration through the eyes of not-yet-famous photographers.”

So if any other S&S-ers want to take part, go for it.

Remember too:

Erica is hosting an informal inaugural party at her place on Jan. 20^th from about 5pm on. Sounds like a good place to scope one’s digital take from the day.

Erica in Italian 'Vogue' mode © Frank Van Riper

On totally unrelated matters, Frank described some of the more mundane aspects of commercial photography, including a recent family portrait commission featuring six humans and five, count ‘em five, rambunctious pugs. But the pugs, bless them, stood stock still once Judy held a bowl of shredded chicken slightly out of camera range.

Smile for the Chicken © Frank Van Riper

On another family portrait job—this one involving 16 humans of all ages at the home of the grandparents—the fun really started when the grandfather asked for “a few shots” of his collection of toy lead soldiers.

The valuable collection, featuring literally thousands of the 3” lead figures in all manner of battle dress and posture, would have been at home in the Royal War Museum. The few shots turned into a few dozen, but it was a gas, especially when granddad happily forked over an extra $150 for the snaps.

That's Lawrence of Arabia on the right; Omar Sharif on left © Frank Van Riper

Those attending: Erica, Chris, Matt, Holly, Andy & Frank.

Party! Party! Party! Xmas 2008

2008-12-19T08:09:00.000-08:00

The Suds crew (or the Cult of Frank Van Riper as it is now becoming known more and more) partied hard at Steve and Tara's last night.

But don't take my word for it - See for yourselves...

Steve and Tara were wonderful hosts and their new place was really beautiful. Of course the great liquor store downstairs selling good quality beer and wine was the icing on the cake!

There were lots of informal photo sessions going on including these ones with a distinctly 'hands on' approach to taking portraits...

The food was also a big hit and the tater tots became excellent (HTVs) Hotness Transport Vehicles for the vast array of hot sauces that Steve cracked out...some of which were 'quite spicy'. Especially the Dave's 'Temporary Insanity' that Steve tried here...

All in all it was a great night and a great turnout. I think we're all looking forward to doing it again next year!

Happy Hols everyone and a big thumbs up to the crew!

Attendees were Frank, Judy, Paul, Pat, Erica, Mark, Steve, Tara, Holly, Andy, Praveen, Adam, Dave, Matt, Chris, Renata, Graeme, Misha, Josh

Check out the images on flickr also.

New faces, Brangelina and Chadwicks

2008-10-31T11:47:00.000-07:00

So, it goes like this. The planned meet up was Chadwicks in Georgetown at 7pm. I expected 3 or 4 people. At 5pm I headed over to Chrome in Georgetown to volunteer for Fotoweek DC and address as well as fill and seal envelopes - more commonly known in Fotoweek volunteer circles as 'stuff and lick'.

Anyway, I turn up at Chrome and sit down next to the owner and Fotoweek DC's main guy - Theo Adamstein in this swanky office with a big glass conference table. Next, before I've stuffed or licked anything, a Sierra Nevada is offered to me while listening to the innermost workings of the organization. Not a bad start. Next, Josh turns up and goes through the same initiation. I think Josh and I had a telepathic moment when we looked over at each other and both projected the words 'All Volunteering should be like this'.

Josh then tells me that he has sent the Suds and Silver invitation out to dcshooters.com and there may be some new people there. cool. next thing it's 7:40pm and with a decidedly bitter and dry tongue - not from the beer I might add - we realise we should get ourselves down to Chadwicks pronto.

Finally Josh, myself and another Fotoweek volunteer, Hilary, finally arrive at Chadwicks assuming that anyone who's made the effort to actually turn up has probably left by now. As we scanned the bar there was a distinct lack of beer drinking photographers (i.e none) and I started to feel like we'd done the Suds name a major disservice.

No new photographers would want to associate with a group that doesn't turn up to their own events, and if they did, they turn up so late that anyone who did make the effort - has left.

Dejected, and with a severe lack of spring in my step, I decide to check upstairs. Low and behold what i saw before me was a huge table filled with the regular crew as well a good number of new photographers all chatting away like they'd been members from day one! It was great to see such camaraderie. Not only that but 15 minutes later 2 of the organizers of FotoWeek DC turn up also!

In the end it turned out to be one of the best turnouts ever and a great meetup for everyone concerned. There was much interest in the W magazine that Erica brought along with the Brad Pitt shots of Angelina and the kids. The Suds crew certainly cast their critical eye over the shots made from old stock Kodak Tech Pan Film.

The list of attendees was as follows: Andy, Praveen, Holly, Matt, Josh, Graeme, Nick, Jay, Stacey, Hilary, Nadia, Isaac, Jason and Erica.

Return of the Van Riper

2008-10-04T07:06:00.000-07:00

Friday's Suds and Silver meetup saw the return of Frank Van Riper back from his annual summer pilgrimage to Lubec, Maine. Along with Frank came his brand new book , the 8 years in the making Serenimissa, Venice in Winter.

The book made the rounds and the general consensus was that the design, printing and overall presentation was superb. Well done to Frank and Judy. We all can't wait until the book signing and exhibition at the Italian Embassy in Washington DC.

It was a good turn out also for our first friday Happy Hour get together. Attendees were Frank, Patrick, Graeme, Holly, Paul, Josh, Erica, Chloe and Giovanni.

Here are a few shots of the gang from friday night...

Are you ready to spend some money?

2008-09-06T14:31:00.000-07:00

Canon has posted a teaser site that points to a new SLR: http://www.canon.com/moon/en/ The oldest camera in their lineup is the 5D and speculation is rampant that this is its replacement. My wallet is already trying to hide from me...

Deck, Part Deux

2008-08-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

The Suds crew celebrated again Thursday night on Josh's roof in Dupont. We scared Dan with Mexican beer - and he scared us back with a giant bottle of tequila. Steve brought some prints of work he's shot in and around DC recently and Patrick delivered some amazing prints of his trip to California. We also welcomed a few new faces, the cult just keeps on growing!

Conversation ran the gamut from the sad demise of Polaroid, to the travails of travel writing for a major newspaper to a fierce debate about Windows vs. Unix technical architectures (our nerdiness knows now bounds).

We had a few toys present as well: Josh brought a big, beautiful polaroid camera complete with with a big-ol-bellows and Steve, in krappy-kamera tradition, brought his lensbaby 3G to give his 5D the smooth, buttery blur in the images below.

Finally, we planned the next Cult Group Shoot - we'll be attending a "mass baptism by fire hose" to hopefully capture the rapture and wetness of this bizarre and awesome event. Stay tuned for the results...

Decked Out

2008-08-20T20:19:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night's Suds opener was a remarkably chilled affair. Andy, Holly, Paul, Graeme, Misha and Dan passed away the evening on Graeme's deck drinking *ALOT* of Andy's excellent home brew as well as Gold Coast's Red Seal and two offerings from the mighty Bells - Oberon and the Two Hearted Ale.

It was of course great to see Dan back from Mexico and he seemed to be very happy not having to drink the standard Mexican offerings...

Roll on Part-Deux on Thursday!

Big Week coming up!

2008-08-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

Founding Suds member Dan is back in town.

This means BEER BEER BEER, oh yeah, and some photo chat...usually along the lines of 'how digital can't cut it....blah blah blah' - should be interesting to hear from him now that he is the 'proud' owner of a camera known to some of us, the lowly Nikon D40 .

Current plan is to meet up on Thursday August 21st on Josh's roof deck at 19th and R Streets - note THIS IS NOT THE SCIENTOLOGY BUILDING - if you find yourself in a room with an L Ron Hubbard shrine, meeting people you don't recognise who are overly friendly who want you to take a personality test - calmly scan your surroundings, pull out your camera to startle them and make a bolt for the door - if you suffer any resistance at all, run over to the shrine and sit yourself down firmly with your arms folded - this always upsets them (true story - more about this on thursday!)

We're also planning to meet on Tuesday at Graeme's and then go for beers at a couple of local pubs.

The Saloon isn't big enough anymore!

2008-07-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

After swapping tables 3 times (with the same woman i might add!) we finally managed to get a long table (almost) big enough for the droves of photographers and their friends for the Suds and Silver's mid-summer get together at the Saloon on U Street, Washington DC.

Expert waiter Kalib once again gave us priority seating and delivered the cold, delicious brews on time and with his usual flare.

Amongst the riveting conversations that I could barely hear over the rabble were discussions relating to Medium and Large Format especially with the renewed interest in the humble Holga.

There were a number of new faces also...the full list of attendees is as follows:

graeme, erica, bill, misha, praveen, will (new) , andy, holly (new) , steve, josh and matt (new)

Congratulations to Judy plus next meetup!

2008-07-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Judy on her latest exhibition up north, down east. From Frank's account it sounds like everything went very well indeed.

The exhibition is on show at the Mulholland Bros, a market, gallery and gift shop located in Lubec, Maine. It's also the headquarters of Lubec Landmarks a non-profit that seeks to prerserve and restore the McCurdy smokehouse complex that Frank so beautifully photographed many years ago before it closed it's doors for good. You can check out Frank's images here.

Judy's show looked great - nice idea also with the torn seamless. Here are a few small images of the space courtesy of the show's expert hanger and official photographer, Frank Van Riper:

Following on from the last meetup on Erica's roofdeck I propose we all meet up on Thursday July 31st at 7:30pm.

Locatation to be decided although possible contenders are:

erica's roofdeck (again)
the saloon (the tried and trusted favourite)
ned devines in herndon (yeah right)

Last of the Arto All Stars...

2008-06-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

Without further adieu it gives me great pleasure to share with you the final shot from the "Goodman Van Riper Artomatic All Stars 2008 Suds and Silver Portrait Extravaganza"!

Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished guests, I give you our very own Mr Paul Sharratt:

Great shot Frank.

Brand New Suds Member - application pending

2008-05-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

Here is the newest recruit to the Suds and Silver Clan! Shown here with proud father Paul. The membership is pending of course until we know he can at least hold a wee leica and take a shot or two...we're sure it won't be long until father teaches him the basics!

Contratulations to the Sharratt family

Baby Exif:

Auden Waring Owen-Sharratt

May 22, 2008 12:52 p.m.

6 lbs. 5 oz.

20 inches

Lungs of steel

Artomatic and the Saloon

2008-05-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

We had another great meet up on Wednesday for Suds and Silver.

This time we hit 2 locations! The first being Artomatic where Frank and Judy shot some great portraits of the Suds and Silver "Artomatic All Stars" followed by excellent beer and great service as always at the Saloon - thanks Kalib!

Here are Frank and Judy's portraits of the chaps at Artomatic -

Unfortunately the 4th "Artomatic All Star" as Frank put it, isn't in these possibly due to his wife delivering their 2nd child - a worthy excuse we felt unlike some we keep hearing - 'sorry guys but I've moved to mexico' being one of the less believable ones :)

On the new work front, Patrick has send some cool stuff from his corporate jolly to Bermuda where he more than brushed with some of the biggest movie stars of the day! nice work Patrick.

Of course we're all really excited and can't wait to attend Frank and Judy's Venice book signing at the Italian Embassy in November. It should be a wonderful evening and a great start to the inaugural week long photographic festival FOTO WEEK DC.

Finally check out my website/blog for details of Ryan's new documentary that he mentioned last night. It's called Down in the Hollow.

More Updates

2008-03-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

After a short hiatus, suds and silver is back. full steam ahead captain! here is a quick collage i 'knocked up' from steve's 'drunk people shot from above "Cyanotypes"' mini project :) at the saloon on 3/12...

Stay tuned for a Suds and Silver 'Mexico Special' from Andy, Graeme, Praveen and Dan!

Don't forget you can still check out exhibited work from the following suds and silvers members:

Steve in DCist Exposed 2008
Graeme in Photo 08 at the Ellipse Art Center
Bill and M. Scott Mahaskey co-exhibition at Glen Echo
Paul (again) in Krappy Kamera 2008

Apologies to Paul, Steve and Stuart for the lack of mention for their work in the recent Student Exhibition at Glen Echo.

Don't forget that Master Class with Dr. Flash starts soon (April 3rd)

Old friends, New friends, War Photographers, Birthdays and Beer!

2008-03-21T07:56:00.001-07:00

After much cajoling from professor Van Riper (quite rightly so, the word slacker does come to mind), the blog is back! and in the true spirit of democracy, here he is with the words of wisdom for this week...

"The March 12th meeting of Suds n' Silver produced the largest turnout ever by that august group of photographers and their always welcome friends and companions.

The occasion of course was Grame's 50th birthday. Graeme who does not look a day over 45, (I've got that right, don't I, Graeme?) was accompanied by his lovely lady Misha. Erica's tiny Diana camera and ring flash got almost as much attention as the cast on her foot (she's a trouper, that girl) and prompted a shooting frenzy among all in attendance.

Oh, and the beer was great as always."

I second that professor Frank. The staff at the Saloon were fantastic (as always) delivering cold, fresh, exceptional quality beverages. Here's a great shot (taken by one of us - who knows!) of the staff:

There was also some great conversations on many topics. Some of them were just too much for some of us. Here is Paul TRYING to stay awake as to the lovely Tara asks him the difference between aperture and shutter speed AGAIN!...

Ales and Apertures, March 12th at the Saloon

2008-03-02T13:15:00.000-08:00

By popular demand and in celebration of Graeme's birthday, we are meeting at the Saloon on the evening of Wednesday, March 12th.

I want to give a quick shout out to David Luria's Washington Photo Safari. I took his very good "Photography as a Second Career" workshop last week. The bottom line (and quoted on the cover of the handout) is "Don't give up your day job". Aside from that reality check, he gave some really good advice on many different types of photography, what they pay, and how to get work. Note that the back of workbook included a list of suggested reading, among which was "Talking Photography" by some guy named Van Riper.

Near the end of the workshop, we had a discussion with local semi-pro photographer Stewart Davis and learned how he established himself and gets work.

Posted by Pat, the Olympus snob.

Holgas and Jalapenos - The Saloon 1/10/08

2008-01-14T19:57:00.004-08:00

Suds and Silver certainly hit the new years ground running last Thursday with what was possibly its largest turnout in history! It was a truly eclectic mix of food, fotos and fermentation.

8 enthusiastic attendees (Andy, Frank, Graeme, Erica, Patrick, Paul, Praveen and Steve) ensured there was a lot to talk about, washed down with, as per usual, lashings of superb beer.

Paul once again was successful in making this years Krappy Kamera toy camera juried show. This wasn't surprising when we saw some of his prints he submitted to the jury. Here are a selection of winning images from the show. Great job Paul, and we can't wait to see your chosen images that will be featured.

One thing I promised Frank was the shot of Erica assisting me for our photo shoot a few weeks back. Here she is elegantly holding the flash while I shot the lovely Liz Morel on 14th street. This did somehow raise the issue of the lack of female members of S&S and any suggestions are welcome!

Frank filled in a few more details of FotoWeek DC, a brand new photography festival taking place in DC during November 2008. More details, including contact information for volunteering can be found on their new website. In addition, Frank has a new column out with LOTS of information on the festival and the kick off event. Check it out here.

Frank brought along a Nikon D300 (with the 18-200mm VR lens) that he was sent from Nikon to review. It was basically an excuse for us to play with it ALL NIGHT LONG. I can safely vouch for all of us and report that the general consensus was that it seemed a highly capable camera, excellent in low light, enourmously complex but above all a joy to handle (if a 'tad' heavier that Praveen's Leica M8). Suffice to say that the beast certainly made the rounds that night.

Frank also showed us some superb examples of different prints from one of Judy's Venice shots. Among the prints were an inkjet printed by Steve, a traditional print by Frank as well as print that was digitally scanned and printed by a professional lab. Despite the low light of the Saloon, was a great way to compare the different qualities and styles of each print.

There was a discussion (possible arguement - details are still a bit hazy) at some point in the evening about Annie Lebowitz and the Queen which then focused on some other royal photographers. Frank was correct in naming Anthony Armstrong Jones (or Lord Snowdon to his mates) as the shooter in question. Graeme was had obviously had one too many at this point and mumbling the name of another royal image maker - Lord Litchfield.

Once again the iphone was on top form as we viewed some of Steve's recent honeymoon shots from Rio and Argentina.

Finally Andy, Praveen and hopefully Graeme are looking at heading to Mexico in late February to visit founding S&S member Dan. This trip would most likely follow Praveen's workshop with Mark Ellen Mark. Details are still being ironed out but stay tuned for further updates.

New Work (Erica in Rome, Steve in Brazil and Graeme struggling on 14th St)

2008-01-08T13:21:00.000-08:00

Just like the Washington DC bus network, while waiting patiently for some new work to be posted, suddenly it comes - In threes.

Erica posted some moody and atmospheric black and white shots from her recent trip to rome. Click here for details.

Steve sent us some of his awesome honeymoon shots from Brazil and Argentina. Click here for more details.

Finally Graeme posted some shots from his weekend shoot on 14th street where he felt he really didn't do very well at all! See the results here.

Hopefully we can find out more about this work on the blog soon. Either way, it looks like we'll have alot to talk about this thursday!

John Singer Sargent's/Frank's "Madame X"

2007-12-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

Continuing on from "The Saloon" post, here are 2 of the images from frank's recent musician shoot.

Over to you frank....(both images copyright frank van riper)

"Here are TWO images from the musicians' shoot"

"As I think I mentioned over beers, not only were classical musicians Karine and her husband Ali beautiful and handsome subjects, they also were great to photograph and a delight to work with. Karine wanted some full body shots and we played with a number of poses. When she stood in repose I immediately thought of the Sargent portrait (of the woman initially called Madame X because of the 'scandalous' nature of the portrait.)"

"I asked Karine to hold a serious pose in profile and made the shot (There were others in 3/4 view and smiling as well.)"

Here again is a link to the original John Singer Sargent's Madame X image .

"The second shot is a pose that Karine struck near the end of the shoot and her smile says it all. I had her do a bunch of these and had a hard time picking a favorite."

"Lighting was fairly simply. Main light on the left was a high studio strobe through a shoot-through umbrella; fill light on right used a regular umbrella at about one-third power of the main, just to open up shadows. Backdrop was black seamless."

Great job Frank and for the record, I like the armpit. Quite sexy:)

Once again, both images on this post are © Frank Van Riper

The Saloon 12/20/2007 (Xmas Special)

2007-12-24T19:52:00.000-08:00

It was a good turnout on thursday at the saloon with patrick, frank, andy, erica and myself attending. Of course some great pints were downed including Brooklyn Pennant Ale, Weihenstephan Hefeweizen and Hefedunkel and others that we can't even remember now...

for our friends far and away, and for some of us getting on a bit with failing memory (myself included)....

there was great recent work from patrick and frank. more later...
frank told us about next years proposed 'foto week dc' festival (thanks for the nice badges)
the 'create your own' photo book website is here
here is the documentary about the queen being shot by annie leibowitz...
i was thinking it might be fun to start a blog for this group - viola!

Frank told us all about his photo shoot with 2 musician friends that was shot in his dining room. he also showed us the images (thanks to andy's utlra cool tablet pc - bring that every week from now on andy!) which were great - 2 very photogenic and talented people by all accounts.

Frank also handed out badges for next years proposed 'foto week dc' a week long photography festival to be held in Washington DC next november. It's very early days in the planning stages and nothing is officially announced yet but it sounds like it will be an amazing 5 days. Stay tuned at Suds and Silver for more details in the coming weeks.

Erica mentioned a day trip to Philly to see the Lee Miller exhibit

"I'm going to drag some friends up on Sat March 8th. And for you guys who were wondering about that famous Man Ray shot that made it into the Kotex ad, here it is"

Patrick, chipped in the following info. "For those who were there and saw Frank's portraits of the musician couple, here is the Sargent painting that is similar to his picture of the violinist. Also, these are the pictures that I shared with the group. See you all in the new year"

Dan then asked to see Frank's violinist image which he duly sent all of us via email. I will contact Frank to see if he wants to share it on the blog.

Graeme talked about the gig he shot at wonderland ballroom on wednesday night. the band were called milkmachine and were not exactly your average indie rock outfit. For one thing there was a souzaphone being played on stage. as for the technical details, "i used my d40 with a nikkor f1.8 50mm prime lens. i also shot 2 rolls of film with my nikon fm-3a and another 50mm f1.8 nikon lens. Focusing was really tough in the low light and alot of the shots came out blurred. i did get some keepers though".

Welcome to Suds and Silver

2007-12-24T11:52:00.000-08:00

well here it is! after almost 1 year since the inaugural S&S meeting at some dodgy DC dive serving good quality real pints, we've finally managed to start a blog for the group in order to share, publish, shame, whatever...

the real reason this is year is to remember all the stuff we talk about during our 'weekly' meetings that is usually forgotten as soon as the pints stop flowing!

cheers!