Jay Watson Photography

Below is an editorial portrait of biologist Janine Benyus for Future Magazine, a Swedish publication about engineering. Photographed at the UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens, Janine Benyus is a founder of the Biomimicry Guild which specializes in finding solutions to modern design problems by studying answers that exist in nature. She has worked with the automotive industry by experimenting with paint finishes that perform like a leaf that washes itself with the help of raindrops. In our conversation on the day of the shoot Janine told me about wrapping synthetic fabrics over buildings to improve the efficiency of the building’s heating and insulation. Imagine walking into a building with cloth fabric on the outside! This is very interesting and powerful science. Maybe Janine can find a solution to the BP oil spill in the Gulf. She is a getting a lot of attention for her research and these photos were also published this month by the French science and technology magazine Science & Vie. Big ups to the Euros for sending me some gigs in San Francisco!

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Last fall I was hired by Inked Magazine to photograph Oakland Tattoo artist Freddy Corbin mentioned in an earlier blog post here. Soon after final images were sent to the photo editor, I started manipulating an outtake from the shoot. Below is the retouched outtake that would serve as the starting point for the experiment.

Retouched outtake and starting point.

My goal was to extract Freddy from the original image and apply a graphic treatment while still maintaining the purpose of a portrait. Last year I started converting images into line art and overlaying them on wood. When you convert a photo to line art you have to reconstruct elements of the image that get lost in the process. Below is the result of the cleaned up line art conversion applied to a wood texture source image.

Converted into line art and layered on top of a source image of wood.

The version above was fairly simple due to all the surrounding space which helps maintain the portrait, but it felt a little unfinished. A week later I added opaque white to the subject and a drop shadow which added more dimension.

Opaque white added and a drop shadow to increase dimension.

At this point I felt like I was applying effects to an image without building new content. So I sent an email version to Brian Bounds for some advice and he sent back a mock up that took it to a whole new level. A collaboration ensued and after a few emails Brian came up with the image you see below. He added the bleeding heart and hand lettered text that is a combination of Old English and vintage West Coast graffiti lettering. The passage comes from a 1887 book on sea chanteys which services the subject well since sailing plays a role in the history of tattooing. The finished piece was printed one time and mounted on wood. It was sold at the Hell’s Belles Car Club art auction to benefit the Bay Area Women’s And Children’s Center in San Francisco.

Finished collaboration with Brian Bounds who added the bleeding heart and custom hand lettered text.

Grant Brittain lives in Encinitas, CA and is the chief photographer and part owner of The Skateboard Mag.  He is an editorial legend, spanning 3 decades of skateboarding history, yet his work is not tied to just the skate genre. Grant shows his work in galleries, guest lectures, shoots landscapes, and is a strong portrait photographer.

I grew up with Grant’s images so naturally he was an influence on my desire to become a photographer. Since he is both an image maker and a publisher, I got in touch with Grant last year to talk about today’s publishing biz with a Q&A here. Recently I was able to visit him at “The Mag” for a portrait shoot outside his office in Encinitas, CA. It was the shortest hour I have ever spent with anyone on a shoot. I was stoked to say the least.

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There is a saying that you are not supposed to meet your heroes. It is sometimes true, but not always.

Recently I had the honor of photographing pro surfer, icon, and North Shore legend Buttons Kaluhiokalani at his home break in Oahu, Hawaii. Upon first meeting Mr. Kaluhiokalani he was washing sand off his feet and stowing away a surfboard from his morning session. It was a fitting first impression. There is a tradition in Hawaii when you visit someone’s home that you should bring a gift. Food or drink is always welcome so Jamie and I brought a chocolate haupia cream pie from Ted’s Bakery, a North Shore favorite for both locals and tourists.

My pie-hole would have to wait for that chocolate haupia cream (on our second trip back to Ted’s later that day). We sat for 30 minutes talking with Buttons in his living room and getting acquainted. I was warmly referred to over the phone and now in person as “Brotha Jay.” The entire shoot only lasted 2 hours, but he treated us like we had known him for years. How cool was that? As cool as getting to photograph a portrait of one of my favorite surfers in front of his home break. The images below are of Buttons at a spot known as “Backyards.”

Buttons Kaluhiokalani • North Shore Oahu, Hawaii.  © Jay Watson Photography

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Surfer Magazine listed Buttons as one of the 50 greatest surfers of all time. Jeff Divine writes “There were no real top turns the way you see them today. But Buttons showed up and started spinning 360s, putting his board on an edge, breaking the fin free and trying airs. He’d busted the performance door down before the Aussies ever showed up.” At age 51, Buttons now runs a surf school, and shares the stoke once a month by taking mentally and physically challenged kids surfing with Access Surf. He has also recently started tow-in surfing for when the waves are exceptionally big. An icon, and still at it.

Interesting surf info: I asked Buttons who was the first person he saw ride switch foot and he answered “Jock Sutherland.”

Mahalo to Glen Sakamoto of Liquid Salt for helping out with the shoot.

The November issue of Inked Magazine features a multi page piece I shot of Oakland tattoo artist Freddy Corbin (not without incident, see below) for the “Icons” section. This may not be the most timeliest piece of news but hey, it was a fairly busy month. An interview of Mr. Corbin is featured at Inked online here. He also makes an appearance in the season finale of Sons Of Anarchy which airs this week on FX. SOA is a decent soap opera filled with guns, snitches, politics, and thugs. Freddy is too nice for any of those parlor games so I look forward to seeing his cameo.

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Freddy Corbin, Oakland, CA • Inked Magazine. © Jay Watson Photography

Outtake: Freddy Corbin, Oakland, CA • Inked Magazine. © Jay Watson Photography

On a side note, Freddy “collects” tattoos from his friends who are not tattoo artists. Would you do that for friendship? Inked also listed me as a contributor in the November issue which is still on the shelves until December 15th.

Portrait of model Rania Long. © Jay Watson Photography

Here is a quick pull from a recent shoot of model Rania Long at an Oakland apartment. I try to shoot models with a clothing inspired approach and push more towards portraiture. It is a verbal hang-up for me to avoid using the word “fashion.” This term gets slapped around whenever a model or piece of clothing is in front of the camera. As a fashion piece this fails because the dress is not styled properly, but who cares? As a portrait, it just feels much stronger. Semantics.

Gary Maxworthy of the SF Food Bank. © Jay Watson Photography

It was Gary Maxworthy who single handedly brought fresh vegetables and fruit to the SF Food Bank and into the California Food Bank system. This one man is responsible for bringing fresh healthy food to over 600 community food programs. See the short interview for more info. Read the rest of this entry »

versatile – ver·sa·tile, adjective
from Webster’s dictionary:

3: capable of turning forward or backward, reversible, capable of moving laterally and up and down

4: having many uses or applications

26 year old Kevin Pomplun, CEO of SkyGrid. © Jay Watson Photography

Last week I shot a corporate portrait for a New York financial magazine. These are the type of assignments some call “bread and butter” gigs. This is not the type of work I seek out, but something I have to be good at or else I would be turning down a large amount of work. Sometimes these are word of mouth assignments. If I do a good job, the art director will most likely spread the word. These deadlines are VERY tight and art directors need someone dependable.

This shoot was on Wed at 12 noon. Early edits were uploaded Thursday morning 10 am, selects were made by the art director 40 minutes later, and final images were transmitted on Thursday 2 pm (4:00 NY time). If you can work quickly and apply some creativity to these situations, you can find yourself to be “the go to guy” for a few different art directors

Is it stressful? Yes and No. Read the rest of this entry »

versatile – ver·sa·tile, adjective
from Webster’s dictionary:

1: changing or fluctuating readily : variable <a versatile disposition
2: embracing a variety of subjects, fields, or skills; also : turning with ease from one thing to another

@ Jay Watson Photography

Last week I shot a wedding. Yes a wedding. It does happen on occasion. I don’t go after this type of work, nor do I look down upon wedding photographers. In fact I feel it is the last great word of mouth business left in photography. Sometimes the chips fall and you have to ride the wave when something good falls in your lap. I got a call at the last minute from a young couple in New York who liked my work and asked me to shoot their wedding in Columbia, CA. These are the types of clients you want. Someone who respects your vision. Someone who really appreciates your efforts. Someone who pays on time (in advance). No need to chase down payment 60 days after the shoot. Easy gig.

Is it stressful? Not really. Read the rest of this entry »

Another anxious young photographer is up and coming.
Keep your eye out for JN.

© Jay Watson Photography

As a photographer now with a few freelance years under my belt, I was recently reminded what it felt like during the beginning when I fist started out. While I was a photographer’s assistant back in Baltimore, I wanted to be on my own so bad I could taste it. There was internal pressure, anxiety, and some left over teenage angst. I lost several nights sleep thinking about when my time would come to bust loose.

Read the rest of this entry »