Waaaaaaay too much to explain in a single caption… so I’m not even gonna try, but that’s why we made the video in the first place. Huge s/o to @jacqueline_shiffman@owenzubek@sam_wagnr@jurellsison for helping piece this thing together.
More info to come but watch the whole thing so I don’t have to repeat myself. Cheers to the next chapter. 🍻#TheFoundationForge
I first met @rebecca.maxwell last summer when she was curious about what we here at @thefoundationforge could offer a budding fashionista/girl boss/stylist and apparently the answer was… quite a lot!! So we’ll be hosting a spring cleaning garage sale for her @shes.company organization bringing together women from all across Cleveland this Saturday and Sunday 4/25 4/26 here at the @thefoundationforge . This is an all female seller event but everyone and anyone is welcome to come and check out the over 25 vendors, our brunch bar, matcha cart, and two food trucks!! This is a free event and clothing donations will score you a free drink ticket. So come by and support your local girls girl and all the other incredible artists here at The Forge.
Photo Nerd Section: Rebecca was shot here at The Forge against our burned wood wall using the Canon 5Ds and the 85mm 1.2L series glass set to f3.5 ISO100 and 1/160th. She was lit using our Profoto D1000 pushed through the 5’ octa soft box off camera left and maybe 5ft away. I pulled Rebecca a little further off the wall for a few images to soften the background and create a bit more separation than some of the vertical ones that are on our story. Her style with the thrifted pink jacket, pink hair and blue eyes was all the color we required to keep the image interesting. Having bright subjects on bright backgrounds with bright lights is great for selling candy bars, soda and toys but sometimes you want to show just enough personality and keep the focus where it should be. Using a single color with texture, layers and depth rather multiple primary colors to draw the eye around a scene is a more subtle and classic tactic for attention… and a little more OUR style. 😉
So @markdohner hollers down the hallway at me and asks if I’d assist him with a portrait session for @francesca_mensgroomer who’s in need of a few updates. Now Mark isn’t new at this by any means but his specialty is story telling via video, where mine is storytelling via images. We work together… discuss lighting and even pass the camera back and forth learning how each other likes to shoot and talking with Francesca to make sure we’re covering what she needs. With a few tried and true lighting styles, a couple outfit changes and a whole new fancy pants studio to play in, it was easy to come away with a pile of great images everyone had a hand in making.
Photo Nerd Section: (first photo only)Shot right here @thefoundationforge using the Canon 5Ds and 100mm Macro L series glass set to F6.3 1/125th and ISO100. Francesca was lit using a Profoto D1000 pushed through a 3’ octa fitted with a 25 degree grid to control excess spill from hitting the @sherwinwilliams Hunt Club Green brick wall of our library. A grid is a ‘cheap’ and fast way to maintain the same quality of light but focused in a narrower space, often thereby preventing a more extensive post production process to achieve the separation you may be looking for. Uncontrolled light spill on the green wall may have cast an unnatural hue onto our subject’s FLAWLESS face and GORGEOUS hair which we wanted to be sure to highlight throughout the shoot.
So a couple years ago I got a call from @marysantoracomedy who had a very “Mary Santora” idea and she knew my messed up humor would help her bring it to life. She wanted to be photographed at her father’s grave for her next album cover. 😳 We met to discuss creative and sketch out a few scenarios that could work with the vibe, typography and the multitude of layouts associated with an asset like this. We had ourselves a hell of a shoot day, there were tears, laughs and more sarcasm than you could possibly imagine, but we nailed every shot, weather cooperated and our client was incredibly happy with how everything went. Then life had other plans for Mary, she never made the album and we agreed to lock the images away forever due to their sensitive nature… until on a whim she shared them out a few weeks ago on her father’s birthday. Classic Mary… 😂
Photo Nerd Section: (first photo only)Shot using the Canon 5Ds and 50mm L series glass set to F6.3 1/80th and ISO100. Mary(and her father I guess??)were lit using only sunlight from a nearly cloudless sky modified with a 8x8 1/2 silk flown on a pair of highboys off camera left that I may or may not have since stolen from @kevincoynedp . Camera was itself mounted on an overhead boom and triggered remotely via laptop often by producer extraordinaire @jacqueline_shiffman (under the warming blanket somewhere) as I was closely directing Mary and pulling focus. Hair, makeup, leaves and vibes provided by @gracedwyer.hmua (last photo) The other images were a few other scenarios we had mulled over and because everything went so smoothly for the cover we figured we might as well press our luck!!!
Happy Belated Birthday Pobbs. Get well soon indeed. 🍻
I’ve long said that “ a headshot is what you look like, a portrait is who you are.” Here we tend to specialize in the latter and always encourage our headshot clients to take a smol step out of their comfort zone. I’m constantly amazed at how many people choose the unconventional over what’s traditionally expected of them. Steve Mchale’s headshot is good… but I think I like his portrait just a bit better.
Photo Nerd Section: Shot at the old TJDS back in 2022 using the Canon 5Ds and 200mm L series glass set to F10 1/160 and ISO100. Steve was lit using a Profoto D1000 pushed through the magnum dish reflector from about 12ft away while our cyc was blasted with our ceiling mount to a “hot white.” The Magnum dish gives a very small powerful source creating dramatic shadows and a “crunchy” specular texture that you can almost feel. A black sided V-Flat off camera right deepens the shadows even more, not a lighting scenario for the faint of heart but Steve pulled it off exceptionally well if you ask me.
Watching your friends get the recognition they rightfully deserve is such an incredible feeling. @chefvinniecimino tops the 2025 list of Best New Chefs according to @foodandwine magazine, even though some of us have known all along. We were lucky enough to have chef and co come by, clean out our “urban forage” cherry tree and tour The Forge back in June. A very fun afternoon that @owenzubek just so happened to capture in a short recap video. Hats off to the chef, @cleveland2222 and the whole crew over at @cordeliacle for a very well deserved accolade.
Photo Nerd Section: Both images were shot in studio here at @thefoundationforge using the Canon 5Ds and the 200mm L series glass(tight) and 16-35mm L series glass(wide), set to 1/160 F11 and ISO 100. Vinnie was lit using a Profoto D2 1000 pushed through a 3’ Octa mounted to the ceiling of our cyc wall studio, which may now be becoming a thing… TBD.
Cherry Nerd Section: The 50+ year old Montmorency sour cherry tree we have out front is an old world species of cherry native to the Caspian Sea and known to the Greeks by 300BC. Popularized in 16th century England by King Henry VIII they’ve been a staple in baking and sauces ever since. The quintessential Americana image of a pie cooling on a windowsill can still trace its origin to this species of fruit. A true American legend that we’re blessed to have close at hand.
It’s so undeniably true… that all good things truly do come in time. In this particular case it was five years in the making. My guy @conormichaelsmith finally releases his first solo album and I couldn’t be prouder. I’m honored to have been tasked to create the cover art especially since it was a “found image” that we hadn’t planned for but was somehow always in the ether. In my nearly 24 years shooting I’ve found that the best moments are the ones in between, the ones when no one’s paying attention. Which is the essence of this image, when Conor thought no one was looking and was just lost in his own head writing lyrics for a song we haven’t heard yet. Congratulations brother… now maybe we can title the next album with a slightly higher sense of urgency. #JustSayin 🍻🍻🍻
Photo Nerd Section: Shot on location @thefoundationforge in a suite that is now currently occupied by the @hotbarber using the Canon 5Ds and the 85mm 1.2L series glass set to F4.5 1/800th and ISO100. Conor was lit using a burning ball of hydrogen gas from 94,000,000 miles away as it passed through our front window and nothing else.
Time brings a lot of people into your life sometimes for good reason and sometimes for great reasons. When @jordantsanford explained to @markdohner what we were trying to do here @thefoundationforge and immediately signed on before he even saw the studio. Head over to his YouTube channel to check out a full studio tour of our new building and learn a bit more about how you can be a part of what we’ve got going on here. CHEERS!!🍻
Photo Nerd Section: Shot in studio here at The Forge using the Canon 5Ds and 50mm L series glass set to 1/160 F9 and ISO 100. Mark was lit using a Profot D1000 pushed through a 3’ octa mounted to the ceiling above. The Octa has a removable 25 degree cloth grid to create a vignette focusing on our subject. Huge white spaces are great but shades of grey can accentuate scale and depth.
I love when the homies trust you enough to let you do whatever you want with em. My guy @bobbybooshay216 needed some fresh assets since he’s been ABSOLUTELY CRUSHING IT all over the country lately. He had a few ideas… I had a few ideas… and we pretty much did all of em. Including this 10 shot composite image that still breaks my brain a little.
Photo Nerd Section: Shot on the Canon 5Ds and 85mm 1.2L series glass set to ISO100 F5.6 and 1/160th. Bobby was lit using a Profoto D1000 pushed through a 3’ octa soft box off camera left and higher than you’d think. Thankfully we can put stuff way higher up now with the 17’ ceilings here at @thefoundationforge . There’s more from this day an epic one that neither Bobby nor I knew would become quite so iconic 🤣🤣
So everyone decided to post their #NoKingsDay protest pictures about 45min after they got home, which is great… that’s how it’s supposed to be. Then the news cycle swallowed it up and we’re onto some other BS that is currently affecting the people I love. That’s not cool with me. I can’t think of a more American notion than that of telling an ignorant, thin skinned, wannabe king where he can shove it. So let’s not wipe this incredible day for democracy and a wonderful day to be an American from our collective consciousness. 🇺🇸🏳️🌈🇺🇸🏳️🌈🇺🇸🏳️🌈🇺🇸🏳️🌈
Photo Nerd Section: All of these pictures were shot with my Canon 5DS and pretty much every lens I own. I set my ISO to 400 and shutter to 1/500th. Now some will scoff at using AV/TV priority metering but when things are changing so fast and missing a moment cuz you’re effing with dials is not an option, it’s a life saver. Last photo of me taken with a cell phone by my friend who would rather not be tagged. #ButHerEmails
