Roberto Westbrook: New Photographs and Thoughts

April 7, 2010

Black Banjo Gathering

Filed under: New Work, music — Tags: — admin @ 2:44 pm

These are portraits of Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton (left) and Hubby Jenkins playing backstage at the 2010 Black Banjo Gathering. These guys are great musicians and so fun to be around. Neither one has a CD out, but you can listen to them on myspace. I photographed a few other musicians including the wonderful Carolina Chocolate Drops who put on a high-energy show. If you are not familiar with them, this video is a good introduction. You can click the image to see it larger.

March 31, 2010

Joshua Tree National Park by moonlight

Filed under: New Work — Tags: , — admin @ 2:49 pm

I was in Palm Springs this past weekend for a meeting of Blend photographers and decided to piggyback a personal trip into Joshua Tree National Park to make a landscape photograph for my portfolio. I had only one night, but I think I made the most of it. I really wanted to capture an RV in this crazy lunar landscape.  This is a single 38 second exposure. No compositing. Click the photo to see it a little larger.

Joshua Tree National Park at night

March 16, 2010

Earth Day Caption Contest free print

Filed under: New Work — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:17 am

Earth Day is April 22nd and I plan to send a promo to people I’d like to work with. As with the last time I did this, I’m looking for a funny caption or copy to go with the photo in this post. I was thinking of including some seeds in the envelope (maybe basil?) as well. The person whose caption I choose will receive a free print of their choice (10×15 or 10×10 depending on format). The last time we did this, it resulted in some pretty good laughs!

Red solo cups litter the ground near pick-up truck.

March 10, 2010

Curious guy at abandoned hotel

Filed under: New Work, landscape — Tags: — admin @ 8:14 pm

Before an assignment two weeks ago I was roaming around the Shenadoah Mountains and came across this hotel under renovation and under much snow. I found this perspective I liked and after a few minutes this guy drove by. You have to go out of your way to go through this parking lot. It was odd but it made for a more interesting photo. The car creates a triangle for the eye. Were it absent, the viewer would be left with two static elements. Afterward, I spent a bit of time on the computer making sure the whites are neutral. And after all that, it probably looks super yellow on your computer! This image is best when seen big. Click on it for a larger view.

February 23, 2010

My beagle wearing cone-of-shame

Filed under: New Work — Tags: , — admin @ 11:30 am

Our dog Moe stepped on something that hurt his paw. He has been gnawing and licking it non-stop for a week which is preventing the healing process. Enter this wonderful cone-of-shame the vet recommended. To be honest, I was excited to get this so I could photograph him in it, and I almost asked if they had a more colorful version. You can see this version by 3M is perfectly clear, not to obstruct his vision I guess. But a more opaque disc would be better for photos I think. Although it did allow for both eyes to be visible in this sad, head-turned portrait.

February 16, 2010

Snow in the neighborhood

Filed under: New Work — Tags: , — admin @ 11:56 am

This is Lani and Tony. They are kind friends to model for me last minute during a little winter snow storm here in Norfolk. Lani was in from LA and was truly captivated by the snow as you see in the photo at right. Thanks to both them for some nice photos. These pictures will be available for licensing through Blend Images in a few weeks.
couple in love snow winter scene

February 9, 2010

Woman and beagle in the snow

Filed under: New Work, landscape — Tags: , — admin @ 10:45 am

We received about a half foot of snow back on January 30th. In an effort to get a new portfolio picture or at the very least a stock image, I coaxed my wife into walking our dog in the snow storm. We gathered some colorful, though not completely weatherproof clothes and set out.

February 3, 2010

Valentine’s Day Public Affection Photo

Filed under: New Work — Tags: , — admin @ 12:08 pm

I’m going to mail a promo to Art Buyers for Valentine’s Day with this photo. Hopefully, most people will find it humorous or odd and not offensive. What do you think? Feel free to add a caption or dialog. Whoever makes me laugh the most will get a 5×5 print, and I may ask to use your text in the promo. I’m not kidding. The MOMA captions were really funny. And Cluadia Mazur truly will receive the Grand Prize (I’m re-gifting the $10 Chili’s Gift Certificate my dentist sent me for a client referral) for best MOMA photo caption. Share this with your friends. It’s time for me to add some buttons to this site for making sharing easier.

February 1, 2010

MOMA couple admiring the color black

Filed under: New Work — Tags: — admin @ 4:33 pm

I was in New York City recently with my wife, and we visited the MOMA with a friend. We had just been joking about some of the art (see Gabriel Orozco’s shoebox on a floor) when I came upon this couple. This photo is ripe for adding one’s own caption. When I see it, I imagine the guy saying, “Yup, that’s really black!” Feel free to add your own in the comments.

December 14, 2009

Nostalgic river pylons

Filed under: New Work, landscape — Tags: , — admin @ 3:40 pm

I woke up this morning to a thick fog. I don’t often take my camera with me while walking our beagle, but today I decided it was a good idea. We walked about half a mile up Colley Ave to a bridge that crosses over a finger of the Lafayette River and there I found a few good photo opportunities. I tied Moe up to a tree and took a few photos. I tried both a blue and sepia tone for this image, and decided on the sepia you see here.

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