Still Alive… and Kicking!

It’s coming up on two years since I last posted and I am happy to say I am still alive and kicking! Although I have taken some time off from the blog, I have been hard at work in the studio and in the field, and taking on assignments all around the country in addition to teaching photography classes in the community this past year. In the time since my last post in 2013, I am happy to announce I was awarded the Clio Award for the Washington Nationals Advertising campaign and have won a few Picture of the Year International awards!

It has always been a dream of mine to own a photography studio; and finally in 2013, I built a photo studio called Leucadia Photoworks. LPW is not only a studio but also a creative space for photographers in the San Diego area acting as a platform for our collective vision, the development of local talent, and the promotion of the photographic arts. Located just a few short blocks away from the beach in the artist and surf community of Leucadia, our fully-equipped 1,000 sq.ft. studio space, complete with a cyclorama at our disposal is also available for rental (www.leucadiaphotoworks.com).

 

 

 

Leucadia Photoworks was born out of the void I saw not only for affordable studio space for photographers in North County San Diego but also a platform where local photographers could share their vision and foster new young talent. We run workshops, have monthly photography shows and other fun events here! LPW is a photo collective comprised of nine talented photographers I hand picked in the North San Diego Area: founder Donald Miralle, Kristy Walker, Greg Merino, Todd Glaser, Teresa Fae, Tim Eubanks, Matt Wright, Anna Pietrowski, and Mike Lewis. Please follow our events calendar to keep up to date with our photography workshops, member art shows, book sales and other events at our studio and follow us on our instagram handles (@leucadia_photoworks and @donaldmiralle)

 

SBXLV Fan Feature

“SUPERFANS” – Faces of the fans entering Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas (Photos by Donald Miralle)

Super Bowl XLV was a different assignment this year for me. Outside of all the leadup events which I shoot for the NFL Players Association, I wasn’t going to be shooting on the field as in year’s past but up in an elevated position in the stands, contributing some photos to the New York Times. Because of this I really had a lot of creative time and space to do something different. I had a beer with Gary Bogdon the night before and I told him I wanted to do a fan feature and he mentioned a series would be a good idea. So I decided to set up a small step in and shoot photobooth for fans entering the game, using a 580EX flash of camera on a light stand synched to a pair of Pocket Wizard TT5‘s. Whenever an interesting Steeler or Cheesehead would walk by I would ask if they would like their photo taken. Keeping the lens, lighting, subject distance and pose fairly similar, I shot fans as they entered the stadium for about 2 hours and captured about 70+ portraits. My 50 favorite I made into the above collage, which I was very happy with. The New York Times ran five of these portraits in their monday sports section which was great, but I am still looking for someone to run the entire series as a whole. I had a blast doing this, meeting football fans as far as Scotland (i.e. the Steeler’s fans in kilts), to a Steelers fan preparing to have his 7th Lombardi Trophy tattooed on his arm on Monday, to fans from Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, and beyond. Below is a gallery of all the single shots, hope you enjoy!!!

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Paula Finlay Cover Shoot

Triathlete Paula Finlay of Canada poses for a portrait in Maui, January 2011. (Donald Miralle for LAVA)

If you don’t know who Paula Finlay is (I didn’t until I had the assignment to shoot her for the cover of LAVA) come next summer’s 2012 London Olympic Games, you probably will. The 21-year old Canadian Triathlon prodigy is the forerunner to win the Olympics next year, coming out of anonymity until a breakout year in 2010, winning five races and two back-to-back on the ITU circuit. I spent a couple days with Paula and the LAVA writer/editor Jennifer Ward in the beautiful Maui, and we made the best of being stuck in paradise and came away with a nice mix of images. Below are some of my favorites from the shoot, enjoy and as always your feedback is appreciated!

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