Mimetic Muscles: The Muscles of Expression

www.RealDepthOfFieldWeddings.com

Claudio Abreu — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 04:39:34 +0000

Nearly 2 years since the launch of our first website www.RealDepthOfField.com we are now proud to launch our 2nd website dedicated entirely to weddings & engagements, www.RealDepthOfFieldWeddings.com. It all started when me and my wife decided to register to a popular wedding community www.Theknot.com. This was about 7 months ago (March 2011) and we felt it was time to seriously pursue weddings. What we didn’t know was that we weren’t necessarily prepared. Equipment wise we definitely were prepared but it was more the logistics of it all. When registering with a place like The Knot you are assigned a representative, someone who knows the area in which you will potentially work in and this person will basically becomes your consultant of sorts. They get on the phone and ask you things like “why do you want to shoot weddings?”, “what attributes do you carry as a wedding photographer?”. These are parts of this process that I wasn’t really expecting. Like everything else I do on line, I thought that it was as simple as registering, creating a profile, paying and waiting for the fish to bite. Instead I found my self with a person who was very involved or wanted to be for the sake of making everything right. I liked that. Non the less we weren’t ready, she insisted viewing our current website at the time with us on the phone. She would describe her navigation through the site as we spoke. She was troubled that the weddings we had done at the time were buried amongst other non wedding events and that when the page opened it didn’t land on weddings. I didn’t want to turn RealDepthOfField.com into a wedding website, that wasn’t my intent when I 1st launched it 2 years ago. RealDepthOfField.com is a place to display the variety of work we do. RealDepthOfField.com is all about diversity. So you know, I’m not too comfortable with shifting the site towards weddings and this was frustrating. The consultant would say that all we needed to do was to land the website on a couple of wedding photos, and we’d be fine. I knew that wasn’t true. A part of her wanted us to succeed but a bigger part of her wanted the business we would bring via monthly payments to become tenants on her site. My interactions with her in the span of several days gave me insight into how serious wedding photography is. Brides dont like going to websites that promote other aspects of photography besides weddings. It shows that the photographer is not focused on weddings, and of course they would be right. Like I always do I learned. Theres nothing like making your self vulnerable in situations like this. Its the best time to learn, and keeps your ego out of it. I can always learn. And although we felt we were ready, I took the loss when I stuck my head under the water to see a very different world. After avoiding the consultants phone calls and emails (because of course they become these sales people turned debt collectors) I was ready to man up and I wrote her this email:

Hey Margaret, sorry I haven’t been able to answer/return your calls. After speaking with you, me and wife decided that we needed time to be more prepared to receive brides. I understand that its engagement season and the wedding season is upon us, but we wouldn’t commit to anything unless we felt prepared at a basic level. Speaking with you revealed that we obviously weren’t geared for weddings nor the brides. As of right now we are making efforts to have the basics in place so that we may begin to grow as wedding photographers. I assure you that you have not wasted your time and we do appreciate the time you have invested in us. The moment we feel ready we will call you directly, so that we may be a part of the knot through you. Thank you for everything, you will hear from us soon.

Merline Noerand & Claudio Abreu

I knew then that I would not be turning RealDepthOfField.com into a wedding website, but instead starting a whole new one. I didn’t jump on the project immediately. My stubbornness said, lets see what we can do this summer with out The Knot, and you know what we did? 1 wedding! Fine, lesson learned, and I ultimately knew that the price the The Knot would demand and the cost of maintaining a new website wouldn’t compare to the thousands we would be making per wedding. We were ready and I knew this for sure now. Once September rolled around and we had the summer behind us, I felt more comfortable working on the project knowing that wedding season was over. Now we have all winter to prepare for next spring and have absolutely no holes on our ship (I like doing things slow, thats how I find success). In September a recommendation sent a serious bride our way, and this was a great opportunity for us to access our resources when it came to quoting our brides. Before a typical quote for our brides would be no more then $500.00 (a joke), but with this bride, we went a little bit higher to $2,500. And although she didn’t book, I knew that it was time to launch the new site so that serious brides could take us seriously.
We officially launched www.RealDepthOfFieldWeddings.com On October 2nd 2011. It is now a sister website to www.RealDepthOfField.com We still plan on focusing on fashion, portraits, events and much more through RealDepthOfField.com but now we can leave the serious wedding stuff to RealdepthOfFieldWeddings.com

The landing page, background & logo of the new website:

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RealDepthOfField Fashion

Claudio Abreu — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:19:42 +0000

Fashion is not anything I really planed on doing and I’m pretty sure I remember telling others that fashion photography is something I’m not interested in. It was my wifes idea to plan our first beauty/fashion shoot in October of 2010. I scouted for locations, my wife styled the shoot and we both found friends that would model for us on that day. After nearly a 12 hour day of shooting in studio and on location on Wall Street, the shoot was a success and served as our first taste of the hustle and final satisfaction of fashion photography. After about 4 months of editing the beauty/fashion shoot, it was time to plan our next shoot. Initially we had set a March 20th date for the shoot assuming that the weather would be mild enough to comfortably shoot outside. The theme for the shoot was simply “spring in New York”. Many things changed after the initial planning. I had stumbled upon a location that required we trespass and my wife was against putting a crew through the possibility of being taken in by the police. So we had to postponed the spring shoot due to weather and in search of new locations. The initial location was so good, we put together a smaller shoot there with only one model and a smaller crew willing and agreeing to take the risks. So one spring shoot on March 20th instead turned into two shoots on March 20th and April 17th.

The March 20th shoot was shot on an adjacent tunnel to the Metro North rails in Manhattan.

We used a non model by the name of Lucia Vazquez. The idea for the shoot was contrast and compatibility. My wife styled the model in a social dress with heels

and then in more of her (Lucia’s) style, grungy look.

Volunteers on hand for this shoot were: Deja Aramburú (make up), Daniel Mendez (set up, break down, background model), Lucia Vazquez (Model), Marvin Suarez (Camera man) and me & my wife.

[above]Video shot and edited by Marvin Suarez

The April 17th shoot would be our biggest shoot to date. We hired a makeup artist and hairstylist, spent over $800.00 on wardrobe for the 2 models. We were on location in Tribeca. The theme here was spring in New York. Again we relied on non models for this shoot. My wife styled each girl in 2 looks.

Sabrina Scatliffe

& Merisa Joaquin

Staff and volunteers on hand for this shoot were: Dee Lenzi (make up), Irving Ramirez (hair), Merisa Joaquin (model), Sabrina Scatliffe (model), Louis Obioha (director, camera man), Ivana Bernal (assistant Director/Boom Operator), me & my wife.

I have taken to editing my photos to mimic ads. We went about purchasing magazines and mostly using the Vogue magazine (Lady GaGa March), as a guide line on the lay out of particular ads. Hopefully they’re good enough that one of these big companies will sue me

The video below was created by a buddy and co worker who was a assigned a project to interview someone with an interesting job for one of his courses. Needless to say the video came out great and was a great learning experience for him as well as for me

[above]Director: Louis Obioha
Assistant Director/Boom Operator: Ivana Bernal
Music: Kevin McLeod

Up coming for RealDepthOfField:
After completing several fashion shoots I wanted to somehow display them in a book. At first I was simply going to have them printed into one of my photo books, but then the idea of just incorporating my images from the shoots into a magazine just made too much sense. From there the idea evolved and will probably continue to evolve. Right now I want to use the magazine to tell stories through photography. I’m also enlisting the help of anyone who wants to help, either by submitting a story them selves or directing me to a story worth covering using photography. The themes can range from fashion to politics. Below I created ads to be posted on facebook and maybe eventually printed. the idea is to eventually have the magazine somehow distributed and who knows where we can go from there.

To view all the photos from the shoot please visit RealDepthOfField.com
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RealDepthOfField 1 Year Anniversary

Claudio Abreu — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 09:04:52 +0000

          It started on Christmas 2008 when my wife matched the mac book I got her with a Canon Rebel Xsi. Prior to that, I had been shooting for fun for the last 4 or 5 years and had never considered taking up the art form seriously despite what people were saying about my work and suggesting that I do. I now understand that I was scared and is the reason why I never really, really considered buying an SLR and if i said I did (which I probably did) I was bullshitting the person and my self. I thank my wife for handing me my balls, I thought I would never see them again.
          And so I spent a year with my camera just fucking around (keep in mind that before I received my SLR in 2008 I knew nothing about photography), really it was a very frustrating year where for a while I was convinced that my previous snap and shoot was better somehow. I was also dreaming that once one had in there possession an SLR, that all those incredible shots from fashion and wildlife magazines would simply be possible. I was intimidated by the cameras manual capability where I had spent most of the previous years shooting in auto modes. So I went about and did some research and from there the snow ball began to take form. My 1st attempt to take some professional type photos came in the purchase of my Canon 430ex speed lite (external flash). It turned out that the pop up flash really sucks and gives you really flat and unnecessarily shadowy photos. With the capability to aim the flash at a white ceiling and bounce light to wash your subject with even light, I started to become very happy with my camera, and its potential was clear to me at that point. Wikipedia helped plenty, where I learned the depth of aperture, ISO and shutter speeds. The concept of these three exposure factors took weeks and months of reading the same article until it became clear and I had a full understanding of its use. I was also very discontent with the lens the camera came with, Again I was under the assumption that I would be able to shoot in a large range of zooms (dont ask me why I was so stupid). So my 1st lens purchase was a Canon 100-300mm. The motivation to buy such a zoom lens was so that I can capture up close shots of the Red Tailed Hawks that inhabit my neighborhood. I cannot explain to you how exciting it was for me to stand in freezing weather on my 15th floor balcony waiting for hunting Red Tailed Hawks to appear. And eventually I got my shots and many more after. Those were 2 really big purchases and I learned that my photography would have to be built, and so I began.
          Lets skip to Halloween 2009, when my sister and my wife were in my home getting ready to go out to a Halloween party and for some reason I decided to shoot them in costume in front of my white wall. About 2 weeks after that for some reason I decided to edited these photos and see how close I get to some professional looks. I spent days just tweaking and logging on to You Tube to see how the pro’s did it. While in this editing process I felt that I needed a place to dump some of my best shots for display, and that is where the concept for my photography website was born. So here I am with no direction, editing photos and brain storming about my website. And suddenly one day in early November my co worker Raul Angel Cruz stopped me at work and let me know that his step mother was getting married on January 16th 2010 and that she was looking for a photographer, Raul had refereed me. I think that he was aware of “my work” from the company party photos I took on September 2009 and had uploaded on some computers at work (everyone went crazy for the photos). I nervously called his step mother and she booked me just based on Raul’s referral, although she did desire to see my portfolio before the wedding and so I now had real motivation to launch the web site (that wedding would become my 1st paid gig). Severals days later, after non-stop thinking came up with the name RealDepthOfField registered it as a domain name, found a templated photography website and purchased space, registered a business email and began production on my 1st business cards. On November 20th my website launched and I consider that the day RealDepthOfField was born.
          Since I have had over 30 paid gigs (6 in the month of November 2010, a record so far), I have added 71 pieces of equipment valued at over $7,500 ( Dont ask me how I did it, I dont even know). I have traveled twice to upstate New York one being to the beautiful town of Yorks ville where I had the privilege of shooting a horse and his rider. I have been requested to shoot a wedding in Italy for 2012 (still pending, but exciting non the less), I have been hired to shoot the New York City skyline for a clients window shades that will be panoramic between two corner windows and was asked to place my signature on it, for the client considers it an art piece (shades are currently at the manufacturers).
          Many thanks to Daniel Mendez who him self is a learning photographer and has accompanied me on some weddings shoots (for free!) and look forward to growing together. My wife Merline who has now taken the responsibility of managing and marketing for our company and who is now self teaching her self the art of digital photography and post production. And many thanks to those with positive things to say but more importantly critical things to say.
          Its hard to believe that its been a year already, I’d have to say that its been the longest year of my life……in a good way.

Happy birthday RealDepthOfField

Words behind the photos:

My 1st paid gig Natividad Aponte, Luis Garcia 1.16.10
Canon Rebel Xsi 50mm ISO 400 f/2.8 1/200sec

Had the last second idea of using props that would describe who they were. This was shot at my good friends mothers home. It was my 1st time shooting strobe.
Canon 5D 17-40mm ISO 100 f/6.3 1/160sec

Part of a series of lifestyle shoots I’m doing for a client. The horses name is Flash and this was in a ranch 2 hours north of NYC in Yorks Ville.
Canon 5D 70-200mm ISO 100 f/3.2 1/800sec

On the set of our Wall street fashion shoot across the street from the stock exchange. We did scouting 1 month prior, the day of the shoot we were asked for permits several times and we simply told them we had permission from the NYPD and the stock exchange security and it was enough. Thats my wife Merline on the lower right.
Canon 5D 17-40mm ISO 800 f/4 1/40sec

Traveled to Hoboken New Jersey where we scouted along the Hudson river looking for the best view of the skyline. Several days later we returned and walked about a mile along the river until we found the spot. We spent 2:30 hours shooting 30 second exposure shots. These shots are being used for window shades.
Canon 5D 17-40mm ISO 100 f/11 25sec

UPDATE: Here is the final product of the New York City skyline photo I took above. During the day the shades are almost completely see through, allowing for the sun to enter the room through a series of very small unnoticeable holes. Once nightfall all the details of the photograph are revealed. The colors and details are stunning. The printers did a great job.
Canon 5D 17-40mm ISO 100 f/9 1/160 sec

Heres the most I can give away from this secret project. Its a 100 year old theater and is being remodeled as a restaurant. We plan to approach the company who owns it to see if they have interest in the project. My vision is to have a portion of the restaurant dedicated to the shots.
Canon 5D 17-40mm ISO 1600 f/4 1/13sec

Part of our 1st fashion/beauty studio shoot. 2 months of planning, over $1000 invested in the shoot.
Canon 5D 70-200mm ISO 100 f/13 1/160sec

Yes that was the last piece of the famous Yankee stadium where the New York Yankees won 26 world series. I had to walk the tracks to gain this vantage point. This photo consist of 4 photos put together in photoshop.
Canon 5D 17-40mm ISO 100 f/5 1/640sec

This is across the street from the Chinese consulate on 42nd street 12 ave where Tibetan protesters have daily peacefull demonstrations. They are protesting the invasive occupation by the Chinese in Tibet among st other things. The photo portrays a protester gesturing to the icon which is the consulate building.
Canon 5D 70-200mm ISO 160 f/2.8 1/80sec

What I consider to be my best shot yet. This was taken along the Hudson river somewhere around the 60′s. Theres a stair case that leads down to wards the river, and when I shot him while facing the stairs we got the reflection. Coincidently he was wearing stripes that day.
Canon Rebel Xsi 100-300mm ISO 100 f/5.6 1/400 sec

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A real team prevails again in the NBA finals, 2010 L.A. Laker’s

Claudio Abreu — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 02:48:51 +0000

          It all began in June of 2009 when the Cleavland Cavaliers tried their best to bring the NBA back to purchased championships by bringing Shaq over. And as soon as the 2009-2010 NBA season began, all the hype was about the Cavs. An entire season dedicated to Lebron and the inevitable championship that they would win that year. And although the defending champions (L.A. Laker’s) were doing well through out the season, they received very little publicity. So the season for the Cavs went like this: Best record in the league 61-21, Lebron wins another season MVP and they lose to the Celtics in 6 in the eastern semi finals (2nd round). Fucking losers that what they deserve.
          It couldn’t be anymore fitting that the team the Laker’s would face in the finals would be the Boston Celtics. The same team that purchased their 2008 NBA championship and took them out in 6. I believe that this rematch would have happened in 2009 but the Celtics were plagued with injuries that year. Its great that the team that took out the Laker’s in 2008 and took out the Cavs in 2010 would return and give the Laker’s the perfect chance to prove what real teams are made of.
          So to sum it up: I’m not a Laker fan, I’m a fan of real teams, I’m not a Kobe fan, I’m a fan of real players. So where ever they may be, I will be there rooting for them. Ive always said this about the Laker’s and its a part of their game that I love: The Laker’s are not a dominant team, they just know how to rub games out and win, and thats what makes them so real. It was a great enjoyment for me this season to watch the Laker’s rub out an entire season and win another championship and prove that real teams, no matter what will find a way to win. Once again the true champions the 2010 L.A. Laker’s.

See my post about the 2009 NBA champions the L.A. Laker’s

Damien Walters (Update)

Claudio Abreu — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:48:26 +0000

          So its been 8 months since I last posted about Damien Walters and now he’s a little bit more prominent online and YouTube. Still not a whole lot known about him, its been confirmed that he was a stunt double for Luke Goss (Prince Nuada) in 2008′s “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”, and for Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) in 2010′s “Kick-Ass”. He is also listed as the assistant fight coordinator for the previous mentioned film. It is unconfirmed that he doubled in 2009′s “Ninja Assassin”.
          By the way, if you haven’t got a chance to see Kick-Ass, then you must. It is so far the most entertaining/fun film of 2010. Either way look out for a movie event at my home when this movie is released on Blu-ray this year.
          So it looks like Damien releases whats called a “ShowReel” video every year. I was able to find them from 2006 through 2010 excluding 2008 (Maybe he was too busy?).
          As you watch the videos you see how much better and bolder Damien becomes. Again he proves how much of a physical artist he is and pushes the limit on what we humans think we are capable of doing.

Along side Damien Walters on the Kick-Ass set, this little guy doubled for Chloe Moretz (Hit-Girl), and after you see his ShowReel You’ll see that he’s heading towards the same skill level as Damien himself (at least according to the video). He is 13 years old and has already won silver in the World Tumbling Championships. He is also a six-time British Champion within his age group. Damien Walters is currently training him.

Visit Damien Walters Myspace Fan Site
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Jonathan Goldsmith as The Most Interesting Man in the World

Claudio Abreu — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:12:05 +0000

I’m not a big fan of commercials and/or ads but this campaign is very creative and entertaining. Not much more I can tell you. The piece speaks for its self and is left for you to judge.

If you enjoyed the video above then watch the one below, If not Skip it.

Visit Dos Equis
Visit Jonathan Goldsmith’s Facebook

Toy Story Collection Set

Claudio Abreu — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:57:09 +0000

          So sometime in October of 2009 me and my family went to the movies to watch the re-release of the Toy Story films. It was a double feature which included 1+2 (It was presented in supposed 3D). I’m a huge Pixar fan and have been following their films since the beginning, or so I thought. I had never really watched the Toy Story series for some reason. Maybe at the time of the original release (1995) I felt I was too old for it? Maybe, But I most definitely enjoy all of their presentations and I’m first in line for their annual summer releases.
          So I watch the movies and I’m shocked how good they are. I was even more shocked how much better the second film is when compared to the first (Taking nothing away from the first, its incredible and both films only deserve to be compared to each other, nothing else compares). Needless to say but I’ll say it any ways, my son loved it. Of course my wife always loved it, since she grew up watching it. It was a great joy that I was able to experience these films at the same level as my son (Both watching it for the first time). Several days later I downloaded both films and me and my son got to watching. They were even better at home now that I had the luxury to detail them. And for probably 15 days straight me and my son watched every day and couldn’t get enough.
          Christmas and his birthday was on the way and I hadn’t seen an obsession like this from my son since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So I figured, let me see if there are any life size toys of the characters. Just my luck, Pixar and Thinkway Toys had just finished releasing 100% replicas of 6 characters from the film and again I fell in love.
          Post holiday and my son now owns the entire collection (secretly I really own them, wink, wink). So apparently Pixar and Thinkway Toys are planning on another set sometime in 2010 and I cant wait! What can I say, the toys are incredible and highly interactive. They speak, move and react to your voice. They feel very real and I must say are the most accurate replications in a toy I have ever seen. They literally come straight from the film.

John Lasseter was the director of the first two Toy Story films and is currently chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios and the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering. Below you will see a video where he introduces and briefly describes the collection. Enjoy.

Certificates of Authenticity

Photo taken & edited by Claudio Abreu 1.27.10

Visit Thinkway Toys

See Toy Story 3 sneek peek

Feliz Navidad, Feliz Ano Nuevo

Claudio Abreu — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:29:04 +0000

So for the last month or so, I have been slowly teaching little Claudio spanish. Although he’s not quite ready to speak in full sentences or have a conversation, I thought it would be cool to create a Christmas greeting for my mom and the family in spanish.

Its simple, I had him repeat what I was saying and then cut it out while editing.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone.

www.RealDepthOfField.com

Claudio Abreu — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:21:33 +0000

          One day the holy spirit came over me and I suddenly began work on my digital portfolio. I’m not so happy with it but I’m still proud of it. Its a small step I’m taking to begin to be my own boss. I’m definitely grinding, on You Tube learning techniques and PhotoShop tricks. I have a very big vision with my photography and it has nothing to do with money. I hope to one day use the camera as a tool in my art work. A different way for me to express my self. I personally have no interest in shooting people, but its something I think I have to do for now in order to gain means to expand my self. You’ll also see various photos of me posing, I also have no interest in being shot but I use my self because I’m easily disposable when I get ideas. Working on my portfolio I realized that I have to change the angle in which I shoot. I found that I could have scraped about 95% of my stock photography, thats how unhappy I was with them when viewing them from a 2nd perspective. I hope one day to dabble in film photography and learn the classic methods of photography.
          Real Depth Of Field is a metaphor I created. By definition Depth of field is the sharp portion of an image captured by a camera. In the same way I feel I have a deep, clear (sharp) knowledge of things in front of me.
          Like I said, I have a long way to go, but I finally have something of substance that I can challenge my self with. I hope to sweat but I’m most looking forward to bleeding.
          Let the growth of a man begin.

Below are the designs I created for my Business cards. Inspired by the display settings on my Canon Rebel XSI and the LCD screen of my speedlite flash. The back of the first card is the front of an SLR camera. The idea is that you hold the card up to your face and pretend to take a photo, while the front of the card is the display setting. The back of the second card shows my speedlite flash while the front is the LCD screen for the flash. If you line both cards on top of each other you’ll see that the flash attachés to the top of the SLR.

Back of card #1:

Front of card #1:

Back of card #2:

Front of card #2:

Entire concept below

SPREAD THE WORD
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The GreenWay 10.22.09

Claudio Abreu — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:42:05 +0000

          During my weight loss campaign this summer, my close friend Yasser introduced me to the Manhattan Greenway. At the time neither of us had bikes so we sought to borrow some. And so we did… and we set a date… and we went to concur the greenway. And of course I was floored when I saw what I was missing. I’m so ashamed, Ive lived in New York my whole life, I spent almost my entire child hood riding bikes all over the city, and I never knew this existed.
         Ever since Ive been taking trips with my wife and friends on the trail. This included the time when me and my friends Yasser and Miriam did the entire Manhattan bike trail, which meant that we literally circled the entire island (32 miles) in 6 hours.
          I love and appreciate the bike trail so much that I figured it would be a great way to go to and from work. For the last month and a half Ive been using the trail to go and come from work. Not only does it provide me with some physical activity now that the summer is over, it also serves as an amazing way to begin the day. Ive learned that the early physical activity boosts my energy level and keeps my mind sharp. And here I thought that I would arrive to work sweaty and tired, and in fact I arrive energized and very comfortable.
          I knew that I wanted to document my journey to work, and kept holding back in the summer, until it was too late. The summer was over and we were getting very brisk 40 to 50 degree days. And suddenly we had two really good days, a 70 degree day and a 74 degree day, and I knew that I had a window. I taped a piece of cardboard to my bike, attached two pieces of velcro to the cardboard and to the back of my PSP which I then hooked up my PSP go cam to, and there I had my camera ready to go for recording. For what it was, I think the video came out pretty good and was good enough to show my journey.

PSP Go!Cam