The New Studio

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The past couple weeks have been adventurous! After viewing an old warehouse space as a potential studio on Main Street in Charlottesville two weeks ago, I fell in love! I asked the owner to let me in immediately – with a big portrait session coming up, I was dying to shoot somewhere other than my in-home studio. At that point, the building, built in the 1930′s, had not been used for anything other than industrial needs: it had been a car dealership, a construction equipment rental place, and a mechanic’s shop. Each owner had taken decent care of the place, and so the only thing we had to deal with the day of the shoot was the excessive dust – but my client did not miss a beat! She was thrilled to be in the new space, and we had a great time!

Since then, I’ve completed a series of projects to clean it up a bit, including power-washing the brick walls, ripping down various wooden walls and shelves installed by previous tenants, and putting a fresh coat of white paint on everything. It is now much cleaner and brighter, and I cannot wait to share it with everyone!

In celebration of my new studio, I will be having an open house within the next couple weeks for clients, friends, and families (exact date and time TBA). I will also be having a BIG Célébrez-Moi event on September 12th exclusively for affordable intimate portrait sessions! Check out the flyer here, and email me to reserve a space!

Look3 in Charlottesville

We are lucky enough to have a substantial amount of accomplished photographers in the Charlottesville area. Three years ago, a groups of them, including Nick Nichols and Jessica Nagle, began to put on Look3: the Festival of the Photograph, inviting dozens of well-known photographers to give talks, put up exhibits, and present slideshows of their work. Every year, the festival has been an inspirational event for me and many other photographers who come into town to see the show.

Below are some photos of a couple of my old friends from the Virginia Photography Club who came to see the festival! Good times.

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Andrea in my newly-created studio!

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Steve at Gilles Peress.

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Andrea being photographed by Steve.

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Sexy Steve Gong!

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Andrea with the “Trees” exhibit on display behind her – every year they hang giant photographs in the trees on the Downtown Mall. Nuts!

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Jessica at 6400 ISO!

Steve Gong - 06/16/2009 - 6:01 am

Cat! I had such a great time with you guys! I miss you already!