Rick Wenner • New York City

The Source :: May 2012 Fashion

04.26.2012no commentsEditorial

Earlier this month I was fortunate enough to collaborate with the creative crew at The Source. Being a long time hip hop fan and The Source reader, this was a great opportunity for me and an honor to grace the pages of such a well known magazine. This assignment was something that I don’t usually find myself shooting (fashion) but I feel that I was able to put my own style into the final photographs, which is always important as an artist. The creative behind this shoot was to show a bunch of friends hanging out together, having a good time and in cruise wear. With this in mind, The Source chose to bring the shoot over to the area where The Intrepid is located on the West Side Highway in Manhattan.

Unfortunately for us, especially the models, the weather wasn’t exactly desirable with high winds and in the low 50′s. This also forced me to abandon my ideas of using large octabanks which would ultimately become sails and blow my assistant away pretty quickly. Working without a permit and in a “run & gun” kind of style does not allow us the luxury of using C-Stands and sandbags, which also caused some challenges. I decided to use a bare bulb and 7″ reflector on the Elinchrom Ranger for all of my lighting on this shoot. I was switching back and forth between the Phase One and Canon 5D Mark 2 throughout the shoot, all depending on how quickly I needed to shoot.

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New Portfolios

04.16.2012no commentsPhotography

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here on the blog. This is actually a good thing, in my opinion, because I’ve been so busy shooting, meeting with clients and prospective clients, traveling, and all other things photography related. So far 2012 has been a great year for me and I’m really looking forward to what’s coming up. With all that being said, I’ve finally been able to update my website’s portfolios and add a new one called MMA Fighters. If you’ve been following the blog since January, you already know that I’ve been working on a self assigned project where I am photographing MMA fighters, mostly from New York. The project has brought me all over New York including Long Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and upstate to Ithaca. I also headed down to Hamilton, New Jersey to photograph the fighters at Ricardo Almeida Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy. The new portfolio consists of the best of those portraits as well as some photos of training and details around the gyms.

MMA Fighters Portfolio

Editorial Portfolio

I had the pleasure of working with Suzanne Sease again who took care of the new edits and putting this all together. I decided to work with a consultant because I find it very difficult to edit my own work and separating myself from the attachment that I have with my work. Since Suzanne helped put together my portfolio the first time around, which was about 6-7 months ago, I started getting more work based off my website portfolios alone. If you are having a hard time editing your portfolios, whether it is because you are too attached to your work and can’t decide which photos to use, or you just want to have an outside perspective, I would highly recommend Suzanne to anyone.

Lifestyle Portfolio

Corporate Portfolio

Portrait Portfolio

Check out the website’s new portfolios.

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NY Fighter Project Update

03.14.2012one commentNY Fighter Project

My project The NY Fighter Project has been in the works for just over two months now. I’ve really been enjoying this new personal series for so many reasons. One of them is because I am getting the chance to meet a lot of NY based fighters and learn more about these guys. You see, the whole purpose of this project is to show, in one portrait, another side of who a professional MMA (mixed martial arts) fighter is. From the 42 fighters that I have photographed so far, I have met loving fathers and husbands who, although have a tough exterior, showed some of their love for their families. I recently photographed a currently enlisted Marine who has been to Iraq and Afghanistan three times to fight for his country. I spent a lot of time talking with him and listening to his stories of war, brotherhood with his fellow Marines, and what it was like to come home to meet his children for the first time. His stories have stuck with me the most out of all the people that I have photographed so far. There have been a lot of interesting stories though. Many of these guys have told me of their endless hours of training, dedication and sacrifice to succeed in the fight game. It has been very interesting and inspiring to meet all of the fighters and I am looking forward to meeting many more as this project continues.

Here are a few portraits from the series.

Ryan Needle – Long Island MMA – Amateur

Whitney “Da Bully” Jean-Francois – Brooklyn MMA – 2-2

Aldo Oranvil – Brooklyn MMA – Amateur

Pat Defranco – Team Serra Longo – 1-1

Pete “Drago” Sell – Team Serra Longo – 10-6

Rafael “Sapo” Natal – Team Renzo Gracie – 14-3

Ricardo “Cachorrao” Almeida – Team Renzo Gracie – 13-5

Frankie “The Answer” Edgar – Former UFC Lightweight Champion – Ricardo Almeida Jiu Jitsu – 14-2

Gian Villante – Bellmore Kickboxing – 9-3

Andre Harrison – Bellmore Kickboxing – 2-0

Juan Morales – Bellmore Kickboxing – Amateur

Ryan LaFlare – Bellmore Kickboxing – 6-0

The portraits above have been my main focus in this project because they show a different side of these guys. With every shoot, I capture a few portraits before the ones above. Here are a few samples of those…