Christian Garibaldi

R.I.P Canon 1d mk3

cgaribaldi — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:36:02 +0000

The only guarantees in life are death and taxes they say right? Well, it couldnt be more true than with my old Canon 1d mk3, I killed it, but I didnt pay taxes on it when I bought it new since it was a business purchase, so one out of two isn’t bad here. Unfortunately one of my old workhorses met its demise recently while shooting a job for Red Bull. It was a subtle death, it happened so fast and I almost didnt notice it. Puzzled as i was at the discovery of the issue, it turns out that I, at the time was one of only one or two other camera owners that had discovered the achilles heel of todays modern digital sensors. All it took was a millisecond exposure to an intense green laser while using the live view function on the camera. That sent the CMOS into a coronary and that was it. Estimate from Canon, $2000 to repair. Being that I bought the body a couple of years earlier and it served as more of a backup for my 1ds mk3, I opted to send it on its way. Insurance covered it, and I put the funds toward a new Canon 5d mk2 which I would find more useful with the added resolution and HD video feature. The 1d served me well when needed, but never was my favorite, the 10 fps was nice, but I often found myself throwing out more images out of a burst than I needed. The autofocus has its faults, and the image quality was decent at best. So farewell 1d, thank you for the memories. But look what you can do with 10 fps!…. there were twice as many frames I had to choose from making these two images. The great thing about that body, you’d aim it, spray off a burst, then go back in and pick the frames that worked best.

Arrivederci…..

AIDS/ LifeCycle Fundraiser and Auction

cgaribaldi — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 05:16:56 +0000

I am posting this for close friend and fellow photographer Sang An whom is participating with his partner Bob Bathrick on a 545 mile cycling tour from San Frans to L.A June 5-11th. The funds raised from this goes to benefit the San Fransisco AIDS foundation, and the L.A Gay & Lesbian Center. Last year these two alone raised over $10,000 in donations and with a stellar art auction that they hold. I encourage you to visit the “Team Bang” website

http://web.me.com/sanganphotography/B+ANG_ART_AUCTION_3.27_1.10/HANDLEBARS.html

and learn more about them, the reasons, the gear, the route, and most importantly, to take a look at the fantastic artwork that is available to purchase from a wide range of artists including myself. All proceeds raised from their art auction benefits the cause and you essentially can kill two birds with one rock here….. help out and do something charitable for a good cause, and at the same time score some truly unique and one of a kind artwork. Its even tax deductible, so make that three birds with one rock! I encourage anyone reading this to at least take a look and spread the word.

The auction is being held on April 9th from 5-9pm at thier home in California. If you are not nearby, then no worries, their contact info is avail on their site and I am sure they would be more than accommodating to phone or email offers during the auction. Contact them for further details.

Simple Promo

cgaribaldi — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 18:32:13 +0000

Recently I have had a few meetings with potential clients for upcoming shoots, and I took the opportunity to put together a straightforward and simple leave behind promo piece. These were produced in house on my Canon and printed on Moab paper. hand trimmed, scored and folded. Simple, effective, done!

No, its not real…..its memorex!

cgaribaldi — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 05:13:24 +0000

I know this has been circulated before, but I still really enjoy watching this. I admire the composition and am so amazed that this is all computer generated. Such fantastic work! credit to The third & the seventh

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Interior Design shoot

cgaribaldi — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:53:55 +0000

I have had the pleasure over the past 2 years of shooting the finished projects of ML Interior Design, a interior design and decorating firm based out of Maplewood NJ.Marisa Lafiosca and I were introduced by a fellow friend/ colleague Lorie Combias who is the owner of The Muddy Boot Antiques in Summit NJ whom at the time I had been shooting content for her portfolios and website. Marisa had come to me and expressed an interest in photographing the spaces she had been commissioned to complete by her clients and to be able to use in her portfolios and on her current website. We began collaborating on the projects she and her assistant had been involved in and we have been working together ever since. We both work very well together on shoots since over time I have gotten an idea of what look she is trying to achieve and she knows that I do everything I can to make sure her spaces look the best they can in the final photographs. We have gotten our shoots down to a science and very efficient in the way that we can move through a space and allocate the time, and style the rooms accordingly so that they look correct in the photos. It has been a lot of work over the period we have been working together, and we travel quite a bit through the tri state area, but it seems to be paying off as her jobs are becoming more refined and larger in scale, and the feedback she gets from her clients has been fantastic since they are able to view the work she has done in print as well as on the web. My main focus when working on her jobs is to make sure I can capture the feel of the room she has finished. Each one is unique and has its own feel, so I use my discretion to figure out the best way to light, where to move furniture and adjust elements in the room and what the overall feel works best for the photograph. Overall, her palette is neutral and refined, and the details and elements she will bring into the room never detract from, but enhance the overall sense you get upon entering. It’s up to me to make sure I capture that, and I strive to make sure I focus on the key and important elements that may be there. I do my best to make sure that if there is a pattern in a fabric, or a texture in a detail, or a particular way that the room has dimension with the furniture placed within it, that it all gets captured properly. I’d encourage you to view some samples of the latest shoot we completed below, as well as on her website where you can see all of the examples of the beautiful work Marisa has done. Other examples can be found on my main site as well in the habitat book 2 section.

Manhattan Hotel shoots

cgaribaldi — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 23:44:47 +0000

A few weeks ago, I was hired by a new client Innovative carpets to shoot installations they had done in two new high end hotels that have recently opened up in NYC. The first was the Chatwal Hotel on west 44th st, which is a stunning renovation of the building keeping a great deal of its original craftsmanship intact. The Stamford white room is breathtaking with its original woodwork and architectural details. The entire suite is oozing class. All of the walls are covered in suede, the furniture in hand sewn leather, the room features are all automated and controlled with touch screens, theres flat screens hidden behind two way mirrors even in the bathroom. Oh and speaking of the bathrooms, each has a toilet that supposedly costs about $12000 each. i had to check it out. Unfortunately, try as I might, nature did not call at the time of the shoot, otherwise I would have not passed on the opportunity to use a latrine that not only has heated seat, fan control, deodorizer, and motorized, automated, aim-able, and heated bidet…. but is all run by a illuminated and wireless remote control with presets that attaches to the wall adjacent! Puts a whole new spin on the morning “Routine”

The next shoot was at the Eventi Hotel on 6th ave. This space was a totally different feel. Very slick and modern. A lot of dark polished marble and dark chrome. More modern colors and details. There are a lot of flat screens lining the halls displaying relevant news and info, and there is some very unique and tasteful art on display throughout.

Dee-Lux……Stuck Up Piece of Crap

cgaribaldi — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 04:51:43 +0000

I just finished shooting a quick job for G Select who has an exclusive on a fantastic book you should check out. Stuck Up Piece of Crap highlights the most influential underground graphic designs and street art stickers that have been around for generations and kind of had its own cult following. This copy is being offered in a limited press run of 300. I had a chance to check it out after shooting it, the book itself it fantastic, but the folder that comes with it holds a ton of the original stickers featured in the book, many of them hand signed by the original artist. Definitely cool!

Das Auto: Fahrvergnügen Part 2

cgaribaldi — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:12:28 +0000

It was that time of year again. I had gotten a call from the Central Jersey VW society asking me if I would be interested in shooting this years featured vehicle for their awards poster since last years bug shot was such a success. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to pull a rabbit out of a hat again…. I just love challenging shoots. This years selected VW was a 1967 21 window bus that is owned by a gentleman named Bob Cropsey. Bob himself had painstakingly restored this bus, along with a fleet of other vintage VW’s in his garage to impeccable standards! I was assured that this year we would have some more time, and more room and resources to shoot the project, so without hesitation, I packed up my truck with my gear (Which seems to get bigger and heavier by the day) and headed north near Giants stadium. When I hear VW bus, I start thinking hippies, bongs, surfboards, Janis Joplin, and weed smoke just pouring out of all 21 windows. I arrived and this bus was anything but. Just so tastefully done, beautiful two tone paint, perfect interior, you could tell a lot of time was spent making this vehicle special. I originally had thought of doing a shot from directly overhead looking straight down on the roof, but after getting to an elevation above it, we decided that the shape and form was quite non descript and opted to do a front nose shot since most of the shape and design on this utterly simple machine pretty much is all packed in up there.

The challenge was that the space we had to shoot it was tight, I mean the bus was parked on a 20×15 patio between a garage and a house, on a slight incline with patio furniture and a bbq grill behind it. We shimmied the bus to a decent position and I set up the lighting and gear. Being that there was not enough room to get far enough back, I actually wound up having to shoot from out in the middle of a main road with cones around me and keeping an eye out for cars coming by. Thankfully I had some help from everyone there to make sure I didnt turn into road kill as they directed traffic around me. 6 hours , 3 pizzas, and a case of drinks later, we were done and packed it in and what you see above is the finished product.

The proof went off to Graphic Kontent for the copy and then to Berry Printing to be printed in a limited run with a 4 color offset process. The final prints turned out great and everyone at the event was thrilled to get a signed and numbered copy. I wonder which VW it will be next year…..Until then….

You can view the final image under the wheels section of my site

BTW

cgaribaldi — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:37:09 +0000

Something wicked STILL IS COMING…… I just have to get caught up with work!

Home Baked Photography

cgaribaldi — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:24:13 +0000

Recently I had the pleasure of working with a new client CJ’s Favorites who brought me in to shoot their product line of cookies. They are a emerging company in the gourmet cookie and dessert market and wanted imagery that reflected a simple yet artistic take on what they provided.
With limited budget and an open direction we met to discuss the possibilities of what we could do in terms of photography, we set out to do some simple and “real” shots that were not gimmicky or boring, but did not detract from the food itself. We spent a day gathering props and ingredients for the shoot, and spent an entire day with the set, styling, lighting and image capture.
Of course during the shoot there was a lot of tasting and sampling and I can honestly say that they’re baking and recipes are delicious! I was impressed with the fact they use only the freshest ingredients and the recipes are handed down through their family from past generations. The ricotta chocolate chip (I beleive they name it the Heavenly Delight) and the pecan bars (Which have a touch of honey in them) are seriously sinful! I highly recommend visiting their website and ordering some of these delicious home made cookies yourself!

More of the images that were shot can be found in the still life section of www.garibaldiphoto.com