Bobby L - Guitarist

Bobby L - Guitarist



This past week I had the pleasure of meeting a self-taught guitarist and my soon-to-be brother-in-law. Shanti's sister Ri' - a shortened nickname she's carried since high school - and her fiance Bobby, came over from Hawai'i to visit us in our new house and in our new state. Having house guests means that you typically get to know someone on a personal level and host to their every need; or, for my purposes, recruit them to pose as models for photo shoots.

I haven't had the opportunity to meet too many self-taught musicians. Perhaps I am around the wrong people. I consider myself to be a self-taught photographer: one too stoked to get a full night's sleep. Bobby is as much passionate about music as I am about photography. And, from the short impromptu living room concerts, the talent and effort shows.

I have been wanting to practice a specific creative lighting technique for some time now. This particular effect calls for dimly lit skies, an artificially lit subject, and some creative poses. On one particular day last week I had all of the right pieces to the puzzle. The skies were gray from an approaching storm and Bobby had just finished up a set in the living room. Ri', who was already outside shooting macro shots of the bugs and flowers in the yard, was also a fabulous model for my experimentation. The color contrasts of Bobby's blue shirt and brownish-gold guitar were too perfect for the lighting experiment. As you can see by the photos, these pictures are ready for an album cover. Well, ditch the neighborhood backdrop and we've almost got a great shot.


Bobby and Ri' both leave on Friday. We have enjoyed their company thus far and will surely miss entertaining and being entertained by our house guests.