My Favorite Images of 2015: People
A second installment of my favorite images of 2015 has to do with people. I love to photograph people in their natural settings or as a portrait shoot environment. People can be very expressive and interesting.
A couple of my favorite photographs came from my 98 year-old uncle’s life-long companion, Lela’s 100th birthday! Lela and Thelma were being interviewed by a local television station on their “secrets to a long life.” They were wonderful to listen to.
Jules In Motion
Pasta Lady at Fil0mena’s in Georgetown (Washington DC)
Wedding party goes to the dogs!
Two of my favorite wedding photographs of the year were from Ben and Elisha’s reception and Stephanie and Andy’s wedding. Ben and Elisha got married in Australia where they live and came to Cincinnati for their reception. I went outside to check on the sunset and asked them to come out for a few photographs. I took this using a flash so I could retain the colors in the sunset, also so I could have them visible in the image.
Andy is my cousin. He and Stephanie were married in March behind the Smithsonian Castle. While we were taking a few photographs we were asked to leave by security agents. We were told the reason we had to leave was because we could not have an “organized photoshoot” on federal property. Because I was using professional equipment (my flash was on a monopod and I was using it for fill) I guess they thought we were having an “organized photoshoot.” We got what we needed plus a great story to tell! I do like this photograph; the cherry blossoms were added in post processing.
A couple of fun photographs from 2015 were on my trip to Ossabaw Island in Georgia. The domesticated donkeys were a first for me.
Edward Warren as Maleficent
This was taken at the Fire and Ice Festival in Medina, Ohio. The lighting of the ice tower.
Taking aim!
I hope you have enjoyed my people pictures for 2o15!
JAX Theatre: Hansel & Gretel: The Musical
We all know the Grimm’s fairy tale about Hansel and Gretel; they leave a trail of bread crumbs to find their way out of the forest, only to have the crows eat the crumbs and they stay lost, then happen on a gingerbread house owned by a witch who wants to cook them…
JAX Theatre has it’s own adaptation of this classic tale. Jordan Nickles is the creative mind behind the characters and the song lyrics in his adaptation of Hansel and Gretel: The Musical. If you have followed JAX over the last 4 years you have seen Jordan transform himself from a “young Scrooge” to the “elder Scrooge” for A Christmas Carol: The Musical. For this, we need to start from the beginning.
Jordan Nickles
In 2011 JAX Theatre had it’s first production of A Christmas Carol: The Musical. Nickles portrayed “young Scrooge”, Marley’s ghost, and Ol’ Joe. Marley and Ol’ Joe required extensive make-up applications and removals between scenes. Jordan designed his own make-up for the parts and applied and removed one character’s features to transform himself into another character. Jordan brings such energy to his performances and each production is bigger than the previous. In 2012 and 2013 JAX brought in the talent of RJ Haddy to transform Jordan into the “elder Scrooge”. (See blog post:https://pamdecampphoto.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=101&action=edit) Other plays produced by JAX Theatre have been Steel Magnolias, Sleepy Hollow, and Alice’s Wonderland.
In 2013, not only did Haddy transform Jordan into Scrooge he applied his creativity to transform actors into Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Marley’s Ghost.
Standing L to R: Christmas Past (Hannah Noel); Christmas Present (Adam Lucas); Marley’s Ghost (Ethan Lawson); Seated: Scrooge (Jordan Nickles)
For the JAX production of Hansel and Gretel: The Musical, RJ Haddy’s talents were called upon again to transform the lovely actress, Eva Martin, into Beatrix the Witch who lures the Hansel and Gretel into her home.
Eva Martin before her transformation to Beatrix
Eva was thrilled with the opportunity to work with RJ. During the time in the make-up chair Eva sat very still and RJ was amazed at her patience while he glued, sponge painted, and airbrushed her features on. The process began with Eva having her beautiful locks of hair covered with a bald cap.
RJ & Eva during the bald cap application.
RJ applied a layer of white on Eva’s face. He used his signature Shadow airbrush to apply the contours and fine details to give her face dimension and depth.
RJ adds contours to Eva’s face to give her character dimension and depth.
During the play the Beatrix takes on her own transformation so cracks are painted onto her “skull” and some of Eva’s own hair is pulled through the bald cap to add to the witch’s realistic appearance. After all Beatrix is 900 years old!
Cracks are added to Beatrix’s skull
A long flowing wig was added to complete the look.
RJ touches up around the wig so it blends with the rest of the make-up.
RJ adding highlights to the wig.
When RJ is working he attracts on-lookers. These are not they typical on-lookers though. Stacey Morrison and her fiancé Jerod Walker both enjoy crafting sets and experimenting with special effects make-up. They helped to design and build the set for Hansel and Gretel plus provided make-up design for the ballerina Petra.
Stacey Morrison, Jerod Walker, Edward Warren watch as RJ transforms Eva into Beatrix.
Below Jerod provides his talent to bring Petra to life.
Jerod applies features to Petra (Sami Matthews)
RJ Haddy and Beatrix (Eva Martin)
Below are scenes from Hansel and Gretel: The Musical.
Beatrix gives Rosalinde (Baylee Martin) her opinion on Hansel and Gretel’s fate.
The clan of witches decide the fate of Beatrix. Pictured are: Sami Matthews (Petra); Adam Lucas (Udolf); Ethan Lawson (Admiral Theodoric); Rosalinde (Baylee Martin); Bastian (Micah Simmons); Yvonne (Lana Percell); and Klaus/Felix (Jordan Nickles)
Pam DeCamp Photography 
