Blog Archives
Rhode Island Wedding Photographer Seth Jacobson at The Hyatt Newport RI
Stephanie and Nick got married at the Hyatt in Newport RI earlier this year this is a small showcase from their beautiful wedding!
Portrait and Wedding photographer Seth Jacobson: self portraits with phone
My series of self portraits highlighting the disconnect that I see around me from the use of the little magic boxes we all carry with us. I am guilty of this myself from time to time. These images are meant to show me missing out on the beauty around me because I’m looking at my phone. To steal a quote from John Lennon, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans” I do love what my phone allows me to do. Please don’t mistake my intentions, I just need a reminder (as I believe many of us do) to put the phone down sometimes and take in the beauty around us
Ignite Talk about Photography and Truth
I had the pleasure of being the very 1st presenter in front of a sold out crowd at the very 1st Ignite Southern RI put on by The Southern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce
This was an exciting and inspirational evening of speakers that was an honor to be a part of! Thank you to everyone that worked so hard to make it come together!
The Rhode Island Portrait Project: Bethany Geaber actress
I have another installment of my very exciting portrait project. I love my community and there are some amazing people making Rhode Island a wonderful place to live. I have decided to photograph the people who are really making “IT” happen here in my community in a (hopefully) creative and fun way that tells a story about who those people are and what they are doing for their little section of the world.
This is Bethany Geaber she is an actress. You can visit her website here We wanted to create a really unique portrait for Bethany. As an actress she has to transform herself into many different people to tell stories, and I really wanted to tell a short story with three characters. What do you think the story is? What just happened? What happens next? I am fascinated by these three ladies and by Bethany’s ability to change into different people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=m77YrTvEyT4
The Rhode Island Portrait Project: John Ford
I have another installment of my very exciting portrait project. I love my community and there are some amazing people making Rhode Island a wonderful place to live. I have decided to photograph the people who are really making “IT” happen here in my community in a (hopefully) creative and fun way that tells a story about who those people are and what they are doing for their little section of the world.
This is John Ford he owns Manic Training John is a man who has helped me to change my body; I can now say with confidence that I am strong. I am turning 39 in a month, and all my life I have been very happy with the way that I looked and felt. I’m not one of those low self-esteem kind of people, but I have also known that I’m not a particularly physically strong person, either. So to reach middle age (oh my god really!!! middle age wow) and to have such a different view of myself is really a wonderful experience. This has come out of some really hard work. I owe that to John Ford and Manic Training. John is a patient teacher, the kind of trainer that will push you to the next level without being a jerk about it. Always attentive but never pushy. You can see by this photo that he takes his own health and well-being seriously. I am extremely proud of this portrait we created. If you have ever worked hard to achieve a goal, you know that there is struggle, determination and hope all mixed together. I feel that we got that across in this portrait.
Click on the photo to see it at its proper size and watch the video below to find out more about the project.
The Rhode Island Portrait Project Erich Manser Blind Triathlete
I have another installment of my very exciting portrait project. I love my community and there are some amazing people making Rhode Island a wonderful place to live. I have decided to photograph the people who are really making “IT” happen here in my community in a (hopefully) creative and fun way that tells a story about who those people are and what they are doing for their little section of the world.
This most recent portrait is of Erich Manser. Erich is an extra-ordinary individual. Not only is he a world-class athlete, but he is legally blind. When I 1st saw Erich in the “Firm Man” triathlon I was mystified 1st at how incredibly fast he was moving but also my mind spun thinking about the difficulty of what he was doing (swimming 1.2 miles in open ocean, running 13.1 miles and biking 56 miles) with out the sight that you and I enjoy and use to navigate the world. He has a limited vision and describes what he can see as looking through a pair of toilet paper rolls with wax paper covering the ends, and he is loosing his eyesight more with every passing day.He is guided through these races by another racer of equal or better athletic ability, they tie a rope to each other for the swim and he runs with his hand on the guides shoulder, and then they ride a tandem bike.
I really wanted to honor Erich with this portrait. We met to talk about the concept and he explained that before he has starting loosing his eyesight he had been a swimmer and now swimming is his strongest section of the race for him. So we decided to create this portrait in the water. We got up in the dark and went down to the Ocean and waited for the sun light to emerge. So the portrait was actually created before the sunrise in the pre-dawn light.
Here is a link to Erich’s Blog and some more info on his inspirational story.
Dig his tag line, “You don’t need eyesight to have vision” I can only hope my vision does justice to this great man.
Click on the photo to see it at its proper size and watch the video below to find out more about the project.
Light The Way, Lighting workshop Narragansett Rhode Island, Portrait Photography
I am very proud to announce the 2nd lighting workshop I am putting on with the talented Brad Smith! Here is the info on how to sign up if you want to take your photography to the next level. We will have models that will be done up professionally by the lovely and talented Lynda Williams of Formal Hair Design and make up by the beautiful Jennifer Hodge of Spectrum Make up Artistry
Art and Poetry Exhibit at Roger Williams Law School
I am very pleased to announce my latest big project!
Photography and poetry meet in new exhibit
BRISTOL — Two Rhode Island artists have launched an exhibit exploring the relationship between different art forms.
Dating to ancient Greece, “ekphrasis” is the practice of literary writing about visual art. In “Braving the Light: Rhode Island Portraits in Photography and Poetry,” poet Kim Baker imagines the story behind a selection of work by photographer Seth Jacobson — the secret lives of early morning passengers at Kingston Station; an unlikely love story set against the Pell Bridge in Newport; and what pebbles rolling in the surf on the Saunderstown shoreline tell us about the cosmos and ourselves.
The exhibit, sponsored by the Bristol Art Museum, is on display in the second floor atrium at the Roger Williams University School of Law through Jan. 9, 2012. The building is located at 10 Metacom Ave.
A reception for the artists will be held Friday November 4th from 4:00 to 8:00 PM. The event is open to the public, and refreshments will be served.
Also on display are photographs from Jacobson’s Rhode Island Portrait Project, a series highlighting community-minded working professionals in southern Rhode Island.
About the artists:
When she isn’t teaching the virtues of the comma at Roger Williams University School of Law, writing poetry about big hair and Elvis, and doing the Cha-Cha, Kim Baker works to end violence against women. Her poems have been published online and in print and essays broadcast on National Public Radio, and she is currently working on a book of ekphrasis poems. She lives in Warwick and shares her musings at http://thinkingoutsidethesign.blogspot.com/
Based in Saunderstown, Seth Jacobson is a professional wedding, portrait and bar/bat mitzvah photographer since 1999. Jacobson and his work have been featured in Rhode Island newspapers and other publications including TIME magazine. His volunteer work includes photography for The DMP Annual Thanksgiving Home Makeover in South County; The American Diabetes Association; The American Cancer Society; The Jimmy Fund, and Butler Hospital. He shares photography and lighting tips on his blog, https://sethjacobson.wordpress.com/
Turn sideways into the light, as they say the old ones did, and disappear into the originality of it all. David Whyte
Be brave.
Take a walk along the rock-strewn beach.
In the rain.
The pebbles will never be as treacherous
or as beautiful
as when they are wet.
Hold a few stones
in the deep place beneath your fingers
and above your palm:
orange and gray
egg speckled
and the one black as a whale’s back.
Then hold one to your nose
and smell time itself
for you are holding the cosmos
something primal and full of stories.
And now, you are a chapter too.
And when rock and sand and salt
take your breath away
and you have no idea
which way is home,
face the bay
where a single sunray
glazes the waves.
Then turn sideways into the light
as they say the old ones did
and disappear into the originality of it all
carrying with you time itself
and the satisfaction and contentment
only courage brings.
Horse Shoe Falls beautiful landscape photography Rhode Island
This is the beautiful horse shoe falls in Shannock RI. I took this at about 9:45 at night far after sunset with a 30 second exposure. The camera can soak up light in a way that our eyes can’t so the image is something that we could never see live with our own eyes. I love this! It refers to what I call the BIG LIE in photos. Photos don’t tell the truth even though we think they do. This is a perfect example of this. If you look on the bottom left of the image you can see some orange light striping across the rock and the water this is a lamp from a home about 50 yards away streaming through the trees. COOL ha? The technical info is ISO 100 shutter 30 seconds/ Aperature 2.8 on a 20 mm lens And this was shot on a tripod
Water and Stone
I had a hard day yesterday. They come and hit all of us some times right? We all have our fair share of these days. I went down to the Ocean and watched the cold, cold water run up and over the rocks, and then slide back down the slope of the shore line and cliché as it is, this wonderful rocking was so comforting to me. I looked at these perfect soft looking round stones and was touched by the constancy of their battle against the elements. It is exactly this struggle that has formed these beautiful shore line. Without this battering that these rocks have been getting for the past 30,000,000 years or so it wouldn’t look nearly as soft or refined. So I am hoping that with the battering that life has been giving me, that I will get a little softer around my edges, and a little more refined in the way I engage the world. Here’s to hoping!
Click on this beautiful photo to really see it at it’s best!
A few from this past year
Here are a few wedding, portrait and client photos from this past year in Rhode Island. It was a great year for photography! I grew as a photographer and got to know some wonderful people along the way!!!
THANK YOU!!!
Behind the curtain Johnette portrait
Here is a portrait I created today of Johnnette. She is pictured here in the final shot with almost no post processing. I think I added just a tiny bit of brighness slider in lighroom but that is it.
The photo was taken on my D700 with ISO 500, shutter 1/60, and aperature of 3.2 on my 50mm 1.4 lens. So how I created it was I had her sitting in front of her piano with the lamp you can see on top of the piano on and another you can’t see hidden behind the piano also on pointed at the statue in the back, and another camera right and low on the floor lighting the background a little more. I had a 4′ silver bounce about 5 ‘ camera left that I pointed my flash at filling her in with soft flattering light from the left. I am very happy with the results!