A Group show celebrating the artists that have been represented by GALLERY OVO .
Rovinj PhotoDays MasterClass and Guest Photographer:In 2013, Michael was asked to be the guest photographer for the Annual Photography Festival in Rovinj Croatia called "Rovinj PhotoDays". There, he taught a Master Class going over his own process of shooting editorials, and related this to the students. As quest photographer for the the event, he photographed a few editorials for participating magazine GloriaGlam.
It's always an honor to be asked by a magazine for an interview, and DaliaAir Magazine is no exception. A leader in Private Air transportation, and a 30 thousand foot high window into the world of the most discerning eyes of Fine Art collectors. - How did photography appear in your life?When i was in my 20's, I experimenting with my first 35mm film camera.
2014 Applied Arts Awards:In 2014, Michael was honored to be awarded by Applied Arts Magazine in multiple Categories.He was awarded in both Fashion / Beauty Categories for his "Fire in the Sky" & "Heavy Like Rain" series, and also awarded in the Photo-Manipultaion Category for his "INKT" Series.
Inspiration from Croatia:In 2013, I traveled throughout Croatia. Initially for my Honeymoon with my wife, and it escalated to a deep love for the country of where my wife was born. More Stories to come..
2015 Applied Arts Awards:In 2015, Michael was honored to be awarded by Applied Arts Magazine.He was awarded in the Photo-Manipulation Category for his work on the "BLOOM" Series. A beautiful collection the embraces the art of watercolor, and blends it with his Beauty Photography.
My Croatia A Look at my travels through Croatia, and behind the scenes of some of my favorite shoots while exploring this amazing country.
2016 Applied Arts Awards:In 2016, Michael was honored to be awarded by Applied Arts Magazine.He was awarded in the Fashion & Beauty Category for his "A Vibrant Soul" Series photographed in Lisbon Portugal.
GALLERY OVO | SOLO EXHIBITIONOPENING: April 6th 7 – 10pm / April 7th 2 – 5pm An Exhibition celebrating Michael's internationally revered collection "Heavy Like Rain" plus, the debut of selected pieces from a brand new unreleased underwater abstract series.
two stunning series in one spectacular one man gallery show.
On Display at OVO Gallery was my Award winning series "Heavy Like Rain". It was a wonderful experience to see this series in public view for a full month, along with selected oversized prints of my newest underwater series, "Threshold".
In "Heavy Like Rain", I wanted to create a visual that was not usually associated with being underwater, focusing on the starkness of a silhouette in empty space and the beauty of movement within the bubbles created by submersion.
My "Threshold" series is a nod to the imagery that I see every time I go underwater.. I see these visuals of dancing bubbles above me as I travel deeper, transforming into a creature that is not that same as I was when I was breathing air..
The show was a great success. Thank you to everyone who came, and thank you to all of those who purchased prints at the show, and privately.
Each Limited Edition print comes personally signed and numbered by the artist. The Certificate of Authenticity come signed as well, with official seal, and matching serial number.
At Rectangle Studio & Gallery.
When I was approached by Lee Seidenberg of Rectangle Studio with his concept for this show, and his request for me to be part of it, I immediately said yes..
It had been quite a while since I used a film camera, and I had never used the Pentax K-1000 that he had purchased just for this show.
The premise of this group show was to have a number of photographers, all with different styles, take this One Camera, the Pentax K-1000 with no bells or whistles of the modern age, along with One Roll of black and white film for One Day only and shoot what ever it is that we wanted to.
I immediately settled on the idea of attempting to shoot multiple exposures, photographing my daughter as my muse, set in the backdrop of Brooklyn, where she was born.
The results are more impressive and touching than I had anticipated.
We were then given the task to choose only one of the images that we photographed to become the Key piece to our part of the exhibit.
I chose this shot, while there were a few that caught my eye, this photograph epitomized the goal I was trying to achieve, and this series will become part of my Story-Teller Collection.
Thank you so much to Lee and Rectangle Studio & Gallery for hosting this show, and all the other wonderful gallery experiences that you create.
To See more of Rectangle Studio, and their upcoming and Past events.. CLICK HERE.
My love of travel has taken me to some beautiful places around this amazing earth. But I have to say that I am totally in LOVE with Lisbon, Portugal.. The artistic vibe flows through the veins of the streets, the people, the music.. It's truly amazing, and to have the opportunity to photograph a fashion editorial there, in and around those same streets, was certainly a dream come true..
To be awarded by APPLIED ARTS Magazine for this same series, is an honor as well,.. thank you so much!
We travelled from the hills to the water, photographing on so many beautiful streets.. From the famous Fado Mural, to the inspiring Party street called Pink Street.
These were the images that were chosen as winners of the Fashion and Beauty Category.
Follow the link to see the awards page.
It was an honor to be approached again by the editors of Digital Photographer Magazine to give my input into their "Secrets to Success" Article.
"SCRATCH MY BACK" – be willing to do favors for the people that are giving you their time. You'll be remembered for it and appreciated.. Having said that, be wise and use your judgement, there will always be people ready to take advantage of goodness.
"HUMBLE PIE" – be aware that you (meaning the whole crew) are all in this together, its a learning process. The other individuals in your crew are starting out too, so try not to be too critical about them if something is not up to your perceived standards. Maybe in the beginning, you may not have it all together either..
"BE TRUE TO YOURSELF" – If you focus on shooting what makes you happy and aim towards making the kinds of imagery that you are excited about, it will show in your work and you will be asked to do those jobs in return. You'll be noticeably excited about your work, and the cycle will continue.
"KNOW THE RULES BEFORE YOU BREAK THEM". – Even if you are self taught, as I mostly am, it's still very important to know the basic rules of your craft before you can go about breaking them. This way you know the core building blocks and can build upon them in your own way. Also, it's good to be aware of the peoples work that have come before you, as opposed to revisiting an idea that has already been done in the past, all the while thinking you are the first one to do it..
"REPUTATION IS EVERYTHING" – Always meet your promised deadlines, and be sure to thank everyone appropriately who has worked for you and given you their time.
PRODUCTION VALUE: – Pre, during, and Post.
"BE SKETCHY" – Sketch out all your ideas for your shoot on actual paper and keep these sketches with you.. – A lot can happen throughout the life of a shoot, before and during, and your attention can get spread very far.. so keeping your ideas on paper, and close at hand, will keep your shoot going on track, and you'll accomplish what you've set out to do.
"BACK UP THE BUS" – Always have back up plans in mind…. for everything. Equipment can fail, plans can be altered due to circumstances that you have no control over.. So having backup ideas for all sorts of things will save you when the unthinkable happens, – because that unthinkable thing will certainly happen!
"SAY WHAT?" – Clear communication is essential in all parts – don't assume other people know what you mean, or know what is expected of them from you. Explaining exactly what you mean when asking questions of all crew is very beneficial. We photographers have our own language and often times we make sense to ourselves, but not to others… Furthermore, communication with your model is very important. (along with everyone else on set) As the photographer, we need to talk to him or her, or them (multiple models) like they are other humans working with us, not just something in front of your camera that has to perform for you.
"WHERE THE #&LL"? – have an exact file system and workflow set up within your computer.. This will help you keep track of everything.. Try to include as many things into your routine as possible – especially when working with outside people. (retouchers, producers, etc..) you need to keep your files together. I have a Hierarchal Folder system set up, a Main job folder, with sub-folders that are planned for RAW, PROCESS, BTS, etc.. and all those with sub-folder for other specific things.. This way, I make a blank copy of the same beginning folders at the start of every new job, and never have to wonder where something is..
"THE FINER POINTS OF LIFE" – Retouching… make sure that if you are not a great retoucher, that you find great retouchers to work with.. In this digital age, retouching is just as important, (or more depending on other issues, which sounds silly to say, but seems true sometimes), than the photography itself. – At the start of some jobs, this is always a big question. (and retouch the WHOLE photo, this includes background, hair, skin, clothing, color tone, etc… ) It can be a simple task some times, but don't forget to look at everything.
"HUH?" – Don't be afraid to ask others to explain themselves to you.. For example, with estimates and rate quotes. Everyone is always trying to get as much money as they can for everything, so if a quote seems out of the ordinary, it's good to speak up and ask about it. You can be sure that you'll be asked to justify many many things..
"AND I'LL SCRATCH YOURS" – Make sure everyone is taken care of on set.. Either do it yourself, or delegate to others, be it assistants, production crew, etc.. – water.. food.. prep…payments… – it's all on you as the photographer… if a shoot goes bad or people in your crew aren't treated the right way, there's a good chance that you as the photographer will be remembered as holding responsibility for it. – When all aspects of the shoot are fun and nicely memorable, in turn, you'll be remembered for that too.
"CLIMBING THE LADDER" – Work with talented people that want to work with you and can work within your budget. But don't be afraid to ask for favors.. people ask favors of photographers all the time… but remember to make good on those favors later.. also, when starting out in your career, work with other people that are on your same level, your peers… of course we all will reach higher in time.. but be realistic about who you are contacting to work with while you are building your book..
ITS GO TIME: the Shoot itself….
"CAN YOU…." – Make sure you delegate responsibilities to your assistants.. this is something i struggle with myself.. I fall into the trap of trying to do everything myself.. Your assistants and production crew (if you have them) are there for a reason, give them things to do..
"ROCK ON!" – You may love your own music, but everyone on set may hate it.. Just because you like to work privately to a particular style of music doesn't mean it works well to shoot to.. – If your model and crew are miserable with your music selection, then you're gonna have bad vibes on set, and a poor shoot..
"CHECK 1..2.." – Don't assume your camera has the correct settings.. – Check and double check before, and during the shoot.. on some cameras it's too easy to accidentally change controls and dials. If you find yourself always nudging a dial the wrong way and changing f-stop without knowing, just tape it down.. it's your camera, make it work for you.
"TRUST" – Let the people you have chosen to work with expand on your ideas with ideas of their own.. Control is hard to let go of.. but you trusted them enough to work with them in the first place.. trust and allow their creative ideas as well.. you will grow with it and with them..
"CHECK YOURSELF" – Keep an eye on the overall picture – the crew, clothing, clamps, hair, makeup, nails, everything.. These are all issues that ultimately the photography will be held responsible for if anything is wrong.. Watching all these things will lessen that amount of retouching to do later..
"I ONLY EXPERIMENTED WITH IT ONCE!"- experiment with different lenses if you can.. each has it's own characteristics, and you might find one that really has the tendencies that speak to how you want your images to feel. Maybe you'll like lens filters? – and also play around with different objects in front of the lens.. You are creating a fantasy world (sometimes) and your identity, so have fun with it!
"FIRE!"- It's still a good idea to use light meters.. In this age with digital cameras and large monitors, we can get complacent with not metering light.. photography is all about light and it's manipulation.. at some point you'll find yourself without the ability to have a screen in front of you, and you'll need to know how to read the light surrounding your subject. My favorite is the old trusty Minolta V-F, simple and does the job. Plus keep in mind, the small screens on the back of cameras are rarely anything you should really trust.
If your not shooting to a tower while tethered, and shoot to a laptop instead.. get a Fan cooled platform to go under it.. This will keep it cool, and keep you shooting at decent speed, and also protect the life of the computer.
"YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?" Surprisingly, some legitimate top ad agencies from around the world don't always ask legitimate questions or have honorable expectations of you. – on a recent occasion, an agency asked me to lower my estimate due to fears of it being too high for clients approval.. (this is not abnormal thing to ask).. but then after the estimate was trimmed, they proceeded to ask me if I would then add a hidden 10-15 % back into it, which would be then expected to be paid back to agency after paid to me.. REALLY?? – there's many terms for this practice, pick one…. – needless to say, I didn't do it and passed on the job..
"DON'T TREAD ON ME" – don't let yourself get walked on.. Don't be an jerk about it, but stand up for yourself as a person and a business.
"START AT THE BEGINNING" – educate yourself, know your industry, it's ups and downs, current rates, etc., and be prepared for crazy requests, and others' lack of knowledge. If a situation comes up that your client is not knowledgable about, it's our job to educate them. If we don't know our own business, how can we enlighten others?
"AND IN THIS CORNER" – Portfolio presentation: I get asked about this a lot. We live in a world that is all over the place with preferences and options for portfolios.. Know that you will get a different answer from each person you ask as to what is the best option. Do what is right for you at the time and for your budget, and always aim higher with cleaner more precise presentation. No matter what format you pick, your images should speak for themselves, not how fancy your book is.. Also beware of sending iPads unless you are right there to show it directly.. Books are easy to open and read and don't need instruction. Not everyone knows how to use an iPad, (or other devices) nor do they know what seems "simple to view" like you do on your own machine..
Michael David Adams has been awarded in 3 Categories for the Annual 2014 Applied Arts Contest.
A series inspired by the power of nature, the silhouette of a woman, and the beauty and fluidity of ink.
Drenched in the solitude of light and contrast, we see the silhouette of beauty and form.
Submerged in the Depths with silk billowing around her like an enigmatic jellyfish, her desolate surroundings come to life.