I have loved horses my whole life. When I was six or seven, I remember I had a framed lithograph drawing of Man ‘O War on my bedroom wall. In elementary school, I took riding lessons every week for five years in hopes that one day I might own a horse. At home in Evansiville, Indiana, I watched the “daily double” horse races televised every day from Ellis Race Track, across the river in Henderson, KY. I have tuned in to every Kentucky Derby race on the first Saturday in May and always hoped that the horse who won the first legs of the Triple Crown would bring it home at the Belmont.
So I find myself temporarily living in New York City while working on the Hillary for America campaign (history making in it’s own right!) and my longtime friend, amazing and talented photographer, Bill Frakes (who was on assignment for Sports Illustrated) was able to snag a credential for me for the Belmont Stakes. I had the day off from any campaign events so thought, why not? I had a good feeling about American Pharoah and so trudged my way out to Belmont via subway, taxi and train.
I had absolutely no experience shooting horse races accept for the Preakness in 1980-something so pretty much was a “deer in the headlights” as I made my way around the 90,000+ crowd at Belmont.
Thanks to Mark Suban and Andy Dunaway from Nikon for setting me up with a 400mm lens and thanks to Bill for giving me pointers on where to position myself for the race.
American Pharoah made history today as he won the third leg of the Triple Crown, the last horse to win all three races was Affirmed back in 1978. I remember watching that race on television and crying when he won the Belmont.
Today, I captured history through my lens – I think I got some pretty nice images for really not knowing what the heck I was doing out there. It was so amazing to be there in person, but it wasn’t until I got home late tonight and saw the race online, watched the Belmont Stakes from start to finish that I realized what American Pharoah did today……..and once again, I cried. What a day it was today!
Check out my photos from the Belmont Stakes………
Reflecting on 2014, I thought I would share some of the highlights from a very busy year, along with a few of my favorites photos from assignments that I shot for clients. Indulge me as I show off some of my work from last year, along with a few personal favorites.
I took a trip this summer with the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation with stops in India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Borneo and Australia. As always, it was fast-paced and full of interesting sites and people. Besides Australia, each stop on our itinerary was very, very hot and humid. My camera lenses fogged up every time I went from an air-conditioned space to the outside.
I also photograph the Clinton Global Initiative meetings throughout the year, including the annual meeting that takes place in September in New York City. As we were walking from one event to the other inside the Sheraton Hotel, a staffer suggested I take a quick family portrait. Nobody was more surprised than me when the photo turned out so great of all three. We were in a hallway between meeting rooms so I just bounced a flash off the ceiling and hoped for the best. Chelsea was very pregnant and gave birth to a daughter five days after this photo was taken.
Usually, I attend Seattle Storm events as a fan, but this year I filled in for Seattle Storm staff photographer Neil Enns on a community event in Sea-Tac, WA. The WNBA team practiced drills and shot hoops with kids. I caught Sue Bird as she was watching the Storm Dance troupe before she was announced into the gym.
Sticking with a sports theme, the Washington Athletic Club magazine hired me to shoot the University of Washington boxing team at practice. I set up a mini studio outside the workout area and did portraits. As tough as the players tried to look for the photos, they couldn’t stay serious for too long.
The Washington Athletic Club has been a very good client over the years – a special thanks to Barbara Schmitt, creative director and editor-in-chief, who often accompanies me on the shoots and not only provides an artistic eye when figuring out locations and poses, but helps schlep equipment. We did a series of portraits of WAC members who have interesting careers – jazz singer Courtney Fortune, artist Judith Kindler and writer Tim Egan.
The Mobility Outreach International organizaiton brought me along on a trip to Cap-Haitien, Haiti. MOI works with partners in developing countries to enhance physical rehabilitation programs and establish prosthetic treatment centers that are locally staffed and operated. We visited a few of the folks who have benefited from their work.
Back in Seattle, I did a five-day shoot for Edelman PR and Starbucks on the opening of the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. I arrived back from Haiti at midnight and was expected at the Roastery the next morning at 6am. Luckily, there was no shortness of coffee available to keep me going during the day!
I am not a super star when it comes to shooting photos with an iPhone – I always want the phone to do more than it can do. However, using the Hipstamatic app, I feel like an artist and love the different films and lenses that are available at the swipe of a finger.
And finally, here are just some of MY personal favorites from the year…..
After much procrastination, I also updated my website, adding new work and removing images that were near and dear, but a bit out-dated. Thanks to the photo editors (especially Karrisa Olsen) at Wonderful Machine for being brutally honest and holding my hand throughout the process. Photographers have big, but fragile egos.
Looking forward to a adventurous and photo-filled 2015. Stay tuned!
Barb
Last summer I had the amazing opportunity to be the on-set still photographer for director Lynn Shelton’s latest film “Laggies.” The film stars Keira Knightly, Sam Rockwell, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jeff Garlin and Mark Webber.
We filmed on location all around Seattle, WA, so for those of you from Seattle, you will recognize many of the sites.
This is the opening weekend in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles. According to my movie friends, the opening weekend is key for a film to be a success so I want to encourage all of my friends and colleagues to go to your local theater and see this film – it’s great!
Thanks to Lynn Shelton, Lacey Leavitt, Alix Madigan, Ben Kasulke and all the crew members who made me feel a party of their family.
GO SEE THIS FILM AND MAKE “LAGGIES” A SUCCESS!
All photos ©Barbara Kinney Photography/Laggies LLC
I shoot a handful of weddings each year, mostly for people I know or from referrals of people I know. This summer was all over the map (literally) with weddings in Maui, the Bahamas, Vienna (Austria, not Virginia!) two in the Pacific Northwest and this past weekend, the wedding of Brian Whitehurst and Jeena Kadakia in Brooklyn, NY.
(Here are some of my selects – just click on any of the images for a larger view.)
The two-day event began with a Hindu ceremony on Friday. Lots of beautiful colors, traditions and food!
Brian has a friend who got us clearance to shoot at Steiner Studios, a huge Hollywood-style production studio on the site of the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard. Lots of films have been shot here as well as shows like HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire.” We were given access to the rooftop of the studios to shoot portraits.
We then headed to DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) which is located around both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. We weren’t the first to come up with this location for portraits, there must have been a dozen other shoots happening in the area – engagement portraits, wedding couples and fashion shoots.
I was fortunate to have such a beautiful couple to photograph on a perfect day with overcast skies so lots of nice, even light. As we walked around the DUMBO area, there were so many great urban backgrounds and locations.
A couple of my favorite shots from the wedding and reception. Brian had an idea for a wedding party portrait, which I didn’t really understand and tried to talk him out of it because the lighting was going to be tricky. We didn’t have a lot of time before the guests arrived and my wireless remote strobes were not working properly. Not to get too geeky technical, but I didn’t want to use direct strobe and the ceiling was black, so bouncing was not an option. I tried not to panic and thanks to Adam Schultz, my assistant and second shooter for the event, we pulled if off with one strobe covered with a napkin that acted as a diffuser. The strobe was attached to a light stand being held overhead and to the left, by Adam. The result is one of my favorite shots from the wedding! Kind of reminds me of a Sopranos cast shot.
and finally this photo from the Steiner Studio location, just because I think it makes for a nice “last shot.”
Back in 2011, I was hired by the Shriver Report to document families dealing with a loved one who suffered from Alzheimer’s. It was a fulfilling and special assignment for me to shoot. This past year, Maria Shriver and editor-in-chief Karen Skelton asked me to work on their most recent endeavor, “The Shriver Report – A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back From the Brink.” The photography part of this report was to play a bigger role – Maria wanted the images to be as dynamic and iconic as Dorthea Lange’s images from the Great Depression……..no pressure there! We discussed many ways to bring the report to life with photos. I had the idea to contract women photojournalists to document the women subjects around the country. Knowing I had a lot riding on my shoulders to make this project a success, I called on some of the top women photographers that I know – Barbara Ries, Jan Sonnenmair, Ami Vitale, Melissa Farlow, Callie Shell and Melissa Lyttle.
With the help of Shriver Report super star Alli Maloney, who managed the project by teaming each photographer up with a subject identified by local agencies/non-profits around the country, each of us set out to photograph women struggling to make it all work. Women who are raising families, working jobs, going to school, managing finances, doing everything to survive and make it all work in this economy. We photographed subjects in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Arizona, Illinois, Florida, California, Washington and Montana.
I knew each of these photographers could take this assignment and come back with strong, emotionally powerful, wonderful photojournalistic images. Nobody let me down! Here is a video introducing the report, with a slide show of some of the wonderful images.
The Shriver Report launched in January 2014 with a big event at the Newseum in Washington DC, hosted by the Atlantic. It was streamed live all day with incredible speakers including Nancy Pelosi, Maria Shriver, Deepak Chopra, Neera Tanden and uh…..me. The event included a photo exhibit with 44 framed images from the seven women photographers on the project. You can see the entire day’s event here.
There have been so many events and press surrounding the Shriver Report, too many to mention on the blog. A couple of highlights include a program and photo exhibit at the California Museum in Sacramento, CA, and the HBO documentary “Paycheck to Paycheck, The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert.” produced by Maria Shriver and Sheila Nevins. Read more about the documentary here.
After Maria Shriver presented President Barack Obama with a copy of the Shriver Report, he was so impressed that he asked one of our photo subjects, Sabrina Jenkins (photography by Callie Shell) to sit in the President’s box with the First Lady during his State of the Union speech on January 28, 2014. A few weeks later, both Katrina Gilbert and Julie Kaas (two of my subjects) joined President Obama at the White House and stood behind him as he signed an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contractors. Lots of exciting and wonderful moments have resulted from “The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back From the Brink.”
I was fortunate to photograph subjects in several cities including Chicago, IL, Chattanooga, TN and Tacoma, WA. The photos published on this blog were all taken by me. To see more work by the other six women photographers, click the online galleries on the Shriver Report website.
Thank you Maria Shriver for making this project happen, bringing attention to the many women on the brink in this country and for being such a powerful and strong voice – I admire you so much. Special thanks to all of the photographers Callie, Barb, Ami, Melissa, Melissa and Jan – it was such a pleasure to work with you and edit your amazing images, and to three people who were incredibly helpful and supportive to me during the project – Karen Skelton, Sascha Weiss and Allison Maloney.
Each year, I shoot a handful of family portraits, usually outdoors in the fall so people have photos for their holiday cards. The sessions are always unpredictable, depending on the mood of the kids, the patience of the parents and the weather.
I have photographed my good friends Joe and Sara Cerrell every year since their son Sal was born (I actually photographed his birth!) and with the arrival of their twin girls Josie and Chase a few years later.
We don’t set out to recreate this particular photo each year, but as we are shooting and the kids are running around playing, the idea pops back into my head “hey, girls! climb on top of Sal and let’s do that photo!”
As always, Sal is a trooper. Hoping for many more years of this photo.
My last blog posting was way back in February – a big thanks to the freelance gods who have kept me so busy over the last eight months that I have totally neglected my blog, website and marketing outreach. I begin this posting with a cute kid photo to get your attention.
Earlier this week, I was listening to a Photoshelter webinar about workflow. The speaker pointed out that from a business perspective, one of the most
important things to keep up with is exactly what I have been putting on the back burner……. my blog. So, I am giving a bit more priority to the blog right now and am excited to share some of the work that has kept me running from one job to the next.
I have been balancing a variety of different shoots – daily assignments with regular clients like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Clinton Foundation and the Washington Athletic Club, plus new editorial clients including Consumer Reports, Health.com and AARP.
I have been continuing my work as a still photographer on films with three more productions to add to my IMBD profile. I was on set for a couple of days on Megan Griffith’s film “Lucky Them” starring Toni Collette. Megan was the director of “Eden,” the first film I worked on two years ago. “Lucky Them” premiered at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival, with one of my photos on the movie poster! I spent most of May and June shooting stills on two other movies that will be released in 2014. “Seven Minutes” which was shot in Everett, WA, and stars Jason Ritter, and “Laggies” starring Kiera Knightly, Sam Rockwell and Chloe Grace Moritz (star-studded cast!) The wonderfully talented local Seattleite Lynn Shelton, who I met during the filming of “Lucky Them”, directed “Laggies.” Lynn’s other films include “Humpday,” Your Sister’s Sister” and “Touchy Feely.”
My work with the Clinton family continues………I traveled to Africa with the Clinton Foundation or as it is now known, the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, in July During the nine-day trip, we visited Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda, Zanzibar and South Africa.
I was in New York City in September for the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting. Featured speakers included President Barack Obama, Bono, Sheryl Sandberg, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and a special appearance by 16-year-old Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai who received a Clinton Global Citizen Award for her work promoting education for girls. Also, former Vice President Al Gore stopped by for a quick meeting with President Clinton. It was fun to see the both of them together again, with V.P. Gore commenting that the two of them looked older and grayer, but I hadn’t aged a bit. I always liked Al.
And finally, I am excited about an ongoing photojournalism project that I have been working on for the last several months which has me in the role of photographer as well as photo editor/producer. I have been given an opportunity to bring together a group of amazingly talented women photographers – Barbara Ries, Jan Sonnenmair, Callie Shell, Melissa Farlow, Melissa Lyttle and Ami Vitale. We are in the editing process right now on the project, so can’t publish any photos here on the blog, so stay tuned.
Instead I leave you with a photo of me and Marty, taken backstage at CGI in NYC. Maybe he will hire me as still photographer on his next film?
Being an independent photographer or “freelancer” as my job is more commonly referred to, has many challenges. I never quite know the what, where or when of my next assignment (or when the next check will arrive in my mailbox!) I am my own marketing, advertising, social media, accounting, IT and creative services departments, all rolled into one. The upside is that I have the flexibility to manage my own time, which I do by balancing my work load with jobs that are necessary to pay the bills, and those that are interesting, creative and fun (sometimes they are one and the same, but not often enough!) 2013 has already been filled with a mix of interesting and varied assignments, looking forward to what the rest of the year will bring.
I was hired by the Ocean Conservancy to shoot a number of subjects for a project they are doing on ocean acidification. We traveled to sites in Washington that included Neah Bay, Olympia, Marysville, Shelton and our home-base of Seattle during a three-day period. Two of my favorite images from that assignment are of Terry Williams, a tribal leader with the Tulalip Tribe.
Back home in Seattle, I spent a couple of days shooting stills for Megan Griffiths’ new film “Lucky Them” starring Toni Collette and Thomas Haden Church. I shot stills for Megan’s last film “Eden,” which debuted at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX, will be showing at the New York Film Forum in March and has won a number of awards. The days on set are long, with many exterior shots (meaning standing out in the cold and rain) but lots of fun. I love watching the process of making a film and Megan always assembles a top notch crew of talented people. The challenge is to shoot stills that look like the scenes in the film, without getting in the way of the cinematographers and everybody else on set, and doing it all with a sound blimp around my DSLR so my camera doesn’t make any clicking noises.
I continue to do work for the Washington Athletic Club monthly magazine. I photographed three people for a story on members who work at non-profits. My shot of Jamie Van Horne, director of partnerships at SeeYourImpact.org, made the cover. She works in a great building in Pioneer Square with big windows and high ceilings in the common room. I was able to just bounce a strobe off the side wall that mixed nicely with the ambient light for this cover shot.
I was hired to do a shoot for Health.com for a feature they call “I Did It!” which highlights the story of someone who has lost a lot of weight through diet and exercise. They wanted the shot outside, with our subject, Megen Karlinsey, in workout clothes. Those of us living in Seattle know that January is NOT the time to be doing a shoot outdoors, because chances are it is going to rain. It wasn’t just raining the day of our shoot, it was pouring, heavily. I had done some brainstorming the day before and bought a clear umbrella for Megen to hold. We did the shoot just down from my house on a bridge that I drive over everyday. The bridge has a great view of Seattle’s downtown and an awesome green railing that curves to make a nice graphic photo. I don’t think the photo has run on the site yet, so here is a photo of my friend and wonderful hair, make-up artist and stylist, Glynne Davies, braving the elements for the photograph.
Finally, I spent four days in Palm Springs (I know, I know….tough job) in January for the Clinton Foundation Health Matters conference and Humana Golf Challenge. Rather than posting yet another photo of President Clinton or a photo of a professional golfer who I wouldn’t even be able to identify, I end with a picture of me (either sunburned or blushing) and Vincent Damon Furnier, better know as rocker Alice Cooper, who attended and performed at one of the awards dinners. Schools Out Forever!