Ben Sasso »

Welcome to my end of the year post! I really cannot believe it is here already.  2011 was a blast!  I was able to work with some awesome people as well as being able to work on some personal work. I took my dream trip (which I’ll be repeating) to Iceland, I got some new film toys, and I was blessed with putting together a shoot for my favorite band, mewithoutYou.  I also was published in quite a few publications including Southern Weddings, INK, and a few others. The one I am most proud of  is an article I wrote for Rangefinder about Shooting with back lighting. Below I will be sharing my favorite 11 images from 2011. Some of them are just photos I love and some I included because they have some meaning for me. Each of the photos are linked back to the original post so feel free to click on them to see more from the set! Enjoy!

Iceland blew my mind in almost every way possible. A visit to the this country has always been one of my dream trips and now my next dream trip is just to go back. We arrived on Icelandic National Day so there were huge festivals going on in the capitol that we were able to hang out at but the best part for me (and I think my travel buddies also) was once we got out of the city and started camping. Three people and three backpacks in a two person tent made it easier to huddle up for warmth. Everywhere we camped was breathtaking. The photo below was from our stop at Myvatt Lake in Northern Iceland. Here we camped between a sheep pasture and a horse pasture right on the lake. That little white dot you see next to the sign is our humble little tent.

Next up is my shoot with mewithoutYou. These guys have been my favorite band for a long time and I strongly suggest that you look them up and give them a listen. I always recommend the album Brother, Sister to newcomers. I have always wanted the chance to shoot with them and it finally happened this year. These are some of the most humble guys I have ever met they inspired me to take myself down a notch. Since this shoot was in the middle of their tour we were on a time crunch so we decided to kill two birds with one stone. We centered the shoot around a huge pancake breakfast so they could eat and shoot before they were on their way up to South Carolina for their next show.

I have always been a big believer in experimenting with different styles to add more things to your photographic “bag of tricks.”  My style is largely built around bright sunny images (which is obviously what I love) but I wanted to venture out a bit so I decided to set up a shoot at night. Below is set of those photos.

Angi Welsch has always been one of my huge inspirations. Her work is impeccable. Every time she puts something new up I always call my roommate over to the computer so he can gawk at it too. On one of my trips out to California I did a shoot with Angi and her sister Jenn. During the shoot, Angi was showing me her new camera (Contax 645) and she let me shoot a quick shot of her on the roll that she had in it. As soon as I got home from that trip I sold my other medium format system and bought myself a Contax 645. Below is the photo that I shot of her on her camera. I am posting it for two reasons. One is because Angi is awesome (seriously, go look at her work) and the other is because this shot made me fall in love with this camera.

This shoot was shot in the middle of a camping trip. I was camping with a few friends and my brother at Joshua Tree out in the California desert. Joshua tree is weird. I can’t think of any other way to put it. There are rocks that don’t make sense. They look like something made for some sort of alien Disney park. I had some models meet me out in the desert so we could shoot and I got a killer set of photos from it. Below is on of my favorites from the set.

This was part of a collaboration shoot I did with Angi Welsch (see number 4) and the shot below was shot with the Contax 645 that she inspired me to get my hands on. The reason I am posting this one is because I have had this image in my head for a while and I was finally able to put it on film. I just love it.

Next in line is my shoot in Eaton Canyon with Preston. Preston is one of my favorite models to work with. We just click so well together and he is such a good mind to have on set. Always a hard worker and a creative contributor to the shoot. If I had to pick I would say that this shoot was my favorite shoot with him. This can also be found in INK magazine!

This is my latest big project that I completed; a music video for Jade Lawhon’s song Sounds from the Tomb. This made the list because I am considering it as my debut into video. I spent good chunk of time on this and am pretty proud of it. According to the feedback I have been getting from the video, I need to be doing more video work. I have a view different pieces that are in the brainstorming/story boarding process now that I am excited to dive into once I get a little more free time.

This was such a fun shoot. A great team can really make a shoot and in this case it did. Yen Ryder did hair, Ashley Hidde did make up and Megan Henderson, Haley Welsh and Veronica Dame were the models. Megan modeled for me on my very first shoot with a model a few years ago and we have been collaborating since then. She is unbelievable to shoot with. I don’t think I have a bad photo of her.  I actually have a shoot coming up on January 14th with her that I am SUPER excited about. So be on the look out for that!

I shot this engagement session with Ryan and Lindsey in St. Augustine and will be shooting their wedding in June. I am posting this one because they were a blast to work with! They are such genuinely nice people. Their love for each other is so obvious and it really made their photos shine. I usually give about 40-60 images for engagement sessions and I think they ended up with over 100. So this one is for your Ryan and Lindsey!

Towards the end of my Iceland trip we were able to set up our tiny little tent next to this enormous waterfall called Skogafoss. It was almost ridiculous how beautiful it was. It was like jumping into a beautiful landscape painting and then falling asleep to a real life version of those peaceful soundtracks of flowing water. While we were there we met these two girls who I took a few portraits of on my Contax 645. Thanks to the 24 hour sunlight in Iceland I was able to shoot this at 11pm.

That is all! Looking forward to a new year, new people to work with and creating some new work!

I had a fun shoot with the Fitt family in St. Augustine yesterday and wanted to share one of my favorites from it! Enjoy!

I just wrapped up my first music video this last night and I am pumped to share it! Some pre-thanksgiving weirdness for you all. The song is Sounds from the Tomb by Jade Lawhon. Enjoy!

I just wanted to share a few quick portraits of the Danny that I am working on from his wedding this weekend. He married Carson in St. Augustine at The Oldest House which is one of my favorite venues! Not to mention that he has a bow tie. Bow ties are cool.

Also, check out the current issue of Southern Weddings! I am published in there!