I heart Notar

thank the lord this love is not unrequited at all! *swoon* (of course, with these photos, HE SHOULD LOVE ME, right Mike?)

I met Mike Notar through my fiancee Dave, after we got engaged, and Dave met him through his friend Ryan. I bet Notar isnt alien to girls swooning to him (nyahahaha) but the first thing that popped into my head was... why am i meeting this hot guy after i get engaged? WHY?!

The day before his show in Canal Room, there was a snowstorm. Thinking that the next day would be a work day, i didnt take my off camera flashes and telephoto lens from my desk drawer. Im really paranoid about carrying equipment around, so i usually either leave it at work or at home.

and then they close the office. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. all i did thursday morning was to schlep to huntington, take my flashes and schlep back. total time wasted: 4 hours.

and it gets better! when i got to the venue, i couldnt find my flash diffuser, so i mcgyvered it and put napkins held by a rubber band on it! so i took and took photos. of course, the lighting at canal room was GOOD that i ended up NOT USING MY FLASH MOST OF THE TIME.

and when i got home? inside the backpack i brought to the show was the diffuser!!!!!!!!!!!!

with these photos, who knew all of that happened?

the rest of the photos are HERE.

Little Sister Shutterbug

Now that me and my older brother are continents apart, and much more older - we are actually getting along. This comes as a huge surprise to me because we have constantly fought like cats and dogs, much to the indifference of our loving mother and poor little baby brother that will never cease to be the subject of our ridicule.

The musical snob that he is, he and his very good friend has finally decided to put up a blog called Cultchas: Web log for the underrated and atypical. His blog is all about music. Since he lives in Manila, Philippines and I live here in New York City - the "genius" of an older brother that he is - he has appointed me as the Cultchas Correspondent for New York. (yearly salary: zero dollars)

My first assignment was to interview and photograph Don Friedman. He is a jazz pianist - and from what i have gathered while he was being introduced at the show with the Nicole Pasternak Quintet, he is a very very good jazz player.

Besides knowing what jazz sounds like - i really dont know much. I know a couple of names: Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald but that's about it. I cant even differentiate them - and i think much to the dismay of my brother, I am little sister music stupid. (to my credit though, i have a disdain for hiphop and rap)

While my ignorance is frowned upon, the silver lining shines bright. I can interview and photograph Mr. Friedman in complete ease and a very relaxed manner. Kind of just another day at work for Larry King and Annie Leibovitz.

Photographing him in a low light setting without a flash was tricky, but doable (lesson learned: never leave the house without the prime lens). I also got a couple of good action shots. (i really wish i brought the prime lens with me) The interview? It was not without its booboo. Halfway through it i realized that my handy dandy little video camera wasnt on. haha.

He is certainly one of the sweetest people i have met..

Thank you, Mr. Friedman, for the wonderful opportunity of meeting, interviewing and photographing you.




Don Friedman by Stella Dacuma for Cultchas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://cultchas.blogspot.com.