Jess LeClair Photography Blog

Here are a few of my favorites from the senior portraits I took this year.

These were taken at the lovely Ft. Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth.

We went to Reid State Park which is in Georgetown, ME (near Bath and Woolwich) for these next photos.

Yes, folks, you read it right! My work has been published in the very first issue of a brand spanking new magazine called Catharsis. You can buy a copy of it at their Lulu storefront. You can also download a pdf of the magazine (it’s less, but you still have to pay) just to see it. There is also a free sample of the magazine, but its only 19 of the 55 pages and alas, my image isn’t included in those 19 pages. Bummer.

However. Because I am so nice (and because the image is already up on flickr!) here is the image that was published:

I made this photocollage (AKA a Hockney, a joiner, a photomontage) while I was living out in L.A. (2001-2002). Creating it was about a lot of things for me, but mostly the way that women tend to feel they have multiple-personality disorder about their bodies and the extremes we go with eating or purging. Also the deeply mixed messages we are handed by society and the media, especially in advertising.

I did this with film and prints so no digital manipulation at all. I just photographed it again to get it into the computer. Making this kind of image is one of my favorite things to do. So here are a few more:

I did this one while I was living in Ireland. This is a lovely little street corner in Galway. This was also done with film and put together by just stacking the prints and taping them down. Its really much better to see it big, so if you click on the pictrue and go to my flickr site, you can see it bigger. Also, if anyone is interested in buying a print of any of these, they are all for sale. Email me for more information.

This one is one of my favorites and one of the first entirely digital ones I did. In March of 2006, I flew to Seattle to help my brother move out of his apartment and pack up his little bitty Honda Civic with all his worldly possessions (and a few otherworldly possessions) so he could move back to the east coast (he’s in Cambridge now). On the way, instead of going straight back home, the two of us drove all the way down the west coast and into the desert to Las Vegas so he and my friend James could throw me a little bachelorette party. This image is a record of that drive from Seattle to Las Vegas. Each photo is from a different point in during the two and a half days it took us to get to there. We went from snow and sleet in Seattle through rain and wind and vivid bright green fields to finally arid desert and neon lights. Its hard to see all those pieces when it is this tiny on the screen. Its best viewed at its largest size, so click on the photo and see it on my flickr site!

This is another digital one. Its an abandoned school bus in Belfast that someone is using as a storage bin. Its just jam packed with stuff. So I let it really distort in the middle there. Again, its best seen big.

I’ve also done these types of collage as portraits.  I have lots more to say about that, but this post is getting very long, so I think it will have to wait for another post!

To Be Continued…

With September arriving, and the school year gearing up again, photography is usually the last thing on parent’s minds. But for those with High School seniors, now is the perfect time to start thinking about that all important image, the Senior Portrait. Senior portraits are usually due to the yearbook staff by November or December at the latest. And if you want to have time to book a session AND get prints made up, now is the time to start calling photographers! (or just contact me!)

Senior portraits are a lot of fun for me. Even when I was in High School myself! The year I graduated from Cape Elizabeth High School, I did senior portraits for FIVE of my friends. And the next year? I did three more! My general philosophy on senior portraits is that its best to do them outside when at all possible. Maine weather in general (and especially in the fall!) makes shooting outdoors problematic at best, but I think that overall, it’s worth it. Being in a natural setting tends to make the person in the picture more relaxed than sitting in a studio. And if the location has a strong tie to the person, the image becomes just that much richer.

This (above) is one of my favorite portraits of a high school senior. That really is a real live bird he is holding in his hands. We had just barely started taking pictures when the little guy flew into the window of the building we were standing near. We could tell the bird was alive, but it looked a little loopy. Loren (the guy in the picture) ever so delicately picked up the bird and warmed it in his hands. The moment was just so delicate I just started snapping away. Five minutes later, the bird had regained its equilibrium and flew off without a scratch. And we had this amazing photograph. And even more amazing is that one of Loren’s passions was ornithology - the study of birds. So in addition to it just being a cool picture, it was really meaningful to him and to what he was interested in at that point in his life.

Here is another great example of a less than traditional senior portrait. Amos was (and still is!) a very talented musician and was deeply interested in Indian music when he was in high school. One of the instruments he enjoyed most was his sitar. So we found a way to incorporate it into his portrait.

This is a more traditional, but still outdoor portrait.

This one was taken at Ft. Williams, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Ft. Williams has always been one of my favorite places to take portraits. You get everything from the ocean to open grass to forest-y to old stone buildings all in one park. The variety is just wonderful! It’s hard to go wrong anywhere on the coast of Maine though, and Belfast has all sorts of amazing locations to choose from as well.

My goal with these types of portraits is that the subject feel really relaxed with me. And to that end, I try and keep things as low key as possible. I recommend people bring at most one or two changes of outfits (though I find most are happiest with clothing they feel comfortable in which is usually the first outfit they chose and the one they wore to the shoot). As with all portraits, when you choose your outfit, you want to stay away from loud prints, bold stripes and any checker board type patterns. Subtle is good when it comes to clothing (unless of course you WANT the portrait to be all about your wacky wardrobe, but then that is another discussion!). Also think about if you have a specific prop you want to include in your portrait. Love horses? Bring me down to your stable! Spend a lot of time on the beach? Show me where your favorite spot is! Love the barn at your grandparent’s house? Lets go there! I’m very flexible about location and content. This is your time to capture how you are right now. And of course, still have something nice to send to all your relatives!

On August 11, I was honored to be the photographer for Maggie and Steve’s wedding reception in South Portland, Maine. Having been officially married exactly one week prior on the island of Samoa, this was the big party for friends and family back home who weren’t there for the real thing. It was a great party!

To see the full set of photos from this wonderful event, please visit my flickr site.

This is my friend Laura. I have known Laura since we were both 4 years old (yeah, that’s me asleep on her shoulder). For those keeping count, that is 25 years. This picture was taken in 1983, on the way back home from a trip to the Boston Children’s Museum (my family was living in Massachusetts at the time). It was a long ride, we’d had a fun day, and I was pooped. Seriously, how many five year olds do you know who would put up with letting someone sleep on them AT ALL let alone in a bumpy car? That is life long friend material right there.

Our families lived in the same neighborhood and we all became great friends. We used to take ski vacations together. On this one, in 1985, Laura gave me the chicken pox. It took me a long time to forgive that one.

My family moved away from Massachusetts in 1986. But Laura and I stayed in touch. This photo was taken in 1989 in a subway stop in Washington DC (we were showing off? maybe? who knows…). Laura’s mom and her future step-dad invited me a long with them on a business trip to DC. It was the first time I’d ever flown in a plane. And even though it had been a few years since we’d seen each other, we fell right back into step, as the best and easiest of friends do. As we grew, our trips to visit grew less and less frequent, but we always sort of knew where the other was and what they were up to.

In 2000, Laura married a wonderful man named Shane. And in 2001, they had a baby. A boy. Jackson.

This photo was taken in 2003, the very day I met Jackson for the first time. It’s such an amazing thing, meeting the next generation. Indescribable, really. It was also around this time they decided it was time to move to Maine (finally!). I was so thrilled to have my oldest friend back within a reasonable driving distance!

Less than a year later, their daughter, Abby, was born. And now I have TWO amazing new friends.

I get to play with them and watch them grow.

And see them change and blossom. Its hard to put into words how deeply cool I find all of this.

To get to photograph them and know them and know that I’ll be part of the things they remember from being little.

Such a gift.

This is just one of the many reasons I love what I do. I get to record life and watch it unfold all around me. I get to document some of the most important times in peoples lives. It is an honor and a privilege and just so much freaking fun. Especially when you get to do it for people you love.

To see more photos of Jackson and Abby, check out my flickr site. There are two sets, taken a year apart. Its amazing how much can change in just one little year. You can tell that in the second set, they are much more used to me and my camera. They had a very hard time staying serious and following any sort of directions from me. They just wanted to play! Not that I minded - on the contrary, I love just following them to see where they lead. Such imaginations on these two, I swear.

So thank you Laura, for continuing to be one of my dearest friends. In another 25 years, I’ll be photographing the kid’s weddings, telling stories of Abby screaming “TICKLE ME!” and Captain Jackson of Playground Rocket Ship Alpha, and posting photos of us with gray hair and relieved looks on our faces.