Making Portraits With Matty
It was the perfect day to head into the studio and work on some portraiture.
Lucky, I had a willing participant – my son, Matt!
Matt is 14 now, in 8th Grade. If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, you’ve probably seen in a bunch of times, mostly in catcher’s gear or with a baseball or bat in his hands.
Between games, Long Hair, June 2025
Sometime around mid-summer, though, Matt cut off the long hair he’d been growing for a number of years and started to wear a tie to church on Sundays. Now in 8th grade, I think he’s just starting to feel more mature and wants to present a confident image (though he’s a natural, if not quiet, leader on his team. One of those guys that leads by example, not voice.)
A few weeks ago, he asked if we could do some photos of him wearing a tie. I said, of course, sure, but let’s do them up right. We’ll go down to the Asbury Park Vibes studio, where I often do headshots, and I’ll set up my lights and we’ll make an afternoon of it. He was all for it.
So, with his brother off on a weekend ski trip with friends, and his sister (still home from college) off with her friend, he and I took the wet drive down to Asbury Park.
I was lucky to find parking right in front of APV which made loading in easier, it not just a little drier (though we still got plenty wet). Once all unpacked, I suggested we go next store to Frank’s Deli and grab a sandwich for lunch. If you’ve seen the movie Deliver Me From Nowhere, you’ve gotten a glimpse of Frank’s Deli. Jeremy Allen White-as-Springsteen spends some time there as the girl he’s dating is a waitress there.
Yes, Joe was there, behind the counter. But I also stopped to a guy I know, Pete Mantas, who grew up with Jon Bon Jovi and was his manager in the early Slippery When Wet days. Pete now runs a few boardwalk bars and I’ve gotten to know him a bit while shooting in his clubs.
Anyway, once sufficiently filled on the enormous sandwiches Frank’s serves up (we only at half), Matty and I got to work. He wanted shots with his tie on, and we brought a few different outfits and looks. In fact, most of his outfits were my stuff – the vest, the racing jackets, the denim jacket, the blue sweater. Matt’s taller than me now and filling out so they pretty much fit him.
As usual, I kept it pretty simple: The Canon 5DMarkIV doing the heavy lifting and Neewer lights providing some pop of light. changed up the diffuser from a 32″ soft box to a strip light and moved it from either side of the subject. I mostly stayed with the Storm Gray Savage Universal seamless background for this shoot. I tried another seamless but in the end just didn’t love the look of it. Plus, by the time I switched it up (after changing outfits and such), we were already there a couple of hours and both were getting tired.
BTS with the Neewer strip light and a honeycomb grid and a reflector.
I also stayed with the Canon this time because my Fuji XT3 just wasn’t doing it for me here. And, I’ve been having trouble getting it to fire my flash when I put the receiver on it. I need to looking into what’s the issue there. I’m sure it’s something simple but it’s been hampering me lately. It worked for some BTS though!
And some B&W’s…
One thing I’ll be fully transparent about – some of these shot, especially the eyes – aren’t tack sharp. From a distance they are ok, but if you zoom in you’ll see they are soft.
Why? Because I screwed up. See, I had been shooting one of Chase’s indoor track meets with my Canon and I had it set to AI Servo. AI Servo AF is an autofocus mode for tracking moving subjects, continuously adjusting focus as the subject changes distance. I didn’t realize this until late in the shoot so I missed a lot of shots. I knew my focus was off, for some reason, but I couldn’t figure out why. And I just didn’t notice the “AI Servo” in the little top LCD [insert face palm emoji here].
Luckily, two things: One, this wasn’t a paid shoot. And two, I still got some usable photos. But still…I was kicking myself when I figured this out. We were still in the studio but it was getting late and we were tired. I did have Matt go back to putting his tie on so that I could reshoot a few. But, geez, I was annoyed with myself. After all this time, I still make a mistake like that.
Despite all that, not only did Matt get some new photos that he liked, I also got to spend a fun afternoon with my son. Rather than just sitting around my place watching the rain fall, we spent time together both having a good time. I worked on my craft, and Matt enjoyed it all, too!
The Photographer and The Talent
© Mark V. Krajnak | JerseyStyle Photography | All Rights Reserved 2026
JSP Visual Week In Review ~ 01.10.26
“New Jersey always felt like the beginning of something else.” ~ Jack Kerouac
Wait, it’s only January 11?
Hard to believe we’d only now just hit double digits in this new year, with everything that’s already happened in the world.
We’re going to have to pace ourselves, or we’re going to burn out on exhaustion and despair.
What kept me going this during this absolute crap of a week?
- The few minutes I spent amazed at the architecture of a local church.
- The bread that I baked this week. My first loaf of bread. It sucked – too dense. But I know how to change it for loaf number two.
- The time I spent in the Princeton public library, and the three amazing books I spent all of $8 on.
- Listening to Lou Rawls. I listened to some Rawls during the holiday season and just got into his catalog. Man oh man, such a VIBE!
- Walks in the woods, especially with my dogs, after a rainy evening.
These are all little things, but absolutely helped with my mental well being and just gave me time to breathe.
Find what works for you.
Stay with it.
2026 is going to be a hellfire year, I can tell.
We need to do our parts, yes. But we all need to stay sane as well, first and foremost.
Otherwise, the news…this year…this world…will eat us alive.
________________________
This Week’s Links:
What I’m Reading: Finished off Grief Is The Thing With Feathers, by Max Porter and Amsterdam by Ian McEwan. Started in on True Grit by Charles Portis. I put aside Time and Again by Jack Finney. Might come back to it. And, some historical work, The Molly Maguires by Wayne G. Broehl, Jr.
What I Watched Last Week: At Close Range (1986, Christopher Walken, Sean Penn), a dream of a movie of family and crime. Beautifully shot. Watch it for the colors, the cools and the warm tones. Also…Under The Silver Lake, an absolute waste of my time. More than two hours of lame Lynch-ian nonsense. Can’t get that time back.
What I Listened Last Week: As I said above…Lou Rawls. Start with his Greatest Hits. And also, my friend Camille Conte’s latest episode, with a focus on David Bowie.
Visual Inspiration: High school wrestling. In Black & White. via Saed Hindash. Whew.
Favorite Image I Saw Last Week: Not the first time I’ve seen it, but I always like when Irving Penn’s portrait of explorer Peter Freuchen pops up in a feed.
Favorite Lines I Read Last Week: “He stood on the street corner and breathed the mild Amsterdam air which always seemed to taste faintly like cigar smoke and ketchup.” ~ Ian McEwan, Amsterdam. (Where DOES he come up with a “cigar and ketchup” description??)
Paris, 1952: The Honeymoon Photos of photographer René Groebli and Rita Dürmüller, via Flashbak
Nun of That: 10 Creative Lessons From Corita Kent, the Pop Art Nun, via Flashbak
Press Pass: The Citizen Journalist, via UN of Photography
40 Hours: A Week In The Life of a Photographer, via Bill Sawalich
Read All About It: The Unexpected Benefits of Reading, via LitHub
Less Is More: 27 Things To Give Up This Year, via The Art of Manliness (I guess they gave up making it 30)
A Bath-Tub Version of Moby Dick: January 16, 1974, JAWS is published. To mixed reviews.
From The Archives: January 11 is the birthday of my friend, photographer Gary S. Chapman. I’ve traveled many miles with him, from Atlanta, to La Jolla, to Xi’an, China, to near the base of Mount Fuji and then some. Here’s a Q&A I did with him way back in 2011.
That’s all for this week’s newsletter. Hope you found something interesting here. If so, share it forward.
And this week, try to be kind. And have empathy. Both of these things seem to be in short supply in today’s world.
© Mark V. Krajnak | JerseyStyle Photography | All Rights Reserved 2026
Cornered
Cornered #1
This week as been shit.
I hate the term doomscrolling but it’s been hard to avoid it
On Wednesday, I went to a protest in Princeton pulled together after Felon 47’s actions in Venezuela. I’m not a photojournalist but I wanted to get the vibe, see what I could see.
Then, late that afternoon, the news out of Minnesota about Renee Good crossed, and an newer, fresher, more more somber mood pervaded the peaceful protest.
I wasn’t even going to post these. As I said, I’m not a photojournalist.
But I did want to record, document this time in American life.
The video, the news, and this government’s response to the Renee Good shooting has been truly horrifying, despicable, and sad.
Not one person in our government can step back and say “Ok, that was wrong. We need to deal with this.”
Instead they want to sanctimoniously stand behind their people, wrong, right or indifferent. And are telling those of who do agree, basically, “Shut up, get in line, don’t protest, or you’ll get this too.”
Imagine of our forefathers listened to this 250 years ago.
Anyway, I also saw something yesterday about staying/being creative in this time. And it was just after I had snapped that photo that leads off this post.
I was in the gym, and saw the color light and shadow.
Then – and after reading the piece about being creative – I looked for it. I looked into the corners.
Cornered 2
And then, while getting my oil changed…not as strong as the first two but still…
Cornered 3
Also while getting the oil changed, I pulled a stack of the magazine to look at the covers, find out who shot them, and get inspired
Four photographers, three I had never heard of. Clockwise: Cass Bird for Bazaar (I knew her work); Juan Veloz for Entrepreneur; Frank Frances for Architectural Design and Michael Muller for Red Bull.
I became immediately inspired. If you are stuck…sad…depressed…doomscrolling…need inspiration…go to your local newsstand or library. Go to the magazine rack. Take a step back and just LOOK at all the covers. So many great images and photographers.
It definitely picked me. It may help you, too.
Finally… Renee Nicole Good was a mother, a wife a “shitty guitar strummer” and an award-winning poet. You can read her poem here.
Jonathan Ross was the ICE agent that murdered her.
It seems there should have been a better way than taking that lethal step.
© Mark V. Krajnak | JerseyStyle Photography | All Rights Reserved 2026
The Anticipation
Bruce, September 2025, from his performance at the Born To Run 50th Anniversary Symposium held at Monmouth University.
I took advantage of some of the great holiday sales Mpix ran in December to make some prints.
They came in the other day.
The anticipation starts to build when I come to my door and I see the flat package, or box depending on how many prints I ordered this time – waiting there for me.
Only builds more once inside, as I pull the tab, with the satisfying quiet zzzzziiipppp, right-to-left to open the package.
I do admit, then, to the minor annoyance of the next step in unpacking process…that being the opening the shrink wrap and tape that binds my efforts.
So, I snap open my silver clip knife – a bigger tool than needed for the job, but oh well. It’s handy and in my pocket.
The annoyance is stoked by my own impatience, not because of actual issues. It’s a backhanded compliment, as they say, whomever “they” is.
The workmanship by the Mpix team is always stellar, from print to packaging. Whether I order $10 worth of pixels on paper, or $100, the total package – again, as they say – is done supremely, and with care.
Finally, I get my treasure free, and have to look at it under different lights, in different rooms.
Even outside if it’s not dark yet.
I’ve only seen this photo on the LCD of my camera, then a little bigger on my monitor. But now I get to see it in 11×14 goodness, a sweet print spot for me.
The same four words are always out of my mouth first…
“Damn, that looks cool.”
Then the next five…usually.
“I should have gone bigger. “
Might have to put in another order. Soon.
/////
A few more from the order that came in.
And one for Jeff Kazee’s holiday show at Danny Clinch’s gallery. I’ve sent a Jeff a copy of this one as a remembrance of a fun show.
Make prints, folks!
© Mark V. Krajnak | JerseyStyle Photography | All Rights Reserved 2026
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