Joni Photo » Portland Center Stage

One Night With Janis

Joni — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:30:48 +0000

Currently playing at Portland Center Stage, Gerding Theater at the Armory is One Night with Janis . This is a rock n’ roll concert intertwined with stories of who and what influenced this rock goddess. Blues greats like Bessie Smith and Nina Simone and Soul Diva Aretha Franklin impacted this little girl from Texas. One character, played by the extraordinary Sabrina Elayne Carten, embodies all these performers and with each song performed, The Blues Singer character makes you feel the influence they had on Janis. Cat Stephani embodies Janis. Belting the pain and hitting those iconic notes of Cry Baby and Stay with Me that closing my eyes – SHE (Janis) was there on stage. Just a tremendous performance.

The Opening Night dinner event was attended by the brother and sister of Janis Joplin, Michael and Laura. They were instrumental in the development of this play by providing personal stories and Janis’s artwork. To see a slideshow of the Opening Night dinner, click the following link: Janis

One Night With Janis will be playing until July 3rd. Ear plugs are handed out if needed but this is Rock N’ Roll – who needs ear plugs?! You knew it was a great concert if your hearing was a little impaired the next day, right?!

Portland Center Stage at The Bradleys

Joni — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:30:56 +0000

Kim and John Bradley opened their NW Portland home to treat patrons of Portland Center Stage (PCS) to a wonderful Summer’s Eve. Guests were awestruck by the spectacular 180 degree views. The highlight of the evening were special and intimate performances given by Susannah Mars and Aaron Meyer.

To see a video of the highlights of this event, click the following link: PCS at the Bradleys

Hooray for Bollywood!

Joni — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:54:59 +0000

Portland Center Stage and Event Diva Extraordinaire, Kavita Jhaveri, outdid themselves again by transforming The Gerding Theater at the Armory into a giant Maharaja’s tent for the setting of this year’s Gala event themed “Hooray for Bollywood!”

To see the guests playing “British Officer with Harem Girl spy” or “Sheik with #1 Harem Girl”, look under “Photos” tab at the Joni Photo Fan Page on Facebook. You don’t have to subscribe to Facebook nor become a fan to view!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Promotional Idea

Joni — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:02:17 +0000

Looking for an interesting way to promote your business? This is a slide show of a hard cover 10×8 book for Portland Center Stage. I designed the layout of the book and yes these are my photographs of events I’ve taken for them over the past 2-3 years. They are using it to show potential clients how their facility can stage various events.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Techie Talk – Getting the background "soft and fuzzy"

Joni — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:34:24 +0000

Grey Gardens Opening Night Dinner at PCS

I recently was asked the question “How do you get the background out of focus and make it soft and fuzzy looking? Is it done in Photoshop?” The simple answer is “yes” however I’d much rather get this “effect” when taking the photograph than spending time at my computer.

So how is it done using your camera? The answer is setting the aperture of your lens as wide open as you can. The image above was taken with a 50mm lens at f/1.4. The other controls to keep in mind for setting your exposure will be shutter speed and your ISO setting. If you are in a low light environment and photographing stills like the example above, then shooting with your aperture wide open won’t be too difficult. If you have bright light and shooting a moving subject, say your little toddler running around, this will require some quick thinking. Bright light conditions with a wide open aperture will flood the camera with lots of light. To control the amount of light coming in use a faster shutter speed. This will be good for shooting your moving target. However if your camera’s shutter speed doesn’t go high enough to get a good exposure, try lowering your ISO setting (e.g. shooting at 800 in bright light might not work).

Lenses with aperture capabilities of opening around f/2.8 or wider (e.g. f/1.2) are referred to as “fast” lenses. Be prepared to pay a bit more for these fast lenses. But if you are serious about your photography, these lenses will be good investments. Consumer type lenses usually have lesser aperture range and the apertures of some zoom telephoto lenses do not stay fixed – the aperture changes with the focal length.

Have fun experimenting!