Bellingham editorial photographer | 2010 portraits of the year

Xavier Dailly, Western Washington University golfer

I have always enjoyed making portraits, whether they are impromptu encounters as at Bellingham Comicon, or in more formal sessions, as in my work with Western Washington University athletes. Portraiture is so exciting and fulfilling to me — just the idea of being able to capture someone’s true personality in an image is a thrill. 2010 offered me the opportunity to shoot portraits for some terrific clients.

Cityvision Magazine hired me to make portraits of Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike, Shoreline Mayor Keith McGlashan and Everett City Attorney Ramsey Ramerman.

The Western Front assigned me to make portraits of some of Western’s top athletes and other important members of the Bellingham community.

I also made portraits for a number of smaller, local clients and editorial publications. No matter who I am photographing, I love the challenge of connecting a portrait to the story in a meaningful way.

Without further adieu, here are a few of my favorite portraits of 2010.

Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike for City Vision Magazine | Bellingham editorial photographer

Late last month I received a call from art director Samantha Gardner at City Vision Magazine, asking if I was available to make a portrait of Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike. Available? Yes. Excited to get started? Definitely. As a Bellingham photographer, I am always interested in getting to know people in my community. What better way than getting to photograph the chief of the city?

The most challenging part of the assignment was figuring out how to connote the transportation angle the story discussed. In Bellingham, transportation, specifically public transit, are key issues for local government. My assistant and I had a half-hour with the mayor, which is an enormous amount of time to be able to spend with a high-profile subject.

Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike portraits- Monday August 23, 2010 at Bellingham City Hall. Photo by Bellingham photographer Seattle photographer Daniel Berman/www.bermanphotos.com

The shoot was to begin at 2:30, and by 1:00pm we were on-location scouting shooting areas and setting up lighting. We also choreographed how we would move Mayor Dan Pike through our three separate lighting set-ups. Since we were limited to shooting near and around Bellingham City Hall, I decided to photograph him on the beautiful lawn just out front and across the street at an abandoned bus stop — an apt metaphor for the public transit issues Bellingham faces today.

Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike portraits- Monday August 23, 2010 at Bellingham City Hall. Photo by Bellingham photographer Seattle photographer Daniel Berman/www.bermanphotos.com

The Mayor was a great sport and everything moved smoothly. My assistant called out the remaining time left at 20, 10, 5 and 1 minute remaining, and we had the mayor back in his office exactly 29 minutes after the first photo. Scouting out a location ahead of time, pre-planning shoots, angles and lighting setups ensure that the experience goes as smooth as possible. And that, is more key than a lot of things to a successful portrait assignment.

Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike portraits- Monday August 23, 2010 at Bellingham City Hall. Photo by Bellingham photographer Seattle photographer Daniel Berman/www.bermanphotos.com

Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike portraits- Monday August 23, 2010 at Bellingham City Hall. Photo by Bellingham photographer Seattle photographer Daniel Berman/www.bermanphotos.com

Check out the September/October issue of City Vision Magazine at http://www.awcnet.org/cityvision/0910/Cityvision_0910.pdf
My portraits of the Mayor are on Page 2 (Table of Contents) and on pages 11 and 12 of the article. I really like their layouts and design!

Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike portraits- Monday August 23, 2010 at Bellingham City Hall. Photo by Bellingham photographer Seattle photographer Daniel Berman/www.bermanphotos.com

Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike portraits- Monday August 23, 2010 at Bellingham City Hall. Photo by Bellingham photographer Seattle photographer Daniel Berman/www.bermanphotos.com

Thanks for looking!

Daniel