Eva Weiss Photo Shoot - Learning from a Master

A few weeks ago, we met photographer Eva Weiss at B-Bar and Grill (which we later found out is also one of her favorite brunch spots). When she contacted us a couple weeks later about collaborating on a photo shoot, we immediately said "yes"! The planets all aligned this weekend for our shoot. That the color in our opening photograph looks much richer than usual is no accident. It is courtesy of Eva.

The photo above is also by Eva. For those of you who were beginning to wonder if Valerie had hair under all those hats -- yes, she does. Once it was brown, later it was salt and pepper, now it's really only salt.  Nothing wrong with that -- if you read your Roman history, you might remember the Roman soldiers used to be paid in salt, not in pepper.  What, you may ask, does this have to do with anything?  Good question!  We just write this stuff.  At least we don't make it up.  Below is Valerie in the same outfit as above, with a hat, and photographed by Jean.

In addition to landscape and still life, Eva is also a portraitist, concentrating on faces and character. One of Eva's specialties is delicate hand tinting (yes, even in this digital day and age).  It's so subtle, you wouldn't know if she hadn't said so.  Here is her hand tinted shot of Valerie adjusting her hat.

A girl just never knows when an additional hat might be called for. Here's the same outfit, but with a different hat and different background.  Jean took this.  (You know our mantra: get the feet in.)

Eva is multi-talented and her photos reflect a wide range of interests and skills.  Her latest work involves a series of photographs of Grey Gardens (in East Hampton).  Eva also has a wicked sense of humor.  With little prodding, she can recite some of her favorite pieces of dialogue from the 1975 American documentary of the same name by Albert and David Maysles.  One of the lines -- spoken by Edith Bouvier Beale aka "Little Edie" about the preference of her mother, Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale aka "Big Edie"for her to wear a kimono -- took on extra meaning, given the backdrops to our shots!

Eva shot us with and without our hats. This is Eva's hand-tinted shot of Jean -- avec chapeau!

For us, being photographed without a hat is a little like being Samson -- after Delilah cut his hair!   We are a tad more vulnerable. Eva took this photo of Jean (whose own salt and pepper hair is also losing its pepper).

Eva commented as she was shooting this that Jean looked like "a demented Girl Scout"-- which we of course immediately took as a compliment of the highest order!

Jean vogued shamelessly for the professional photographer. Valerie's kimonos did provide a perfect backdrop for the shoot.

Our get-together with Eva was not only a terrific social event but also a challenging learning experience. We are so grateful to her for affording us the opportunity to observe her and her techniques as she went about her business of photographing each of us, while the other watched.  We will definitely alert you when Eva posts her shots of us on Facebook or in her portfolio.