Steve Maller Photography

This is my brother and sister-in-law Laurence and Katie’s son Ben. Ben’s sister Anna and I were playing with him during a family brunch and he was darting under the table. I stuck my camera down under the table and took this picture blind (meaning I just pointed the camera and pushed the shutter button).

I didn’t do anything to it other than convert it to Black and White in Aperture, the software I use for my pictures.

This is not a perfect photograph, technically speaking. It is slightly out of focus, the background is completely blown out and over-exposed, one of Ben’s hands is cut off, and his hair is messy.

But of all the photographs I’ve taken this year, (around 30,000 is my guess), I think this is the best one so far. Why? Because it captures a moment in a life that might have otherwise gone missing. Because I love little Ben. He is warming up to his Uncle Steve and just a few weeks ago I never would have gotten this photograph. And because I feel like I could hang this picture on my wall and never tire of looking at it.

I thank g-d every day that I get the opportunity to do what I do with a camera, and I feel so richly rewarded. I just wanted to share that with you, my friends and family.

Happy Holidays.
Steve

One of my clients needed to do a photo layout for a magazine ad/editorial, and I thought our kitchen would be a great location for it. And our old house rocked the shoot. Doreen did a wonderful job of helping me clean up the kitchen, and made some great suggestions that ended up helping me a lot. It was fun WFH today.

The product name is deliberately blurred out in the photo below. And the large black and white photo in the front (mostly blurry) is actually a photo of my brother Dan and me!

Young Marc is having his bar mitzvah soon, and his family wanted me to do some “lifestyle” portraits. The basketball shots were pretty simple, but there was a steady rain falling, which jeopardized our skate shots. However, I relied on my camera gear’s water sealing, and just went for it. Fun stuff!

All the pictures were shot with my Canon 1Ds Mark III using my Canon 580EX handheld with an extension cable. The basketball photos were done with my Canon EF 24 T/S L lens, and the skate photos were shot with the 16-35/2.8 L. Photos processed in Aperture with a little vignette, some exposure adjustments and that’s pretty much it.

I am shooting portraits of the members of the Burlingame High School basketball program. These first photos are of the 2009-2010 varsity boys. My son Sam’s a member of the JV team, which I’ll photograph soon. The “THUNDER” in the title is a reference to the GS Warriors’ mascot and his theme song by AC/DC. Go Panthers!

As a photographer, I have had the benefit of learning from some true masters of my art, both directly and indirectly. I am very fortunate for this. But I have learned not only from the masters, but from you. And you. And her. And him. And hundreds of people who have unwittingly taught me something about how to extend my vision, how to see better. Thank you to all of you. And here I present the first of many installments of photographs I’ve made of so many of you practicing your art.

Savannah celebrated her bat mitzvah yesterday along with her parents Alan and Kirsten, her sister Izzy and her brother Alan, Jr. They are a photogenic bunch, made even more so by the glorious Northern California day we were blessed with.

Please enjoy this slideshow of some of my favorite photographs from Savannah’s big day.

Sophie celebrated her bat mitzvah yesterday along with her parents Neal and Amy and her sister Ella. It was an amazing day filled with the love and appreciation of two families brought together to celebrate this simcha. Many of Neal’s family traveled to Burlingame from Thailand, and that made the day even more special.

I edited together a piece of fusion photography combining still images and some videos shot with the Canon 5D Mark II. Notable about these videos is that they were mostly shot in extremely low light, and did not use any lighting or post-production adjustments. The equivalent ISO in some of these video pieces was as high as 5,000.

Please widen your window as large as it will go so you can see this video in its whole 720P high definition glory!

I was asked to photograph ODC Dance’s annual benefit at Francis and Eleanor Coppola’s winery in Napa. It was a lovely afternoon full of wine, food, and exceptional dance performances.

Kim’s parents invited me to tell the story of Kim’s wedding to her long-time sweetheart Greg. It was a magnificent day at their family home in Hillsborough, and I was absolutely tickled to be a part of the festivities.

A special shout out to Samantha Bryer of Weir & Associates, one of my very favorite event partners. As you can see in these photographs, they have a fantastic aesthetic, and have the most delicious meals.

Sydney, her parents Jennifer and Scott, and her brother Justin, all celebrated her bat mitzvah this weekend. There was great “ruach” at all the various events that made up her bat mitzvah, including a rehearsal with Rabbi Nat and Bill at Beth Jacob, the actual shabbat service, and her massively fun party at the Elks’ Lodge. See for yourself in these photos!