Baltimore Nightlife

Back in November I got an assignment to shoot a piece on nightlife in Baltimore. It was an interesting assignment for me because I'm certainly not a nightlife guy, my idea of nightlife is staying at the climbing gym late and getting frozen yogurt afterwards...you know wild stuff like that. So I got to see a whole new side of Baltimore. 

The assignment ran as the cover and main spread in Baltimore Magazine. You can see the online version here.

Milan Lounge

I ended up going here on a Wednesday night, which apparently is the deadest night possible. These were about the only people there. On one hand it made shooting easy cause you could move around without a problem. Unfortunately, there were no people for the photos and the magazine wanted people. But, I lucked out with this group who was there for a birthday and let me shoot them all around the lounge. 

 Tapas Adela

This was actually where we shot the cover, and then this image ran as one of the main shots on the opener inside the magazine. It was a really pretty place down in Fells Point. It was the only shot that I tried to light and one of the few shot during the day and was a little tricky to do that and get the same feel as the other natural light photos shot at night. 

Looney’s Pub 

This shot ended up being a bit of a trick. Wanted to get a Ravens game, but two problems. First the only Ravens game was an afternoon game and it had to look like nighttime. Second the entire time I was there the Ravens were getting beat by the Patriots. Nothing like depressed fans for a shoot. Fortunately, the power of a camera is strong with the young mildly intoxicated and at halftime I just yelled out that I needed some pictures of Ravens fans going wild and the one Patriots fan looking depressed...and this is what we got. 

 Dougherty's Pub

This was probably the most fun of all the shoots for me. Ironic since it's probably the most low key of all the places. This was featured in there neighborhood bars section. It turned out to be the perfect place for that, most of the people there knew each other and were friends. These women here on the end let me shoot them for a while and then we just ended up talking for about an hour. 

The Get Down

This was a dance club down in Fell's Point. Visually it was quite the cool place. Each room was designed with a different light display capped off with a three story led light wall. 

Pure Wine Café

A cool little place in Ellicott City. My fun here was making the waitress in the bottom right corner walk back and forth in front of the camera with food. As you can see getting her to not look at the camera was a bit of trick. 

Rocket to Venus

For this shoot I got all my hipster friends together to shoot at this quirky cool kids restaurant in Hampden. We shot for about an hour and then I walked around taking a few other shots. Of course in the end the magazine decided that this shot worked best for them and my poor hipster friends were left with crushed dreams of editorial magazine stardom. 

B&O American Brasserie

This turned out to be a classy place afterwork happy hour type place down town. I must admit though I spent most of my time confused about how bra's and trains go together. A quick google search after though I learned that "brasserie"and "brassiere" are totally different words and that I'm an ignorant middle-of-nowhere-raised Florida peasant. 

Woodberry Kitchen

One of the cool new fancy places in Baltimore it was built in a renovated district called Clipper Mill. They have really gone and run with the sort of quaint farm feel with both the ambiance and decoration and also with the food as they have made a menu that really draws from local seasonal produce. 

The Windup Space

This was the one other joint I actually ended up staying a while and hanging out. It's part gallery, part bar, part concert space. The owner was super nice and it was just talking with people. And really, how can you go wrong with a place where the owner will play Jenga with you.  

 The 8x10 Club

A concert venue in Federal Hill turned out to have surprisingly good music that night with the singer Rachel Platten and then below Fat Daddy Has Been. Rachel did was a singer/songwriter pianist, sort of a more pop Regina Spektor and Fat Daddy was a little funk a little reggae and a little rock. 

Jack's Bistro

A hip little bar in Canton and the only place that I know of where you can get macaroni with chocolate and cheese. It was quite the hopping place, but thankfully with help from friends and artisits Lindsay Petrick and Crisanto Cimatu