Paul Bass Photo
Sandy Birner cut through the Courtyard Marriott parking lot on Howe Street Tuesday morning with two Stop & Shop bags filled with sneakers and hats, in search of the right place to show them to the world.
Birner had a Canon camera in hand as well. For the past five years she has commuted from Windsor to New Haven’s Whalley Avenue to take photos for the 52-store Torrington-based EbLens urban streetwear and footwear chain. She posts photos to the company’s website and social media accounts of customers and employees she recruits to display the latest EbLens merchandise.
On Tuesday morning Birner planned first to check out Lynwood Place as a potential backdrop for the newest EbLens offerings: …
… New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Bulls caps …
… and a special made-in-USA line of new Balance 990v5 sneakers.
“I always wanted to be a photographer. My mother was into Vogue and fashion magazines,” Birner, who’s 52, said during a conversation on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program.
She studied photography at University of Hartford’s art school, interned with commercial photographer Chip Yates, and was on her way. She has shot professionally for a quarter century for clients like JoS. A. Bank Clothiers and Lux Bond & Green jewelers. She has worked for EbLens for the past five years.
She looks for a diversity of real-people models to photograph with EbLens garb. Her goal: an “authentic” look. She starts with “safe” posed shots to ensure she’ll have material she can post. “Then I can be creative” with angles, with light; she’ll urge the model to “do whatever you want.” Those candid shots more often than not turn out better than the safe pix and end up online.
“I don’t do any retouches. It looks more natural. It looks more edgy not to do retouching,” Birner said.
Many days she enjoys working out outside of work. Tuesday loomed as a 12-hour day with no time for leisure: she had a 5 p.m. after-work appointment with an employee.
“I love it,” Birner said of her job. “I’m so lucky to do what I do.”
Click on the video to watch the full conversation with Sandy Birner on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program.
Click here and see below for other episodes of“Word on the Street.”
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