I GOT A NEW BLOG – danielusenko.com/blog

I got a new blog! Please go to – danielusenko.com/blog now to see the latest work

Old Fresno Shoot

Last summer I have photographed a friend from Fresno, in whose high school class I have lectured about photography.  Finally, I have found the time to get the editing done, and here are some of my favorites:

Back From New Jersey

Just came back from the East Coast – New Jersey.  Vladimir’s and Ilona’s wedding was on Sunday in record heat – I think it was something like 98 degrees then.  The next day (Monday) we went to “Ocean City”, which is a little tourist town located on the shore of the Altantic Ocean.  The water was warm (I thought, although the Vladimir and Ilona didn’t think so), and we HAD to take some fun shots in the ocean.  Well, all these images are soon to come (maybe in a week?); but here’s a shot of us in the water, and me trying to capture some fun running shots.

Harmony & Tim

Here’s a great wedding I’ve photographed earlier in the month.  It was a rainy day, so the pictures were really hard to take; we had to stay inside and close to the windows.  One of the highlights for me were the beautiful flowers by Julie Borrud of Bella Rogusa (bellarogusa.com); although I am not typically into flowers, these were just beautiful.  All in all, the wedding was a success

OSP workshops

Just got back from an OSP (photographer’s club/forum) workshop that happened over the weekend.  Met new people and learned lots of useful things.  Here is a teaser (more to come in the following weeks) from a shoot we had with a beautful model Brittany, who played the role of our “bride”.  The shoots were crazy, since 20 photographers were trying to take pictures of the same subject, at the same time. Anyways – here’s a couple pix:

late night in sac town

Going to sleep.  3:45am. Last night in Sacramento.  Have spent the last week at a great home with my new friends Roman, and his wife Sveta. The last seven days have been busy – concerts, pictures, that and this…just felt busy.  Today though, things were different; as my trip has come to an end, I have realized more fully how important these moment are.  This whole past week I spent with the lead singer of my favorite band (Gera); I have gotten to know a great family and have lived with them for a week. I met new people. I saw older people. I started to miss home.  I felt sad tonight; not depressed sad, but sad that I am hanging out for the last time in a while with these guys.

There are many emotions, many thoughts.  It’s hard to express them on paper.

This picture here.  It means a lot to me. I know it may not to you. It does to me though. It really does mean so much to me.

Russian Banya

Right now I am on the road with the lead singer of my favorite band Drusjki (We’re in California at the moment).  The trip so far has been so interesting – especially the experience I had in Portland couple days ago.  We stopped by Gera’s friend’s house, which has a Russian style sauna (banya) right by a river.  All of the half a dozen people that were there are musicians (except myself) – so there was lots of singing and tons of laughter.  Being in such a different atmosphere and with such an interesting crowd was a totally surreal experience.  I grabed by camera and took pictures for most of the night. I think it was the most enjoyable picture-taking time I have ever had.  Here are some shots:

Aaron & Laura Wedding

Here are some of my favorites from a recent wedding.  Even though it was extremely cold and windy, we did manage to get outside and take some amazing shots.  Here they are:

Polina & Alex Wedding

Polina & Alex – a very beautiful couple.  They have insisted, however, that they “don’t know how to pose”, which is what I hear from literally almost half of the people I photograph.  As you see on the pictures, you would never be able to tell that these guys are “scared of the camera”; I think this should be my new speciatly – taking pictures of people who think “they don’t know what to do” when I point the camera at them.  Most are taken by surprise when during the photoshoot, all I tell them is “alright, go stand over there. Ok, that looks good. Relax. Smile. Ok, done” so much for the “instructions” on what to do (the secret of course is not that I don’t pay attention to what they do or how they look. Not at all. I do pay very close attention to that. But the thing is – when you let people do what they do, and be themselves, they relax, and the natural beauty comes out. That is what I capture).

Drusjki.com Website & Concert

I am back. Totally. Now that I am done with some of the stuff that has been holding me back from my photography, more posts are coming. Lots more.  Yay.

One of the reasons that there has been so few posts lately is that in the last couple months I have been working on a band’s website – Drusjki.com.  This is a Russian band that has been by far my most favorite in the last several years.  I cannot overstate how influential these guys have been – on many, many occasions I have listened to their music to sooth the pains of life.  So many times the only way I would get out of my mini-depressions would be to close my eyes and listen to the messages that these guys sing about.

As former drug addicts, Drusjki also run anti-drug campaigns in Russian, telling the kids the dangers of heroin, cocaine, etc.  Unfortunately there is a real lack of funds that the organization “Drusjki Ministries” is experiencing, which really hinders their effectiveness.  If you find it in your heart to help the organization out, please see drusjki.com for details on how you can do this.  Any amount helps.

Couple years ago I had the privilege of meeting the lead sing Gera in Seattle,  and we became friends.  As we got to know each other, I realized that the band doesn’t have a good, modern website and that I could help out with that.  With another friend, Alex Commer, we have just recently finished the website, which came out wonderful.  Please do see it, and feel free to leave the feedback here.

Gera will be playing in Seattle on April 4th, and I would love to see you at the concert.  (Of course, keep in mind that the band will be singing in Russian).  Some screen shots of the website and the concert info is below: