Smithsonian Magazine

Ok, so today I want to share with you one of the most fun and fascinating assignments I have done this year. On the stands this November you can find an image we created for Smithsonian Magazine. The assignment was to create a composite image of two scientists who work on brain research at MIT. The art director wanted us to craft an image that depicted the scientists manipulating a brain and pretty much gave us free rein on what we could produce, so we decided to have some fun with it.

This is the original image we submitted.

Dr. Xu and doctoral student Steve Ramirez have been conducting research related to memory. It almost seems like something from a science fiction movie. Their research focuses on implanting memories that are not there. Scary right? But the motivation driving these scientists is benign. As the magazine states, "Their research has launched a new era in memory research and can someday lead to new treatments for medical and psychiatric afflictions such as depression, post traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer's disease".

They conducted tests on mice that showed the mice reacting to situations in a way they would have if they had lived the experience before. They placed a mouse in a box and instead of sniffing around as it normally would, the mouse froze in terror, recalling the experience of receiving a foot shock in the same box. The thing is, the memory was fictitious; the mouse had never received an electric shock in the box before. Rather, it was reacting to a false memory implanted by the scientists. Not only were they able to identify the brain cells involved but they could also manipulate those cells in order to create a whole new fictitious memory. There are certainly a lot of ethical questions when it comes to this kind of scientific advancement. You can read more about it in the November issue of Smithsonian Magazine.

What are your thoughts on all of this?

Here is how it ran in the Magazine.

Dr. Xu (right) Steve Ramirez (left)

Bowley Builders

It has been such a great Summer and Fall season for us that we have not been able to post any of our recent work here. We have also had to wait until some of our recent exciting assignments have gone to print in order to share them here with you. Keep your eyes open in the next few weeks as we begin to share some new images with you.

This year we photographed a couple great projects for one of our favorite clients Bowley Builders. We also collaborated with Graham Architects on this great project. Have a look at this coastal estate that showcases Bowley Builders great attention to detail.
Which is your favorite feature in this home?

 

Down East Magazine 60th Anniversary Issue Cover

This has been such a great summer for us here at Irvin Serrano Photography. One of the things that has made it special is that after seven years of living in Maine, we got our first cover on Down East Magazine. You can see our image on the cover of the 60th Anniversary Issue on newsstands through August.

I shot this image of The Bubbles in Mount Desert Island while touring the park with some close friends of mine visiting from away. In that way it holds a special meaning to me as a reminder of a great time spent with a childhood friend.

In this issue you will also find a piece titled "Making Tracks" about the state of cycling in Maine, written by my talented writer friend Joshua Bodwell. If you have not had a chance to visit Mount Desert Island yet, I encourage you to do so. It is a place you won't easily forget.

Maine Home & Design Magazine Cover Feature

I am so excited to share with you the images from Maine Home & Design Magazine's August cover feature.  We spent two days photographing in Southport, Maine the beautiful work of a great team led by the Knickerbocker Group.

This home was impressive in many ways, the size of the residence, its design, location and the materials used in it were amazing. Above all, what was evident was that the Knickerbocker group and other partners such as Urban Dwellings who collaborated in the Interior design and JC Stone just to name a few, took great pride in their creation. The project showcased superb craftsmanship unrivaled by many of the projects we have visited.

We are very happy with the images we created and hope you like them as much as we do. If you live in Maine, pick up a copy and have a look at the great layout created by MHD's Art Director Heidi Kirn. As always, It was great collaborating with the team at MHD on this feature.

Down East Magazine Drive-in Behind the scenes

Last month we had the pleasure of collaborating with Down East Magazine to create an image for their Best of Maine issue. We teamed up with Down East's visuals Editor Mark Fleming who came to us with the concept for the shoot. Mark is a great photographer in his own right, so it was great to have him on set art directing since he didn't only know what he wanted visually but also understood what it took to achieve it.

I wanted to share a short behind the scenes video of the drive-in shoot. We were hoping to have clear skies but this being Maine, we weren't that lucky. So we had to improvise and make it happen regardless of the weather. At the end of the day, we were happy with the results rain and all.

I also want to thank The Saco Drive-in for allowing us access, Motorland Vintage America for providing the vintage car and our models Emily and Mike for their help. The video was shot by Kevin Sennett. We look forward to collaborating on future projects with Mark and the crew we had that day at the shoot.

Hope you enjoy the image!

 

Peaks Island Cover

We have had a great summer so far, so much going on. First and foremost, I am so excited to share that I got married in July. On the work front we have been really busy and unable to post as much as we wanted to. So here I will share the June Cover of Maine Home and Design Magazine that we photographed, along with other images from the feature. I have been wanting to share this one for a while.

Keep your eyes open for other posts where we will share other covers we have shot this summer, along with work created for a couple national publications which I cant disclose just yet.
Happy summer to everyone!

Really loved this kitchen and it curved ceiling.

Such an awesome view of Porland, ME from the living room.

Old Port Magazine Premiere Issue

If you are familiar with my work, you know that I have been a regular contributor to Maine Home & Design Magazine and also have contributed to Maine Magazine. Well, the creative team over at the Maine Media Collective, publishers of these two fine publications have done it again. This time with the launch of Old Port Magazine, a publication dedicated to showcase all the amazing things Portland, Maine has to offer.

Old Port Magazines editors trusted me with the task of creating an image for the cover of the premiere issue. The image for the cover had to be shot in a horizontal orientation so the image could wrap around from front to back cover, something that I found particularly exciting.  I was also asked to contribute in creating images for a hotel feature. The focus would be on some of the best hotels Portland has to offer, including three hotels that are scheduled to open their doors soon.

Aside from some of the great locations we also enjoyed photographing four of the hotel developers. We shot the image on location in South Portland with the Old Port in the background and couldn't have been happier with the results.

To commemorate the launch of the premiere issue of Old Port Magazine we will be giving away a 27x17 inch print printed on metallic paper. To be entered in the drawing all you have to do is "like" the Irvin Serrano Photography Facebook page. The drawing will be on Friday June 13th. So head over to our page and you may see this image hanging on your wall.

We look forward to creating more content for this magazine and continue collaborating with the great team behind it. Special thanks to Art Director Heidi Kirn who put so much of her creative talents to work in not only designing the cover but conceptualizing the direction of the visual content over several phone calls.

Here is the cover.

This is the full frame image which includes what would be the front and back cover.

The opening spread for the hotel feature.

Portrait of hotel developers.

The Hilton Garden Inn, Portland, ME.

The bar at the Westin has some of the best views overlooking Portland,ME.

A detail from the new Hyatt Hotel.