This seems to happen to me more often then not; I meet someone and end up having such a good time that it seems like we have known each other forever and a day! Elisabeth is one of those people.  While it is true, I did meet her many years ago when she was only a few days old; but reality is, that we have not seen each other since. So we really didn’t “know” each other.

Each time I meet someone, particularly  someone who is  in High School, I always tell them the same thing: This is for you!  Not your mom, not your dad;  Today is all about you.  I ask them what they like or don’t like, and encourage them to tell me that an idea that I have (no matter how wild and crazy) is either awesome or stupid. I stress on the stupid as I want them to know it is what they like, not me (or anyone else).  I find it help them to relax and enjoy our time together that much more.

When Elisabeth’s mother found out that I was going to be in California, she asked me to shoot her Senior Portraits.  We went back and forth on locations and finally decided on the pier in Huntington Beach.  I had an idea what I wanted to do, but as it was going to be January, I did not know if the weather, or the water would cooperate with us.  Thankfully both did!  It was a warm sunny day and we could not have asked for better.

I have to tell you that even as I was editing these images, I had a huge smile on my face.  Not just because of my work, but just remembering the fun that we all had that day.  I hope that I will have the chance to do it again with all of them.  Maybe Elisabeth’s wedding??  Just a thought 3D!

And thanks to my assistant Sean who made my life that much easier that day!

I was in Southern California last week shooting a wonderful High School senior.  We planned to head down to the ocean (with mother and brother in tow) and have some fun.  I wanted to start under the pier as I knew the light would be fading fast.  I looked around, soaked it all in (literally and figuratively), and made some changes to my camera settings and clicked.

It was a test shot, a starting point if you will.  I knew that I probably have to change my settings but I had to start somewhere.  But after I clicked the shutter, I was shocked.  Not that I got it right (because I didn’t), at least not for portraits, but the angle, the way my eye moved through the frame was wonderful.  The best image I have ever taken?  No.  But I really liked it isn so many ways.

Lesson learned?  Sometimes a test shot can give you more then you expect.  Look at your work and think about it before you delete it.  You may surprise yourself.

Last weekend we had a few friends come to the house to have dinner and just hang out.  Included in this group were some 14 year old girls who were clearly a bit bored with it all.  At some point my wonderful wife asked “hey, do you want to try on some of my sari’s?” I am not sure what women, regardless of age, would say no to that;  And as you might expect, they did not.

What I thought would be a mellow evening at home turned into a spur of the moment full fledge photo photo shoot.  The white seamless come out, the lights, soft boxes and everything else.  Trust be told, I am not sure who had more fun, the girls, my wife (who did not dress us), my daughter or us “boys”.  A lot of laughs and fun was clearly had.

It is these kind of shoots that I love the most;  No pressure, so set up.  Think on your feet and do what you what with what you think will work best.  Granted, they did not all turn out perfect, but a lot of cool stuff came out of it. And I learned more then a few things as well!!

I can’t wait to do it again!

Can you say:  To Cool for School. The young lady face on the right is a bit too hot for me, but even with that, it is a neat image.

I call this “OMG!”

From my family to yours….May this season bring you the joy that we all seek.

For months I have wanted to shoot this old train.  I found it tucked away in a corner of a town in Northeast Georgi; almost as if it was left there and forgotten.   Sometimes I find things that have nothing to do with people or portraits and I am drawn to them.  This is one of those examples.

As I look at the outside windows it seems that the train is in motion and passing life by outside.  And that is what it I am sure happened so many time so long ago.

I always give the same speech when I work with people:  ”This is for you, not for me (or your parents).  If you are uncomfortable with anything, just say so. If I ask you to do wild stuff that you don’t like, tell me.  I am fine with it all!”  I may get a spur of the moment idea and ask if it is ok.  Many times people will go with the flow, sometimes not, but most of the time yes.

This past weekend, Becca was one of those people that not only was up for anything, but invited me to get a bit more crazy.  She knew what she wanted, she had a vision, but had a hard time deciding on specifics.  So we planned for an afternoon together and wondered around a bit. Her Mom was there to help but let this be about her daughter; she stayed in the background and was there to support her and provided some laughs when we did some crazy things.

Thanks Becca for making me laugh!  It was a blast!

This is what happens when you have a client who is tired of posing……

The bugs were nasty that night!  Becca was getting eaten alive.  Every two seconds she was trying to kill another mosquito.

It was almost pitch dark when I took this.  I think this may have been my last shot of the night. And I LOVE IT!

Every once in a while you meet people who are just fun to work with.  They are open to your ideas and are willing to be as creative as you are.  Hap and Jean Marie are two of these people.  I am not sure the night could have gone any better.  Everyone was fun, easy and wanted to have a blast as much as we did.

Hap and Jean Marie, I hope that you have a wonderful life together.  The party is only now really starting……

This is a cool new plugin for CS5 from Adobe labs called Pixel Blender. For some shots, I really like it.  Can do a lot of things, but the one that I like best os the Oil Paint. 

It was so dark where the reception was that I needed a VALS (Voice Activated Light Stand).  Thanks to Nat for making it all happen so well!!

Every once in a while it comes together and some sort of photo magic occurs.  When I click the shutter sometimes I know that I got the shot, but more times than not, I am self-critical and unsure of myself;  I will keep shooting or try something else.  But every once in a while, I click and I know it.  I know that I got the shot and I know it is going to be awesome.  When I get back to my Mac and I see images like the one below, I fall in love with photography all over again.

I must have the luck of the Irish.  Last week was an insane week for me, not only was I supposed to fly to Washington DC to shoot a wedding (those will be posted soon), but I had to also fly over the country as well for some other ”projects”.  I literally was in 4 states in 3 days.  Since the week started  with me shooting in DC, I had my camera bag with me through the entire trip.

I did not plan on it, nor expect it, but I was invited in San Antonio to go to a Rodeo/Bull Riding event.  To be honest, I had never shot a rodeo before, but what better time to do it then on a spur of the moment (no pun intended) without a lot of thinking or planning.  Most of these were shot at 6,400 ISO @ 2.8 with a 70-200mm lens.  In looking back, I should have probably shot this at a higher ISO as the shadow detail is not exactly where I thought it would or should be.

One of the things that amazed me is how hard this event is to do; not shoot but to participate in.  From second 1, the bull is trying to throw the rider off his back;  I mean from the very first second.  There is no warm up: It is just GO!.  As you look at these, notice the bull’s eyes.  For me, they seem to have a clear intent do throw the rider off.   There were times that I was amazed and scared for the rider.

Enjoy!

There are times that a story comes together through images.  Many years ago, I thought it might be easy to build a story from just a few images.  But after years and years (and a lot of shooting), I have found that is just not the case.  Sometimes you can luck out and it may just happen;  But those times are rare. If you plan for it, know what might be coming, you can start to see the story unfold as you capture each image.

It was the morning of July 4th;  About 5:30am and I was in the mountains of Southern California.  Our job that day was to help set up and get ready a hot air ballon for campers to have the ride of their life in. We had to set the balloon up and get every kid, counselor and staffer up in a ballon ride by 8:30am.  Easier said then done: I learned that as the air heats up, it becomes harder and harder to have the ballon lift off the ground. Almost to the point of being impossible if it is really hot.  And trust me, it can get really hot in Southern California in the summer.  No matter where you are.

Each year at the beginning of summer, Pat Murphy from Reach for the Stars comes up to Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times and gives over 100 campers the ride of their life.    While all of that sounds neat, what is even neater is what this ballon is all about.  Pat’s ballon in one of the only ballons in the US that was built so that children in wheelchairs can come on board and ride in their chair.  So every camper, regardless of how mobile they are can have the same ride as everyone else.  Beyond cool!  As you might guess, I have never set up a hot air ballon.  And I found that I was in for more than just a ballon ride.