Engaged: Ben and Klare

Ben and Klare gave me the chance to do an engagement session for them.  I'm happy they did. Since the moment we agreed to this I had a picture in mind I wanted to make, however the weather simply didn't allow for it this go around!  We found the one above though, which quite frankly, is better than what I wanted to do anyway.

We made some stylized portraits.

We made a perfume/cologne ad. Okay, its not really an ad and that wasn't quite the original intention, but that is what it reminded me of when I finished it.  So, for now, I'm going to pretend it was completely on purpose.

We also managed to capture a little bit of the sweetness they have for each other.

We talked a bridge into lighting up for us, in the rain. I forgot to mention they are both smart-cookies, which is why they were under the bridge and I was standing in the rain...

Most importantly we caught a little bit of the fun they brought with them!

The first "photo shoot" I ever did was around 10-11 years ago.  It was an engagement session for a couple of close friends. Before this weekend I have done a grand total of zero more. So, to say I don't do this much is an understatement. However, I should probably change that, it is fun, even if the weather doesn't do what I want-- and then taunts me with perfectness the following Monday.

Cassie

I've been threatening to post some people pictures up here for a little while now. Here is the first post making good on that threat.

Light here is pure ambient goodness

These were made at Ezra's cake gathering. After chasing kids around the yard, and catching the pictures I posted of Annie, I turned around and saw the house. I knew it was lit up by the sun because it was acting as a giant reflector, I could see it in Annie's eyes. But, I didn't know it was such nice light! When I saw it I knew I needed to make some pictures with it, or I'd be sad. I also realized it would probably lose its "magic" fast, so I needed to be quick. I stuck my head in the porch and asked my sister in law to volunteer a model, she pointed at Cassie.

Strobe off to the right with ambient fill

Like most of us, she isn't exactly used to having a camera aimed at her. But she did well anyway don't you think? I think she did extremely well. The "session" was unplanned, rushed, and she was volunteered by someone else! If photography were baseball, I'd be out at that point.

Thanks Cassie!

Building a Portfolio

I started looking at my images, again. I am specifically looking for what are my strongest portrait shots. My intention is to build a portrait portfolio.

It's amazing, but any time I get ideas like this in my head I am always provided something that makes the project easier. I am not sure how, or why this happens, but it does and I am extremely grateful.

This time, my help has come from Zack Arias' blog. He is doing portfolio critiques, in a "screencast" format. I watched closely as he went through the first few submissions he received. Its amazing what he is doing for people, but it makes me feel about this big, and he isn't even critiquing my stuff. However, I challenge any photographer to watch these. If you don't see your shortcomings reflected in something he says you are either a) already amazing or b) not honest with yourself. Right now, I'm not feeling very special, which is probably a good thing. But it hurts some.

I already had a few images in mind that I wanted to include in my portrait group. I watched Zack's critique of one image in horror because I realized an image I wanted in my portfolio has the exact same set of issues. Fortunately he offered a solution.

You have already seen the color version of this picture back in January. Let me know what you think of this one. I will probably work it a few times before I am happy with it. I am not very skilled converting to black and white. However, I at least do better than simply de-saturating the image. That really sucks.

I have upped the resolution of the pictures posted. That, too, is suggested in the critques.