Portraits

Evelyn

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These were taken months ago and I just got around to finishing them up.  Evelyn is a co-worker of Keri and I.  She was approached by a friend of hers asking if she'd like to get into modeling.  Evi, being as modest as she is beautiful, was very reluctant to do it but after some convincing from friends and her husband she decided to look into head shots. This is where I came in.  I had never done true headshots before- just kid portraits (this shoot happened before the "Glow Atl" photos you can see a few entries down), so this was a freebie for a good friend.

In fact, I think I was paid in taco bell and asthma attacks.  An odd combination I know, but we did the shoot at Evi and Nathan's house in Buford.  I can usually control my allergies to her cats by taking Claratin and staying away, but when I get into "photographer mode" I move quick.  Moving quick leads to sweating, hightened heart rate, and increased breathing... which leads to increased allergies apparently.  Had to take a few breaks throughout the day- one of which for taco bell.

Without further ado, here is Evelyn.   Remember to click on the individual photos to get the full effect.  And don't worry, she's fully clothed in all of the photos-  just some creative angles.  :)

Addy Bassett

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These photos are from Labor Day weekend at the lake house up in Blairsville.   My sister brought her new brother and sister-in-law, who brought the latest addition to the Bassett family.  Or maybe I should say Addy-tion.  Or maybe that's too cheesy.  Let's not say that.  :) Addy was a treat to play with and photograph.  She was so laid back and only cried once the whole day.  We took these photos with my trusty 50mm f/1.8 by natural window light, on the back porch, and in the hammock with daddy.  All in all cute pics of a cute baby.

A Fashion Shoot... quite a success, but not because of me.

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The models definitely made this shoot a success. So, I got a call 2 weeks ago on a Thursday night asking if I could get off work the next day and take pictures of girls in bikinis and not get paid.  It was quite the no brainer.   :)

But really, this shoot is for Glow ATL- a mobile spray tan company owned by Alex Goldstein.  It just so happens that the hair salon she does a lot of work from (Salon Modello) happened to have two people that knew my work.  Alex is hosting a Ladies night at Opera nightclub in Midtown tomorrow night and needed some "before and after" photos to be displayed on the HDTVs all over the club.  I didn't get paid, but I will also have my company logo displayed too, so it's essentially working for trade.  I can't make the party, but I'm sure sure it's going to be an awesome time.  My girlfriend Keri has volunteered to be a "Glow Girl."   I think she's just excited to be tan even though she's been working her butt off inside an office the past month.

Here are a couple of "before" photos.  The pink-haired model is Ashley Baker- a childhood friend of Keri's and the blonde is Andrea Post.  Both very beautiful girls who claim they'd never modeled before.... I don't believe them.

Alex Goldstein at work.  I asked her if she made airbrush dolphin t-shirts too, but she said no...

And of course, the after photos...

Diana and Wesley Engaged

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By the time this blog post actually goes up, they'll already have been married, but going along with the theme of getting my blog up to date, you get to see things backward.   These were definitely taken as their engagement photos to be published in their guestbook.  The official wedding pictures are far superior and were taken by Brandelyn Lee Photography.  They can be found here.   One day I hope to be half as good as Brandy.  I've been looking at her work before I even bought my first digital.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

First try...

 

Second try...

Pete & Chloe (and a little of Charlene)

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Not surprisingly this is way overdue.   I had such grand plans of updating my blog with all of my 2009-thus-far photos in one week, but with my laziness I've treated each entry as if I just shot them.  After this post, I think I just have one more "post-post" blog entry, then I can move on to shooting more and trying to keep up. Here are Pete and Chloe.   Beautiful children of my friend Charlene.   We did this shoot just outside of downtown Norcross, GA in the midday sun.  My biggest rookie mistake- don't shoot in direct harsh sunlight unless you have to!  I did my best to counterbalance the shots in the sun with fill flash, but all in all I should have taken a lot more pix in the shade as they were the ones that came out best.  This was one of those shoots that when I left, I thought "holy crap, I made a bunch of rookie mistakes and may have a very unhappy client."   But as it turned out, she's ordered more prints than any of my wedding clients.  :)

 

Pete, Charlene, Chloe:

 

 

 

 

 

As tough as it is having your picture taken anytime in your teen years, Charlene told me Pete even thought he looked like Tom Brady in this pic.  I have to agree with him!

 

Chloe was quite the ham...

Richmond Boys

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Here are a few shots of the Richmond boys when Keri and I had the pleasure of spending time with them up in Commerce, GA.   Jackson is the oldest, follwed by Tate and then Garrett. 

This was just a "hey- do you mind if I take a few pictures?" type of shoot.  Nothing formal or fancy- I just happened to have my camera with me.  It also reminded me of how much fun shooting in available light with a $90 lens- the 50mm f./1.8.   If you are a new photographer- buy this lens.  Nikon and Canon both have them and they're dirt cheap.  It's a great backup lens, lightweight, takes awesome shots, and can open up a whole new world of available light photography.  In most situations there will basically be no need to use your flash.  Just open up the f stop to 1.8 and blast away getting that cool "background out of focus" look. 

One day I'll have booked enough gigs to afford the f/1.2 version.  Apparently, if you own that lens, the pictures basically take themselves.   Soon enough....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Newbie- Abbey Carter

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Continuing to backdate my 2009 photos to when they were actually taken... Here are some from a newbie shoot I did in February.  This little dumpling is Abbey Carter- my friend Leslie's niece.  As much as I wanted to sit by the fire on this snowy Sunday afternoon, I trekked up to Roswell, GA for an on-location shoot and had a great time.

It was my first try with off-camera flash.  I take that back.  I did a faux photo shoot two days before of a couch pillow on a chair.  She was a wonderful model, though a little overstuffed.

(Nerdy Set-up Info:)  The set-up was a black backdrop hung from backdrop stands in the parents' living room.  I used my 580Ex flash on a stand with a shoot through umbrella triggered wirelessly with a Cactus V2 (later traded the V2 in for the V4.... not much of a difference though).  Added a reflector to a few shots to take away some of the shadow contrast.  I messed around with all the different settings and came up with some pretty cool shots that also translated very well into black and white. 

Abbey's parents wanted some nude shots to start off with.  We both had some fun ideas, so once I was set up we got started.  I soon came to relaize babies don't like to have their picture taken naked.  I don't either, but  that's a whole different story.  As we got into it, we found that Abbey had some of her own ideas for pictures and apparently had a little too much to drink earlier.... and may have peed a little on the backdrop.  Don't tell Jeffrey Franks though (he loaned me the backdrop).  Jeff- if you're reading this, I promise we cleaned it up very well.  

After waterproofing the backdrop with some magical changing pads or something (I have no idea what they were, but they were like a Sham Wow for pee), we got this shot:

 

 

Here are a few other favs.  In my family, the "roll tide" picture would be better supported on a stinky used diaper, but needless to say makes fun baby shots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall a very fun shoot even through the fussy baby moments.  Usually when I drive home from a  shoot, I can't stop thinking of the mistakes I made and things I could have done differently, but this one I thought "these actually look like a pro shot them."  I very rarely think this of my photos, so it was a nice change of pace.  Plus seeing the snow on the ground helped.  It's too bad school (work) wasn't cancelled the next day.