Laura and Brent Engagement Session

Had an awesome time on my first outdoor portrait session of the year. The weather was amazing and we took our time strolling from spot to spot getting lots of different poses. They got lots of really great shots, more are posted on my facebook page, but this one of them kissing around a tree was my favorite from the day and I just had to share it here on my blog.

Jewelry?

Was researching jewelry photography on the web today and found Jody Coyote. Not only is the photography really excellent, but the jewelry is amazing. There seem to be a million people making jewelry now adays and it always looks like the same old stuff, but Jody Coyote is really unique. Check it out!

Kristie Wright School of Dance

Had another awesome time photographing the dancers from Kristie Wright School of Dance in their recital costumes. It was a long day, took over 400 portraits, but there really were no snags at all, the day hummed along beautifully. Working on edits now, will probably take me 3 or 4 days to get everything ready for print, then it should be about 2 weeks after that.

Amazing document repository!

Needed to find the manual for my camera today to look something up and found an amazing site called PDF Stack. They seemed to have every imaginable document you could think of. I found the manual for my camera, then found almost every manual for every other camera I've ever owned. I found the manual for my current studio lights and also the older ones I used to use. Very impressive assortment of documents. I highly recommend checking this out, super handy resource.

Excellent gift site

Just found an awesome site with hilarious gag gifts called Fun Slurp. I am definitely getting a package of dill pickle flavored mints. That's the most hilarious flavor of anything I've ever heard of. Of course the WTF stamp is going on my must have list as well. Check it out if you're in the market for unusual items especially if you have a hard to buy for person with a birthday coming up.

Class of 2011 Slideshow

Just finished my 2011 Senior Sampler video. A little bit later this year, but busier times are here and I have to squeeze tasks in whenever I can. Check it out on FB:

Senior Slideshow

Real Estate Photography

Was looking on the web for some awesome examples of real estate photography for an upcoming gig I have and found Beacon Hill. Really gorgeous shots of the insides of their cottages. The lighting is amazing, it makes it look like the lighting is all natural, but I'm sure it's been artificially lit by strobes. My three favorites are:

http://www.beaconhill.co.uk/curlew-cottage-northumberland.cfm

http://www.beaconhill.co.uk/larch-cottage-northumberland.cfm

http://www.beaconhill.co.uk/beacon-hill-cottage-northumberland.cfm

Alyse 1 Year Portraits

Another catch up portrait. Took this earlier this year and while we had lots and lots of great portraits to choose from, this one definitely stands out. Mom definitely bought more of this pose than any of the others. Just thought I'd share it.

Landis Grandparent's Day

Had a blast tonight at Landis' Grandparent's Day. Photographed around 80 groups and everyone did really great, only had about 3 groups that took more than 1 shot to nail it. It got super busy there in the middle, but unless we do tickets with prearranged times I just don't see how we can keep everyone from jumping up and getting in line at the same time. No one had to wait more than 2 minutes though, and we actually got everyone done 15 minutes before the event ended. I literally have never seen that happen before, so that's a major victory. See everyone next year!

Awesome source for photo posters!

Just got in my first samples of some posters from PhotoOnline Roller Banners . The print quality is awesome and I love the heavy duty paper they are printed on. These are really excellent samples of my work, any business needing a new tool for promoting themselves should really check out Poster Printing UK and consider printing up some of their promotional posters, it's well worth it. They sell the stands too which is something I'm thinking about trying for my booth this year at shows. They even have design services to help make each poster the best that it can be.

Kyle Ayers Senior Portraits - Logansport High School Class of 2011

Had a great studio only session for Kyle's senior portraits last week. We got some really great shots. This super dark black and white one is my favorite. I love how he is just popping right out of the shadows. I posted more in my gallery and on facebook, so if you want to see more check it out.

Been swamped!

I'm so far behind on blogging I don't really know where to begin. I've had a super busy winter season so far. Definitely my most busy ever. Have had lots of kids, plenty of families, a couple of offices, and have some events coming up really soon. This is a shot of the Gellinger children from last week. We had a really good time and they all did really well. I'm probably not going to get fully caught up on posting the images I've missed, but I'm definitely not going to let myself get that far behind again, so stay tuned for lots more great portraits.

Great start to 2011

Usually January means pack up the camera, it's not going to be needed for about 2 more months, but this month has been great. Lots of babies and children, an entire office staff, and a couple of large family portraits including the Shidlers. We had a blast Saturday photographing them and everyone was excited because apparently this is their first family portrait in a very very long time. I love when I'm able to provide portraits for people that have put it off for such a long time. It reminds them how important portraits really are, and that's a cool thing to be a part of. If this sounds like your situation, give us a call today and schedule a session, we did a full family, 3 smaller family poses, all of the kids, the kids seperately, just the grandparents, the grandparents with their kids, and probably a few others I'm forgetting in exactly one hour. It's completely painless I promise.

Yael and Andy

Congratulations to Yael and Andy, their wedding was truly a joy to be a part of. Everyone there had a wonderful time and I wish them the very very best for their life together!

Satchel Gray - Lewis Cass Junior/Senior High, Class of 2011

I'm really neglecting my blog now that I'm using FB for news and updates. I feel horrible since I've been a regular blogger for 4 years. I hate to treat my blog this way, but FB really seems to be the internet hot spot now, and you have to go where the people are. So here is a catch up post. Satchel's portraits were several weeks ago, but I wanted to post one here for everyone in the blogosphere to enjoy. His portraits came out great, and we had a good time down town making them. It was a spot I've used a couple of times in the past, but I tried all new poses and, of course, Satchel brought something new to each shot, so each shot came out really unique and cool. Overall it was a great photoshoot.

Rebecca Rombold - Logansport High School Class of 2011

Great 2 part session with Rebecca this week. We did a really fast session at France Park right before her shift at work and got some really cool shots. I love this shot, the lighting on her face is so perfect and the desaturated effect really works with her expression. Then in the studio we did another 3 outfits and got lots of really great shots. She even brought her snake, which wasn't really that easy to get in the perfect pose. It was so wriggly, I think out of the 15 shots I took of it, only 3 or 4 actually had the snakes head in the shot. I posted my favorite snake shot up on FB so you can check that out if you want. If you want to see more from Rebecca's shoots just check out my gallery or FB.

It looks like the senior season is winding down. My schedule is finally starting to lighten up, so if you are still needing senior portraits give me a call, we should be able to fit you in within a week, and if you're not wanting to brave the cold weather we can just do a studio only senior session starting at $15.

Misty Gearhart, Caston High School Class of 2011

We had a really good session out at France Park for Misty's senior portraits. We did shots all up and down the waterfall, then we wandered out to the lake, and finally climbed up the cliffs for some cool shots. The water out there is really green and eerie, it made for some interesting backdrops. Then we came back to the studio and did some casual shots as well as shots in her volleyball uniform. I'm currently working on a montage for her, as soon as I get it finished I'll upload it here. Still very booked up, 2 weeks is about the earliest I can schedule anything, but the weather is just about perfect right now, and the leaves will be changing soon so there is plenty of time to get your senior portraits done.

Had a lot of fun with Brent last week for his senior portraits. He had a really good sense of humor and we both hammed up a bit. We left plenty of time to make some great portraits. This one of him sitting in the wheel of his dad's John Deere tractor is my favorite. I saw the wheel right off the bat and I hoped it would work for a good posing tool and I just couldn't be happier with this shot. One of my best senior portraits this year. Check out my gallery for more of Brent's portraits.

Alicia Gaby - Logansport High School Class of 2011

We had a lot of fun in the studio and down at Little Turtle Waterway last night doing Alicia's senior portraits. We tried some fun new things including laying down on a picnic table, and we got tons of awesome portraits. It was a gorgeous night too, a nice cool breeze was blowing and the sun was up, but wasn't really making it hot, so we all stayed very comfortable as we were shooting. It's uncomfortable for me when it's hot, but it's tragedy when the subject of my portraits is sweating, so I'm happy to bid farewell to that hot streak. There's more samples of Alicia's portraits on my Facebook page check it out if you want to see more.

Senior Portrait Tips

Here are some tips for ensuring your high school graduation portraits turn out amazing!

1. Bring examples of things you'd like to try in your portraits. Magazine clippings, year books, catalogues or anything else with examples of poses, styles, or effects. We can combine these ideas with our own and create a truly unique portrait that captures your personal style.

2. Give your hair time to grown in after a cut. Don't get a fresh cut the day before your portrait session, a minimum of 5 days is needed for the cut to look natural.

3. Makeup should be applied normally. Use a mirror as a guide, if it looks good in the mirror it will look fine on film.

4. Ask your optometrist to remove the lenses from your glasses if possible. Reflections are very common on glasses and can be very time consuming to remove. Avoiding this problem is the best way to ensure a great portrait.

5. Simple, solid outfits work best, especially in the studio. More formal attire is also very common in the studio. Outdoor poses work well with jeans or khakis and simple solid shirts, especially muted colors. Blue, green, tan, and many more work better than glaringly bright colors such as white, yellow or red.

Follow these tips and make sure to get a good night's rest and your graduation portraits will be something you'll be proud of for years to come.