PBPhoto

This was a fun shoot. 

We did a lot of different things here in terms of lighting.  My gear for this was one strobe in a softbox on a boom stand with a sandbag for balance.  I used it for a key light above balanced with backlight provided by the Lord.  This softbox has become my goto modifier outdoors primarily because it handles the wind much better than an umbrella.

 

I didn't always use it.  Above is just the backlight.  The subjects face is in shadow and the background is allowed to blow out.

 

Here is a similar shot but I brought the softbox in to add some directional key light to her face.  You can see the shadows from her nose.

I like to use different perspectives as well.  Above is taken from atop the bench that you will see below.  The wood of the pier makes and interesting background with great texture.

There's the bench above. 

Her best friend since 3 years old just happened to be at the same park at the same time getting her senior portraits done as well so we took some of them together.

 

This one is under a gazebo with the softbox for key light and crouching until the sun just peaked under the overhang.

I love the background here.

And one of my favorites.

I hope she is blessed as she graduates into an exciting new phase of life.

I hope you are blessed too!

Here a few from a recent baby shoot.  This guy had places to go apparently.

What a cutie.  He was such a great model.

Recently got a Christmas card from friends/clients.  It included the above photo.  In large lettering, "Happy Everything".  Man does that fit.  They are so fun and easy to work with. 

So we took these with combinations of natural light filtered through bed sheets to the left, bare strobes into the ceiling, bare strobes directly aimed at the subject, and my new favorite light modifier, the small softbox that I use with my battery strobes.

Here is an example of the natural light from the window to the left.  The sun was hitting it directly so we hung bed sheets to diffuse it.  I also bounced a strobe into the white ceiling to the right.


















Here's a fun one.










For more of an edge, here I blasted bare strobes from each side.


















Here's the love.


















And more of the love.
















And I'll finish with some of the expressions of the rock-n-roller above.

















































Be blessed.  More photo shoots to come . . .

Spent some time with my buddy Bryan Boliver and his wife.  He is a singer/songwriter and we took some photos to feed his websites for a while.  We used a few different lighting styles.  In the lead photo above you see side lighting with bare strobes.  Very harsh shadows.  I love the technique.  Gives  a good edge to the photo.

Here are some more.


Then we took some ambient light stuff as well since the sun was setting.  Placed the sun behind him and exposed for his face and let the background blow out.


Also used an umbrella for key light with an accent light behind and opposite the key light for a more classic look.


Be blessed!

It's hard to know where to start with this one.  An amazing couple with amazing friends, an amazing wedding, filled with joy and sharing of their faith with others.  There is plenty of technical stuff to share about photography.  How you can get sharp photos.  How you can use ambient light in different ways with and without supplementing with flashes to create a mood.  There is something over which the photographer has no control and that is the personality of his/her subjects.  My friend and photographer that works with me on weddings, Mark Morgan of http://www.mmorganphotography.net/, commented that the personalities of these two come through in the photos.  I think you'll agree.

I worked with the Bride and Bridesmaids as they prepared.  A funny bunch.  And very kind to the photographer (coffee, creampuffs).

They did something cool that we haven't seen before.  They had their first look at each other before getting to the church.  At the hotel where the girls were preparing.  A great idea.

On a technical note.  The value of having two photographers.  The sequence that you see below is really cool.  We are shooting from different angles covering both bride and groom.  During post-processing we sync up our photos so that you get a chronological sequence of the shots from both of our cameras.  The third shot below was taken by Mark.  And captures the instant that he sees her.  One photographer would not have been able to capture this. 

They are both skateboarders, so the boards must be included.

One of my favorites.

Back at the church the preparations continue along with the hilarity.

The ceremony was great.  They read vows to each other that they had written.  The groom had some trouble getting through it.  Which is awesome.  Sign of a great man. 

The reception.

We can't forget the superheroes. A great photo from Mark.

At the end of the reception we got them outside for a few shots with the late afternoon sun creating some great light.

We are so happy for these guys.  And wish them tons of blessings as they start down this new walk called marriage.