Sometimes I take a camera Home.

    Like most photographers, I'm sure, I occasionally take a camera home to shoot some images of the family.  Since we have had such incredible fall weather around here and the colors outside are just reaching their peak, I decided to do just that.  My little guy was in need of some new portraits since he just turned 3 and we have a few great spots around our house where the color looks great as the sun is setting.   He is not the easiest to get a real smile out of, but I managed a good one here. 

My favorite photo was actually taken AFTER we were done.  Simon was riding one of his toys in the driveway as the sun was going down.  I saw the light and grabbed the camera back up for a shot.  Glad I did.  this one makes him look so innocent. 

Finally a Chance to post

Okay.....I haven't posted in a while.  First of all let me say that I miss my assistant, Dana.  She moved away to Minnesota and left me here to do all the work by myself.  She had worked for me for about 5 years and I guess I forgot how much she did.  I am having fun though being the one in total control of the process.  It is a lot more work for me, but being a control freak, I kinda like it. 

   Anyway, here are a couple of photos I took recently.  One of a little guy and one senior.  I have a lot more photos to post soon (if I have time) so keep checking back.

A little cutie in the park.

     Yesterday was a beautiful day.   It was much cooler then it has been with low humidity and I nice partly cloudy sky.  Perfect for outdoor photos.  I had a little girl on the schedule for an outdoor sitting, and I was a bit worried.  You see...she is a TINY little infant.  At that age, they just don't "pose" for photos.  I took a couple of baskets and blankets with me to the sitting and her parents brought a basket also.  In this photo, I used my sheepskin as a blanket for her, but I turned it upside down so the "fuzz" of it wouldn't be in her face.  I put it in the basket her mom brought.  Through most of the sitting she was wide-eyed, alert and looking around, but I caught this one where it looks just like she is sleeping.   I love it.

The "never ending" fashion project continues

    I knew when I took these photos that they could possibly occupy me forever.  I have so many good shots that are just wating to be dropped into scenes and there is an infinite number of scenes to choose from.  This image was created by taking individual shots of the models and combining them into one scene.  The idea is to keep a specific "theme" or "Style" throughout these images.  I think I have managed to do that very well.  What do you think???

Our Studio hours have changed!!!!

    As many of you know, I am also a part-time student as well as a professional photographer.  I am currently back in school pursuing a nursing degree.  I hope to combine my photography degree and nursing degree to do some volunteer work and photography to accompany it. 
     Due to my class schedule, that changes every semester, I will be re-configuring our hours accordingly.  From now until January, our studio hours well be:

Monday....................closed

Tuesday.............2pm - 5pm

Wednesday......10am - 5pm

Thursday..........10am - 5pm

Friday..............10am - 5pm

Saturday .......9:30am - 2pm

As always, we will be doing a lot of outdoor and location photography so please CALL AHEAD any time you need to stop by to pick up orders, and proofs or to place an order.  We hope that this will not be of any inconvenience to you.  Thanks for understanding!   ~mark

And yet another.......

And another from Recent Fashion Shoot

   I haven't had a lot of time lately to work on these, but today I finally got around to messing with a few more of them.  Here is one that I really like.

I knew it would come out great as soon as I pushed the button.  The model started laughing at herself and the poses she was doing and I caught something "real".  I love it.

Shooting with Intention.

     We all know how great digital photography can be.  We all realize the advantages it can give us.  We can SEE the images right away and know if our subject blinked, we can see right away if our exposure is off, or if our lighting is not quite what we had hoped for.  We can even go back later and "Photoshop" out elements in the photo (ie. power lines, background people etc).  However, it has also been a major downfall in the quality of professional photography.  Studies show that the quality of professional photography has dropped significantly since the onset of the digital age.  Why?  Simple....the cameras and Photoshop can do so much that it makes everyone who owns a camera think they are a professional.  They shoot "okay (at best)" photos and "FIX" them later with Photoshop by changing exposures or running "cool" filters on the images to make it look like they meant to do it that way.
    Lately, I have been reading a lot from other REAL pros who are getting back into "Shooting with Intention".  What does that mean?  It means really taking your time to think through your lighting, your pose, your exposures, how you are relating to your subject and then taking a great photo in one or two shots.  This shows the real skill of the photographer.  The image doesn't need any weird "antique" or "high contrast" filters to make it look great.  It simply is a great photograph. I LOVE this concept.  I like to think that I have been doing this for years.  Every photo I take should be able to stand on its own.  If I do any digital work to it, it should not be to "fix" the image, but bring something to the image that only digital can.
     When I photograph someone, I may not shoot as many photos as some other "photographers", but that is because I know how to get it right the first time.  Lately I have been having some of my best sittings ever and it is because I am truly shooting with intention.  I KNOW what the final image will look like before I ever push the button on my camera.
     Here are a few photos from my last two sittings.  The only digital work on these has been to retouch blemishes, vignetting (which could be done "in-camera" but not nearly as well) and make a couple of images black and white.  Pure.

Well, tha tis my two cents on professional photography.  Keep it simple....keep it elegant.  Make sure your portraits are really about the person in them and not about your Photoshop filter collection.

Some more recent Seniors!

With the school year starting for some in less than a week, we have been very busy taking senior photos.  With summer break ending, everyone is trying to get into the studio.  We will be continuing to shoot senior photos even after the school year starts so don't panic if you can't get in this week or next.  We have a lot of after-school and weekend appointments still available. 
   Here are a couple of shots from yesterday and this morning that I am particularly fond of.  They came out great. 

   I love outdoor shots!  I am really excited about the upcoming fall and all the opportunities we will have for fantastic outdoor images.  At the very least, it should be a lot cooler than it has been this summer. 

Even More from Weekends Fashion Shoot

     This is a good example of how "Greenscreen" photography can work to your advantage.  This was taken in the studio and I dropped in the scene later.  The trick is to get the lighting and shadows just right to give the photo the correct realism.  I think I got it pretty good on this one. 

I have about 450 images from this shoot so keep looking for more of these to show up when I have time to edit.