Looking Up

This image was taken in the fall and as you can see this tree had already lost all it's leaves.  This was not a planned shot.  I was actually in the woods shooting a portrait session and was using this tree to brace myself to prevent camera shake for a different shot.  I just happened to look straight up for some reason and noticed the texture of the tree bark.  I turned around pretty much kissing the tree (no comments please) to get this shot.  Now I don't know, I could be the only person that likes this image but I thought it was worth sharing.  My final thought on this is just always keep your mind and eyes open for everyday things.

A Little Paint Never Hurts

Talk about cool? This is one of my daughters friends on her birthday.  They all had a ball.  Something about face paint and someone who knows how to apply it.  If it was me doing the painting this would not look so cool.  Photographing kids can be rewarding and frustrating all at the same time.  Rewarding when you get that great capture.   I think I'm successful 95% of the time getting a great shot, it's that 5% percent that make me swear I'll never shoot another kid.  Just kidding, I really enjoy it.  Every now and then you get an uncooperative subject.  A lot of times it's the well meaning parents that stress the kids out during a portrait session and cause it not to be fun for them.  When that happens it's hard to recover and you need a little luck to come away with something good.

My tips for shooting kids is just let them be themselves and keep the camera ready to shoot.  The images look more natural when they aren't putting on the manufactured smile that often comes from a parent telling them to smile.  Also, get down  to their eye level or lower vs. standing up and aiming down at them.  Try and catch them just being kids in some kind of activity. Last thing is don't be afraid to fill the frame with a close up look.   Capturing their facial expressions make wonderful images to enlarge,  frame and hang on the wall.  That's it for today image.

Corp. Head Shot

Today's image is an on location corporate portrait for a client I do work for in Chicago.  The setup for this type of image is always the same for this client.  That means I have to be able to get the same look every time even though I may shoot these images on different days.  I shoot it with two different backgrounds for each person. One with the buildings in the background and another with a portable background.   Adjustments have to be made depending on the time of day as that affects the outside ambient light for the background.  Lighting and color has to be the same all the time for a repeatable consistent look for their website.  The people I shoot for this client have very busy schedules and normally are only available for 10 to 15 minutes tops.  I've done this so often that I can pretty much setup the the lighting and be ready in 15 minutes. The key is knowing my gear.

The first time I shot this work I took more gear then I needed, not knowing what the environment would be, I had to be ready for anything.  I always take backups of everything (cameras, lights, strobes, stands).  Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.  I'm happy to say I haven't needed the backup gear yet.  Stay tuned to future posts for the other background examples.
That's it for today.

Our American Girl

American Girl is big business.  My daughter models in the fashion show each year. The details and the marketing for this line of products is amazing.  Break a doll and it's not sent back for repair it's sent to the American Girl hospital.  Tangle up the hair and you can make an appointment at the American Girl beauty shop to have it shampooed conditioned and styled.

Ok, on the photography end, I always get to the shows early and make a few test shots to check the lighting level and white balance etc.. Notice the pattern here from a previous blog this week?  I normally try and shoot shows with  kids in them without flash as it tends to spook the younger kids.  They get that deer in the headlights look which is not good.   Notice the pattern here?????  In general
almost anytime you shoot people performing, flash is a distraction so I try and avoid it when possible.

Weddings and Public Places

You just have not had fun until you shoot a wedding at Chicago's busiest tourist attraction on one of the hottest days of the year.  I'm talking about none other then Navy Pier in late August.  There's nothing like the reaction from strangers.  The looks vary from smiles to why would anyone want to do that.  For the most part people were friendly and tried to honor space for us to get the shots we wanted.  Several complete strangers like the couple in this shot jumped in to pose with the bride.  There will be more posts and thoughts from this wedding in the future.

Whew, almost didn't make this post in time.

This was the location of a wedding I shot this past year.  One thing I always try to do for every wedding  is visit the location prior to the big event.  In this case I visited this church a week before the wedding at the same time as it was scheduled. This was important because of all the natural light from the windows.  As you can also see I would be shooting directly into the windows which meant my subjects would be back lit.  You don't want to see this for the first time during the real wedding. I spent no more then half hour walking around the church and shooting test shots.

Now of course on the the day of the wedding the lighting would not be the same but at least I had an idea already of what to expect and a ballpark idea of camera settings to start with.  Also  there would be mixed lighting from the church lights being turned on.   The big day came and I'm happy to say it went off without a hitch. 

Yes, I know part of  the title says an image a day, but I just had to show the second one. I also used this time to see what wide angle and fish eye shots would look like.

All in Sync

Wow, it's December 1st already and another year is almost over. It's officially the holiday season.  This image was taken as part of the series I shoot every year for my own family Christmas cards.  I do this for my clients also.  These are fun shoots and the results have always been great thus far.  This years shoot is coming up soon.  These sessions take anywhere from half hour to an hour.  While the end results are always great cards, the challenge is always getting everyone in the shot looking their best.  Sure they are all smiling now, but give or take a few seconds
prior to this instant and they may have been.... lets just say not smiling. 

I usually use a simple one light off camera flash setup with a softbox or white shoot thru umbrella to make the lighting softer.  Setup is pretty quick and easy.