Last week I did another promo shoot with creative director Joel Cas—This photo will be used to promote the Business of Fashion Networking Event.
This shot of Amanda Jackson was actually taken with her completely horizontal working a yoga pose in 4 inch heels. Impressive!
Clothing was provided by designer Red Hue Boutique, hair/makeup by George Bacchus Salon and Spa, and jewelry by Designs by Hiedi.
Last week I teamed up with creative director Joel Castillo to shoot a series of promotional fashion photos.
The shoot took place outdoors at Brookside Botanical Gardens in Wheaton, MD and was a ton of fun! The models were absolutely stunning (this set features Amanda Jackson, Briy Gilgeous, Kaleigh Cohen, and Kate Salerno) and were great to work with! We got a lot of amazing shots that will be used in advertisement and program materials—for now here’s a quick teaser of some of the photos the day.
Jewelry by Designs by Hiedi, clothing by Red Hue Boutique and Elizabeth St. John.
Photos I shot were used for the customer profile of the very photogenic Paul Brown in the 2012 Spring/Summer Edition of the Buffalo Exchange Zine.
The shoot took place in late February at Meridian Hill Park—The temperature had dropped to nearly 40 degrees by the end of the shoot and needless to say we both were shivering from the cold!
All the layouts in the zine look great and the team at Buffalo Exchange did a fantastic job! Check out the zine in stores or online here.
Below are a few shots from the zine and other photos from the shoot:
This was taken last week in Southwest DC. It wasn’t anywhere special–just next to a parking lot near the water front–but there was something about the glow of this sunset.
Gloomy weather and travel plans this year only served as a reminder that we all (anyone who picks up a camera) have to seize the opportunity to snap a photo when we have it, even if the moment feels all too fleeting or ill prepared. Though in street, sports, or event photography the moment can pass because of an ephemeral human expression or a quick moving action, sometimes there are other factors.
Landscape photography doesn’t (usually) have the element of people changing the scene, but the concept of acting fast still applies for one simple reason: Light. Light is the fundamental ingredient in all photography. That’s not to say that other considerations, like composition and editing, don’t go into a finished photo. But light is the only thing that our camera sensors (or film) see–It creates texture, shape, and color–Without light our sensors wouldn’t see anything. For that reason the quality of light has a lot to do with the quality of a photo; this may seem like a simple fact but it took me longer than you would think to figure it out.
So, unlike studio photography, when photographing landscapes there’s not a whole lot that you can do to change the lighting! That’s why one of the keys to landscape photography is to find the light that’s right and shoot before it changes.
Last year I spent two bitterly cold mornings at the Tidal Basin photographing the blooming cherry blossom trees. It was my first time doing this, and I didn’t really know what to expect. At that early in the morning I wanted to get my time and effort’s worth. What vision did I have in mind for a composed subject? Where would I shoot from when I arrived? I mean, they’re just a bunch of trees, right? Well, I learned another lesson last year that I didn’t realize until much later on: Dumb luck has a lot to do with it.
The first morning I ventured out at 5:30 am into the painful cold. I walked about two and a half miles with my gear (I could have cabbed), pulled out a camera and tripod, and started taking shots. By then there was plenty of ambient light showing up on long exposures, and I realized how amazing the sky would look at sunrise. Unfortunately I hadn’t planned a bit and wasn’t sure where to shoot from–so I started jogging down the path. I knew the sun would be up in a matter of minutes.
Thankfully there weren’t many photographers out, so I had my pick of the territory. I kept going until I found the perfect spot, a branch hanging over head with a view straight east toward sunrise. I setup the tripod, snapped a few shots, and made a few other compositions.
Then the sun began to rise (photo above). To this day I haven’t seen sunrise like the one I saw that cold morning in March. The blue sky mixed with the golden light in a way I hadn’t seen before, or since. And then it was over as quickly as it started. The whole apex of the sunrise probably lasted two or three minutes.
Poor planning, quick adaptation, and good luck resulted in a photo that I still cherish. There were other good photos of the cherry blossoms, but none that looked like the one above. If I had hesitated, even for a couple minutes, the moment would have passed and I’d still be waiting for the the above photo to come along. And this year’s gloomy weather would have been all the more disappointing if I hadn’t gotten the shot that I wanted last year.
Below are a few other cherry blossom photos I took last year. I’ll post a few more over the next few days.
Today was day one of the 2012 Photoshop World Conference and Expo, the world’s largest photography and lighting conference! It provides an opportunity for photographers and designers of all levels to meet each other, learn skills, test products, and exchange ideas. While it’s fresh in my mind and before I get some sleep (things kick up again at 8:15am tomorrow), I wanted to share a few details about the conference.
Adobe gave the opening keynote, presenting new features in Lightroom 4 and Creative Suite 6.
I was really impressed with the presentation delivered by Adobe’s Julieanne Kost on the new features in Lightroom 4 (keep in mind that Lightroom is my main editing tool). New features included video editing within Lightroom, improved control over shadows/midtones/highlights, drag and drop GPS tagging of photos (you literally drop them onto a Google Map to tag them!), and in-application photo book design. There was also a very cool demonstration of countless new features in Photoshop 6.
Classes I attended today covered a wide range of topics including flash lighting techniques, shooting and editing portraiture, design and composition, stock photography, and surviving in today’s marketplace. Each class was very informative, and the instructors were completely approachable and happy to talk one-on-one after their presentations.
Also, the expo floor is very cool if you’re even remotely into photography. Most of the major photography related companies were present demonstrating gear and software, as well as a live models to photograph and test out lighting equipment. As a special note for me, I got to test out the new Canon 5D Mk III (!!!) with a 200mm f/1.8 attached. The combination of the two must have weighted 15 pounds, and my life will never be the same again (it was so fast and quiet compared to the Mk II). The expo floor is open to the public Sunday the 25th and Monday the 26th, and you can register to attend here.
With two more days left in the convention, I’m looking forward to all the amazing tips, ticks, and techniques that will be covered as well as all the creative minds to be inspired by!
To follow more of the conference, check on twitter for posts with the hashtag #PSW12.
