Marshal was in yesterday and opted to go to Quarry Hill for his outdoor portraits. We did the standard grass and trees thing but as is typical of any outdoor session I was looking for an interesting background – something with leading lines that carries your eye through the image. There’s a small deck just off the parking lot with a wood railing around it. I had Marshal sit on the deck floor and lean on the bench and used the railing as the background.
Posted in High School Senior
Heidi was here earlier today for the Senior’s Choice session. She liked the streets and alleyways stuff and was wearing this top with the green in it. These glass blocks are at the rear entrance to the Second Street parking ramp and because of the glass itself as well as the trees behind they take on a green color in the image. She liked this pose and the glass compliments her outfit.
Posted in High School Senior
Samantha came in last week wearing this burgundy colored sweatshirt and the ripped jeans. I wanted a pose that was a little edgier with more dramatic lighting. This background is called Parisian Chablis and is one of my favorites. I vignetted the edges to give the light a little more drama and accentuated the texture of the background as well.
Posted in High School Senior
David is a cello player – for school as well as the local youth orchestra. He brought his cello and his tuxedo toy his senior session. Yousuf Karsh is one of my favorite portrait artists. Years ago he created an image of the famous spanish conductor and cellist Pablo Casals. Casals was sitting in a small room, his back to the camera, playing the cello. Karsh felt the image, not picturing Casals face, illustrated the loneliness of the music he was playing. Obviously this is a senior portrait and Mom is going to want to see some of David’s face. But that was my inspiration – and I’m sticking to it.;-)
Posted in High School Senior
I’m posting this image not because it’s a great portrait but because it just cracks me up. The dogs are Biscuit and Oreo. Biscuit is the golden on Katy’s right and Oreo is on her left. They’re both big dogs and we were trying to keep them looking at the camera and as close as possible to Katy on either side. We were about to give up and Katy took her right arm off Biscuit and put both arms around Oreo and said, “How about I have my picture with just one dog.” It was like Biscuit knew exactly what she was saying, he reached up with his paw and literally grabbed her arm to pull it off of Oreo!!! Dogs are way smarter than we give them credit for.
Posted in High School Senior
Cody’s a big tennis player and came in with this idea. We had Mom up on a step ladder dropping the tennis balls on Cody’s head / umbrella. Fun!
Posted in High School Senior
Another casual guy. Kevin booked our Senior’s Choice session which includes outdoor images in the downtown area around our studio. The sun was finally shining today (Kevin must be living right) creating some nice light direction. This image was made in a spot I’d never used before – the rear entrance to the new buildings just to the north of us on Broadway. The bright afternoon sun reflecting off the courthouse across the river created beautiful fill light.
Posted in High School Senior
. . . clap your hands!! Max was happy on Wednesday and he really loved that song. Just missed getting him “pat(ing) your head”. One year sessions don’t always go this well but Max was a definitely a trouper today. Mom and Dad are going to have a hard time choosing.
Posted in 12 month baby
Andrew is one of those casual guys that seemed natural in front of the camera. Just about anyway he stood looked good through the camera. He had this blue striped shirt and normally I’d photograph it on a solid blue background – which we also did. But then I thought maybe it would be cool on a contrasting bright color. Bumped up the accent lights along his cheek and shot the background light off the edge of the paper to give the image a little more edge.
Posted in High School Senior
Alex brought along his base guitar to his senior session. He was a Led Zeppelin which is always good! He wanted a background that looked “a little rough” so we came up with this idea. I like the dramatic lighting and the exaggerated texture of the plaster/brick wall.
Posted in High School Senior
