Lynn & Finch Wedding

On April 18, 2009 by vard

Well we’re still here at the reception and it’s been a great day of shooting.  Everything has been PERFECT in every way.  Great weather, AWESOME bridal party and family to work with, and the Studio D team has been firing on all cylinders ALL DAY LONG.

We tried a few new things out today…reworked some old ones and generally just had a blast.  Connie has been rockin the PR and Mike is covering the floor while I sit here and blog my brains out…

So here’s a few quick ones from today…more to come!

Rock on!

Live hard or hardly live

On April 10, 2009 by vard

I guess I’d have to call this a successful day; got some rockin shots, learned A LOT…stayed alive. How can you not enjoy it, right?

I spent the morning letting Mike practice is white-water rescue technique on me again…by necessity, he’s getting quite good, which rocks. I think I attained a new personal low for core body temp this morning. But whatever…we made it and I still like kayaking…I’m pretty sure.

And I can’t think of a better way to cap an ice-water start than with a pool-water finish. I guess we can call last nights tub exercise a success too. FROM THE TUB TO THE TANK Clarissa and Theresa rocked it hard today for a few hours of “please do that again…ok, adjust that…ok, again…ummm, please don’t drown please, yes, thank you!” Shooting under water isn’t really as easy as it seems, but anything worth doing rarely is. Going SLOOOOWWWW and deliberate seemed like a good idea for a change, and it worked out nicely. From just this one shoot I came away with a mountain of ‘brain data’ to crunch on for making this easier/better/more! in future shoots. I’m looking forward to taking this up a few large notches in a pool, and then seeing what and where we can take it from there.

Kudos to EVERYONE today. Mike and Nate for a great kayaking ride. Clarissa & Theresa for knocking it outta the park. Connie for being an awesome assistant (I loved having the chance to work with you today! THANK YOU)…Jazzy and Nora for their assistantship (is that really a word?) with background stands and lights. And Erica for making sure everyone stayed alive in the pool…thanks!

…I love my job!

aquatica

On April 9, 2009 by vard

…so I’ve been wanting to do this for A LONG time, but time/cost/laziness have not let it happen…yet.

I finally got my underwater bag so I can start doing more extreme stuff. No, I don’t consider the attached images extreme by any stretch, but you gotta test this kind of stuff before you realize on location you just made a $2000 error.

So here’s a little taste of my most recent motivation. I’m actually going to try this ‘in real life’ (cr. A.Z.) tomorrow. No promises on success, but anything at all should be a learning experience, and because of that, worth it. Thanks to Mike for going under for the team, and to Jazzy & Nora for their interest and support from the doorway…Oh yeah, Mike set up the overall shot…he needed this for his 1-a-day project…

…let’s get liquid…

Sunday shoot with the girls

On April 6, 2009 by vard

…the hardest thing in the world to shoot is my own girls. The irony doesn’t escape me. Other kids listen…mine, not necessarily. I do cut them some slack as I realize they suffer the lens more than most, but that doesn’t change the challenge.

But we always try to have fun, no matter who’s listening and who’s not. Course, Jazzy’s almost always throwing it, and Nora can have her moments as well. So here’s a sample of the latest set of the Donlin Ladies. I’ll have a gallery of this shoot some time in the near future (hopefully).

Enjoy

Saturday Wedding

On April 6, 2009 by vard

I can’t explain how much I enjoy shooting weddings. I’m totally cool with 10-15 a year at this point for the studio. I like shooting so many other genres that it would be impossible to enjoy any other kinds of shooting if we we’re shooting 40+ weddings.
But this one rocked. First of the year, less than perfect weather – COLD, REALLY WINDY and the threat of RAIN all day long. But everyone stayed positive and just went with it. Also, Mike is still in California, so my regular 2nd shooter wasn’t around, but Connie & Diana stepped up AWESOME and we all had a blast rockin the day out.
Here’s a small sample of Saturday’s goings on. In the end, a perfect way to start the wedding season off for us.

Rock on…

connected and moving forward

On March 20, 2009 by vard

Wow!  What a crazy few weeks it’s been.  We really didn’t stop after surviving last season…and only barely surviving at that.  I thought more than once about throwing in the towel and figuring out life a different way.  But in the end, we’ve come out stronger and more ready and willing for the new seasons challenges.  As I make a promise to myself to work harder (but smarter) and to be a better person in my personal life, I’m also realizing that it really is up to each one of us to MAKE life what we want it to be.  So I also promise to LIVE LIFE more fully.  As cliche as it sounds, it’s still true…and it’s becoming more and more apparent that understanding this might actually be a huge step in my life…

We’re about a week away from finishing the new studio look, which is going to rock LARGE.  By the end of March it should be in shape for anyone wanting to stop in and check it out.  And, interestingly enough, my new personal adventure into a greater online presence is starting to materialize, and I’m still not sure I know what I’m doing…but hell, it’s working.  There’s a lot remaining to figure out, but what has worked so far is motivating me enough to keep plugging away until it’s ALL working the way I hope it can:

- More blogging

- More frequent updating of images/galleries

- Tweeting from shoots

- and a camera bag full of new ideas you’ll start to see in the coming days/weeks/months

- Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and now here on the blog

So here we go…I guess we can call this Studio D Ver. 2.0 – Connected, and moving forward!