Wow!  It’s been way too long since my last blog.  Things have been steadily getting busier with the coming season and the studio’s been a hive of activity for weeks now.  Can’t complain about that!  

This gig is as good as it gets in my opinion.  Photography gives me the chance to express…well, ’something’.  I haven’t figured out a way to explain it to other people other than to say I HAVE to do it.  I’m sure lots of people can relate to that, be it in art or sports or turning a wrench.  Some things just NEED to be done and that’s where rational explanation ends.  That’s photography for me.  When it’s great, it’s great, and when it sucks – it’s still pretty damn great!  :D

One of the things I like most about shooting is how little I know.  Ending every day realizing how much I have yet to learn is a great feeling.  To me it means that I’ll always have something to look forward to with a camera in hand.  I jokingly explain to people that I feel stupider when I sit back and assess each day what I don’t know about photography.  The laundry list of ‘things’ I have yet to experience, try, fail at, and try again is never ending – and very often feels like it’s getting longer faster than I can eat away at it – but I find THAT fascinating and very motivational!

I get something from creating a cool image (it might only be cool to me, but that’s enough).  It’s even more fun when it can make someone else happy as well…

This was one of those shoots.  Sarah is one of those people that every photographer should have a chance to shoot.  When she came to the studio for her senior pictures two years ago I vividly remember taking all of 3 shots and quickly dropping the camera to my side.  3 shots!  That’s it – it was obvious she was there for business like few others had been.  If you’ve ever experienced THAT feeling behind the camera, you’ll appreciate what she can do.  I regrouped and stepped it up, cause she was way ahead of me already.  

The day after she moved home from college for the summer (car still packed no less) we shot down to Philadelphia to work on some ideas she’d been talking about for some time.  Pinup – old school classic images from way before my time.  The only thing I knew going in to the shoot is that I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.  But we had Allyson on makeup and hair, and DanO (the living encyclopedia and worlds worst mumbler) nearby for the safety blanket feeling I get when he’s around.  Not only is DanO an insanely awesome and creative photographer, he’s got ALL the toys and a studio that will make your eyes fall out of your head.  I don’t get to shoot there often, but when I do, it’s always rockin.

I also complicated matters for myself a little by choosing to use DanO’s monster ring-light and beauty-dish…lighting I’ve never used before.  After a few shots that failed drastically, I settled in to how to balance them and achieve that look I was going for.

The last image here is part of some other shots we worked on later in the day.  This is one I kicked up quick…

Thank you Allyson for the hair and makeup, DanO for the studio and lighting toys, and Sarah for being the bees knees in front of the camera!  What a killer team to work with!

Lots more to post somewhere sometime, but here’s 4 for now: