Tag / photography

Nothing was more beautiful than the shoreline of Ocean City, New Jersey, on this particular morning.  With the casinos of Atlantic City in the background, we shot the beauty that nature gives us on the East Coast.   And, of course, I was fortunate to have an incredibly beautiful (and smart!) high school teen model for this shoot.

Prague was the birthplace of one of the greatest artists in the art nouveau period: Alphonse Mucha.  I could not visit the Czech Republic without doing a concept tribute shoot to that amazing fin de siècle artist.

For these two sessions, I chose the stars series by Mucha, North Star and Moon.   Makeup and hair by Diamond Beauty – Dana Bárová — with model Model: Petra Snopova.

And a portrait from the session

Another great shoot with Tinttu – a great client and makers of beautiful Finnish designed and dreamed children’s playwear.  See more at their website: tinttu.com!

Artist/Owner of Tinttu, Petronella Grahn.

I greatly welcomed a bohemian themed shoot in the awakening Finnish forest this weekend.  There is only scattered snow in shaded areas left and the blueberry bushes are just starting to bud and open.

I will be presenting a Masterclass in Lighting with  my commercial business partner Melody Hood at WPPI in Las Vegas, February, 2012.  The class is nearly half filled after one week – I recommend booking early before it fills up completely.  Proudly sponsored by Pixel 2 Canvas.

Edited:  A big thank you!  I was just notified by the WPPI organizers that ours was the first Masterclass to sell out.  Unfortunately, there is not a waiting list.

wppi 2012 masterclass lighting workshop class

I had a special request for this session: add in some sweet soft vintage to the regular mix of proofs.   And I have to admit, when a family has this much love, it is very easy to be a photographer!

I am asked about this quite a bit in email: I do offer training and mentoring/tutoring in the professional portrait photography field.  Training webinars, workshops, and in person tutoring are available on my travels.

I am hosting my once-yearly Creativity Workshop with Melody Hood of Inammorata Photography in Las Vegas on November 4-6th.

I also give periodic lectures and webinars on photography technique and post processing/workflow software.  These are on-line and scheduled as I find availability.

I also provide in person one-on-one tutoring: from Boston to Brisbane, spots are extremely limited and first come, first served basis.

All photography training, workshops, and tutoring/mentoring can be found separately through Photographers Learning Resource and are intended for intermediate portrait photographers who can achieve manual exposure and consistent focus.

http://www.photolearningresource.com

http://www.facebook.com/PhotoLearningResource

One of my greatest sources of pride with my photography is the ability to shoot regardless of the lighting conditions.  Professional photographers know how challenging a full sun midday shoot can be:  if not shot carefully, the lighting will wreck the image, creating harsh skin tones, dappled blotchiness, and odd nuclear-winter brightness/colors.  But with a bit more thought, it can also be pure magic.

For a workshop in Central Park, New York City, my objective was to show how to make full sun midday shooting achievable.  But often, it is the client who also helps transcend an ordinary day and make it special as well.  This family in that regard were absolutely a pleasure to work with and shoot.  They brought a full picnic set, set it up, and then sat and enjoyed the day, allowing us to capture that warm, intimate moment of enjoying life together.  When the sun moved enough to put them in shade, they were happy to move the set up a bit back into the sun and then sit and enjoy the grapes again.  It’s a reminder to all of us to spend time just enjoying ourselves with our family and the ones we love.

My goal with my shots of the family was to show that love and connection and really show that heaven has smiled on them.  I wanted to have them bathed in the warmth of the sun and to that end carefully chose the location away from the crowds but still with a bit of Central Park flavor peeking in from the upscale white high rise apartment buildings visible through the trees.   I had to shoot between ugly yellow buses and a few random pedestrians also enjoying the park (fortunately, dogs were leashed at that hour!) but in all, once the location was chosen, it was an incredibly easy shoot.

I hope they enjoy the images – they really have a huge thanks from me for being so incredibly wonderful to photograph! My understanding is that the father in this image is a wedding planner – I wish I had known him when I was married because he is very, very, good at his job!

Update: Only 3 spots left – the workshop has nearly sold out in 2 days.

4 years ago I was invited to Australia by Wild Spirit Photography to give a photography workshop to select photographers in the Brisbane area.  30+ workshops around the world later, I am pleased to return once again to the sunny land down under.

The Big Picture workshop will be on June 18 and 19 in downtown Surfers Paradise along the Gold Coast.  I promise an intensive 2 days of shooting and post processing at the Wild Spirit Photography Studio.

I love Australia and have a special fondness for the Australian portrait photographers.  I look forward to returning again to tackle that glorious Australian environment.

More information about the workshop (and online courses in photography that I teach) can be found on the Photographers Learning Resource website.

From the 2008 Brisbane Workshop

It’s just two weeks until I have the pleasure of hosting a rare in-person workshop for photographers.  I’ll be working with Melody Hood of Inammorata Photography to teach all the important techniques and skills that make a good image into a wow image.

The workshop features 3 days of instruction, a small group of photographers (under 10 total!), a great location (Chattanooga, Tenn), and two very dedicated instructors.

Come join us in Chattanooga and take your photography to the next level!  More information on the our website:  http://www.photolearningresource.com