Prepared

All ready for family pics. This is what happens when I don't shoot outdoors for a while. I tend to bring the kitchen sink with me! You never quite know what light you'll be given even when you scout an area hours beforehand! This particular day started off as a gorgeous sunny afternoon with the sun nice and low in the sky to create warm soft long shadows. The sun was moving quickly, however, and the light was changing rapidly. At one point it was if someone just turned out the lights as the sun dropped below some clouds on the horizon. Then it was time to switch to all natural light. You don't need all this stuff to take good family photos, but I used every piece of it at one point in my last shoot. Thanks Erin for seeing this photograph before I packed it all up and helping me carry it all throughout the park! http://flic.kr/p/hWuBty

West Seattle Family Composite

It's not a complete lie, as they were actually photographed here in West Seattle! Difference being they had heater pointed directly at them in the studio to keep them warm. No crazy wind, although, I do have the ability to add this natural effect...hmmmm..... http://flic.kr/p/hH9qDH

All Smiles

Beautiful Family I photographed last week at the West Seattle home studio. Had a blast with them. As a photographer, the word "smile" isn't really in my vocabulary when photographing young children. You've all seen the smile. You know, the one where they look like they might need a little more veggies and fiber in their diet! Well, after a few tries with my trusty stuffed animal, mom said I should ask her to smile. She said, "it works for us". A little weary all my hard work would be undone, I uttered the words and.... I'm pretty sure this photo is the result! You go girl!!!! Lit with Einstein 640 through large Octabox Camera right with reflector camera left. Two rims via stripboxes on either side. No background light as I told them I might try a family composite with this image. Can't wait to try a few ideas! http://flic.kr/p/hFYpZy

Beautiful Bokeh

Just finished editing another set of headshots for Group Health. I twas fairly dark outside today I needed to bump my iso up to ISO400 in order to balance the ambient outside. This also meant that there was a fair amount of ambient light coming from light fixtures nearby. It was critical that I white balanced correctly so as to keep the tones natural looking and consistent with other images I've done in different conditions. The building behind is outside while we are in and on the other side of the street which creates the nice bokeh (blurriness) in this image. Tis the season for headshots. Got yours? http://flic.kr/p/hFUNQv

Not so Mr. Nice Guy

Trying a more dramtic look with the key light coming from below with just a bit of fill from a beauty dish above. I'm also letting the rim light rap a around a tad more than I normally would. I love the dram the light creates here. I'm reading a great book my Gregory Heisler in which he remind me that commercially speaking, "men only have to look interesting". http://flic.kr/p/hEtCjY

Shing blues

Here's a photo of my best friend I've known since we were 6 and 7 years old! One might think I've taken a ton of photos of him but they would be completely wrong. Ultimately, taking photos of him when he wasn't cleaned up and ready to be photographed primed him to come back and show his more put together persona. There were a ton of images we both liked from this shoot. One of the images I posted recently was without the jacket and lit from the front by only two lights. In this image, however, There are 4 lights illuminating Corey from both sides, top, and bottom. All lights were gridded except for the bottom fill light allowing me to add color to the black paper in the background. http://flic.kr/p/hzo2GT

Don't be a sucker

Just got home from dinner and felt the need to photograph my little man with his lollie pop! He wouldn't let me call it a sucker! This was so much more! In his defense it was far too large to suck on. I must say I like having the background light suspended from the rafters rather than to the side as it helps keep the fall off much smoother and linear to the edges. I love the look of the wood floor but struggle with the paper background roll exposed. Does it take away for you at all( I see it all the time in images)? Lit with a large Octa camera right and reflector camera left. Gridded strip boxes either side and the background light superclamped above on a rafter and pointed behind him. http://flic.kr/p/hwEQ7J

Skate King

I've had the perfect background for a long time and just needed a skater with board! Enter Miles Tucker. Doesn't hurt that he's comfortable both in front of and behind the camera! The park is Jefferson Skate Park which is part of the 6th largest park in Seattle. And would you check out that view! Not talking about Miles, but he's not too hard on the eyes either. You've got the mountains to your left with the goreous seattle skyline just to the right of him. One of the best features of this park happens to be what makes this photo work so well. That would be the giant Tower of Lights for night skating! If you haven't checked it out, you owe it to yourself to swing by sometime! It has a huge playground for little ones with several things to keep the adults entertained as well! This particular shot of Miles was taken in the West Seattle Studio. Gridded beauty dish boomed above with a large softbox below for fill. Two strip lights on either side to emulate the large lights in the background that he was dropped in later. http://flic.kr/p/hsM6L9

Utlimate Results

A fun headshot session with my best friend and owner of Ultmate Results personal fitness training Corey Galusha. Working the clamshell lighting here with a beauty dish boomed overhead and a large softbox below for fill. To rim lights via ab800's through gridded stripboxes. Gridded light to his right and pointed behind for background light. http://flic.kr/p/hqyMvB

To Cool for Fall

I love the term, available light, whether it be sun, lamp, strobe, or otherwise. This one happens to be the sun bouncing off a rather large white building. The light is much more direct than cloudy natural light but softer than strobe. Once you become a photographer you spend all day "looking for light" whether you mean to or not! http://flic.kr/p/hnVnSv

She's a natural

I love the feel to this image taken a couple weeks back at Group Health in Olympia. The sun was just setting behind us and to the left. I used a cto(color transfer orange) gel on my main light to help balance the warm tones of the sun. The sun was only hitting the background to the right and, of course, outside. These shots are difficult to maintain as I had quite a few employees to get through and golden hour lasts, well, for an hour or less! I just kept adjusting my shutter speed as necessary which changes the ambient only and leaves the light from my strobe the same. Due to space restrictions I used only one key without a fill and a hair light camera left just behind the subject. http://flic.kr/p/hnj5Yx

Deep Blue

From a recent headshot session with a great family friend. Glad we could finally find some time to shoot together! Lit with a beauty dish above and silver reflector below the subject. Two rim lights through stripboxes to really make the hair shine! http://flic.kr/p/hmn62N

The Boarder insisde

Epic shot of my friend/photographer Miles. It's rare as a photographer that your favorite photos are inline with each others but I have to admit his picks are pretty dang close to mine! Love the shadows in this shot. This one was lit with a couple gridded stripboxes on either side and slightly behind Miles. Gridded Beauty dish was placed directly above his head. Lastly, an x800 to his right and pointed the background with a 40 degree grid for the background. I love the pattern from the gridded stripbox camera right. http://flic.kr/p/hkimvX

Clamshell selfie

Just finished setting up the studio for a possible shoot this afternoon. Normally I just use a reflector for fill, however, I took advantage of an extra light and large softbox I wasn't using this time. Gridded beauty dish boomed overhead with 64" softbox for fill underneath. Rim's provided by two gridded strip boxes camera left and right behind myself. Finished up with a gridded reflector attached to my x800 camera right for the background light. http://flic.kr/p/hjGyNc

Towards the Light

It's been a while since I've posted images because I've been so busy but that doesn't mean I haven't been taking them! Here's a fun Photoshop edit of David in between children at a school shoot. Playing around with some lighting effects (render lighting) and atmospherics fog(render clouds) with a touch of lens flare (render lens flare) Simple tools put to good use with a layers mask and a few tricks, compliments of Aaron Nace from Phlearn! Lit with a single x3200 super high and camera left with a grid to tighten the beam of the light. It was a long exposure to let the ambient light from the light fixtures in and worked well since David Jumped during the exposure. His transparency is not Photoshopped. http://flic.kr/p/hjmZjX

Before into the Light

Here's the before shot. You can see his leg and parts of head are transparent due to the longer exposure. http://flic.kr/p/hjkYiS