Knowing when to cut & run

Had an important “assignment” to shoot a portrait. Plan A went bad, but had a backup at the ready. More after the jump.

A matter of perspective

I’m writing this particular post without much of a compass. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna wander around topic wise, so I ask that you bare with me. More after the jump.

Doing the job

I recently shot some promo work for The Sparks – the dance team for Pittsburgh Power. I’ve done work for them before, but this time the requirement was to shoot full body against pure seamless white. For me this meant building that very specific setup and taking it on the road. All the info you will ever need is after the jump…

Back in the saddle

Hiatus. Apologies. Let’s get back to work…

I’ve made a bunch of lighting purchases low these many months, and I’ll be getting to the details of that soon. But for now let me talk about this week. As I’ve mentioned many, many times before; I’m a giant Zack Arias fanboy… so, earlier this week when he posted his walkthrough of shooting the CEO of Coke, it didn’t go un-noticed. What that line… “great artists steal”? Well, I may not have the “great” part down yet, but I figured I could handle the stealing part. More after the jump…

Halloween & Lightroom

My friends take Halloween fairly seriously – and it’s always an opportunity for me to grab some interesting photos. This year however – when the chance to take costume pictures finally arrived -  I was really pressed for time, low on gear, and shooting in a pretty crappy location. But Lightroom (and a little luck) came to the rescue. More after the jump…

Enjoy Your Doom

October: I month of ghouls and goolies. And I swear to you this has nothing to do with that.

Well, almost. See, some of my lady friends decided that they wanted a “Destroy the dress” shoot; and I was happy to oblige. But we hadn’t planed things much further than dresses that must, you know, be destroyed. So we set out on a Sunday afternoon and, before sunset, the story of three elegant ladies beset by rages of the undead was told.

More after the jump…

Update: Robin also has a write-up of this shoot on her blog.

Low Water

The boys from Low Water were in town this weekend to do a show… and as always that meant I nagged them to let me take some pe’otos. More after the jump…

Hitched!

Photographed my friends Robin & Colin’s wedding this weekend. It brings my grand total of weddings shot to a whopping four. 15 hours, 900+ photos. Stats on consumption of cigarettes and RedBull are yet to be tallied. Tales and photos after the jump…

For Robin, on her wedding day.

The half-dozen regular readers of this blog will recognize Robin; she makes a lot of appearances here. In all deference to my friends (whom I love and adore), I probably take more pictures of Robin than anyone else. It’s easy to see why; she’s gorgeous, fearless, and has all the personality in the world. She’s getting married this weekend and, despite my staunch and repeated objections, has asked me to be her wedding photographer.  More after the jump…

Happy birthday, America

Every 4th of July my dear friend Liz throws an Independence Day party. My friends are a fairly patriotic bunch, so the photos have to match – and that where I come in. More after the jump…

Long weekend

Been in a bit of a photo-lull these last few weeks. A combination of work, family, and – perhaps – a bit of the dog days of summer… I just haven’t had the time (or, to be honest) the will to do any significant shooting. Felt guilty the whole time of course; wouldn’t a “real” photographer be able to just conjure photos out of the ether? Perhaps. But the hammer came down this weekend. Four events, 600 photos. More after the jump…

Review: PocketWizard FlexTT5

Gotta rather difficult review today… PocketWizards Flex system (FlexTT5, AC3 controller & AC9 for Alien Bee flashes). It’s difficult because it’s (spoiler alert) a largely negative review for products that come from a company I really like and have a lot of respect for. It’s a long(ish) review, and non-photog unfriendly; so once again normals are encouraged to look elsewhere. But if you want to feel the pain there’s plenty after the jump…