photography

As you all know, at any given time I am working on a wide range of creative projects. Everything from Photography, to design, to film. Sometime I’ve got too many projects and sometimes not enough.

However I am pleased to announce that with some encouragement from my fans my artistic endeavors are now available as fine art prints. I have started this gallery off with a number of landscapes, cityscapes and destination photos from my world travels. Check them out and be sure to let me know what you think of them. Prints begin as low as $20.00.

There are many more to come so please check back often and thank you for your support!

This is something that I don’t normally do… I don’t like having my unedited photos out in the wild.

However… I get asked so often how I get my photos to look so good out of the camera. Well, the real answer is… Photoshop. Duh, duh, duhhhhhh!!! That’s right! Photoshop! It is an essential tool for the photographer’s digital workflow. If a photographer says he/she doesn’t use Photoshop he is either lying or he/she is not getting the full potential out of the shot. Ansel Adams once said “We must remember that a photograph can hold just as much as we put into it, and no one has ever approached the full possibilities of the medium.”. He also said “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”.

I believe both of those statements to be true. In my opinion a photograph is never done. There is always an improvement to be made no matter the subject. Now I don’t subscribe to the idea that you should make fundamental changes to the subject, like changing the shape of a face or a nose. I don’t play that! However, blemish touch up and minor adjustments to clothing or backgrounds is sometimes a must.

I offer you one of my older shots of the beautiful Jantzen Rees. The photo looks great in full color and untouched. However, I felt that a little blemish touchup, darkening the edges and punching up the highlights in key areas would help lead the eye to the focal point better.

The color change, I will admit, is a matter of taste. I prefer the sepia like tone over the colored version because it adds a vintage and almost intimate feel to the shot. You can disagree with me, that’s the beauty of all art, interpretation! Click the image for a larger view.

These shots are from a shoot I did earlier this year of Jamie Wilner. I liked the way these shots turned out.

I used primarily one light on her shoot. I like the challenges that using only one light gives me. So I tend to do it often.

It was a large softbox that was sitting just to the left of the camera. For you photo-philes that are wondering, it metered at f6.3, I used a 1/80th of a second shutter and and ISO of 200. I also used a 36 inch white reflector just to her right to soften the shadows.

Take a look and tell me what you think of the shots.

I have been traveling for a few weeks now shooting, going to conventions, and generally just having an all around good time. Now it’s time to slow down, edit, and share.

Many people often assume that glamour photography is what you see in modern men’s magazines. While that type of photography does fall in the category of glamour that’s not where it ends… nor where it began. Glamour photography started in the mid to late 1920′s and was inspired, in part by silent movies. A photographer by the name of George Hurell pioneered the look and went on to create ”Hollywood’s Golden Era of Portraiture”. These portraits were often lit with as many as 6 lights and have a very distinctive hair light. That’s the light that caused a models hair to have that super bright glow.

In honor of Glamour’s beginnings I would like to share a couple of 20′s inspired portraits of Keri Gillen. I didn’t initially set out to create a 20′s style portrait, nor are these a true 20′s style. In these portraits I have done something very different from the 20′s style. Primarily in my decision to use only one light. That’s right, one light. I chose one light softened with a large sofbox to make the subjects face more dramatic and to force the shadows to turn to a crushing black. I tried to keep the overall feel of the 20′s portraiture while putting my own spin on it. I often choose to light my subjects with one light because I feel it gives the shots a little bit more drama. Tell me what you think of them, and don’t be shy.

Kids are always a challenge when they are being photographed. It’s no exception for this little one. We had to play a game of hide and seek to get her to smile. Their not the most traditional of shots and their not my best shots; but I think their fun and they look great in my portfolio. What do you think?

I really spent a lot of time trying to come up with a new memorable way of making my new business cards. I wanted something out of the ordinary and unique. So my first decision was to make them a different size. At first I thought I would go with one of those mini cards. You know the 1.5″ x 3″ cards that are popping up all over the place. The problem with those is… they’re popping up all over the place.

So that lead to the descision to go the opposite direction. I decided to make them 3.5″ X 3.5″ square and to make them photographic. I couldn’t find a printer that would print that size for a reasonable price with the right finish. So I decided to literally make them out of luster finish photographs. So not only do you get a card with a great image you get a sample of one of the best looking prints available.

Take a look at the new cards and please, please, please share your thoughts about them. These are for portrait photography. Photo on the front, black on the back.

Thanks for looking and I’ll see you at your photo shoot!

As many of you already know I just returned from an amazing trip to Italy. As an art major, artist, and lover of all things artistic it has been the number one destination on my bucket list since before I can remember.

I spent time in Venice, Florence, and Rome. Each has their own distinct look, art, and architecture. Each city is amazing for it’s own reasons. Venice for it’s canals; Florence for it’s cobble stone roads, the David, and the tomb of Michelangelo; Rome for it’s architecture and the Sistine chapel. 

My life seems so complete having seen the artistic splendor of the people, who in my opinion, invented art. Enjoy!

Scared your going to get the most boring High School Senior Portraits ever? Well don’t be. Here’s a great montage of some super cool and fun senior portraits. Feel Free to click on the image below for a larger view. I will have more coming very soon so check back! 

Here is another series of shots from a recent shoot. Jantzen had some great photo ideas, a real fun sense of adventure and a willingness to try new things which made the photo shoot really easy.

In fact she is so cute and photogenic she actually makes me look like I am a better photographer than I really am. In the end we got some amazing photos that are powerfully sexy!

Check them out and please leave a comment and feedback.

I recently had an opportunity to visit the muddy marsh for a fine day of photography. It just so happens that I had a couple tagging along with me, Angela and James. 

Angela is no stranger to being photographed in the mud. You may recall her mud 1.0 shots in the glamour gallery. It was a really compelling, entertaining, and amazing series of photographs. So amazing in fact that there happens to be a great enlargement from that shoot sitting right here next to me as a studio sample. I show it off to everyone! That’s how much I love those photographs.

With that being said… I think this second series of photographs are even more amazing. I guess I will just have to get new enlargements! 

Enough talk, lets let the photos speak for themselves! I give you Angela and James in the sticky, black, nasty, completely amazing mud.