photography

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.

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.

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!

I recently had the opportunity to travel with one of the greatest group of people I have ever met. I was sent to photograph and document the first ever Cricut Cruise sponsored by Provo Craft. I want to start by thanking the great people that sent me and the amazing people that I met from all over America and Canada. It was a really great trip!

It was also a photographers dream. I saw some of the most breath taking beaches, amazing sunsets and the most beautiful blue water on the planet! We traveled to a number of islands including St.Thomas and Half Moon Cay. I enjoyed every second of the trip! The hardest thing was coming back here to the snow and biting cold. But I will get over it and I look forward to my next photographic adventure! Check out the photos!

Being able to capture the activities and joys of children is one of the reasons we love this job.  Years from now they will be able to look back at the photos and remember the great times they had in what ever activity it is they did.  This month we have had the pleasure of photographing 2 cheer groups. What great pictures we got. It is always interesting working with groups, since there are so many different personalities. We love to see each one shine in their own special way.

I get asked this all the time. “What is a glamour shoot?”.

Well it can be many things. The word Glamour has many meanings and it has come in many forms over the years. From Marilyn Monroe to Gretta Garbo to Jennifer Aniston, glamour always shows the subject in the most appealing way possible at the expense of all else. Glamour can range from the super sexy to the innocent walk in the park and can include everything in between. Take these two shots for example:

Sexy Glamour

Football Glamour

The first image is a bit sexier than the second but they are both great examples of what a glamour shot can be.  It’s all about the subject looking the best they possibly can!

If your curious about how you could look, contact us and lets find out together!

Whether you are getting ready for the big wedding, or simply getting ready for a family or glamour photo session here is my list of things you shouldn’t do before your time in front of the lens.

1. Facials. Do NOT get a facial scrub the day before your photo session. No matter how much it seems like this is a good idea, it is a disaster waiting to happen. The last thing that you need is for your face to be red, puffy, or even break out as a result of the torment of a chemical peel. If you feel like this is a must do procedure, make sure to give yourself enough time to recover. Do it at least a week prior to your photo shoot.
2. Hair Cuts. Obviously you want to look great in your photos, but you do not want to get a radical new hair style a few days before your shoot. If you decide that it just isn’t you, short of reversing the gravitational pull of the universe to turn back time, there’s not much that you can do to change it. Keep your hair style! A pre-photo hair cut should be to clean it up and not to show how stylish, hip, and spur of the moment you can be.
3. Crash diets. I know that you want to look your best in your shots. Everyone does. If you spend a week before your shoot trying to drop a few extra pounds using the “force your body to survive on crackers and ketchup packets” starvation diet, your going to look slimmer but you will also look famished. While it has never happened to me personally some photographers have had brides faint in the middle of their shoot due to lack of nutrients. A body requires a fine mix of nutrients, water, chocolate and any other junk I feel like eating when I have the munchies so BACK OFF! Relax… your going to look great in your shoot, so eat. It does a body good!
4. Binge. Binge drinking that is. This one applies more to brides, grooms, and everyone else involved with a wedding. That party that your all planning to attend the night before the big event may be the stuff of legend that will be talked about for decades. But if this soon to be lurch fest depletes the alcohol supply in the 7 surrounding counties, I can guarantee that the thump in your head will only get worse every time the flash goes off. Not to mention, sunglasses don’t really go with tails.     
5. Panic. Some people get so nervous about having their photo taken for a whole range of things that they simply panic. Particularly on their wedding day. You don’t want to look panicked in your photos nor do you want to hyperventilate to the point of unconsciousness. Spend some time practicing your breathing techniques, counting to 10, or walking in reverse in counter-clockwise circles to help calm you down. I really don’t have any idea if that counter-clockwise thing even works but at least it will take your mind off your nerves for a while so it’s worth a shot.