Teach it Tuesday - Family Mashup.
Every Easter we take a family picture... I sketch up a few ideas and then run them by the boss. This year we came up with a couple of cool ideas, packed up the car and headed to the beach only to be met with tsunami force wind and rain. Our plan was nixed and I was pretty grumpy.
Instead of throwing in the towel I came home, drew up a couple of concepts that would work indoors. I set up the backdrop and the lights in the living room and told the family what we were doing.
The initial photo is pretty simple - I wanted a family photos that showed some character but also the "stuff" that surrounds these photo shoots. It is usually something that I go to great lengths to hide from you so this is kind of fun for me.
Once we took a few "safe" photos I then photographed each family member doing "funny" poses on the backdrop.
The concept was - what if the parents were little and the kids were big? My first attempt was to mix and match facial features but the outcome was REALLY creepy... like, Chucky doll creepy.
The next iteration version was the one pictured here... Ya the kids are big and the parents are small but it just lacks anything interesting...
I reached the final concept basically by it being the only remaining option... the feedback on this image has been mixed with some recoiling and others really enjoying it. If you are interested in how I edit photos like these please check out the video below where I show you everything from start to end in less than 3 minutes.
IIDA Cocktail Couture, 2014.
I don't remember exactly when I started working with the good folks over at IIDA but each year the bring me up to Jacksonville, Florida to photograph their amazing event. The Cocktail Couture is part fashion, part party and part fund raiser with proceeds going to Dignity U Wear, a charity that helps cloth children and families in need.
As the party was winding down last night we decided to have a little fun. This is an image of Becky sporting her giant mushroom umbrella... I am doing something kind of new today in not only showing you the final image... but if you look at the video bolow you can see how it was created. Enjoy!
Here is the making of video. Composited from 3 images in about an hour and half of work.
Teach it Tuesday - the moment after the moment.
A little known trick that I use in my portrait and wedding photography is the "secret moment". It is one of my favorite things and a lot of people miss it. It is the very moment that occurs after an image is taken. That split second after the shutter when your subject thinks the photo has been taken and their guards drops down... what often shows through in that instant is something different and often amazing.
Here is a great portrait of my friends Liz, Joey and Stacey.
And this is the moment right after...
To me, they are both good photos but the second photo captures something that I love... emotion, interaction, and best of all...honesty.