Picture Perfect

I had a couple postpone their lifestyles session today but I still needed to get out and shoot to stay sharp for an upcoming wedding in two weeks. My plan is to shoot at least once a week if not more so I can stay on my game prior to the wedding. Here is one of the fruits of my labor with more to come next week.



P.S. What do you think of my new "best friend"? I know, he's kinda square.

So who is this guy really?

So who is this guy really?

By birth I was premature (mini guy with big dreams), African American with a very gentle and kind spirit.

By stature, I am 6’ 3” 200+ pounds and have been told that I can be intimidating but have also been told that I am a BIG HUGGY BEAR

By nature, I am kind, caring, enthusiastic, comedic, shy, competitive, intense and pace pallet red if you will.

By education I am a mathematician, computer scientist and chemist but that was not my complete calling.

By region I am in Illinois but home will ALWAYS be the East Coast (New Jersey).

By way of passions:

• I adore my family and how they continue to bless me each day through their kind words, actions and support.


• I love people, showing and explaining their gifts to them that are obvious to me, never been told to them before and not yet revealed or acknowledged by them


• I love to travel and desire to re-experience the world the way a toddler does w/o the owees. LOL!


• Although I am not a journalist by education or gifts, I love to write and share my thoughts, perspectives and experiences


• I love photography (beauty, perspectives, angles, details, etc.) basically “FOCUSing on what’s most important…” at the time, place and seasons in life
  

By way of the future, I am blessed, thankful, evolving, falling down and getting back up, seeking and transforming as God had intended

So when you see me behind the camera, when you see my work, when you read my Twittering, when you read my status updates on Facebook, this is beginning of what and who I am

I wrote this for:

• Me


• Those I have photographed


• Those I will photograph


• Those who are afraid to


• My kids who I love dearly and can’t get enough of


• Those who will follow suit


• Those that read my Blogs AND


• I wrote this for my mother who told me last week that she was proud of me (insert real tears here).

So what’s inspiring you? So what’s stopping you again?

I am taking a page out of Scarlett Lillian's book with this post and it feels very soothing and therapeutic..

Your Majesty

This is what I thought to myself when Preethi walked down the stairs in her traditional Indian reception dress. It was a sight to see and all Angel and I could say was “Wow”!!! Preethi showed us the dress in an online catalog prior to the shoot but the catalog did not prepare us for what we witnessed with our own eyes when she entered the room. Our little Indian princess was a bit nervous at first but I soon found that she did her “homework” and the rest was magic.

Even though we had spoken a few times and passed each other in the hallway, we were still getting to know Preethi. Well after last weekend, I would say “Mission Accomplished”; sorry George. For those that know me, I have special ways to get people comfortable in front of the camera and they seem to work most of the time. I was in rare form with Preethi and she found out firsthand how crazy I can get. I enjoy shooting everyone who steps in front of my camera but it was a true “honor” to shoot her and to watch her transform as the shoot progressed. The day was magic and we had one wardrobe change that yielded another set of spectacular colors. For this post, I have chosen a combination of color and black and white shots. I am working on mastering my B&W editing skills and love how these turned out.

From a technical standpoint, we worked with a single Alienbee B800, 45” white satin shoot-through umbrella, 20/40 degree grid spots and some LUCK. It was an awesome learning experience as in “be careful removing the HOT GRID SPOT “ouch” and try not to impale the person you’re photographing with the umbrella post when repositioning the umbrella. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy…

Namaste

Greatest Show on Earth

Okay, I admit, this has nothing to do with photography or does it? No pictures to share but this is more about perspective and understanding how the world around is continuing to evolve at an astronomical rate; here's the connection...

The thing I love about photography the most is how the photographer MUST evolve as well as how the art is evolving. This is one of the most challenging crafts/professions I have even been in as well as one of the most exciting!!!. Just when you get something figured out, another aspect of this job/hobby rears it's ugly head. On top of that you get hit like I did a few weeks ago and someone refers to what you do as "Art" and that put a whole new perspective on things; WOW!!!

The video to me is not just about incredible stats on how the world and technology has changed/is changing but more about evolution and keeping pace while "FOCUSing on what's most important..." We can't lose sight of that point in this technoglobalistic (made that one up) society we are building as there has to be some point to all of this. As a photographer I often have to remind myself that I/WE have the awesome job of capturing all of this through the work we do. What other profession on the face of this planet can say that???

Anyway, enough of my rambling; please enjoy this video...

http://rejuvenateyourrestaurant.com/Did-You-Know-Video-Technology-by-Karl-Fisch-Scott-McLeod-Jeff-Bronman.php