I just wanted to share a couple of my favorite shots from a recent engagement shoot I did in Charleston, SC.
We managed to get quite a few looks in two locations, the Charleston Waterfront Park and then sunset shots such as the one below at Mount Pleasant’s Waterfront Park! What can I say, I like the waterfront parks 😉
The couple was great and I hope they have an awesome life together!
Last night was the 29th annual National Night Out. It was also the first time the neighborhood I live in participated in it. I was on hand with my camera to capture some of the fun!
When the sun went down, a giant inflatable movie screen went up and we watched a series of cartoons to keep the kiddies entertained. Our neighborhood watch did a fantastic job organizing this special event despite the dreary weather, but everyone had a great time. I hope they keep the tradition going! You can check out the rest of the photos on my community’s Facebook page.
One of the most daunting jobs in photography is the large group portrait. Getting dozens of people positioned so that every person can see your lens is one thing, getting dozens of people that span multiple generations from older folks who can’t stand around waiting to young kids who can’t stand still for 20 seconds is enough to make the most seasoned pro sweat profusely.
The Hatcher and Cole family reunion was held in Charleston this year at Sticky Fingers and I had the honor of capturing the event.
There was plenty of food, and a live band had the room dancing.
Here’s a slideshow of the event. I had a blast sharing this night with this fun family. I’ve had Superstition stuck in my head all week long 😉
Just a quick share with you guys since it’s been a while. I was out at the Music Farm this evening to see my wife’s cousin, Jerry Jacobs play. He’s really matured with his musical style and it’s fantastic to see someone grow from a young kid starting out all the way into adulthood with a bunch of musical experience under his belt.
Afterwards, we stumbled upon some skaters in the bus depot and I held an impromptu photo session (as seen above).
I’ve been a busy bee lately and will fill you in on all of the goings on soon. In the meantime, make sure you’re following my Facebook page for the latest sneek peaks into what I’m working on!
Rock on for now, Wally Gator!
I recently started my senior portraits campaign, and Haley, who is my 2012 model and ambassador, had her senior portrait sessions recently. To showcase a range of what I’m doing this year, I shot three different locations. Above is a shot at Folly Beach, and directly below is a shot in downtown Charleston, SC. I also did a few studio shots as well.
On location shoots, I like to capture an edgier and dramatic look. In the studio though, I tend to favor a high-key look like this:
A new product that I’m going to start including in my senior portrait packages is a Facebook banner. I used one of Haley’s shots to demonstrate this on the JWNPhoto Facebook Page.
Part of the fun of these shoots is in the experience. One moment that I’m sure will stand out for Haley and her father during this shoot was when we hijacked a Porsche!
As we were walking down Chisolm Street, I was making small talk with Haley and I said “Wouldn’t it be awesome if that lady let us take a shot using her car as a prop?” and then I proceeded to do just that. I love this shot because the car’s owner is in the background trying to get out of the way, but she really adds to the whole thing 😉
We also did some more traditional portraits just to have a little diversity.
Here’s a slideshow of all of her photos:
You can also view them on Facebook here and here, or on Flickr.
Now is the time to get your senior portraits made, so let’s book a session now. Time is running out on my current promotion, so contact me here.
On a beautiful summer’s day in June, 3 people joined together as a family. Eileen & her son Tristan joined Gary Turner in matrimony at Rockville Presbyterian Church in scenic Rockville, SC. This is their story in photos.
Something borrowed: a family heirloom…
The church – Rockville Presbyterian:
The ceremony:
The newlyweds:
The Family:
The Friends:
The reception:
Time to head out on their honeymoon:
Warning: Nerdy Photographer Talk Below
After Nikon announced the D800, I started watching for the D700 prices to fall enough to where I felt justified in purchasing a previous generation body. But the day after I rented a D800 from CharlestonAVGear for a wedding I found myself placing an order for Nikon’s newest (and IMO finest) camera.
Then I started reading the various photography forums and panic started to creep in because it appeared that I might not get this camera until August!
I had a delivery estimate from Amazon, and then early last week the estimate vanished and was replaced with “unknown”. Gahh! I started following this thread on NikonRumors because some posters were letting people know when various retailers had stock available. I got lucky on Tuesday morning because someone posted that NikonUSA.com had them listed in stock. I quickly ordered one and moments after I placed my order they were listed as out of stock again. Regardless, on Wednesday morning I had the new camera in hand! The funny thing was that I got a notice from another fine camera retailer, Robertscamera.com, later in the day on Wednesday that they had some in stock, so I shared that info on the Nikonrumors forum that helped me out and some other shooters were able to get D800’s from them. Paying back on the forum that helped you is a good recipe for internet karma. And as of now it seems that a lot of people are getting the camera’s they’ve had on back-order for months, so I am assuming that the supply is reaching the level of demand to some degree.
So, I was itching to go out and use my new tool, since it’s a very different animal than my previous body. The local photography group, the 21st Century Photography Group, was hosting a photo-walk at the College of Charleston on Sunday. A perfect opportunity!
I brought my son Kegan along, who was shooing with my P7000.
Unfortunately it was quite hot and he was not feeling the whole walking part of the photo-walk. He did get a box of crackers to snack on, but even that couldn’t sooth the savage Kegan 😉
I’ve been shooting with a cropped sensor for so long now that switching to a new full-frame sensor is introducing a whole new way for me to approach the things I am used to. The focal lengths are now properly represented, so my 50mm lens is a true 50mm instead of the 80mm equivalent on a cropped sensor camera. This means I’ve got to get closer! That has the effect of decreasing the available depth of field, so focusing properly is crucial. The 36 mega-pixel sensor in the D800 also brings another challenge: The resolution is so high that it is not forgiving at all if you have bad technique hand-holding the camera. You can see the effects of camera shake when you view things at the full resolution. Luckily, most people aren’t viewing your images like that, but I think it’s a valuable thing because it challenges you to improve your technique!
It’s not easy changing the class of bodies either. My D90 is laid out very differently than the D800, so I’m constantly hitting the wrong buttons because they’re not where I’m used to finding them. That’s OK, it’s only a matter of going out and shooting as much as possible that will quickly remedy it. I did have some moments of panic when shooting a wedding with it, but I’ll talk more about that in a future post.
I can’t wait to shoot some studio stuff with this camera. The resolution is so amazing. I’ll be sure to write another post soon about that experience. For now, I’m buried with post-processing from previous shoots. The good news is that my computer seems to be dealing with the giant NEF RAW files from the D800 quite well, so one of my biggest fears has been put to bed. It does take a tremendous amount of time uploading the full resolution jpegs to Flickr though, but that’s something I can happily deal with 😉
On a side note, I checked out one of Apple’s new Retina Display MacBook Pro’s this afternoon. Holy Balls. My D800 photos look even better on that thing than I could have imagined. It looks like I’m going to need to book a bunch of these real soon!
Sure I’m posting this a day late, but I just wanted to share some photos here. These were all shot with my old recovered Nikon D40 which is my current back-up body, and the Nikon 55-200 VR lens. This is equipment that can be found on Craigslist or eBay relatively inexpensively, but still enables you to make great photos!
I use this camera as a family camera, for things like going to the beach or day trips – it’s very light but allows you the freedom to enjoy the moment instead of trying to perfectly capture the moment technically like you would with a more professional body. I shot these all as jpegs and did minimal processing in Lightroom as there was not much room for it in these 6MP files.
It’s not a weather sealed camera or lens, it gets it’s fair share of sea-spray and sand, but wiping it down immediately and using some common sense has kept this camera in my life for many years now. The 55-200 lens is such a fantastic performer on this camera. Check this out:
If I didn’t tell you that that was a D40 with a budget lens, not many people would assume it.
The secret to photography is simple at its core. Have an interesting subject matter, find some quality light, and the technical stuff becomes terribly easy after that. Sure, what’s an interesting subject is quite subjective, and finding quality light involves manufacturing it on many occasions. Don’t even get me started on composition! And the technical stuff constantly evolves and changes – but you still can’t trust the camera to get it right 100% of the time so you need to understand the basics of exposure, which can take years of practice to fully understand and execute in real-life situations that require split-second reaction time from you.
STOP!
The moment is more important than anything else.
This moment captures the day perfectly for me because it was a happy Father’s Day:
My friend Krista is a spinning instructor at CharlestonRIDE and she asked me to help her make some environmental portraits at their studio in Charleston, SC. I was happy to oblige! We went for several different looks last Friday evening and I think we nailed it.
At the top of this post is an edgier look – very athletic and fierce. Just below it is a more traditional shot with here among the studio’s equipment. This shot is Krista with a bike, looking quite instructorly if I do say so myself:
The view from the windows at CharlestonRIDE are stunning, it’s a very inspiring place to work out! I needed some shots of Krista’s beautiful smile as it doesn’t always come through in a sports themed shot where the subject is usually putting forth a look of determination instead of a happy-go-lucky one. Here she is in front of one of their windows just after the sun went down showing off her happiness:
And here she is, in full on instructor gear at the head of the room:
Her daughter came along for the shoot, so of course…
I love working with awesome people like Krista, you can see the rest of the shots we made that evening here. I’ve also shot Krista before, as you can read about in this post.
I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be shooting portraits of the guests at the Art For Charity event at the Michael Mitchel Studio in Charleston, SC on Friday, June 1st, 2012.
First, the details:
-Michael Mitchell Gallery is located at 438 King Street, Charleston, SC 29403
-The events are held from 6 pm to 9 pm.
-A $10 donation would be greatly appreciated
-The event I’ll be shooting will be benefiting the Ryan White Program and Wellness Center
What is Art For Charity?
Art For Charity is a unique gallery event where a portion of profits from sold artwork benefit local, non-profit organizations. This year’s charities include Friends of MUSC Children’s Hospital, Crisis Ministries, Komen Lowcountry, Roper St. Francis Ryan White Program, Charleston Waterkeeper and MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.
The event I’ll be shooting will be benefiting the Ryan White Program and Wellness Center.
Who is Ryan White and what is the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program?
Ryan White and his mom courageously fought AIDS-related discrimination and helped educate the Nation about his disease.
Ryan White was diagnosed with AIDS at age 13. He and his mother Jeanne White Ginder fought for his right to attend school, gaining international attention as a voice of reason about HIV/AIDS. At the age of 18, Ryan White died on April 8, 1990, just months before Congress passed the AIDS bill that bears his name – the Ryan White CARE (Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency) Act. The legislation has been reauthorized four times since – in 1996, 2000, 2006, and 2009 – and is now called the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.
I’m pretty stoked to be a part of this, and I hope to see you there. Heck, just bring $10 to donate at the door, get your photo taken, & check out some art (and possibly buy some since part of the proceeds benefit the charity). I’ll be posting the photos for you to download just like I did for the recent Change For Change Art Show.