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Bottle Rockets!!!

One of my clients is a children’s museum, filled with learning and exploring opportunities for children of all ages. The PR and marketing photography that we do is all real – no professional models and stylists, just real kids. It can be hard to get those “perfect” pictures while working with real kids as they play, build, construct and learn. However, it can also provide photos that seem much more “real” than any posed model shot could!
Below are a few images from a discovery camp, as the kids learn how to build rockets from plastic soda bottles. They even got a chance to launch them outside, using compressed air as the rocket’s propellant.


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Misty…

Is it weird that a photographer would plug his competition? Not really, because we all have different shooting styles. Anyone who is looking for Misty’s style isn’t going to hire me, and anyone looking for my style would never hire her. It’s not really competition… which brings me to the plug for Misty Keasler:

If you aren’t familiar with her work, you should be. I first met Misty late at night while I was scanning some negatives up at The News. I think it was 2002 or 2003. She was visiting with a friend, and we talked for a bit. She has come a long way since then, but it doesn’t surprise me much. Even then, she had quite a drive, and a lot of passion for photography. I’m glad to see that she’s done so well since then. Heck, now she even has a few clients that I wouldn’t mind adding to my resume!
Anyway, I thought you’d like to check out her work, as it is pretty nice. Definitely some good stuff being shot over there! Keep up the good work, Misty…
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Rain?!?

Not much you can do about mother nature. She will ruin even the best laid plans. We had a pool side photo shoot planned last Friday for an upcoming cover story in Quick, but the rain just wouldn’t let up. We moved the shoot, scheduling it for today. The weather is iffy at the moment, but I think it will hold out this time. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

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Cookies, Cakes and Photos, Oh My…

I’ve been doing a lot more product photography for small business catalogs, websites and marketing over the last six months. I think this might be a good sign for the national economy, or at least for the Texas economy. If more small and medium sized businesses are willing to invest in updating, upgrading and growing their retail footprint, there must be brighter skies ahead!
The latest shoot I did was for a cookie and cake company. You can see a few of the day’s shots below. The art director went with a flowery summer theme, which I thought was fun and different for a cookie company…





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Anthropologie scores!!!

I just got the new Anthropologie catalog in the mail yesterday, and it’s pretty nice. If you are looking for some photo inspiration, you should pick it up. I’ve always been hesitant of their imagery (and disgusted by their sister store Urban Outfitters‘ sorry attempt at edgy catalog images), but the current issue really hits the mark!
Sure, they still have some consistency problems from page to page and image to image, and a few shots feel like a high school intern shot them; but, I’m finding a ton of great stuff to look at overall. I especially love the cover and the last several pages of housewares set in chalkboard rooms with hand drawn props… very clever, Anthropologie!!!
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Video from the ASMP event…

Thanks to Profoto USA and Bolt Productions in Dallas, TX, I had a great time taking photos and capturing some video of the ASMP and IABC networking event and live photo shoot demo night. You can see some video of the evening right here:

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The Profoto ASMP event was a blast!!!

The June ASMP Dallas networking event was a huge success, thanks to Profoto, Bolt Productions and the Dallas chapter of the IABC. More than just our regular happy hour event, The ASMP Dallas June event was jam-packed with fun, food, friends and free shooting!
Profoto sponsored an evening hosted at Bolt Productions – a local studio and equipment rental facility. Profoto provided some good food and drinks, along with a bunch of new lighting and camera gear for us to test out live. Thanks to the Clutts Agency, we also had some great male models available as our subjects. Oh, and some belly dancers were on the other set… I forget where they came from, though. You can see some of the images that I took during the evening…

I used my Lens Baby brand lens on a couple of the images just to play around a bit. I thought it might give me something a bit different. You can tell which shots are the Lens Baby shots, because they go soft and blurry around the edges. It’s a nice effect, but it’s not the easiest lens to shoot with. But man, those new Profoto packs were a dream! I love my Profoto gear, but the newest stuff is even faster and more powerful.
Of course, I didn’t spend the whole evening shooting. I did plenty of mingling and networking, too. ASMP asked the IABC to have a co-networking event, which meant there were a lot of potential clients to talk with. And, there were a ton of other photographers milling about, checking out the Profoto stuff. I wound up chatting with a ton of old friends and a few new shooters that I’d never met before. Between the shooting, the chatting and the eating/drinking, I just about wore myself out! It was a blast!!!
I’m really glad that I attended the event. I got a chance to try out some cool new Profoto and Mamiya gear, talk with some fellow ASMP members, network with some IABC members and see the new Bolt Productions location! It was a good night.
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Photogs on Bravo…

I haven’t watched it yet, but there’s supposedly a reality show following two fashion photographers that just premiered on Bravo. It’s called Double Exposure, and I think the series premiere was last night. I’ll check out an episode or two, hoping that it’s a worthwhile show:

The sample sneak peek that I watched on the Bravo website isn’t too promising, but I’ll hold final judgement on Double Exposure until I’ve seen a full two episodes.
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A little tip when buying your C-Stands…

Tip for the day:

If you are buying a C-Stand, don’t try to save a few bucks and get the cheaper model that doesn’t have a removable turtle base. You will find they are so much more convenient to move, transport and store if you can remove the top from the base – especially if you have a small or midsize car!