Rainbow Power!!!

So I have had this idea for a long time of doing a photoshoot where it would be raining smiley face balls onto a willing participent while she is under the protection of a very colorful rainbow umbrella. After the initial sketch and production notes were drawn up, I called my trusty assistant Lauren and the wonderful clothing designer Alli Pace to see if they were down with the idea. Both were enthusiastic and were ready to rock n roll. We wanted to cast for a colorful, vibrant looking model that would jive well with the theme. I decided on Miss Jenna from Ohio because her look was unique and I thought she would add that extra special "sumthin" to the overall production. As luck would have it she was available and we set up the shoot for a beautiful day in September. It was a simple two light setup with the camera angle being low to capture Jenna's expression. What I hadn't anticipated was how the bouncy balls would look in the final edit. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get them to look just right. In the end I ended up scrapping the smiley faces in lieu of a digital rainbow and some illustrated "rainbow brite" power! I really digg the illustrative aspects of this photo, it's something different that I think I would like to push towards in the future. Tell me whatcha think!

interesting article

A few weeks ago I had talked a little bit about the cost of doing business and what not. A friend of mine just sent me a link to a wonderful article about the state of editorial photography and the costs associated with it in the digital age. I find the numbers quite astonishing in that since 1984 editorial rates have risen a scant 14% while equipment costs and inflation have risen 1000% and 80% respectively. Am I the only one who thinks this is insane!? 1000% increase in the equipment we utilize to do our business and yet the rates stay virtually unchanged!? I feel like that guy in zoolander who says "Are all you people taking crazy pills?!"
It is so important right now to utilize the strengths of your photography and the the value that they present. Too many people are out there shooting for free or for publication that it is destroying the market right out from under us. People like me are having that much harder of a time getting started because someone else will do it for less. It's a sad state but its one that can be amended.

Christmas in August

Yay, they finally came! The week before I went on vacation I made a last minute order of a new (to me at least) speedotron power pack and a few strobe heads. So far I must say that I am pleased with the results and I'm hoping to add one more light to the setup. I think I will keep my AB's for location work and use this new setup strictly for studio work. I also had the great fortune of meeting Kimberly Reed, a local wedding photographer here in Pittsburgh. She was looking to get rid of a 70-200 2.8L lens. As luck would have it I had a 50 1.2 L that she was after, so we had an even swap. Sometimes things just have a way of working out!

So what did you do on your summer vacation?

So after a week long vacation to Baltimore and D.C. I am finally back home. The wife and I had a wonderful time taking in the sites and seeing some old friends. We started out the trip in Harrisburg, Pa. for a wedding of an old highschool friend of ours. It was good to see her so happy and to hear how things were going for her. As an added bonus, the wedding was taking place in Harrisburg which is where we used to live. During a break in the action we took a quick side trip to one of our favorite eating establishments, the Soda Jerk, and a short jaunt over to Hershey's Chocolate World. I know, I know, it sounds cheesy but we had a good time. While we were eating lunch at the Soda Jerk, this strange looking little car pulled up. Here it's an old electric car from the 70's that the owner liked to tool around town with, very interesting!
After the wedding we headed off to Baltimore to visit with some relatives. It was nice not having an agenda, most of the week I just sat around and read a book (the twilight series, which I must see is a decent read!) Towards the end of the week we took a trip into D.C. and went to the new Air and Space Museum hanger. The place was packed floor to ceiling with all sorts of flying contraptions, it was quite awe inspiring. Anyways, we had a good time and now it's back to the grind!

Going to the chapel!

So last weekend I had the wonderful pleasure of photographing a wonderful couple (Joe and Amy) at a wonderful country club. Everything went off without a hitch, with the exception of it being hotter than blazes and the wedding was outdoors. Not a problem, we persevered and came away with some fantastic and fun looking photographs. It makes such a difference when the people you're photographing buy into the vision you are trying to achieve. In this instance, because the Joe and Amy are fun an energetic themselves, I thought it would be appropriate to get them doing some off the wall kinda things. They went right along with it and came up with some ideas of their own that fit into the whole motif. In fact, one of the best images we got (pictured above) was their idea! I had a good time and I'm looking forward to their reaction towards the finished product.

The cost of staying in Business

It seems I get the same type of e-mail every couple of weeks from families, brides, and models asking what my rates are. I kindly tell them what to expect in terms of both finished product and money and 9 times out of 10 I never hear from them again. On this one occasion recently, however, I had some one ask me if they thought that my rate was too steep for what they wanted. I thought about it for awhile, and I came to the conclusion that I wasn't effectively conveying the value of both my time, my investment, and my talent. It's difficult to overcome the mindset that "all you do is click a button and the picture happens" in the digital age to people who aren't all that familiar with the process. What a lot of people fail to realize is that its taken a multitude of lighting tests, compositional knowledge, color theory classes, technical know-how on how to get the most out of an exposure, etc., etc. Not to mention the monetary investment in all of the necessary equipment to be able to produce the image in the first place. Add to this your time in scout location, preproduction, post production, color management, scheduling, correspondence, and time spent learning new techniques in order to make even more interesting and creative images, and you have a sizable chunk of your time and money out the door. But how do you convey all of this info to a potential client without sounding pretentious? I like to explain it as such: with my potential at creating your image, you will have a unique finished product that will utilize all of my knowledge, creativity, and technical ability. As such, in order for me to stay ahead of the curve with these traits, I need to be able to purchase new equipment, learn new techniques, etc.- hence the reason for my rates. I think if people can attach a tangible value to your photography, the battle is already half way there in your favor.

Making new Memories at Kennywood

So a couple of weeks ago I had the rare opportunity to not only work with the fabulous Ali Pace of Down with Fashion, but we also were able to do a location shoot at Kennywood, a local amusement park here in Pittsburgh. We got rolling at 8:00 in the morning to avoid any potential run-ins with incoming park guests (poor Ali, the model, and the makeup artist all got there start at 6:00 a.m.!) and the whole thing went off without a hitch. We photographed around the Merry-go-round and the kids kingdom area. The model, Chelsea, was a real pro which led to some great pictures! We were in and out of there inside of two hours, just as the days crowd was filing in.
When your dealing with an outdoor location shoot like this, its always important to try and control the available light as much as you can. In this particular instance, it was still early enough to kinda plan my angles because the sun wasn't too high in the sky yet. I had my assistant Lauren provide diffusion when we needed it to let the strobes do there job. Much thanks to Ali, Adrianna, Chelsea,Lauren and Jeff from Kennywood for making this all happen. Take a look at the pics and short video, let me

know what you think!