Bang'n Out Staff Photos Like It's HOT.

All I gotta say is that I absolutely love creating staff photos with staff members that treat photo sessions like hanging out haha.

When it goes down that way I feel like we're always on the same page with getting serious photos that count, while making the whole experience quick and entertaining at the same time.

A warm crowd is truly the best recipe for bringing out personality in a group studio session.

Anyways, Epic Web Studios liked my earlier photo posts with high key portraits and decided they wanted to go that route with the newest installment of staff photos for their website.

So I came over to their office, set up in the main room, and they hosted a live webcam feed over the internet on their website of the entire session!  How funny?

Here's a photo one of the guys tweeted out:

That's me in the back ground dancing to the Allman Brothers pandora radio station.
...That's how I patiently wait for people to get ready.  ...That's also how I wait in line at Burger King.

All in all, I ended up making a set of high key on white, deep blue backdrop, interior, exterior group shots and even a very terrible looking "mock" senior portrait session with a basket ball hoop behind them...  They insisted haha.

I mentioned that the only thing missing from that set of photos are flames on the net and smoke coming off the ball, then they'd be sooooo money.   haha.

And of course I managed to walk away with several informal portraits that they'll cleverly use along with their social media outlets throughout time.

Smoke Break for Johnny

I was downtown and wanted to check out a location I had in mind for another idea as we drove by it.
John was with me so I used him as a stand in for the sake of bringing back fully metered exposures.

So he smoked a cig and we left...

Exposure Info:
19mm
ISO:  100
F-Stop:  18
Shutter Speed:  1/30th
Flash:  550 EX Speed Lite

Fun pics to look over either way, but this gives me a better idea for the shoot I'm working on with pen and paper right now.

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

I was asked if I had any time to spare to photograph a gathering to help raise awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Thursday evening.  They just requested a group photo and a few quick head shots of group members as well.

So, of course I stopped by Mathew's Trattoria and did exactly that.

I'll always do my best to provide for a groups servicing a greater cause, given the chance to.

Here's a few shots from their meeting:

Here's some reading material I had asked for, so I could post it along with my blog:

Erie's Finest

November 2011

Recognizing Erie's Finest Young Professionals

This prestigious event pays tribute to Erie's business professionals, generally 25-40 years of age, who are up and coming within the community.  Each honoree takes on the role of finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis by raising critical funds for research.  In this role, they are given the opportunity to network with other young professionals, align themselves with a charity, give back to the community, and help make a difference in the lives of so many families.  The event culminates with a ceremony that recognizes these amazing rising stars for what they have accomplished.

A reception and ceremony honoring Erie's Finest will be held in November.  Guests at this cocktail attire event will have the opportunity to mingle, bid for a cure, bid on a silent auction and commemorate this inaugural year's honorees.

Please join us in this important celebration of our finest community leaders and in the celebration of adding days to the lives of people with Cystic Fibrosis.

Contact Erin Ahlgren at 800-344-4823 ext 857 or email her at eahlgren@cff.org.

Crank'n Out Legit Interiors for a Website

Since I'm a contracted staff member for my people over at Epic Web Studios, they call me up when their clients are in need of super, awesome, amazing looking photos at a moments notice.

I love it when they hit me up, cause the work they find me is real legit, challenging, and extremely important to their client's needs.

(I'm not trying to come off pretentious about it either...  I really do care about that stuff haha.)

And its the best feeling delivering photos that take an already amazing looking website to the next level with pictures that are so clean, consistent, and vibrantly jumping off the screen in color and dimension.

And here's one of the photos of the front entrance from the shoot:

Villa Maria Academy, Erie PA

You could argue up and down with lens correction on this image.
I messed with it's perspective for a bit earlier, but it just made the image look cheap and undynamic with its awesome scale it has to offer.

I went backwards and kept it the way it was shot for the economy of the piece.

My preference and years of aesthetic technique win this argument.
Considering it's my piece of work and that's clearly the way I'm leaning with it haha.

Here's what the two finished photos of mine I took that afternoon look like on their website:

My history with this type of assignment:
I love metering for back lit scenes while illuminating interiors.  One of my first magazine industry staff jobs was to photograph stain glass windows at a Soldiers and Sailors home, but also have the interior completely lit with strobes up each side.  So ideally you would receive a fully evaluated exposure and be able to view and appreciate everything in the frame.

Below is that example from over 3 years ago:

I corrected the perspective for this photograph, because it was featuring the symbols and markings on the stain glass windows in the article.  That was important to see correctly.

A Man and His Piece in a World Gone Crazy

This dude showed up all in the A.M. Tuesday before he headed back to Pittsburgh, so we had a mini photo sesh.

yeah, yeah.  I know.
It's another piece of work where someone is screaming with a hand held prop.
...Well, that's because I decided I'm going to make a real kick ass photo series out of all this white BG, high key lighting material. 

So long as I keep the set up consistent, quick, and simple every time with this series,
then it will make my life a lot easier to pop out a bunch of these and pick the best of the best for the final draft.

But yeah, I've always felt high key portraits to be a bit stale.
Since it just looks like people are floating off in white space.

But I chose high key, and 20x20 inch format for this, cause I've always wanted a huge box format gallery series of people look'n nuts.

Mainly, because in the real world...  That's all I ever see people behaving like anymore.

We're surely living in a world gone crazy...

Later cuties.

Good Conversation Gone Bad and the Boombox Revolution!

It's my belief that you can set up shop anywhere it works.
Even if there's not enough room and you can't do it  ...You can still do it.

I had a studio for two to three years.
It was huge.
Here's a shot of it:

...I rarely photographed editorial in it.
Always traveled to the story.

 I'd be wedged between loading docks for trucks, in tiny kitchens, living rooms, stairwells, the middle of fields, warehouses, hospital rooms, hallways, and even the second floor of a bar in Cleveland that I had to keep making trips to the car to sneak all the strobes, backdrops, poles, and gear through the crowd of people for a head shot...That location wasn't secured either.  I just shot up there, cause that was the guy's favorite bar.

The point is I'm now shooting in my room, office, sleep situation, whatever you wanna call it while I'm trying to relocate the hell out of this town.
I don't own anything else besides equipment for my career other than a six string guitar.  Rarely had I cared to own more.

So I've got some space to work with here:

Today I just wanted to make a quick little film strip sequence with a man and an old phone.
Basically whoever got a hold of me first this afternoon could be the model.

Today it was Dave.

I just told Dave to have a fake conversation going from happy to angry over the phone.
It really only took one take going through it.
He's good at this stuff.

Then we went just went out back to smoke a cigar with half my equipment and an old boombox.
Just kinda moved some stuff around, set him up standing on a stool, and I used the trees and sky as the backdrop.

 I figured this shot was pretty outrageous, he'd use it for facebook, and it turns out that I actually kind of like it for not putting any effort into it.