Chelsea Prom 2k14

May 14, 2014

Last Friday is our local high school's Senior Prom. I was asked by a former student if I would take photos for her and jumped at the chance.

Chelsea was in the first group of students I had taught just a short six years ago. It has been a treat to keep in touch with her and see not only her but the rest of my students grow up to be adults. It's my favorite thing about being a teacher, being able to make a positive change in people and then see them years later. Being what I call "teacher famous" will never get old.

Chelsea and Jesus were so fun to work with. You can definitely tell they are in love, and it really shows in the photos. As we moved around their neighborhood taking the photos, cars slowed and watched as these two young people in love goofed around and acted for the camera.

Chelsea had texted me a few days later thanking me for doing the shoot and said, "The shoot was better than the actual prom!" I will definitely take that as a win and wish the both of them much success as they move onto the next part of their lives. Congratulations to them and everyone in the class of 2014!

Ann Marie Photoshoot

May 13, 2014

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to photograph the beautiful Ann Marie Manzoeillo. She is a cruise ship dancer for Carnival Cruises. She needed some head-shots done for when she finishes up her final trip here in a few months. I had learned a trick a while back on how to shoot on white backgrounds and decided to try it out again here.

I used a 3 light setup. Two gridded striplights in front and then a big octobox right behind her facing the camera. I pushed the light till it was blown out in camera- creating a pure white background. Then for areas that were not covered by the octa I just cloned and Photoshopped out. Images were all shot with a 70-200 2.8 at 1/200 sec, f5.6, ISO100.

Again, Ann is an amazing dancer, being a family friend we have followed her career closely and love seeing her being successful. Traveling the world following her passion, dance. If you are on a cruise in the near future keep a close eye out for her!

Relay for Life- Maricopa

April 28, 2014

Great time for a great cause. I was asked to take pictures of the Maricopa Relay for Life walk. Relay for Life is an event where teams walk all through the night and raise money to fight cancer. I have partipated in the event a few years ago and was happy to help for such a good cause. It was also a good challenge as had not been to the new park yet. As I walked around I found the perfect spot to get some great overhead shots of the entire park. Unfortunately, it was on the top of the waterslide that was locked up and in the Rec Center. After asking around and using good manners, myself and one other photographer were given permission to go up during the illuminati ceremony. That is when they shut off all the lights in the park and everything is illuminated by candles while the participants silently walk around the track. It was awesome to be up there during that time.

Once I got my shots I hustled down to make another shot I had envisioned since getting the assignment. Just a simple shot of a child lit by candlelight. I got it just as they turned back the lights. It turned out to be one of my favorite shots of the night.

After that there was one more shot I had envisioned that turned out to be harder than I thought. I wanted to do a light painting in front of this big wooden "Cure" sign that was lit up with Luminaria bags. The problem was that there was a lot of distracting elements around it including a lightpost that spilled a ton of light right were I didn't want it. For my first time trying lightpainting, I think I did a pretty good job. I found it would be easier to just write the letters in the sky above the letters, then cut them out, and moved them to where it fit into the picture.

ISO 100, 28mm, f22, 8 sec. 10 picture layered photo.

Here is a gallery of the rest of the photos from the night. Again, I had a great night and learned a lot. I had been in a photo slump the last two weeks, but have quite a few shoots lined up in the next few weeks. Thanks for reading and check back again next week!