lot of nothing

Not really a lot of photography happening here, but still managing to stay busy.  Not sure how that works but I seem to have a ton of logistics to handle.  Oh well, only about half of photography is taking pictures these days so in the theme of my week; here are a couple images that don't have anything to do with each other other than they popped into my camera in the last 6 days.  This is mainly a post in reminding myself to keep shooting.

alissa and jordon

I am not sure what to say, just realize we had a ton of fun creating these images. Like the last shot, Jordon was just pushing Alissa all innocent like, until the silly photographer begged the question, “I bet you can’t kiss her?”
He confidently replied, “Oh, I bet I could.”
 * click * -  perfect moment
We did it several times, just in case it didn’t work out. I think Jordon was ok with that.

Phoebe and Ryne

The first thing Phoebe and Ryne (just say Ryan) tell me as we are about to shoot their pre-wedding portraits is that they don’t look natural in front of the camera. Well guys, get that out of your minds because you sure looked natural and fun to me. Thanks again for letting me into your lives, even for an afternoon. Looking forward to the wedding.

a rainbow and the law

Yesterday, there was a crazy downpour all afternoon. After work it cleared up to reveal an amazing rainbow!! It was so big, I had to take several shots of different parts of the sky and stitch them together in order to see it all. We were on our way to grab something from a local vendor and I couldn’t contain myself, so I had Sarah head in and look around while I stayed outside and continued to snap away. After about 10 min an employee came out to yell at me. He stated that it is illegal to photograph their building and that I needed to leave. I told him that I was not taking photos of the building, but he was quick to say that it sure looked like it. I told him my wife was inside shopping and I would leave when she came out.

Well this really put a damper on my mood. But the bigger issue here is why are so many people afraid of photographers? The fact that I can search online and get several Photography related posts about this same issue is a little scary. Oh, and are no laws to back up his claim.  

Anyway, I really hope I didn’t ruin your day…just look at the images and smile at what God created.

erik

Photographing Erik’s senior portraits almost made me want to go back to High School, you catch that, I did say almost. It was a lot of fun photographing fellow soccer player, and fun to knock the ball back and forth as took some shots. (Did I make him do that shot more than he needed to because I was enjoying myself…maybe, we will never know) And yes, I love that juxtaposition between the soccer plaey and the nicely dressed Student. Good luck in the year to come, Erik. A little bit of me wishes I could join you.

stranger portraits

During the same weekend as the World Photo Walk I made it a point to photograph strangers…by getting their permission first. Yes, I have had refusals but that is expected, surprisingly I get more approvals though. Also, I have yet to have anyone refuse with a disgruntled attitude, so I am not sure why I am so afraid of approaching people. One of my recent refusals though was still enlightening; I approached and struck up a conversation a young couple, soon I asked if I could take their portrait, they refused. But quickly after refusing, they thanked me for asking, I guess a lot of people photograph them and move on, like a zoo, but no one interacts with them. I found out they are homeless. Yes there is a bigger social issue here but for photographers we have an amazing opportunity, with our cameras and stories we tell, to engage and talk to people; but it is funny how we usually use it as a shield. I tried to break that in me, here are a couple results from the Farmers Market and the World Photo Walk: