greek conference portraits

Along with making general images of Greek Conference, I was also asked to create quick portraits of students…sounds really easy on paper but this was the hardest part about my photography job. For some reason I really struggled jumping into this assignment (even though I have photographed strangers before) never have I had this much anxiety; twice I had to turn around and walk into a room where no one else was. It was not until I accidently found my solution that I felt much better about it: Instead of asking “can I take your photo,” I would say, “hey, you have letters on, can I get a photo?” Just the simple ask to photograph the students letters, instead of them, seemed to take the focus (and creepiness) away and I was able to get the job done. Similar to public speaking where if you have the audience focused on a prop, it is easier to speak. I bet there are a ton of psychologists out there that could tell me why my brain works this way, but it was an amazing help for me this time. These are not necessarily my most beautiful images, but graphic designers just eat these up and create a lot of impactful banners and promotional material out of these simple images.

greek conference

This last weekend, InterVarsity’s twentonehundred productions drove down to Indianapolis to join over 500 fraternity and sorority students for Greek Conference. One of the assignments I had was to photograph the event and post images to Facebook; see those here, and my favorites below.

baby gracelyn kay

No need for words.
Congratulations Beth and Ryan.

phoebe and ryne wedding

Phoebe and Ryne (their portrait session here) started off the 2011 wedding season for me.  I have never been ahead of schedule A FULL HOUR before, just a testament to Phoebe's organization skills I am told. Talking to her mom (great British accent by the way, it was fun) revealed that if we had on time, it would have felt like we were late to Phoebe.

Thanks to you both for including me in your day, and congratulations.  If the wedding is a taste, your lives will be solid...and not to mention fun.

nate

Nate's recent video project (see Wrestling for Jesus here, yes you really want to) has just been accepted into the Madison Film Festival (this is big stuff) and he needed some head shots, so he called me. I am honored, to say the least.

I learned a lot from Nate about shooting video; we've worked together in a Guatemala prison and shot racing cars to name a few.  

amazing video - Dark Side of the Lens

This is not my video essay, although I wish I could accomplish something of this caliber.

I feel a lot when I watch this, maybe it is the mood that all the visuals, music, great voice and excellent writing create, or it could be that I have always wanted to get into the water with a camera.

The biggest thing that hits me is at 2:50:
“I want to see wave riding documented the way I see it in my head, and the way I feel it in the sea. It is a strange set of skills to begin to acquire, and only achievable from time spent riding waves; all sorts of wave on all sorts of crafts, means more time learning out in the water.”

He is driven by passion, and that passion built off of experience, experiences he is willing to work through the cold to find it…in fact he hopes to work at it the rest of his life.

What is my passion?

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

snow in my pants

Today feels like Saturday…but it is Wednesday.

I never attended school in a place where I would have been granted a snow day, but this might be what it feels like. Today we woke up to 17 inches of snow, but walking around I found drifts that sent snow down the back of my pants. I didn’t venture very far but there were some great trees next door that beckoned me to take their portraits.