Category Archives: roanoke photographer

Valentine’s Day Engagement Special!!

I know a lot of you lovebirds will be getting engaged tomorrow and to help you celebrate I’m offering a slew of upgrades and good stuff through the end of February!  Contact me via email at info@michaelsinkphotography.com or text/call 540-871-4035 (leave a message if I’m tied up!)  Setup a face to face meeting over coffee and I’ll give you all the juicy details on the deals!

 

(BTW the photo is for Turnback Tuesdays!  Aaron and Kelly had a beautiful wedding way back in 2010!)

Thursday Throwdown! Mad Max Edition

Today I finally watched Mad Max : Fury Road, and although I’m sure that this movie wasn’t for everyone I was enthralled for the entire 2 hours!  With some over the top violence, sparse and mumbled dialogue from time to time and a plot that may have been thin here and there you may wonder what I have to rave about here.

Well, I watched the Black and Chrome Edition (seek it out on your favorite streaming service  for purchase or pick up a disk for archival purposes).  This was the version that George Miller (director) prefers himself.  The oversaturated oranges and blues were to differentiate it from other post-apocalyptic movies and WOW audiences.  It did just that with a great box office record to show for it.

I have always had a thing for B/W imagery and movies,  probably stemming from my days in the darkroom back in the day.  It’s timeless, it’s classic, it doesn’t reflect whatever crazy hues were in style right now but gone next season.  I’ll show you an example here of one of my puppies…

This image is straight out of camera (SOOC) unedited and it’s fine.  Fine is nice (I should’ve mowed the lawn before maybe), but we want exemplary, we want AWESOME!  Don’t get me wrong, Frejya IS awesome but this image was just fine.

There, that’s better…  A little more contrast, a little more OOOMMPPFF!  I should totally hang this on the wall!

For another amazing B/W movie take a minute and seek out Pi (directed by Darren Aronofsky), shot in B/W using a high contrast reversal film process!

For a peek at what inspired this post take a look at the video below…  (let me know what you thought in the comments!!)

Lindsay & Cary’s Engagement Session

  Lindsay met us at Karolina & Chris’ wedding, she and Cary got a first-hand look at how we work on the wedding day.  During the reception they introduced themselves and inquired about our availability for the following year, I told them we were available on that day and that we should meet to discuss everything.  We met a few weeks later over coffee and had a blast getting to know on another and talking about their big day!  We met for their Engagement shoot (get to know you session) at a neighbor’s farm for a little horseback shoot…

  We headed into the woods and found a great fallen tree, all mossy like and had to stop for a quick shoot there…

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At the bottom of the trail we had these crazy kids climbing on rocks in the middle of the river for some lovey-dovey fun!IMG_0012A super cute sequence!IMG_0027IMG_0028IMG_0031Horseback?  Oh yeah, She’s got skills!  Romantic? you bet!IMG_0147I love this candid moment…IMG_0165IMG_0176IMG_0178Next we got some sun-kissed goodness in the field…IMG_0187Add a giant strobe and you get this…  (CD cover anyone?  They rocked this photoshoot!)IMG_0195 We can’t wait for the wedding day!IMG_0270A blingety-ring!  (Nice job Cary!)IMG_0291So relaxed and natural, they are truly in love!IMG_0300Hang this one on the wall guys!IMG_5677

Boudoir

  Sexy, sophisticated, tasteful, beautiful, sultry, sensual
Every man thinks of these terms when describing the one they love. Unfortunately, most women aren’t able to see themselves this way. We want to help you unveil your beauty by bringing out the most sexy part of you… your CONFIDENCE.

  Let us match up your inner confidence and your outer most beauty with your first boudoir session. We will start with some fashion oriented images to help you get comfortable and natural for the camera. Then, we will direct you through some poses that will have you and your man doing a double-take.  As a husband and wife team we have a balanced approach to your poses and expressions that add up to a great session!
  Lastly, we’ll help you select the perfect images for a private album for your partner to give as a special anniversary, valentine, or wedding day gift.  Not only will you have these images for a lifetime, you will also gain a sexiness and confidence that will outlast your photo session and carry into your relationship.
Book your session now!!
  Contact us at info@michaelsinkphotography.com
  MaDonna and Kelly chose to book their sessions together, as best friends they had already been to get their nails done together, and decided to make it a girls day out…
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This was their “tough girls” image!IMG_0129-2

Maternity

  Motherhood is such a beautiful time in a woman’s life, bringing a new soul into the world, a growing family…  We love to capture this moment at it’s peak, around 8 months or so.  Stephanie came to the studio to start her shoot with her husband with some classic maternity images…IMG_0007IMG_0014Anthony stepped in and lent a masculine contrast to the images…IMG_0035a…working with these two was easy, loving looks and embraces were the order of the day.IMG_0041This one has a real ethereal feel to it…IMG_0047…and some dramatic lighting here to accent Stephanie’s pregnant form…IMG_0051A little belly dance attire for fun!IMG_0059One of our favorites….IMG_0066After the studio Stephanie wanted to head down to the river for some magical images…IMG_0105

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Contact us regarding booking your session for maternity images now!

Kara (boudoir, fashion bridals…)

  Kara replied to a casting call that I posted on a modeling site regarding boudoir images…

  We have found that every woman we have ever photographed (brides, maternity, seniors, family portraits, etc.) is VERY self-critical before and during the beginning of the shoot, but by the end of the shoot they always feel better about themselves, seeing themselves in a new light (no pun intended!), to see this transformation is amazing, the posture is a little better when they leave, a little smile stays on their lips, an air of confidence surrounds them.

  We are adding boudoir sessions because we feel it will be a great gift for brides to give to their fiancé as a pre-wedding gift the day of the wedding, or for an anniversary, birthday, and so on.  Imagine the look on his face when he sees these tasteful images of you, a very special gift for him merely hours before he takes your hand in marriage.  Now imagine how good you’ll feel having been posed professionally and images captured with dramatic lighting that feel like they could be an ad in Vogue or Elle…

  We met Kara and discussed what we would like to get for our portfolio and she for hers, where the locations were, what clothing to bring etc.  This pre-meeting also gave us a chance to get to know each other a little bit, joke around, and loosen up a week or so before the shoot.  To make things a little smoother we started the shoot with a sun-dress outdoors downtown…

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Kara braved the bugs and heat with us to capture some fun images…

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Now, a little more sultry, turn up the heat a little…

IMG_0052Pow!  There we go, that all comes together for a pretty smashing series!

  Next we wanted some images in a wedding dress that we picked up a while back.  To shoot some Trash the Dress Fashion Bridal images, so we stayed downtown, reset lights while Kara changed (in our pop-up changing booth) and she helped us create these images…

This one was just begging for some sepia… IMG_0067-2

Flirty fun in front of the municipal building…IMG_0069

Ummm…  WOW!  Kara pulled all the stops for this sultry look…IMG_0073   IMG_0084

So, these are NOT your mother’s bridal are they?  We thought not!  The dress is barely dirty but you get some great images in it that you probably won’t get on your wedding day…IMG_0089

I love the blue sky in these as well as Kara’s beauty…IMG_0094

This has a bit of a grungy dirty feel to it…IMG_0099

After that great warm-up we headed to some space that I have available to shoot the boudoir images.  I had previously set everything up to save time and get right down to shooting…

     A simple white shirt, some great lighting, we’re off to a great start…IMG_0125 Some bedroom eyes, a black and white treatment, wouldn’t your man love to have images like this of you?..IMG_0126 …shirt off the shoulder, flirty smile, direct eye contact…IMG_0128 did she catch the scent of your cologne on the shirt to trigger memories?IMG_0130  More direct, fun, sassy…IMG_0134 Wow!  Well Hello, Kara!  A very simple yet high impact pose here…IMG_0138 Kara had asked if we could get some shots that showcased her tattoo (that she designed) so we started with an image that shows off the design but also has a soft feel to it…IMG_0144  Then we got a little more dramatic with the lighting and brought out the tattoo more…IMG_0156 and finally a less direct gaze and a wonderful set of images!IMG_0161

 

Thanks Kara!  We still plan on a trip to see you and shoot some more soon!

What do you say Ladies?  Are you ready to feel great about yourself?  Celebrate your upcoming wedding?  Your anniversary?  Give your man the perfect gift?  Want to celebrate a milestone in your life?  Let us know, we can meet and discuss your session!

Something different…

  I am a people photographer, interacting with people, bringing out their personality in the photo, coaxing out another personality they want in the photo, it’s half of the fun.  Oftentimes people walk away from a photoshoot feeling better than when they arrived, more confident, sexier, their head held a little higher maybe…

  I know a lot of photographers who are great at their craft, very talented people, but won’t photograph a human to save their life!!  But the landscape images and flowers and macros and still-lifes they create are amazing.  Every once in a while I force myself to try to see the personality in something that I can’t talk to and coax it out of, sometimes I succeed, sometimes not…

 

These flowers seemed to be basking in the last rays of the sun, aching for it’s warmth before the light gave way to darkness and cold…

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In the shade of a stand of trees this little one spread its petals as wide as possible in a desperate plea for attention, this bright tiny (about a 1/2” across) flower screaming to be known…

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This last one stood confidently in the sun, strong and tall, showing off it’s clean lines and almost European good looks…

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Do you think that any of them walked away from their session more confidently?  Take a look next time you see them and let me know…

Michael

ps:  when is your session?

Karolina and Chris E-Session

  We will be at Saint Andrew’s again later on this year with Karolina and Chris, so to get away from the Downtown/Metro scene we headed up on the parkway for the engagement session.  I scouted out the site for Explore park two days before our shoot was scheduled and looked around, a nice place but not quite magical…

  Cue Karolina and Chris to enter from stage left!  Suddenly this old park (no longer in use) takes on a new life for their images, great smiles from Chris, cute flirts from Karolina and POW! her is what we get!

  The light was right, the mood was there, we had a great time with them and can’t wait for the wedding in October!