Category Archives: photographer

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!!)

Caroline & Joe’s wedding!

We were honored to be asked to photograph Caroline and Joe’s wedding at Wisteria Ridge!  We had a gorgeous fall day with a constant breeze up in the mountains of Callaway, VA.

Shanna Bush was there guiding the way, ensuring everything went smoothly!

Just a little teaser before the big reveal!

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!

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?

We’re winners! Thanks a million!

I received a phone call back in December from The Knot wedding magazine and was reluctant at first to call back. We get calls from magazines, websites, and other publications looking for us to buy advertise with them. For those of you who have met with us we have probably told you that we don’t advertise (except for rare exceptions involving a favor or acquaintance), that all of our publicity comes from word of mouth (my absolute favorite!) and Google.

So I reluctantly called back and spoke with Kimberly at The Knot, she told me that we had been picked by Knotties (brides on The Knot website) as a favorite photographer for Virginia! Then she got on into the advertising spiel! I then asked her how these “favorites” had been chosen and she informed me that all brides with weddings in 2009 were asked who their favorite vendors were for their weddings. I kept an eye on the newsstand for the DC/Maryland/Virginia issue of The Knot Best of Weddings issue and picked up a copy to check out. Their were only 47 photographers in that area picked (most from DC and Maryland), so I am flattered and proud, and a flood of other emotions!

This is a description and FAQ about the best of weddings http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/planning-a-wedding/articles/best-of-weddings-2008.aspx?MsdVisit=1 , they have a list up on the web as well here.

Here are a few snapshots of the magazine…

Cover

Page 18 baby!
Contents

Carley’s note regarding the idea behind it…
Page 12

Ta Da!!
Page 22

Thanks you sooo much to all of our brides that are on The Knot!

Some other local vendors that made the list…

Amrhein’s

Casey’s Cakes

Gail Wilson

Foodies

Mary’s Party Works

Schaal’s – great food, and a professional staff, Jim has been great to work with!

Kidd Carter

RSP Entertainment – Roy and his crew have worked several events and have kept the part alive!

Cuts Creative Florist

The Woodland Place – Awesome venue, great outdoor wedding space and plenty of photo ops!

Hidden Valley Country Club

Thanks again to all of our brides!

New Year

The New Year is here! (I know, I know, I’m about 20 days late with this one!) We had a great year last year finishing up with portraits of one of our favorite couples in the whole world (their post will be up soon!). While we had everything setup we had my Dad shoot a few shots of us that we’ll be using on the website…

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Awww… I love my girl!

Thanks to Dad for letting me tear apart his dining room to setup the lights and background (it’s actually almost perfect!) and for shooting these and being so supportive, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without you there.

Thanks as well to all of our clients (some who have become friends as well), we’ll keep you posted of upcoming opportunities through the year, keep an eye out here and in your email box.

We have already shot our first wedding this year with another just around the corner in February! We are booking quickly for the latter part of the year and have inquiries from North Carolina for weddings! If you have sent someone our way, let me know and if things work out (we book the client) we’ll send you a surprise! (No, it will NOT be a framed print of the wife and I from above, I promise!)

We have plans for this year to be a blockbuster as far as sessions, and events, and innovation are concerned!

Being the first of the year most people are resolving things, you know writing resolutions for the New Year. How often have you kept them all? It’s totally hit or miss for me as well, I found a West Coast photographer that I follow that does 101 in 1001 lists every three years… What is that, you may ask? 101 things to do in 1001 days (I’m rounding up to three years for simplicity).

I’m going to share this list with you, some of them are business oriented, some are personal, some tread a fine-line, and some are mental health associate (you’ll see!). All of these are attainable, some are very probable, some are downright easy, I’ve just gotta do it!

Click here to view the list

Some of these I’ll need help with (know any Vikings?) if you can help let me know, if you read the list, let me know what you thought… I’ll be updating it with dates as things get checked off.

Family Portraits!

Whitney had met with us concerning her wedding in 2010 and booked us right away! We met downtown for an engagement shoot that was very metropolitan and pretty hot to boot! After family saw the E-Session images they inquired about a family portrait session that would feature the fall colors.
We lucked into a beautiful day with the sun streaming through and warming us all up!

We can’t wait for the wedding!!