Category Archives: fun

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!

A little tidbit…

A while back I attended a car show in downtown Roanoke in the rain. Dodging in and out of alcoves and covered areas as the rain passed over and came down, I was able to capture some decent images of some really nice cars, some that were rather rare! I have recently re-processed these with a more artistic/experimental flair, see what you think…

This Cadilac was really sweet…
pimp caddy in pseudo hdr

I can’t remeber what this engine was in, but under the hood was detailed to perfection and the blower stack was pretty impressive too!
big blower

These fellas were hanging out near their 40 coupe and using the remote to roll down the windows and open the doors when innocent onlookers would lean in for a closer look. They were getting a real kick out of it! When I approached with my camera they struck up a conversation and I had to tack a photo with the fisheye lens on and show them what it does, they were quite surprised at the image (this one was just about 6″ from his nose when I released the shutter!
what?  you need somethin'?

This old Willys Jeep was restored to mil-specs…
willys jeep

I thought you all might enjoy a different look on here, feel free to let me know what you think.