Family photographer

I shoot pictures of families more than you might think. I really enjoy the commercial and editorial work, but there is something about taking pictures of children that is refreshing - not to mention the look on peoples' faces when they see a really nice picture of their child.

One of the first things that really made me want to be a professional photographer was a mom who cried when she saw her daughter's senior pictures. The daughter cried because she had never seen a picture of herself that she liked (she was a cute girl too), which then made her mom cry.

That made me think that this is something I want to do more of.

Don't get me wrong, I love the kudos from other artists on a cool shot that is executed well and is visually compelling. That is awesome too. That said, there is nothing like simple pictures sometimes to best reflect the subject -



- or even the unposed photos that reflect the context of a typical day -

Color photography

I have been listening to the lenswork podcast lately, and I have to highly recommend it to anyone out there interested in photography or art generally. Some very insightful podcasts made me try some new stuff, and it worked out well. I went out light, brought only a tripod and reflector with a couple of prime lenses (50mm 1.4 and 100mm 2.8) and my 24-105L on my 5D.

I don't usually shoot photos with strong color elements, and I really dislike ubersaturation, but this one worked for me. It was really cold, so Mary and I had coffee afterward. I took the opportunity to shoot some off the cuff lifestyle-ish stuff.

Man, Mary commands attention. Men and women stop (or honk, screech or rev) in their tracks when she is dressed up and we go somewhere. Some woman almost got rear ended while we walked down the street with Mary in a nice (but not that revealing) black dress. It was funny at first, but it would get old after a while. That said, there are worse problems than being six foot, blond and slender (and I would add for Mary's sake - smart and really nice to boot). It was just odd to me, being a middle of the road looks kind of person, to see people act like such dufuses (dufii maybe?) when a pretty woman is around.

Here are a couple of photos from today's shoot:

Salem fashion photo

I find myself wondering what makes a good photo on flickr.

Explore, flickr's automated cool photo chooser, tends to pick trite crap, like kittens and uninspiring flowers (there are great flower pictures, but 99% of them are really bad). I have only had a couple picked for explore, one of which I don't what it was. I had deleted it before I found out it was chosen (you can look up which of your photos were chosen).

I did post one of Mary today that got four comments within 30 seconds of posting, so I thought I would blog it as well. Here is Mary, on a cloudy day, using exposure to create a high key look. Please feel free to comment here or on flickr. I moderate the comments here just to cut out spam, but I do appreciate hearing feedback.

Amy's pin up shoot

OK, now that it is over, I can say that I recommend folks take the class and shoot when Amy comes back in May. All of the women seemed like they had fun, and all but one loved their make up and look. The person who did make up used to be my hairstylist, and now he has his own place. It was probably the least I have had to touch up anyone, though he is not as good as the Amy I usually use for make up at eyeshadow. That said, his under-eye circle make up was top notch. Clothes were solid, from Cherry Redd, and they definitely served to accentuate the girls' figures.

All said, good so far. I did screw up tracking who was who, but I will just print a contact sheet and go into Cherry Redd, to get Derek or Nina's help in identifying everyone. Photos are all edited and will go up on flickr soon. I don't know that any were good enough for my port, but one that I like is below. We went with a white seamless, one of my least favorite ways to shoot, because of the volume of people. With 20 minutes or so each, there was not time to tool much with lights and such.

I definitely want to rent a hotel or something next time so that the bigger girls are not shot super-contrasty against white. We need to get an environment that takes away from the bold figure contrast of the white seamless.

All said, it went really well, and I had a lot of fun. www.adamphotographic.com for my official site.

Pin-up photography

I did a shoot with a bunch of people taking a class by Amy on pin-up modeling. I had a good time, and it was interesting to shoot with such a wide variety of people both age and body styles. I will edit some of the photos and post some on my flickr account this evening. I went generic at Amy's suggestion because of how many people we shot in the day - no time for my usual on-the-fly setup.

Thanks to Cherry Redd (come on Derek and Nina, get that site built so I can link to ya) for putting the event together. I hope we can do more in the future.

Anyone interested, give me a shout, and I will email you when the next class comes around. I think Amy does this here and in Seattle. From what I could tell all of the women really liked the class. One woman didn't like her make up, but everyone photographed as well as they could (photography make up is a little heavier than typical make up) regardless.

Probably the thing I enjoy most about photography is working with people who are surprised at how good they look when a make up artist and decent photographer get done with them. Anyway, fun was had for all. I will post again when some photos are done.

Salem fashion photographer

Wow, life is super busy these days!

First off, I got an iPhone. I know, I was going to wait for V2, but this had a lot going for it in my eyes. The real internet is a big plus, not to mention the access to email anytime. Big shout out to the editor of Lens Work who has a really good podcast. I need to take some of that advice to heart and shoot what I want more - it always turns out better when I do.

That said, I have a very large shoot Sunday with 18 women who are doing a pin-up modeling class at Cherry Redd, the clothing store in my studio building. Should be a lot of fun. The class is booked, so email me if you want in for the next one and I will hook you up with the people running the show. The class ends with a second day photo session of 20-30 minutes with yours truly.

Anyway, I am also working on getting a new web site to split my portraiture and commercial work. Some commercial jobs look down on people who shoot portraits as do some in the fine art world, so I will break up my various efforts into little mini-brands if you will.

I haven't updated my portfolio for a bit nor posted at flickr despite being so busy shooting. I will try to post some today, but I also need to edit some files from a shoot yesterday and last week, which is what I am doing this afternoon.

On an even further non-photo related note, a girl that I dated a little in college emailed me through myspace (I don't visit it very often, so I responded a month late). It was wierd to read that we dated 12 years ago. Holy crap that makes me feel ancient. Anyway, she is still in the motherland of Las Vegas, so maybe I will stop by and say hi next time I am there.

Drop me a line if you stumble across this and we knew each other back in the day,

Adam

Salem modeling

There is some kind of modeling event going on in early March that I have been asked to photograph. I am not sure about the details, but we will see what happens there. The event is Mar. 8-9, with some auditions prior to that.

Likewise, Cherry Redd, a clothing store in my studio building, has asked me to shoot some pin up fashion shots for a pin up modeling class. I think those are Sunday, Mar. 2.