Senior Portraits and Travel.

Had a great senior portrait shoot this weekend with Amy. Above are two of my favorites from the afternoon. Haven't had much of a chance to process the other images yet and I probably won't until the end of the week. I'm in Vermont today for a photo shoot, another in Maine tonight, and then flying out of New Hampshire tomorrow afternoon. Kind of cool to check out the East Coast a little, never really been here before. Everything is so close together. Watch for more photos in the next couple days.

Practicing for Underwater Portraits.

Well, good news, someone must be reading this blog: I got a handful of calls this week about the Underwater Senior Portrait Challenge and it sounds like I've got two brave souls in the Ashland area who are ready to give it a shot. Awesome. I'm not going to say who they are until after the shoot (which should be in the middle of August), but I'm super excited. I went out again this weekend to practice in the water a little more before the big shoot. Underwater photos are way harder than normal photography. There's a lot more to think about all at once, including how long can you actually hold your breath while you get things set up. Anyway, none of my friends wanted to pose for a practice shot, so I found this little fella. What he lacked in beauty he made up for in patience.

Turn a little, smile with your eyes, perfect...click...hold that...click...okay, now pout for the camera...perfect, click...okay, take a break, there's some water over there if you want some...

We swam around in circles for a good ten minutes before he got bored with the whole scene and moved on. Kind of cool. Watch for some real underwater portraits in the next few weeks.

Camera + Airplane = Awesome-tacular.

 

Ring, Ring. Hello?... What's that you say?... You'd like a few aerial photographs? I'd love to but I don't have an airplane...Oh. Well, if you have a private, luxury airplane and an excellent pilot I can borrow, that should work fine. I suppose I could make a little time in my busy schedule to do that. Let me see when I'm available to do something like that...How about... any second of any day..Ever.

Let me sum up of the rest of the experience this way: TOTALLY FRICKIN' AWESOME. Special thanks to Pilot Dave Mauer for giving me some great angles over the City of Ashland and the Apostles Islands.

The Underwater Senior Portrait Challenge.

I had some time this weekend to experiment more with an underwater camera housing I got a while back. The photo above is one of many lovely self portraits that I made while playing with it. Obviously, the subject leaves a lot to be desired, but all in all I think the picture is pretty cool: interesting background, good color, nice light, and most importantly, a rockin' perspective that you don't get to see every day. That of course got me to thinking (always a dangerous thing), how can I use this to do something cooler than just taking pictures of me holding my breath. So here it is folks, Hired Lens Photography announces the The Underwater Senior Portrait Challenge.

You think I'm kidding. I'm not. I'm looking for some brave high school student (or two) in the Chequamegon Bay Area that wants to take their senior portrait underwater. I'm offering a 15% discount to anyone that will use one of the poses from their portrait package to do an underwater shoot. The rest of the session can be normal terrestrial-based photography. Why do I want to do this so bad? Because its different, because it's a fun challenge for me as a photographer, and because I think it will look really cool when it's all done. And  that's always the goal: great photographs. So who's with me? Worst-case scenario, you choose one of the other, more standard photos from our shoot for the year book and you still have a good story to tell. Think about it, and contact me if you're the bold aquatic subject I'm looking for. This is the chance to do something really different.

Happy Birthday America.

It was a great 4th of July Weekend up here in the middle of nowhere. Beautiful weather, cold beer, and dangerous explosives. What more could anyone want? We spent some time on the beach, caught the parade on Madeline Island, and ate more grilled items than anyone should really consume in one weekend. Here are a few snapshots to comemorate America's 234th birhtday:

 

Remember Film?

About a year ago, maybe a little bit more, my friends Merm and Tara gave me a really amazing old Kodak range-finder camera that they found while cleaning out a family member's basement. Without going all camera-dork on you and getting way to far into the details, I'll just say that it totally rocks. It rocks for two reasons: because it's a really great classic camera, but also because it got me shooting film again. Remember film, that thin plasticky stuff that came in rolls? It's how we took photos before digital. Anyone, remember that...anyone? Well anyway, not only did I start shooting film with that camera, it also got me to haul out my box of old cameras (yep, you heard that right I literally have a box of cameras) and start playing around. For the last year on and off, I've been shooting certain things with film, processing the rolls and scanning the negatives to capture all the texture and dynamic range it has. Despite all the amazing advantages of digital, there's still something really special about film, something amazing about the process and the product. Especially now that film as a medium seems to be dying (try finding you favorite film, it's tricky and pricey when you do). But here's the real kicker: much as I hate to admit it, I realized that I still approach shooting film with a little more caution, a little more thought, than digital. I pause more to think before releasing the shutter and I think that's a great thing to do. With digital I usually start shooting and then start worrying about the details, make adjustments, change angles. In the end I get the same shots, but the process is very differnt. So maybe that's the best lesson from the old Kodak: to bring that level of focus--that thought process--back to my digital work. Definitely something to think about. Thanks Merm and Tara, some prints are on their way. In the mean time here are a few my favorites:

Busy.

Wow. Okay. I just had my first chance in three months to take a deep breath. It's been a busy spring. Good, but busy. Between shooting, editing, and some other projects at home, pretty much all my time has been booked. I just got back from Milwaukee late friday night, was home for two days and now I'm in Grand Marais, MN for another project. I'm getting to meet lots of cool people though, and getting some good images along the way. I haven't even had time to toss up a few of my favorites from recent shoots, but I promise they're coming soon. Today and tomorrow are the last of my spring editorial projects, then senior portrait season is right around the corner. I've already gotten the first few e-mails about sessions during the summer. Should be a good year. Have a great week and stay tuned for a few new photos in the next week or so.

 

Boston.

 

Well, I'm back from a week at a conference in Boston. Seems like a pretty cool town. I think I would have enjoyed the old "Bean Town" a lot more if I wasn't sick the whole time. Still made it out for a few nice dinners and grabbed a few nice shots of the city from the balcony of my hotel room. Glad to be be back though. It's always a little easier to be sick at home. I need to kick this cold before we leave next week for North Carolina.

Food.

 

I did a photo shoot for the Ashland Baking Company earlier this week to help fill out their new website. I'm finishing up the post processing this evening. Looking at these photos is making my mouth water. Kealy and Jess did an amazing job preparing some absolutely beautiful plates for the shoot. Then after we photographed them,  I did an amazing job devouring the food off of those plates. Frickin' delicious. I was so stuffed by the end of the shoot I could barely carry my equipment out to the truck. Here are a few of my favorite frames:

{Body} - Photoshoot

 

Last week I shot the majority of the photos for my upcoming exhibit, {Body}, in one marathon photoshoot. It was amazing. Many thanks to our friends that rallied some bravery and came to model. I'm hoping to have prints on the wall by the end of the month. The show will be housed in the Stage North Lobby in the heart of Washburn's theatre district. Check back later in March for more details about the show and a possible opening reception. In the meantime, here's a sneak peak at a few of the pieces:

Let the Games Begin.

In a celebration of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Stage North organized a torch relay from Ashland to Washburn on Friday afternoon and I was asked to grab a few photos of the event for posterity. It was really quite the undertaking. More than 30 runners took turns carrying the torch for legs of the relay which ended in front of Stage North. There an Olympic Caldron (AKA a weber grill full of lighter fluid on a 12 foot pudium) stood waiting to be lit. After ceremoniously setting that ablaze (with out any of the technical difficulties experienced in Vancouver), everyone went inside to watch the "Official" Opening Ceremonies on the big screen in the theatre.

And like any worthwhile athletic pursuit, the event was followed by a party at the bar complete with spinning records and heavy drinking. Behold the incredible power of the Olympiad to inspire us all to greatness.

Inside for a Change.

 

After lots of shooting out in the cold lately, it was nice to shoot some indoor portraits late last week. I haven't worked with any children's photography in a couple months and Finn, the model for this particular shoot, reminded me of two very important things: (1) toddlers are way faster than you think and not predisposed to staying exactly where you put them and (2) kids can look good in a photo regardless of what they're doing. Smiling is cute. Crying is cute. Drooling is fantastically cute. Kids can't lose. Pretty much anything is free game. This is not true in all types of photography, like bridal photography for example. While a sobbing bride may be heartwarming in some specific contexts, drooling is almost always a no go.

Anyway, this was my second shoot with Finn and both times we've gotten some really good stuff. Here are a few more of my favotires from the most recent shoot:

 

 

Winter.

 

Yep. It's definitley winter. Today is the first day in about a week that the mercury climbed out of the single digits. The snow has been beautiful and I've still been getting out to make a few photos. This kind of cold makes everything a little harder, but I think that's what I love about winter. I like the challenge. Even little accmplishments in the winter seem to have more weight. Everything feels a little more like an adventure (see above). Here are a few of my recent wintery favorites:

 

Okay, try not to look cold. Ready...Go.

Had my last Senior Portait session of 2009 this past weekend. Stephanie and her mother, Penny, drove up from Drummond for a shoot on Sunday afternoon. It was a clear, beautiful day here in Ashalnd. It was also about 8 degrees. That, if you're not aware, is cold. Real winter weather makes photo shoots a lot harder. Things freeze up, parts break in the cold, fingers get too cold to push the shutter button. Winter shoots are hard on the camera, they're hard on the lights, they run batteries dead in no time flat, but, most of all, winter shoots are hard on the subject. Stephanie was a trooper. 

Now, keep in mind, I was wearing long underwear and about 42 layers of polyethelene and fleece for this shoot. Stephanie on the other hand was wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans. Afterall who wants to look like they're on an arctic expedition in their yearbook photo (Okay, okay. I would have loved to look like I was on an arctic expedition in my yearbook, but I've always been a little ...abnormal, shall we say.). She would sit in her car while we got a shot set up and then hustle out, peel off her winter coat, and try to look warm for a few minutes while I snapped away. Then back to the car to warm up for a little bit. Not a perfect system, but we got some pretty cool photos. After about an hour and half outside, we went inside for a couple studio portraits. Here are a few of my favorites:

 

Redemption.

It worked. Todd and Ray, IT superheroes of the highest degree, ressurected my harddrive. They performed some sort of black magic voodoo and brought it back from the dead. I'm a little vague on the process but it involved eviscerating the drive, freezing some of the guts, plugging it into some sort of fancy computer with special sneeky drive reading software, and then sacrificing a chicken to the Technology Gods in hopes that the blood would appease their anger. And it did. I think that's how it all went, can't remember exactly. I was busy having a panic attack while they did all of that. Either way, I have my pictures back. All of 'em. Frickin' awesome. (Insert high-kick and fist-pump of celebration here).