Our Art Director/Co-creator of Atticus booked a shoot with us and Dustin got to shoot it. Lucky. It’s not like you come across a baby that actually looks like a baby and not an alien. I missed out. What was I doing anyways? I must have been saving a boat filled with golden stallions…Wait, I was there…

Anyways, working in a studio and having your picture taken can be quite difficult since you’re so used to the photographer’s style. We tried some different compositions and angles to spice things up and I think Dustin did a good job. High 5. Now on to the important news. Since Atticus is a cool name, he should be raised like a Spartan child. How awesome would that be?

During the Whittington’s shoot everything seemed to go right. Crisp air, perfect lighting and a completely natural family. If I could hop onto a time unicorn and travel back to this day, I wouldn’t change anything. I started things off with an open mind and proceeded to get the traditional posed shots out of the way. Afterward, I set the family loose for some awesome candid shots. Easy and fun photoshoots are what make my job worthwhile. Not much to say about this good day, except, I am getting distracted by Dustin choking in the background…

I’ve been thinking about upgrading my camera to either a Canon 5D Mark II or Nikon D700. I’m no brand loyalist as long as I can get the shot with the most ease of use out of my camera. Do I need HD video, 21megapixels, new menu system, 920k LCD, better sealing and lens micro-adjustment offered by the 5D Mark II? Or what about 51-AF points,  complete weather sealing, conveniently placed buttons, up to 8fps, ergonomics and robust build offered by the D700?

Who knows!

The day I took the Slaton family pictures was probably one of the nicest looking days at the beach I’ve seen in a long time. The air was crisp and the water wasn’t a murky iced tea color, but a delicious lime kool-aid tint. Ok, enough about tasty drinks…We got a couple traditional poses out of the way and proceeded to the fun stuff. I let them do their thing while still aware of me being in the background. I shot some fun candids and everyone had a good time. We finished up before the sun was directly ahead of our faces causing some turbo squint.

Foo and I were fortunate enough to be listed on some website that landed us this quickie beach wedding in Mexico Beach.  Forrest & Maggie have been together for awhile, and there is no doubt they are lovebirds of the truest ilk.  As a matter of fact there wasn’t a single moment during the entire elevator ride, walk to the beach and ceremony that Maggie didn’t have her eyes glued to her man.  It was a beautiful thing, and our first elopement at Injoy.  We were blessed to get to know these two and wish them all the best with a long, loving future.

Dustin and I journeyed to Port St. Joe to take photos of these lil’ boogers.  It was my first location shoot in a house (A nice house!). Usually, we shoot outside or in studio, but this time, it was indoors with a lot of incandescent lighting (Lamps) mixed with lots of window light which played tricks on our in-camera metering. I like these kinds of scenarios. If everything was straight forward, it wouldn’t be a challenge. One thing I recommend is setting your camera’s picture style or jpeg setting to ‘Neutral’. One of the biggest problems with DLSR sensors in comparison with film is dynamic range and color channels, especially the reds. Reds tend to clip easily if you overexpose. If you aim for taking quick snapshots this all shouldn’t matter as jpeg gets the job done. But if you aim for higher quality pictures and intend to do some post-processing, shoot RAW and in Neutral. This will give a lot of leeway for editing.

Anyways, I don’t remember what I was talking about. Costin’s, that’s right. They’re cool kids who like trains and face planting on wood floors. When I was near that age, I loved Transformer toys and falling down stairs.

The Branchs! Sounds like a catchy sitcom. These little guys did a fine job at not being difficult! That’s the kind of shoots I like to do…There are the occasional emotionless, robot children who take practically an hour to break their serious spell but hey, everything can’t run perfectly…I wish. This was probably the 2nd child session we had on white seamless paper. It went pretty well and it was definitely a lot easier and faster to set up all 4 strobes with my new flash meter. Then again, spending a million years researching helped out too…I’m such a turbo nerd.

We recently threw our a first issue release party for e5 Magazine. It was a blast and it ran smooth like butter. You heard it! We designed, photographed and published a quarter sized magazine that sums up the eight- five-oh’ ‘interestingness’. Not only do we love taking pictures, we love promoting small businesses, finding hidden gems and creating a pocket-sized readable for you to whip out while you play toilet terrorist. Well, let’s hope that’s not the only time you’ll read the magazine…Reading e5 makes you look hip and un-average. A flock of blood thirsty crows prey off average looking people. You’ll thank us later.

At the party, we served ice cold drinks, assortments of veggies, cheeses and other various finger foods. We had a photo op set up for some free portraits as well. It was ridiculous. We had a stuffed bobcat. That pretty much sets the scene of awesomeness. The night played out and everything was allll gooooood.

My first shoot at WindMark were with these young’ns. The day started out fine but then it started to drizzle a little bizzle. (Heh, I’m cool.) I scoped the area for some environmental shots and the place was filled with it. The scene was very clean and visually pleasing. “Check!” Now to get the Canons to explode with enthusiasm…It took a bit of prying but mom always comes to the rescue with the bribe technique. I shot most of the session with my prime lenses. Due to the weather being overcast, it allowed me to shoot wide open apertures and isolate the subjects. Not to mention, shooting wide open adds that ‘pop’ in contrast and colors. I dig it. I made pretty pitchers.

At the beginning of our shoot, the Shaw sisters were extremely shy and reserved. It didn’t take Dustin and I long to find their ultimate weakness… Astroturf. It was like catnip. Humannip. Okay, that doesn’t sound right, but you get the point! They were rolling around and having a blast while we shot away. It was nothin’ but a thang!

I had the chance to shoot the Rentfro family, (minus Pops) at Wind Mark Beach. The best thing about this place is how it’s so secluded from everything else. It does make for some good shots. I must admit, I’m not the best with kids…a lot of the times when I say things, it totally goes right over their heads…I actually have to think things out! I managed to keep things on the same level and we had a pretty good time shooting. I remember Johnathan saying he was having a fun time taking pictures. Keeping things fun makes shooting easssssier.

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