I was a Guest Judge at the Roswell Photographic Society

This is only half the room.... yikes!

In August I was asked to be a guest judge at a local photo club named the Roswell Photographic Society. I have been asked by photo clubs in the past to give presentations on my work or to judge events, but this was different just because of the sheer size of the event. There were probably 100 people in the room. I did not have time to count because that would have just made things worse for my nervousness about public speaking. Where is the "King's Speech" guy when you need him?

I always feel under-qualified in these situations because honestly critiquing other photographer's work can be a tricky business. I consider many of these shooters to be way more talented than myself, yet I was asked to critique their art. Some people are very serious and some very sensitive, but I figure truth is the best policy... stated as tactfully as possible.

After a nervous start, I almost forgot that there were so many people listening to what I had to say. I was highly impressed with the quality of images in the contest... some were so good that I would have gladly hung them on my wall. I have a feeling that more than a few pros or advanced amateurs were sitting in the ranks.

A few people told me that I did a good job and that they were glad that I brought up some basic presentation pointers along with artistic advice that was not sugar-coated. I think I was fair, but I would hate to be on the other end. It takes a lot of guts to have your work praised or picked apart in public. This would be the Atlanta photo club to visit if you are serious about photography.

I don't feel that would be right for me to reproduce the photographer's work full size on my blog, but you can see selected photos from that night's contest by clicking the Gallery Link below...

Click image above to view some of the excellent Silhouette Contest entries.

Complete Graphic Design Project for LumenBrite Dental Strips

I love when I get to provide start-to-finish design services for my clients. This particular project was for teeth whitening products such as dental strips and peroxide pens. Services included logo design, multiple package design, product photography, web design, some copywriting and Joomla programming with some help from my friends at StruveDesigns.com.

The packages utilize 4-color printing plus opaque white on shiny silver metallic board. This allowed me to use the ever changing sheen of the silver surface as part of the design. Wherever white prints behind the color ink, the color appears matte. Conversely, wherever I allowed the metallic surface to show through, then the color would appear metallic. The design is decidedly simple, to maximize the impact of the silver. These really shine on the shelf.

Check it out at buylumenbrite.com

Dog Portraits in the Studio

Animals and children are notoriously some of the hardest subjects to photograph. In other words, they do not care about my vision,  timetable, my lighting setup or where to stand.

My wife and I have been talking about some puppy photos for our 2 sibling adoptees, Zack and Zoey. We also have become keenly aware of our aging Buddy Luv who has suffered some pretty serious medical setbacks this year. We thought we had lost him at least twice so every minute with him is a gift.

Meet Zack. He is your typical alpha male troublemaker. He has bitten ears, dragged his sister down the stairs, nipped my behind when my back was turned, barked at the howling beagles down the street, and presented us with a collection of dead things. He is also very sweet when he wants to be.

I am not sure that he knows his name yet. He suffers from selective hearing loss (ha ha).

This is Buddy Luv. He was adopted about 10 years ago which makes him probably around 13-14. He picked his own name because the one the adoption agency gave him was not working. To make a long story short, I was calling my other dog my "little buddy" noticed that every time I said the word "Buddy",  this this guy would dance in one place and get excited. So, the name stuck. 

Children like to point out his blue eye which is totally blind. I tell them it is a camera eye. He also lost all his hearing which has miraculously cured his "thunder-phobia".

This is Zoey and she is a Daddy's girl. She is so precious and wonderful.

I never thought that I would like having a girl dog, but she has won me over.

Pink is her favorite color... an obvious choice for a princess.

Some may think this is a picture of beauty and the beast... but they would be wrong. There are 2 beautiful dogs here. Who would not love that face.

A Zombie, Vampire and Devil Walk into a Studio...

It sounds like the opening line to a bad Halloween joke, but I met a zombie, vampire and a devil (among other characters) on Halloween day. I was asked to be a judge for the annual costume contest for the law firm down the hall. Some were funny, creative or off the wall.

After the prizes were handed out, I invited anyone who wanted a portrait to come down to the studio. Just a few people took me up on it, and here are their photos.

The Hungry Zombie...

The Stylish Vampire...

The Devil (who evidently wears Prada)...

A Naughty Kitty

and a Football Hero...

Who said lawyers are not fun?

Halloween Photos of a Corporate Cat in a Hat

One of my favorite clients, Andrea, came to our studio on Halloween day dressed like the Cat in the Hat. She barely fit in the front door since her bonnet was so big. She was dropping off an executive for a headshot. 

Of course, I could not let this just pass, so while my "official" subject was getting dressed in the other room, I snapped a few quickies. I just kept all the light stands in the same locations, but turned them toward the closest wall. This way I would not mess up any of the settings I made for the other portrait.

Struve Family Photos in a Beautiful Fall Garden

I tell people that I love gardens, but hate gardening. To me it is like making a salad.... It always tastes better when someone else does it for you. What does have to do with photography? Read below...

When my friends, David and Julia, suggested that we spend an afternoon with the kids in a place called Gibbs Gardens, I grabbed my camera.

I reckoned that this would be an incredible place to make some photos of the whole family. It is a bit of a drive from Atlanta, but makes for a nice adventure.

A photographer dreams of such a setting. If you are ever in Ball Ground, Georgia, it is worth a visit. Pay the $20 to get in or buy a season pass. Check out the Gibbs Gardens web site.

The photos were taken in the time that is not yet Fall in all its glory, but well past Indian Summer. There were patches of green and gold mixed together like a forrest in transition.

The last ime I took photos of the kids, we were confined to mostly indoors. Elijah was as that age where I was doing more chasing than shooting. I had to invent games to trick him into staying in one spot for longer than 2.5 seconds. 

See the previous set of photos here...

The kids had grown since then and so they were larger targets and reasoning with them was a possibility... not just a theory. 

When we got to the location, it started to drizzle so we grabbed a quick lunch and crossed our fingers that it would blow over. It never really did, but we started our walk through the incredible vistas and designs of the gardens anyway. My favorite area was the Japanese Gardens. Wow!

The children's great grandparents were with us that day which is incredible. I never met mine so this is a foreign concept to me.

I like to take mix of formal and informal portraits. I think it is important to capture the interactions between parents and children when their guard is down. One day the children may look back on the photos and see that their folks were once young too.

The other thing I like to emphasize is size differences. David is almost double the size of Elijah.

Which means he could act like he was going to dunk the poor boy. That would have been hard to explain to Mom.

I also like to shoot generations, whether they are blood related or not.  Here are the ladies of the Struve family.

For a few moments, the light would appear turning the leaves to photo gold, but it was rare that day!

Overall, it was a wonderful day in country. I guarantee we all slept soundly that night.

Art Directors on My Back...

I have 3 art directors that constantly watch my every move and bark orders at me. Talk about the pressure! I can't even mumble under my breath because they will hear me. Just look at those ears!

 Luckily, I have found that keeping a few biscuits in my pocket usually makes them happy.