Quinceaneras Party

Now, when I'm at event, I try to keep an eye on the key people at all times, and I had my eye on the birthday girl all day long, of course. What I'm trying to get are the real moments that happen when everyone lets their guards down. I worked hard for this shot, took about 40 photos to finally catch the fantastic moment I got here. There was dancers everywhere, so it was hard to just get a clear photo, not to mention one with great emotion...

The Quindeanera party is a Mexican tradition that celebrates a young girls (la Quinceanera) passage from childhood to being a young lady. The tradition highlights God, family, friends, food, music, and dance. It was my pleasure to be involved in such a beautiful event. It was every bit as beautiful as a wedding, and as I was told before the event, it was very similar to a traditional wedding that we see today. Of course, I took lots of wonderful photos of the Father Daughter dance, and I got lucky, this was the one and only spine of the night, it got a big applause. I was really happy I snapped off 3 photos of it from beginning to end spin! Ha, got it!!

When you are a photographer, you see the event different then everyone else, and while you aren't part of the party, you are definitely very aware of how things are going. The photo above is one of my favorite photos. I try to stay really on top of how an event is progressing, and in doing so, I am typically aware of those special moments. This was about 3/4 of the way into the evening, and the father of the birthday girl was sitting and enjoying a moment alone, taking it all in, and I'd imagine really enjoying his daughters big party. It was a grand party...


Amalia, being the Birthday girl, had to take a bunch of photos this day! After getting the shot with both of these VIPs together, I saw a grand smile on her face, so I jumped forward 5-6 feet to snap off this artistic photo. One of my favorite shots of the night. At any event, be it a wedding, birthday party, or a portrait shoot, I've learned to snap off shots when they come, because it is impossible to make it happen again.

Winter shoots...

It's true, the winter scenery can make for some wonderful photographs, but the cold is really to much! Brittany is a young aspiring model looking to fill up her portfolio with great photography, so we ventured out to make some. At the start of the final location, Brittany was frozen, but she stuck it out and ended up loving those photos the best.

Happy New Year!!

When Michelle first contacted me she mentioned that her event would have lots of candles and very little light. I love low light photography, so I figured it would be fun. The shot during the ceremony with the slideshow photo of Michelle and her mother is one of my all time favorite photos. This ceremony was one of the most unique & beautiful ceremonies I've ever been a part of. The bridal party all participated in singing and playing wonderful music.

I don't do many super close ups at weddings, but when I mentioned I was going to do a close up, Michelle said she "loves closeups" SO I got CLOSE! So, here is a beautiful headshot of the last bride and groom of the year...

Michelle & Rob didn't have a bunch of time, so we did a few quick "formals" of just them after banging out the main formals. Michelle played the piano during the ceremony, it was very beautiful. So, we got this well lit shot, one of my favorites from the church.

I've said it a hundred times, the best photos just happen. Babies and small children always make for wonderful photos. This is a great photograph...

This particular image looks candid, but it really is not. We were running on a very tight time frame, so I just threw this one in while doing a set shot from the front. I just told the ladies to continue to look forward and smile! We laughed a bit, and the photos turned out nice. So, it is candid and formal, if that makes sense!

Merry Christmas Heather and Andrew...

I just got back from a quick engagement session with Heather and Andrew, who are due to get married this spring. I mentioned to Andrew months ago that I had the idea of doing the engagement session in a bar, and he thought that would be cool too. This particular Bar and Grill jumped in my mind the other day, so I went and checked it out. It had some really cool lighting already, and they added some additional nice Christmas decor too. When I looked at the venue last week, this image was what I had in mind to make, and I think it really shines. I had gotten permission from the bars manager to do the shoot, and believe it or not the entire staff were very helpful and willing to let me have at it. So, I drug my light and softbox in to give us some fantastic lighting to add to the bars Holiday feel...

Off camera lights at a wedding shoot is very difficult to pull off. However, at a engagement shoot, or just about any other type of photography that might require flash, having off camera lighting can really step up the quality of the final photograph. I use a very portable set up that allows me to take photos fast, move around and change photography looks smoothly, and set up and tear down very quickly too.

This particular image was taken just before the top and bottom sets. I knew before I hit the shutter button that it wasn't going to be what I wanted. On camera flash is always flat, and it can have shadows casted onto walls or onto other people, like the ones on Andrews face here. Long story short, we had the time, so I got the off camera lights set up. The off camera lights offer better modeling on your subject. And, if you have a softbox, like I've used on these other photos, the lighting is always much softer. I think the other photos are far superior, what do you think?

High School Seniors...

Senior photography is always fun, I find. Here are a few shots from a recent session. This 1st shot was done with 2 off camera lights, the foreground was lit with one flash, and the senior was lit with a medium softbox camera left just above his head. It is fun setting up the lighting for these sets. The lighting really makes the colors pop, and the modeling of the faces of the seniors is also enhanced. In the end, you end up with portraits that should last a life time...

This final shot was lit with a medium soft box only. I underexposed the background, as I was trying to make a more dramatic lighted shot that would look more manly! The senior loved the drama of it...

I have been really wanting to do a fall color shoot, and I got my wish this past weekend. I had 2 nice young ladies eager to make some nice High School Senior portraits out at Elizebeth Park in Trenton Michigan. This fall has been so warm that there really wasn't any great fall colors until just the last few days. It got cold so fast we only had a couple days to cash in. Well, the gals are happy, and so was I. Unlike wedding photography, where you have no time to set up stunning photography YOU just have to get it as it happens, the senior portrait sessions can be planned in several locations with plenty of time to create the look you're looking for. As you can see, I've moved from one location to another fairly fast. I'll set a photograph up, and then click off several photos.