Hi Everyone-

Today's images were shot on our recent family trip to Walt Disney World. More specifically they were shot in Disney's Animal Kingdom.

While we walked through the Dinoland section of the park I noticed this orange and green wall that seemed to go with the clothes that Cree had on that day. She was really ready to keep moving so I was only able to get one shot off while she was fully engaged with me. Then she gave me the I'm done look and walked away.



Later on in the day while we were walking around in the Asia themed area of the park I noticed a very cool wall outside of the restrooms. Conveniently for us it had a bench built in. So we stopped and played around for a few minutes and got the images of Tonya and I with Cree.





One thing that I always try to do when we are traveling or even out and about in our own area is to look for cool backgrounds and textures that I can incorporate into fun images of the family.

Have a great day!!

Hi everyone-

Yesterday we left the Disney parks for the day and headed over to Universal and Islands of Adventure. While I tend to like Disney a bit more we had a great time.

First of all the weather was perfect. Around 70 and not a cloud in the sky. Secondly and almost as important, there was not a large crowd. At no point did we wait even ten minutes for anything,

After we arrived in the morning we headed right over to Islands of Adventure and specifically the Dr. Seuss area. It was awesome. Not only did the kids love it but we practically had the place to our selves. Most rides we actually rode alone and for a good hour there was only a handful of people in the area.

It couldn't have worked out better.

Just after lunch we had a few minutes while everyone was getting lunch cleaned up and hit the restrooms. While everyone was doing that Cree and I found an area of open shade with some cool colors on the ground or in the background. Something that was easy to do in this part of the park.

Cree recently got a new pair of shoes that are quite sparkly and light up. Well they were perfect for a little photo fun. So while we waited I found an area that I liked and we began shooting. That lasted about 10 minutes before everyone else was ready to go.

Cree had fun and we got a few cool shots.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Yesterday, which was day three of SNOWMAGEDDON 2010, everyone was home so we got to play a little, have a nice lunch and take a few pictures before I headed in to work for the night.

During all of that I was outside trying to expand the road and driveway back to its normal size with the snow blower. While I was outside Cree decided that it would be nice to get all "beautiful" for daddy.

So while I was gone her and Tonya painted her nails and she put on her pretty dress that I got her recently in Nashville. When I came in she very daintily showed off her beautiful dress and nails to me.

Of course I had to get a few pictures. However she wasn't really in the mood for any posed "pretty" pictures. This was more of a fun goofing off kind of day.

So here's a few from our 5 min photo session. They were all lit with natural light from the kitchen door. I was actually outside kneeling on the deck and Cree was in the house. I wasn't able to come in because I had on my fire gear which was full of snow from my little project. But it seems to have worked out ok.

Have a great day!!

Hi everyone-

Anxiously awaiting the snow's arrival here in PA today. They say it's a sure thing but you know how that goes. I suppose we will get some snow but more than likely not as much as I would like to see.

But looking forward, I wanted to share a video with everyone of my High School Seniors Portfolio. It is definitely time to book for these sessions. So drop me a line or ring me up if you have any questions or would like to schedule a shoot. Also for those of you who do not fit the HS senior demographic (lol) please pass along my information as sessions will begin to fill up soon!!!

Hope you enjoy the video! Have a great snowy day!!

Hi everyone-

Today's post is somewhat of a follow up to yesterday's. This image is an example of a situation where I would previously never have gotten a shot.

I was in Yellowstone National Park on Mount Washburn watching the Arnica Fire's massive thermal column. While I was at the turn out a man pulled in on a motorcycle. I looked over and was like wow, I have got to take a photograph of this guy.

Had I not gotten over my phobia of taking images of strangers I would never have walked up to this guy. But without hesitation I approached him and struck up a conversation.

In a matter of second I found out that this guy was traveling around the area by himself on his Harley. I also found out that he lived about 45 miles from me back home in Pennsylvania.

On a side note I find it amazing the amount of people that I have met while in the National Parks that live very close to me. Several years back we hiked a trail in Glacier with a couple who back home in York walked by our house every evening but we had never met.

Situations like that have happened over and over. Its funny but if you never "talk to strangers" you would never know. Last year I met a guy who was the flagger at a construction site in Yellowstone. Turns out he'd from Hanover, PA less than 30 miles from my house.

Anyway. This guy had such a unique look and was very nice. We talked for several minutes, I took several photographs and then he was on his way wanting to get to his destination before dark.

I was pretty happy with the image having not planned it and only having a minute to pull it off. The sun had just set so I put the sunset to my back and used the sky as a giant soft box to light him. He never even got off his bike.

A few years ago this would have been someone that I never would have approached. And a great opportunity missed.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

A little over a year ago I was asked to write a series of articles for a photography website. In the end the series never got off the ground so I have a few articles in the can that I have decided to post here on my blog.

They are pretty basic and mostly just my thoughts on a particular subject.

Today's post starts off the series with an article on where I came from in portrait photography and how I opened myself up (with a lot of help) to creating interesting portraits of people.

I hope you enjoy and would love to see your feedback.

Have a great day!

Opening Up to Creativity…
Brian Bastinelli

Hi everyone. I’d like to take a few moments of your time to talk about portrait photography and some of the things I like to do while shooting this style of images.

In the past I have shot portraits of family and friends when I absolutely had to, but shied away from people I didn’t know altogether.

The thought of approaching a stranger on the street was horrifying and would cause a spontaneous onset of nausea and I would immediately reject the whole situation.

Well thanks to Craig Tanner and Bryan Allen and a host of new friends I have met at workshops, I have been broken of my affliction.

Now I can not wait for the next opportunity to shoot strangers on the street, set up a portrait shoot with a client or even shoot a wedding!

Please don’t get me wrong the feelings of terror and nausea persist. However, I’ve been able to transition those feelings to be more about my performance and if I will pull off a good shoot rather than just approaching someone in the first place.

Hopefully, that will be under control someday even though I think it’s somewhat of a good feeling before a shoot. It kind of keeps the ego in check.

Once you get over those initial feelings, you have to focus your energy on creating a great image. everyone has different opinions on what a great image is so you have to work through your own vision and style and create what you think is a great image.

It’s great to get positive feedback from others on your work but only you have to be happy with what you are creating. Unless of course you are shooting for a client, it’s generally a good thing if they’re happy as well.

In photography there are many rules. Some are technical in nature and some are more aesthetic. People will tell you that you should shoot something this way or don’t ever do that etc, etc. This has never made sense to me. Sure there are some basic guidelines you must have a firm grasp on to create and imaged that’s exposed correctly for the situation etc. But is most photography not a creative endeavor?

So why limit yourself to creating images within a box. Step out and see the unbelievable possibilities around you.

Portrait photography is a perfect forum to take this leap into creativity. Portraits, in my mind, should capture the person’s spirit.

Anyone can create an image of a person. Anyone can be trained to set up lights, sit you on a box and say look over her and say cheese. Snap, snap you’re done, NEXT! I’m sure you’ve had this portrait setting before, so you know.

I’m also confident that your favorite photograph of you is probably a candid shot of you just being you. If it’s more of a set up image then I’d be willing to bet it was created by someone who either subscribes to what I’m talking about or who really knows you.

So how can we create an image that does this? And how do we do it quickly say if we are out on the street?

Well you have to first open yourself up to others. Drop societies preconceptions and stereo types. Allow yourself to let this person into your world and let them share themselves with you.

Take a few moments to get to know them. Sometimes putting a camera in their face right off the bat will shut them down. So engage them first. Let them become comfortable with you, let them see you as a real person not just some crazy person with a camera.

I learned these lessons the hard way. As I said before shooting strangers was a major no-no for me. So as I started to break down the walls holding me back rejection was the last thing I needed. Or was it?

I though that rejection was bad. I’d approach, ask if I could shoot, they’d say no, I’d go home. But without experiencing that emotional loss I could never have adapted what I was doing.

Now, it takes time to get over that, but you learn how to deal with it and in the end you end up learning more about yourself than you can imagine.

So what are some ways that you can engage a person to open them up? First off do not patronize them. This drives me crazy. I have seen photographers just be so gushy that it just turns your stomach. We’re already dealing with nausea here, we don’t need more!

But be nice, find something that interests you about them and bring it up. Say hey I was checking out your cool hat or that’s a great car you got there. Start a conversation.

Most people think that you want something from them, money or your selling something or even that you want them to purchase the image. Paparazzi has given themselves a bad name over the last few years and people are sensitive to people approaching them with cameras, even though they probably aren’t famous and your not paparazzi.

It’s your job to make them feel comfortable with the situation. Once you do that then most people will open up and sometimes even surprise you.

Recently, I was having a bad day at a workshop. I just wasn’t feeling the assignment we had just completed and it didn’t go well. It was to the point that I was asking myself what was I even doing there. Not because of the assignment, but because of how I was dealing with it.

The very next assignment changed everything, and for that matter my life. Had the story I’m about to tell not happened I don’t know if I would have ever broke through the gate holding me back from shooting people and portraits.

I approached an older couple sitting on a bench. I walked right up and asked if I could take a photograph of them. Immediately they declined and pretty forcefully. But after blowing the last assignment I had to make something happen here.

I said ok no problem and just began talking to them. This was something that, although reluctant at first, they were willing to do. So we talked and started to learn about each other.

They asked what I was doing and I asked where they were from, small talk. But as we spoke the conversation became more in depth. We talked about love and marriage, helping those who are in need and many of the problems society faces today.

At least 25 minutes later I was still talking with them. The walls were down and we were truly enjoying each other’s company. I had learned that both were widows and that they had know each other for 50 years. This was their honeymoon as they had recently gotten married.

The time I spent with them was fantastic, I had not taken a single image but had learned so much from them.

As we wrapped up the conversation I asked one more time if I might take their picture, this time they agreed acting as if it would be an insult for me not to ask and them not to agree.

During our conversation about their recent wedding the woman had kissed her new husband. After taking two or three images I asked if she would do it again, she replied, ‘Honey, on any day of your life!’ Bam, there was the shot.

Since that day the experiences that I have had with street and portrait photography have continued to change my life. The creativity and the energy that comes from these shoots is the new fuel that keeps me going as a photographer.

And it’s all because I allowed myself (with a little help from the M.E. gang) to open up and experience what you can get from this type of photography and from people you know or those you’re about to meet.

Once the walls are down and the gates opened you can begin to concentrate on creating beautiful images of people that showcase their spirit and lives.

In the next part of this series I’ll talk about the rules for portraits that I don’t like and little things that you can do to make your images stand out. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Hi everyone-

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Our's was very nice. We got to spend a few days with my family and a few with Tonya's.

Not often do we get to see everyone in the same four day off cycle from my job at the fire department. We got to have some great food, played some games, shot some pictures and just hung out and had a great time.

We got to check out the new kids movie Planet 51. It was pretty cool. The basic story is an "alien", a US Astronaut, invades a society on another planet.

It's a funny concept. The inhabitants of "Planet 51" are by our standards what you would think of as aliens. And they are living in a world based on 1950's USA. Then an alien, our astronaut, lands in their town.

If you have kids, it's worth checking out. Also I am really looking forward to seeing Fantastic Mr. Fox. Another animated movie that looks like it will be great.

Today's image was shot in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I had seen this tree a few times and put it in the back of my mind to shoot in the morning. As luck would have it I was back in this area on a foggy morning and it was perfect for creating a cool image, or at least trying to.

I adjusted the exposure and then adjusted the tone a bit with one of my favorite actions. After that I added and blended 5 texture layers. What you see is the result.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Today wraps up some images that I shot of Cree this week. We had a lot fun fun with this little impromptu photo session.

Today is a short post because i have a TON of photo editing to do and have to get to it!

I hope you have a great day and weekend!

Hi everyone-

Last night we went to the mall to pick up Cree's Christmas dress. We decided to walk around a little bit and show Cree where Santa will sitting.

Well much to our surprise and even more to Cree's Santa was already there. When Tonya said oh look he's here Cree said "HE"S HERE!?!" and got real close to mommy.

It was pretty funny. So we walked up and talked to him for a while. Cree was completely silent while daddy and Santa had a great conversation about Christmas and Disney World and what time if year is best in Florida. Who new that Santa winters in FLA!

So in the end Cree got a coloring book and said she would like to come back. So I guess we'll try a few more times and eventually I think she'll go for a picture with him.

As soon as we walked away, just as Santa predicted, she was back to her normal self laughing at the reindeer and snowmen.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

We are enjoying another great fall day here in South Central Pennsylvania today. Beautiful crisp morning giving way to what appears to be another super day. I'll be spending the day raking leaves and working outside. I'm not sure how many of these days we really have left so I will be enjoying as much as possible.

So today's image was shot just before yesterdays were shot. This is one of the images taken from the precarious position I described in yesterday's post.

Cree was very happy she was getting her nails done and let me get a few cute images before the diva in her took over and wanted nothing to do with the camera...lol

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

I hope you all had a great weekend. I was a bit under the weather but got to spend a lot of time with my girls so it ended up being a great weekend.

And for you gamers out there I also upgraded to Play Station 3 and got Modern Warfare 2. AWESOME!!!!!!!!

On Saturday afternoon Cree was getting her nails painted by her mom and I wanted to capture a few images. Cree wasn't overly excited about that idea. So actually capturing the images was quite a task which ended with me standing on the bathroom vanity with on leg and the other across the room against the wall shooting almost straight down on the two of them who were sitting on the floor.

Cree though that was just crazy so she loosened up a bit and a few of the images came out ok. During the process though I was able to catch a few other images that were a bit more serious.

These were taken at ground level with me in the bathroom and Cree in the doorway looking in. I just replaced the vanity lights with 4 100 watt incandescent soft white bulbs so the light was very bright and soft. It was camera left and up pretty high. It made for some bright but nice light falling onto Cree's face.

The resulting images were a complete departure from what I had set out to capture. I am not really sure how to characterize her expressions in these shots but they really moved me.

I darkened them up a bit in the background and added a few sight textures to bring out the mood that had developed in these images.

I might add a some more info about how this was all accomplished later but for now I have to end the post as the sun is moving and between now and 10:15 will be shining directly into my eyes as I sit at the computer... So for now its off to rake some leaves....

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Earlier this week our friends Chuck and Abi had a visit from the stork. Camryn Elizabeth was born on Monday the 9th.

She is just super cute!

I had the chance to stop by the hospital on Wednesday and catch a few shots. She has black hair and blue, blue eyes.

And did I mention she is super cute?

Here's a few shots from that day....

Congratulations Abi and Chuck... Oh and by the way Chuck, I can't wait until we are screening boyfriends for her and Cree... Um actually I think I can wait!

Hi everyone-

Today's post was shot just after we had wrapped up shooting what you saw yesterday. While we were shooting that image Josh Berardi had set up another area to shoot at. So when we were done we quickly went over to that set up and began shooting again.

I don't seem to have an image of the exact set up here But I believe it was shot with just one very large parabolic umbrella as the key light.

There was a backdrop, which was essentially a piece of fabric hung in the back ground. They picked this fabric because it complimented Dora's dress. I included a wider shot to show you how the backdrop was set up.

Hi everyone-

I'd like to start off today's post by saying happy anniversary to my wife Tonya. We have been married for 8 years today. Tonya has truly been my best friend since the day we met. It's because of her and her unbelievable support of everything I take on that I am able to spend so much time creating the images that I post here daily. Thank you so much for your support and love, you mean the world to me! Happy Anniversary!! I love you!

Today's post is a selection of image of Dora who we shot at the HP Video Production studios in Knoxville. Jim Johnson and his crew there were great. We spent a full day shooting at his state of the art facility.

The first set of images is the result of what was probably my most complicated lighting set up of the entire week. We placed Dora in a director's chair and used a total of 5 lights to create ambient light as well as to light Dora. I'll post an image after the series of what the ambient conditions were.









So in the next image you can see kinda of what the area we were shooting in looked like in normal lighting. The area was pretty crowded with equipment. I wanted to have that as a central part of the image but not to dominate it in a busy way so that it took over. I wanted to create a nice environmental portrait of a TV or movie star on the set.

We light Dora with a beauty dish with a sock on it. It was camera right just a touch off center. The remaining four lights were used to light and create shadow in the background. Two of the lights were "hot" lights being used for some video taping. The other two were strobe heads that we placed. Both had honeycomb grids on them to focus the light where we wanted it to go.
There was on hot and one strobe on each side of Dora in the background.

It took us quite a while to get everything positioned correctly and create the look I was going for. That involved moving the lights we were setting up as well as relocating the lights that were used as props in the background to create shadows, control hot spots and create a visually pleasing arrangement in the background.

Hi everyone-

So one of the things I hoped to accomplish in last weeks Location People II workshop was to push the limits of my photography. And the workshop did not disappoint on opportunities to do so. Bryan Allen and his crew delivered each and every day.

On Friday night we shot at two different locations, the Time Warp Tea Room and the Body Graffix Tattoo shop. I'll post some images from the Tea Room in the future.

So going into shooting at the shop I excited about what we might be able to do. When we got there we found we were limited in where we could shoot and in how long we could shoot. Because this was a working shop there were areas that were cleaned that we were not allowed to touch. This created a bit of difficulty in how to shoot in the small tattooing booth.

Also there were a lot of people in the area we were shooting making it tough to move around.

When we first started shooting I was using a 10-20mm lens but quickly found that it was not accomplishing what I had hoped and switched to the only other lens I had available the 50mm 1.4.

This limited me to tighter shots at closer range but I think in the end it really worked out pretty well. In these images are Ryann and Cesar as well as the tattoo artist.

Initially we used a beauty dish as the key light but because of the limitations on where we could use it we abandoned it for the ambient fluorescent light. This too was a good reason to switch to the 50 1.4 as I picked up a few stops of light.

We shot for about 15 min and wrapped up. The last 5 min of the shoot were the most productive after everyone dialed into what they should be doing and shooting. It went fast but was very cool.

Have a great weekend!

Hi everyone-

Some days are just better than others... I'm sure you know what I mean, everything goes well and just comes together when you need it to.

Well Saturday was one of those days for me. We went to a state park outside of Knoxville to shoot with some models. I was lucky enough to be able to shoot with Laurie.

Laurie was so much fun to shoot with not only because of her great personality and friendly nature but because she is the consummate professional. She has been modeling since she was 9 and has worked all over the world. And it showed.

She was patient while we decided what our shoot would be, she was understanding when we explaining our concepts and picking wardrobe and as soon as she heard that first shutter click she went to work. It was so cool to watch her work, she made it seem effortless.

Everything fell into place that day and it was due in no small part to Laurie. I could have shot with her all week!

Have a great day!



In this image the key light was the sun which was behind some cloud cover. We reflected a bit onto her face to brighten it up a touch. We used a beauty dish with a sock on it to brighten up the background and accentuate the texture of the building.



This image was shot using natural light only. The best part was standing on top of a fence post with one foot and having Ted Van Der Linden holding me up with the other. I'm sure it was a funny sight to see. I know we spent a good portion of time laughing about me almost falling off a few times.



This image was shot right at the end of the shooting day. A reflector was used to focus the waning light onto Laurie's face. and i pushed the ISO up a bit to bring in some background detail. That's happens to be a very cool grist mill.



As we walked back from the water fall we shot some images along the road. I liked this one because of the way the sun was back lighting her hair. This was light with natural light and no reflectors.

Hi everyone-

Well the day I have been kinda not looking forward to has arrived. Today I go back to work at the FD. I have been off since the middle of September and it has been GREAT! But all good things come to an end I suppose...

So I thought this series of images would go along good with today, it's kind of how I feel. :0)

These images are of Alec Johnson, a fantastic photographer and all around amazing person. I am so glad that I finally got to meet him, learn from him, shoot with him and just hang out. I had a great time.

I'm sure he is going to be thrilled with these images (lol) but I thought the series was pretty cool. They were shot against a white backdrop and were lit with a ring flash and a big octabox.

The ring flash was the key light and was directly facing Alec at the same height as his head. The octabox was slightly camera left and higher than Alec with a downward angle to help fill in any shadow that was created by the ring light.

Then of course a few texture layers were added to add to the interesting vibe of these images.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Last night I arrived back from Knoxville or Knox Vegas as they like to call it. The trip was amazing! started out in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with my family and then traveled to Knoxville to attend the Bryan Allen Location People II workshop.

It was fantastic. Hands down THE best workshop experience I have ever had. Bryan worked his tail off to make sure that we not only had everything we needed, but got the most out of the week possible. As well you couldn't help but be effected by his kind nature and giving spirit.

If you ever get the opportunity to attend one of Bryan's workshops you have to do it. They are fantastic! More about them in coming posts.

Today's image was shot on our first night while we were doing some single light studio work. The image is of Vincent a fantastic model and super nice guy.

I am trying to figure out how to present the images from the work shop over the next few days but check back as there will definitely be lots more to come!

Have a great day!



Oh, here's a diagram of how the lighting was set up....

Hi everyone-

Well the big day has arrived for Carolyn and Floyd. Today I will be shooting their wedding and reception. I am really excited to shoot with them because not only are they friends but because they have such cool attitude towards the photography and have chosen such a cool venue for their reception.

We'll be shooting at the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey, PA. This is a really cool location for a shoot and I can't wait!

So today's image was shot at the train station in Harrisburg, PA. Another very cool spot to shoot at. In this image Floyd is working his mojo on Carolyn. It was lit with a single beauty dish and ambient light. Post processing involved cleaning up unneeded details and local contrast boosting as well as a slight color bump.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Well its raining here and my sister said they might get up to 5 inches of snow in some areas of PA today! Crazy.

Today's image was shot during Carolyn and Floyd's engagement session. For part of the day they dressed up in period attire and shot at locations that fit into the period.

This image was shot in front of the PA Capital building. Floyd came up with the idea to simulate a broken down car while on a date. I think Carolyn's expression says it all!

The image was lit with one beauty dish and ambient light.

Don't forget to check out all of the cool SKYWATCH action by clicking the link: SKYWATCH BOG
Have a great day!