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-

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-

Hope you had a great week. Thanks for all of the skywatch comments yesterday. I really appreciate your feedback.

Today is going to be a quick post because I have to get out and get the grass cut before the rain comes in about an hour or so.

These images were shot of Laura last week in York. We traveled around the city and shot at a few locations. Nothing fancy, just available light and a few reflectors.

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Oh and have a great day today!