Detail shots

Many years ago I had a blog going of our 'rehab' project that we decided to take on.  (However, due to a lack of time, I didn't keep the blog current.)  Over the course of our marriage, my wife and I did a few 'rehab' projects.  Yes, the houses advertised as "TLC" or as my wife calls them.  Terrible Living Conditions.  Yes, our current house was one of them.  We bought it over five years ago from a bank and the house was in slightly run down, ok, terrible condition.  I won't go into the entire story today but through a tremendous amount of work and God's grace, the house looks nice. 

A few of these images are detail shots from our yard.  We have four acres of property and decided to make our front yard a haven for decorations.  :-D

Every year we bought trees and decorations for the yard and before we knew it, we were consumed with creating a beautiful front yard.

Each statue represented someone or something in our life.  The eagle is my favorite bird and we recently added the base for the eagle to rest on.

The little kids represent our oldest grandkids.

The marine represents our son in law and is a tribute to all those who serve this great country.  We have many other items and trees in the yard and over time, I will post them for everyone to enjoy.  Never in our wildest imagination did we believe the beauty that would develop in our front yard.

{To give this any significant meaning, prior to this project, we did very little yard work.  :-D }

As always, get out and enjoy the beauty of Life!

Hotel lobby detail shots

This was taken in the lobby of the Embassy Suites in Cleveland, Ohio.  I was up very early and was walking around the hotel and noticed many items in the lobby to shoot.  Plus, I was looking for interesting places to shoot a few group photos.

In a few hours this lobby would be filled with people talking, laughing, and children running and playing.

I have been playing with a plug-in for Photoshop, Topaz Adjust and liked its effect on this scene.

The second image is the location where I shot a few group photos.  Above this very interesting structure is a wide open sky light which provided an outdoor feel.

The forth image was taken from the third floor, immediately outside my hotel room.  I used Topaz Adjust to give the scene a 'different' artistic look.  The final image is a shot of some beautiful flowers taken outside the front door of the hotel.

As always, get out and enjoy the beauty of life!

Laura and Wes engagement shoot

Wow! Another fun engagement session completed with a great couple. Laura and Wes are very playful and a complete joy to photograph. Both are very athletic and open to fun portraits.




When we arrived, the weather was not cooperating. However, after a brief delay, the rain stopped and we were able to get some amazing shots. We shot until nearly dark when the bugs were looking for a late night snack.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This was shot with the Nikon D300 and the 85 mm f/1.8
 

 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Isn't she beautiful?
 
Over the weekend, I worked on a documentary project with Victory Family Church of photographing couples married 10+ years. I photographed a couple that was married nearly 70 years on Sunday and they were very spunky and fun to photograph. Since it is a private project, I doubt I will be posting many if any of the images to this blog. However, I will keep you informed how the project is going.




Get out and capture the beauty of life!

Expect the unexpected

Nikon D300, Tamron 17-50 f/2.8

One of the best parts when shooting an event such as a wedding is to expect the unexpected. People do the funniest things at weddings. In this sequence of images, the DJ begins to give the instructions to the guy who caught the garder. Just as the DJ started to talk the guy did a standing back flip on the dance floor. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him start to do the back flip and I turned and fired off a few shots. The camera was at waist height and the lens zoomed out to 17 mm. This all happened in a blink of the eye. Notice the motion blur and how close he was to the floor. He performed a perfect (in my eyes) back flip. Immediately, I turned to the young lady who caught the boquet earlier to capture her reaction. The next image is when he started and the last image is when he was finishing. A few images in between are not shown.


One of the best parts when shooting an event such as a wedding is to expect the unexpected. People do the funniest things at weddings. Years ago I learned to expect the unexpected. Regardless, if the event is a wedding, party, corporate event, or sporting event, always expect the unexpected. In this sequence of images, the DJ begins to give the instructions to the guy who caught the garder. Just as the DJ started to talk the guy did a standing back flip on the dance floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him start to do the back flip and I turned and fired off a few shots. The camera was at waist height and the lens zoomed out to 17 mm. This all happened in a blink of the eye. Notice the motion blur and how close he was to the floor. He performed a perfect (in my eyes) back flip. Immediately, I turned to the young lady who caught the bouquet earlier to capture her reaction. The next image is when he started and the last image is when he was finishing. A few images in between are not shown.

One of the most amazing items I find about a wedding is that even thought the outline is very similar. Non of the weddings are the same. There is always so much emotion that takes place and so many types of photography available. From the candids when the bride is getting ready before the wedding to the emotions flowing when the bride and groom see each other for the first time. Then a quick pan to the bride and groom's family as we capture the smiles and tears. Wow! The emotion that takes place is unreal. Then we slow down some for the formal portraits but the emotion kicks in again when we take all of the fun portraits. The entrance into the reception hall brings more fun activities and emotion. Oh, so much fun. Until next time, get out and enjoy the beauty of life!

Sara & Dustin Wedding Relaxing by the fireplace

Due to a very busy schedule, I have not kept up my blog. Ouch! I have another very busy week with portraits and events. Hopefully, I will get a few more images posted from recent shoots.Thats it for now.  Get out and capture the beauty of life! 




This image I took toward the end of the day and converted it to a 'drawing' in Photoshop. Due to a very busy schedule, I have not kept up my blog. Ouch! I have another very busy week with portraits and events. I hope that I will get a few more images posted from recent shoots.



This image I took toward the end of the day and converted it to a 'drawing' in Photoshop. Both the original and this image, I love! The setting is in the lobby of the venue and created a very 'homey' feel. We had to move quickly since there were people walking through the lobby. I lit the scene with an SB 800 fired through an umbrella to my right and above the couple. My goal was to create a relaxing fun image and ensure the ambient light was maintained.

Both the original and this image, I love! The setting is in the lobby of the venue and created a very 'homey' feel. We had to move quickly since there were people walking through the lobby. I lit the scene with an SB 800 fired through an umbrella to my right and above the couple. My goal was to create a relaxing fun image and ensure the ambient light was maintained.

Sara and Dustin's wedding

Another great and fun wedding:

Sara and Dustin - who are from the Cleveland area in Ohio were married at the 100th Bomber Restaurant near the Cleveland Hopkins Airport.

Check out this four minute slide show of the highlights from their special day.  It starts with a few shots from Friday night's rehearsal/dinner and into their wedding day.   Wow!  What a great time we had.

Emily & Matt - Engagement Session

Emily and Matt will be married later this fall with the wedding ceremony to be held at the United Presbyterian Church with a wedding reception to follow at the Fez in Hopewell twp. PA. We had a great time shooting their ‘engagement’ portraits at the North Park in the North Hills of Pittsburgh.

A few of the photos were taken on Marshall Island, which created a great backdrop for the portraits. The sun was setting over the water and it created a great back lighting situation. Emily looked beautiful with the light causing her beautiful hair to glow in the setting sun.

After a few shots on Marshall Island, we headed off to a second destination in North Park, the ‘School House’. It is an old shelter with tremendous character. I found it earlier in the day when I was driving through the park looking for buildings with character. Inside the shelter are two stone fireplaces with an amazing look. Under the shelter were many arched entranceways that enabled creating great images a ‘breeze’.

Emily and Matt are faithful Pittsburghers and brought along their Pittsburgh Steelers jerseys to wear in few portraits.

I had a tremendous time spending a couple hours with Emily and Matt, discussing the wedding and taking a few fun portraits.

The images were shot with the Nikon D300 and a variety of lenses including the Nikon 70-300 vr, Tamron 70-200 and 17-55 f/2.8. The lighting was an off camera SB800 shot through a white umbrella.

As always, get out and capture the beauty of life, 'one click at a time'.

Malaya - Congrats to Shannon and Ryan

Not long ago I had the privilege of shooting Shannon and Ryan's baby shower. Next I had the privilege of capturing their litte girl's first day of life! Isn't she cute? I had Ryan hold her close to the window and I used the soft side light that was coming in through the large sliding window. I used the 85 mm @ f 4 with an ISO of 800 on my Nikon D300.

Enjoy!