Rachel & Mike ~ May 22, 09

Wow! What a great wedding. Rachel and Mike were married on May 22, 09 at Victory Family Church in Cranberry Twp. PA and the reception was held at the Mayernik off Camp Horne Road.

Rachel and Mike are a fun couple to photograph and I count it an honor and privilege that I was able to capture their special day for them
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The dance floors were filled and fun music filled the air. I wish you both the best in life! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

Some of the portraits were taken at Buttermilk Falls in Beaver Falls, PA

Women's Tea - Cranberry Twp, PA

I had the privilege of capturing the images for Victory Family Church's "Woman's Tea" held at the Marriott in Cranberry Twp. Pa.  These are the three images that took the top three honor's.   Over 500 ladies attended the event and all the tables were very nice.  I am glad I did not have to judge the tables.

This was taken on our patio after the 'kids' were playing. They set up camp and this lonely bug holder caught my eye. I exposed for the sun to silhouette the kids and used a flash to light it. The sun was very bright and setting directly in front of me. This caused a 'dual' sun burst.

This was shot with the 17-50 f/2.8 @ 17 mm

Proms are everywhere part 2

This is another design I did in fotofusion. I used a picture of Gianna's flowers as a background to the design and placed the three images on top. Notice how the borders are based on the color of her dress. Try this technique in your design software of choice. It makes a very nice design and adds a nice touch to the finished product.

Proms are everywhere!

I had a great time shooting the images for Gianna and her friends.  The first design is a combination of three images I took on her parents' front porch.  They set up a very nice arch with flowers and greens which made a beautiful frame for the picture.  I used both the 17-50 f/2.8 lens and the 70-200 f.2.8 to capture all the images for the night.  It was an overcast day [which eliminated any harsh shadows] and I used a flash and diffuser to add light to the image.  I kept the top and bottom part of the image 'darker' to direct the attention to Gianna.

The second image is a shot of all the couples.  I used the 17-50 f/2.8 set to f/22 and a flash to light their faces. 

All the designs were done in fotofusion [which is an amazing piece of software].  I highly recommend it!  Email me if you want to chat about it. 

50 - Incredible Photography Techniques

I am always looking for new and interesting ways to create stunning images. This site is filled with links to some amazing techniques.

Check it out and I am sure you will find something new to learn. 50 - incredible photography techniques.

Shannon & Ryan - Baby Shower -

I had the honor of shooting the baby shower for Shannon and Ryan on April 19th. They are a great young couple and her enthusiasm and joy shows in this photo. The shower was held at the Baden American Legion and the flag behind her made a great backdrop for most of the pictures. In fact, I used the flag as a backdrop for a few quick portraits rather than the brown paneling walls. Why? 1. Because the flag added some color and class to the image. 2. The paneling is very reflective and any amount of light glares off the surface causing an ugly glare and hot spot.

Congrats Shannon and Ryan - your daughter will be born soon! :-)

The main image was shot with the D300 @ ISO 1600, using the 70-200 @ 1/250th second with a fill flash. I used a bounce card on the flash which was pointed straight up to the ceiling. The flash filled the area and the card on the flash sent some light directly forward filling the area under her eyes and adding the twinkle.

Fill the frame

Image taken with Nikon D200, and Tamron 70-200 lens. Gary Fong Lightsphere used on SB800 flash. f/2.8, 1/250 second, ISO 400

Very fast tip. Remember to 'fill the frame'. It helps draw the viewer's attention to the most important part of the image [your subject] rather than distracting items in the scene.