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I was very nervous about this photo the night before knowing that there was only going to be one chance to get this right.  It was an overcast morning and there was rain falling just 5 minutes after we were done!  I replaced the sky from a photo a took in June.  I had to re-adjust the colors for it to match and the cloud in the corner makes it just convincing enough, not too much, just enough. I used my f1.8 50mm lens as it is the fastest lens I have.  To really stop the motion I wanted a high shutter speed.  I also wanted a big enough aperture in case they fell out of my focus a little bit.  My settings seemed to work well as I had it set to 1/1000 at f8.  I set the camera to take multiple images at high speed.  This was the third frame.  Super cool, fun people! Thank you Nicole and Casey!!  

Victoria and her horse, Sugar. She is so proud. Summer 2011

 An engagement photo with one person?!? The future groom had just departed the scene and was about to give his fiance a hand up when I saw her sitting there looking like an angel! I hope she enjoys the photo...

Probably my most "Wow" shot of the day after a little photoshop love. This photo shoot was for myUtoria.com.  Utoria functions as an interactive learning experience where teenage girls can sell things to gain knowledge, and earn real money.  You can check them out on facebook or go to the website at www.myUtoria.com.

Ok fine, for all my photography geeks out there, here are the specs:
I used a Nikon D90.  Sunny white Balance.  ISO 500.  I used an 80-200f2.8 lens.  1/400 f5.  Saturation was normal but I used the Vivid setting and bumped the hue up +2.  That gave my skin tones a touch more yellow instead of red which is common when using a Vivid setting.  I softened the photo some in photoshop by reducing the noise.  I clone stamped out a few stray rocks, leaves etc so there were no distractions.  Except for that yellow leaf I see now beneath the slate! 

YES! Me and THE MAN! I whispered in his ear, Quarter Pounder with Cheese no onions, Reg size and sub Strawberry shake. I woke up this morning and it was under my pillow!!

I forgot to ask the client if I could blog one of their family photos that I did today. Mostly because I think I felt bad for dragging them all over the place. I wanted to do the photos outside (so did the client). The very minute we stepped outside near the desired location, it started to rain. Not just a pretty little sprinkle, more like a cats and dogs kind of downpour. So I took them inside a local establishmentto try to grab a few photos in there. As soon as I had made a makeshift studio and changed lenses to get the most out of the barely adequate lighting, the sun came back out! Not complaining, I am just saying. We travelled back outside and the temperature dropped like 15 degrees! Yay, red noses for everyone. Anyway, when I went back inside to gather my equipment I was inspired to get a few shots. My assistant Alex was with me and I had him press the button a few times. WHAT! You say I am vain! That's fine, I don't care. I am going to be 40 in a few weeks and a little photoshop to your own photo does wonders for your self esteem. Seriously though, between God and my wife, I have no self esteem issues. But I do look pretty good in this photo don't I!

So I coined a new phrase for myself, wanna hear it? Sure ya do! So the day before, I was driving home and I was thinking about my scheduled photos for the next morning.  Where would we take the photos, how is the lighting going to be, etc. That's when I thought, it's evening now and the lighting will be totally different. I decided to stop beating myself up and overthinking it. I realized then, that, you can't plan for inspiration. Long story short, I am really excited about the way photos turned out this morning. I thought the fog may end up being a hinderance, but not knowing how long it would take for it to burn off, I decided to take a gamble and incorporate it into the first set of shots. My senior this morning played field hockey as you can tell and I think the shot is awesome. "You can't plan for inspiration!"
Tech Specs: 1/400s, focal length120mm, f10, ISO200 on a tripod using D90 and the 80-200 2.8f Nikon Lens. No post processing!

The Green Family was on our way to celebrate Grandma Barko's 80th birthday at Leo's in Mt Pleasant. Victoria looked so pretty in her polka-dot dress. Mommy even accented her dress with a matching hair band. Don't be fooled by her demure look, a few moments later we were blowing gum bubbles bigger than our face!


I am not sure what style you call this but it reminds me of a recolorized 1950's photo. I reduced the noise (shot at 800ISO because we were travelling in the car and I wanted a fast shutter speed to avoid motion) using Noise Ninja and then another plug-in called Grain Surgery. I created a layer and used the highest setting to create a nice soft look. I then erased through on the eyes to regain some of the sharpness and a little on the eyelashes, brows and nose. I flattened these layers and then created another. I made the top layer black and white. I set a custom black and white look adjusting each of the colors to get the look that I wanted. Then I erased through the eyes very carefully at 100%. I also erased through the cheeks and lips. I only used about a 15-20% opacity on the eraser for that part though. I flattened the image and did an adjusted additional contrast for the final look.

The original specs from the camera were 1/125s - f/5.0 - ISO800 - no flash. Also, I used a D40. lightweight and easy to carry!

Folks this is NOT a stuffed animal! It is the latest addition to the wildlife academy at Nemacolin. It is a baby white lion. I needed to take a few shots for Marketing, Retail, etc. The little guy, dubbed "The Prince of Nemacolin" will be on The Early Show this coming up Tuesday August 2nd. Watch for it!  Tech specs?  1/125s, f/7.1, ISO800.  Bounced an SB800 off of a 7ft white ceiling at full power.  The room had flourescent lights.  I had to do some post production with WB and levels.  Oh, and he had a little eye booger that I cleaned up in Photoshop.  Your welcome.

Victoria with her horse Sugar.  PapPap loves his granddaughter soooo much!  PapPap took the week off of work and has taken Victoria down to see her horse every day this week!  PapPap got the horse for Victoria last year and takes care of EVERYTHING!  I don't think I thank him enough for what he has done for her, but I hope Victoria has.  Oh, about the picture...this was totally Rhonda's vision. But I get to post it because I pressed the button :)  Mostly post-production work.  Converted to B&W.  Soft Focus and glow using Picasa simple edits.  I already printed a copy for myself to put in my office!

Took some engagement photos last night. I have been wanting to take photos at this location longer than these two have been dating! Three years in case you were wondering.  Used the D90 with "vivid".  Manually set the WB to about 5500k.  1/200s f/8 ISO400.  I also used teh SB8oo as a slave flash at 1/4 power and the on camera flash at 1/5 power.  7:45pm or so.

I am pretty sure I found my new favorite place for family photos! Well, it has to be July, less than 10ppl, early in the morning and they have to be willing to travel to the Maples Condos! I had scouted the location a week prior. I had even cleared some random tree branches so they wouldn't get in the way. Well, this this spot was across the street! When I approached the family, they were lingering in the area and I thought, oh my, this would be perfect. There is a street behind the rocks and foliage. I took the photos from a tripod only about 30 inches off the ground so as to not get the road. 1/160s, f8, ISO400 (it was overcast, and I needed some extra shutter speed because of the babies random movements), Manual WB 5880k. In retrospect, the picture could have benefitted from the white balance being a little cooler, but I am still happy with the results.

I have been wanting to get a picture of Sean Tyler riding his motocross bike for at least 2 years. Well, it took a personal invitation from him telling me that he is leaving for college in 5 days! I had to stop by to wish him well because I have known him since he was knee-high! Amazingly, he volunteered to ride around a bit so that I could get a few pictures. I printed this one for him the next day. 1/2500s, f7.1, ISO800.  Yes, I know the ISO is a bit high and the f-stop a little low, but it was nearing 8pm and the light just wasn't there to get the stop motion that I needed.  Sheesh, what a bunch of critics!!

Victoria's Tennis Lessons

Victoria's tennis lesson on June 19th. I really like this picture. You can't see the ball but you can tell she is really ready to smack it! Plus, look how cute she looks! Boy. I really like the D90 camera. Such beautiful color. With the right settings, white balance, and the appropriate use of the D-Lighting feature, my outside photos are gorgeous. 1/640, f10, ISO200.

Fourth of July fireworks at Nemacolin. This one almost doesn't look real. It's definitely my favy. I was pretty lucky this year in that it wasn't windy and the sky was crisp. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful night as well. 5 second exposure on a tripod. f10 and ISO200. Happy Fourth!

Spring 2010

I had the wonderful opportunity to take my oldest daughter's photo before she went to her school dance. I really have to hand it to her, she looks beautiful. My wife really did a great job on her hair and helping her get ready. Don't think I didn't give the boyfriend the evil eye. He's a really good kid though but I just had to! I'd have to draw a diagram to show you where I set up the lighting. It's not easy shooting the glass!

Yeah, that's right! I took pictures of the Stanley Cup yesterday. I set my camera on a tripod with a timer and pre-focused. Peep the GreenStudios shirt!