Don't Give me no Bull...

I had the opportunity to shoot a collaboration with Kelsey again. She had been wanting to do a concept involving her English Bulldog and intertwining a punk or grunge theme.

We headed to downtown on the last tolerable day of the year before the Winter chill took over and shot in front of some neat walls plastered with graffiti. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and we were shooting mid-day when the sun is working against us with harsh light and keeping shadows short. These shots were all captured in the smallest open shade of the buildings' shadows. In some cases we had only a couple feet to work with before the sun cast it's overexposing light onto the asphalt.

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On another note, HELP PORTRAIT 2010 is this Saturday, December 4th. Last year was Utah's first year participating in this national non-profit event. I look forward to another amazing year helping out those in need.

Fall Leaves

The Wasatch Front of the Rocky Mountains can produce some of most vibrant Fall Colors I've ever seen, given that the snow doesn't arrive first and the temperature doesn't freeze too soon. Unfortunately this year we had a vast cold front move in and "shock" all the leaves into their dead winter state, causing them to fall to the ground before their colors peaked or halting their chromatic change in a mix of a pale yellows and drab greens.

You now have clients running to get their family portraits taken with vibrant Fall Colors. What do you do?

Improvise. Scout, scout, scout, and scout some more. Move to lower altitudes to the wooded parks located in your backyard and valley suburbia. With luck, you'll find some trees with some color left. Utilize some camera magic and shoot with a large aperture and shallow depth of field to turn the background into a creamy, blurred bokeh of Fall color, avoiding the details the drab leaves are displaying.

Anthony is a paramedic / fire fighter I used to work with when I was still full time in EMS. Anthony is an outstanding medic with great skills and a genuine compassion for those who need help. I was excited to shoot his growing family. Their daughter, Claire was a natural in front of the camera and we captured some cute and fun images.