For it is All Hallows Eve...

I've been wanting to do this concept for over 2 years now. It seemed each October, some other conflict would prevent me from doing it. Well, thanks to a creative collaboration with some very special people, this shoot became a reality.

A little back story with this one...
In recent years, we have all witnessed the increased popularity with vampires, including their myth, culture, and sensual appeal. With popular sagas such as Twilight and HBO's series True Blood, our western culture shows no signs of wavering their undying faith and interest in the subject. What I find interesting is all the different and diverse interpretations of what a vampire should look like, act, and relate with it's prey.
This shoot defines how I imagine vampires would be. No Edward, no glimmering sparkles, and certainly no compassion for the human species. These vampires are professional sirens who can seduce and draw their victims in with their beauty, pseudo libido, and ethereal charm. I imagine vampires are a highly evolved immortal creature that holds great strength, but rarely needs it. Why go to all the trouble of acquiring a meal when their prey wants and desires to be with them... They want to be bitten.
I think of the 3 female sirens from the film O Brother, where art Thou where these females hypnotize and serenade their victims with there beauty and song.

For you photographers reading this, the lighting on this one was a bit more complicated than my normal setups. These images had a minimum 3-5 strobes both bare and modified to accomplish the desired effects. My favorite is the bare flash hung upside down in the curtain to provide some separation.

Getting Classy- Urban Bridals

I've known my good friend Josh now since we were lads in middle school. I was more than enthusiastic during our consultation when his fiance Shelly had decided that she didn't want your typical traditional bridals with some flora and fauna background. She wanted an urban environment with a modern feel.

I went to work trying to get a grasp of her "style" and personality. I decided to go with the ever more increasingly popular fashion approach in which the images could easily be seen in your bridal magazine without a second thought of whether or not they belonged there. Shelly certainly did amazing as we set out to the side streets and alley-ways of Salt Lake City's industrial areas.

All images were shoot with one to two speed lights. This style of bridals is my favorite to shoot as editorial fashion is what I am know for.

Abandoned Macabre

I recently had another great collaboration with Kelsey of Kel-Z Photography. This time she stepped behind her camera instead of posing in front of mine. We found a local designer who made several unique dresses created around a macabre theme. Kelsey provided the location, a little set of abandoned buildings just off the beaten path of a suburban neighborhood. Add three talented models and we were off, shooting away.
Chris and my production team came out to record the whole thing for the BTS video as well as to assist me with my lights.
Take a look at the results.
And be sure to view the video behind this to see how I accomplished these shots.

Beach Blanket Bingo- Behind the Scenes

Photographing Children.. You can do it!

It is in our nature as nurturing parents to love love our offspring and get all googly eyed and joyous when we see them. Hence, taking images of children is a breeze when compared to getting that perfect image of the CEO of a major company that has given you less than 10 minutes of his or her time to get the shot.

From my experiences, keys to capturing amazing shots of children include the following:
-Shoot them when they are most awake, fed, and not in an unusual place
-Get down low... I mean really low... At their level or even lower. Our normal perspective of kids is from up high. Give the viewer a different angle. Get low and make the subject appear larger than life.
-Light the eyes. Make sure their eyes are lit.
-Again, nap time isn't a great time to take photos.
-Have the parent stand behind or next to the camera so the subject will look toward camera and not the parent that is standing 6 feet to the right.
-Do something different. Go in your backyard, school, or park. The same tin wash tub with the cute baby in it has been exhausted by nearly every crappy Box Store portrait studio there is. Do something original. Let kids roam around and be themselves in their natural environment is great place to start.

New Behind the Scenes Video

A simple and short Behind the Scenes Video of the recent Geisha photoshoot I collaborated with Kelsey of Kel-Z Photography. Unlike most of my tutorials that delve into off camera lighting and Strobist techniques, this one focuses on Natural Light and plainly getting out of the house with a concept in mind and shoot away.

Beach Blanket Bingo?

The longer I live, the more I tend to believe I was born in the wrong decade. For this week's blog, I'm sharing the latest Pinup concept I photographed. I went back to Crystal for this one because she has the "look" and true form of what the vintage pinups used to be back in the day.

We headed out once again to the shores of the Great Salt Lake and started shooting away as the sun dropped behind the mountains and eastern shores of the lake. Lighting was minimal and included only a small Flash coupled to a silver reflective umbrella mounted to a boom arm and light stand. Some behind the scenes video was captured and another Strobist Lighting Tutorial should be done soon. As always, stay tuned.

-Ben