You should have seen my nephew’s eyes when I confronted him with the idea of taking pictures of him in a dress shirt, tie, and pants in the shower. I’m sure he thought I was crazy but after the shoot and post processing, he really liked how the pictures turned out.
P.S. As I said, the best is to come. In the next couple days I’ll post my favorite picture from his senior photo shoot (it again involves water and dress shirt, tie, and pants).
There’s nothing wrong with traditional portrait photography but after a while I feel like I’m seeing the same thing over and over again. That is why I asked my nephew if he would be ok with shooting some non-traditional senior pictures. He was a great sport and I felt we got many great pictures.
Both of these pictures were taken in the country near their home in Madison, Wisconsin. Madison and the surrounding country side is beautiful. It’s full of many rolling hills, with great winding roads and old barns and buildings. We walked along a hiking path and came to this wide open field and thought it would be great for a few pics with his tie, white shirt, and black slacks.
Once we were done shooting at this location we decided to drive around and we came across this old church that was built in the late 1800’s and had this old outhouse.
Both of the these pics I really like because of how out of place he is in comparison to his surroundings. I think this is what makes the pictures interesting?
P.S. You should ask him about all the wasp above his head at the outhouse some time 🙂
Recently, my wife, our baby girl, and I drove to Madison Wisconsin to visit my sister and family. My nephew Sage, who is a senior in high school asked if I would consider taking his senior pictures. My comfort level for portrait photography has significantly improved and I decided I would be up for the challenge with the exception of one stipulation, I could be creative in the pictures I take.
I have to give credit for my wife for this one. She thought a pic with Sage against a tree and an arrow above his head in the tree while going through an apple would be unique. I would have to agree with her, these pics came out very well.
P.S. The out of focus portions of both pictures is not created by post processing. I was able to do this with my 50mm Summilux.
Often, photographers are attempting to find symmetry or patterns within their environment that would be eye catching. This picture is a great example.
I was standing in the airport waiting to get on one of the trains and noticed the adjacent train sitting there. I noticed the ceiling tiles, train doors, windows, floor tiles, and even the trash can all had a similar linear pattern. I felt this would be a great place to focus on the train and hope that a subject would walk through. Fortunately, I got lucky. This man carrying a piece of paper walked right where I wanted him. I love that I caught him in mid stride because his front leg, back foot, upper torso, and paper all became symmetric with the environment. By focusing on the train, I was able to blur the subject so the viewer could get a sense of motion.
This past week I’ve been in San Diego teaching. It’s always enjoying going to this meeting because I get the opportunity to assist in teaching future surgical podiatrists. Unlike some conferences I go to, where many of the participants are there to get their CME’s (continuing medical education), these participants (residents) are eager to learn and try to grasp as much information we can give to them. I also enjoy seeing colleagues of mine who are some of the best foot and ankle surgeons in the country.
Unfortunately, even though I get to travel for these meetings I typically don’t get much time to explore, thus there are not many picture opportunities. Fortunately, last year when flying to San Diego I happen to sit next to an airline pilot, Elijah Nicolas. He and I have very similar interests and I think we spent the entire 3 hours trying to one up each other in our knowledge of technology related stuff. Since then, we have kept in contact and I had the opportunity to meet up with him for dinner last night and a quick tour of some of the popular places in downtown San Diego. Elijah has a blog,elijahnicolas.com, if you have time please visit it. Thanks Elijah for a great time and good luck in your triathlon today.
Elijah drove me to Balboa Park to see if I could find any interesting picture opportunities. The area is very cultural and has many beautiful buildings and museums, hopefully I can return some day. As we were walking towards a large fountain in the park, a couple just happened to be standing there and both decided to show their affection for one another. It immediately made me think of my wife and daughter who I haven’t seen for 4 days. I can’t wait to get home and show both of them affection. Here is a picture of that “moment” I was speaking of.
Its been a few days since I’ve posted anything on the site. I’ve really been busy with work and want to spend as much time with my little girl as possible therefore at times the website will just have to be on hold.
The picture uploaded today was taken in 2008 at my residency graduation party. I have to give my wife credit for this one. We were all at a friends house and the second year resident decided he would play guitar for us. My wife took this picture and I later edited it with Silver Efex Pro. I think she did an outstanding job.
The summer before my father’s passing we spent a lot of time together. He was undergoing chemotherapy and I was in between my first and second year of podiatry school and was also preparing for my wedding. Fortunately, he was not sick a lot and was able to enjoy most of the summer.
Probably, his favorite past time was fishing. I still recall many times growing up leaving extra early in the morning to go with him to some local lake to fish. Often times I would fall asleep about 30 minutes into our adventure while sitting in the boat with the fishing pole in my hand. We had a lot of good talks on those fishing trips.
The last time we fished together was at a friends small pond. He was having a good day and we decided we would take my nephew Sage (he’s now almost 18). I caught this picture of him, Sage, and the dog. Every time I look back at this picture it remains me of all the great times we had together. Even though he has been gone for a long time, I still feel he is with me every day.
Continuing with my monthly series of “Our Future”, I’ve captured our baby girl at 3 months. Each time I setup for this shot, I get scared that she may not cooperate. As she has gotten older, she sleeps less, and is more in tune with her surroundings, thus it’s hard to get her to stay still for any duration of time. With this said, it’s actually been easier to get this shot.
I’ve only posted one picture from each photo shoot so far but this time I have two. Maybe you can comment which one you like best? Personally, I like her looking forward but I think her mom likes her smiling at the camera. In either case, it’s remarkable how much she has grown and how she can easily hold her head up now. Enjoy, we sure have!!!
P.S. I’ve also posted a comparison of all her previous pics (you can also see the previous post “Our Future“, “Our Future @ 4 weeks“, and “Our Future @ 8 weeks“).
As I mentioned yesterday, I really enjoyed the Leica Akademie workshop and also meeting with the participants. Here are a few more pics taken during the workshop. The first one I was trying to focus in on the gal sitting but I think what makes the picture is actually the 3 people all trying to take pictures. The second pic was taken while waiting to cross the street. I usually wouldn’t find this interesting but I like how the crowd of people are so content in looking in different directions. The last pic was taken of a guy near our hotel street corner who was attempting to entertain the crowd with his multiple musical abilities.
We drove up to Chicago this weekend for a short 3 day vacation and for me to participate in the Leica Akademie M9 Shooting Experience. I’ll post my thoughts and some pictures from the event in a few days.
We’re staying at the Allerton Hotel. So far it’s been good. It’s an old hotel but the rooms are very nice. Here is a pic of Lyla and mommy resting on the bed after a long day of traveling and shopping.
