It's that time of the year again! We are gearing up for the 2018 season, while finishing up with some 2017 graduates (better late then never). We have included some new elements and new locations with our sessions.
Contact us if you have any questions! and let us what you think of the video.
It's that time again. Each year we create our Halloween photo project. This year's theme was "Blacklight". Yes, just like the posters us old people had on the walls when we were young. This was the same premise, but not with ink, we used UV Makeup to make these portraits come to life.
Black Light Halloween Fairy
The process started with me, painting each of us with regular black makeup (skin has a glow under UV light, so I had to cover most of it up). Then I layered a combination of different makeup colors, based on the design I had drawn up earlier.
Black Light Halloween Scarecrow
I tried to come up with a different color pattern for the three of us, to make us as unique as possible. Each person took about 2 1/2 hours to apply the makeup and only about 30 minutes to shoot the photos. There is very little post processing in Adobe Lightroom. I didn't need to use Photoshop at all.
Black light Halloween Clown
We are all illuminated by a custom made ring light equipped with (8) 25 Watt Fluorescent Blacklights (pictures included of the rig below). This provided enough light to capture the photos at a decent camera setting for detail.
I wanted to make a video this time because I didn't think people would think it was real (i.e. photoshopped) unless they saw it for themselves.
I hope you enjoy this year's photos. If you have any questions, please leave them below. FYI, I'm already working on next year.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Black light Halloween Fairy
Black Light Halloween Scarecrow
Black Light Halloween Clown
Photoshop composite with myself, my son Tyler and our dog Dr. Pepper.
No Escape - Final Composite
This is the completed project and a time lapse video of the full process of creating composites. From the concept drawing, to the photography shoot, to the final Photoshop composite. Over 9 hours of work compressed into 4 minutes. Enjoy! and please leave your questions below if you have them.
My first (and hopefully not last) video, introducing the series I would like to do this year. It is also painfully obvious to see that I am much better behind the camera, then in front of it. Thank goodness it's short. ; )
After an amazing week out west, I got the chance to shoot some personal family photos in some of the Utah State Parks. There are some spectacular views everywhere you look, so it was not that hard to find a great place to explore and take some photos.
Harry is a singer / songwriter / music therapist and one amazing guitar player. Harry is currently working on his Master's degree and I am assisting him with his final project, a Music Therapy Instructional DVD. We decided to do some photos for the dvd menus and possible cover art.
An experiment in making still images move. Using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects, I experimented today with what is called, The Parallax Effect. It involves taking a still photo and "cutting out" pieces in Photoshop and animating them in After Effects. This was my first time trying it out. Let me know what you think!
Watch fullscreen for the best results.
It is hard to believe that my son is leaving eighth grade and going on to high school. They always tell you how fast time flies by when you younger, but you never believe them, til you see it for yourself.
Last night I got to photograph a few kids we watched grow up. The Tapp Middle School eighth grade had their year end formal at The Ron Anderson center in Powder Springs. I only had about 25 minutes to get enough group shots and portraits of everyone there. Thank goodness the rain that was forecasted to happen, never did. It was a lovely evening and I had a great time taking photos.
Tyler and Claire
The Girls
From Above
Hannah
We present our 2014 Halloween Portrait. This year's portrait was the most difficult one we have tried to date. We have done 7 portraits since 2008. The theme this year was Skeletons. I wanted to go a little less photoshop and a little more photographic style, but I ended with a pretty even amount of both. The makeup took the longest (almost three hours for the three of us). I did all of the makeup myself.
Halloween Portrait 2014
I went with a single light setup. White lightning 1600 in an octobox (Thanks Stan - stankaady.com ) at a 45 degree angle right above the subject with a black backdrop. It highlighted the face and made great shadows on the chin to emphasize the makeup.
Sue in her Skeleton Pirate outfit.
Tyler in his Skeleton Warrior outfit.
I realized it is very difficult to try and shoot while wearing tons of makeup on your face. It's even harder to try and take a "selfie". It was one part of the process, I had not thought of. I was able to take good photos of my wife and son, but I was not quite satisfied with mine. Regardless, it was a great experience. Next time, I will plan better.
That's me as Papa Legba (Haitian Voodoo)
Time to start thinking of next years shoot!
I don't think I could have had a nicer young lady to end the senior photo season with, then Emily. Emily is a senior at McEachern High School. She had a great spirit and attitude. We spent 2 hours wondering Marietta Square and it flew by. I wish I had some more time to photograph her. She followed all my ridiculous ideas and suggestions and I hope she had as much fun as I did. In the end, these photos are a result of her personality and style, I just clicked the shutter. Thanks to Emily and her mom, Jen, for the opportunity to shoot a wonderful young lady.
I got to do a mini session with these three the other day. They needed headshots for upcoming auditions and we had some time left to get all three of them together for a group shot.
They are a talented bunch of children. They act, sing, play instruments and participate in sports. They are all well rounded kids.
Sidney
Olivia
Carter
They moved out of Powder Springs awhile ago, so I don't get to photograph them as much. When I do it's always fun. I would like to thank Sidney for initiating this shoot and her mom and Dad, Jay and Sue, for helping out during it. Hope we can do more photography sessions in the future.
The other day I had the pleasure of shooting Ashley. She will be a senior at Hillgrove High School in Powder Springs this year. I didn't have to coach her at all. That glowing smile and beautiful face came through on every picture. Thanks to Ashley and her mom Kim.
For the past eight years, our family has created a Halloween family portrait. The project began with the hosting of our first Halloween party when we moved to our current neighborhood. We used the photos as invitations to the event. Each year the photographs became increasingly more popular, and we tried to out-do ourselves each year.
This becomes really difficult after a while. The photographs started as the three of us in plain clothes, and I would add costumes using Photoshop. Now, we purchase costumes, props and backdrops to enhance the final appearance of the photograph.
Thankfully, my family is awesome and willing to participate. We have learned over the years that the more involved the project is, the more preparation is required to quell tempers. A typical shoot when we first started would take 15 minutes to ½ hour. This year’s photo shoot took three hours.
We have an initial family meeting to brainstorm ideas. After we agree on the premise, I draw some sketches to help create the basic structure of the photos and help finalize the picture in my head. I then design a timeline of everything that needs to be done on the day of the event. A few days before the photo shoot, we have another family meeting to go over expectations and any questions. Once everyone is on board and all questions have been answered, we are ready to go. With everyone now knowing the timeframe, and what is needed to successfully complete the shoot, they are much more willing to take part in it.
We make sure to eat a good meal before the photo shoot. After lunch everyone gets in costume, puts on their makeup and I set up the photo equipment.
This year our annual Halloween portrait pays homage to the 50's sci-fi movies. Our plan was to be the typical suburban neighborhood family with a dark secret.
The portrait went very smoothly with very few bumps. I would like to thank my family for this fun, but unusual tradition.
We did individual portraits showing our aliens in disguise. I used my Nikon D7000, a beauty dish, and a white lighting 1800.
Special thanks to Stan Kaady (http://www.stankaady.com/) for letting me borrow both the dish and the 1600, they worked great!
We shot almost fifty stock photos of red octopus tentacles, I purchased from the Buford Farmer's Market. My son Tyler helped as camera man, while I positioned the octopus in different poses.
Here are the the full size individual portraits.
It was my pleasure to photography Breanna this past weekend for her senior pictures. This was her first photo shoot and she did a fantastic job.
We started at her home in the late afternoon and later moved on to Sope Creek to pose by the old paper mill just outside of Atlanta. The weather was beautiful but hot. It was a pretty good hike to get to the location, but it was worth it. The mills were very cool. We thought we might be in trouble when a group of high school kids were having a water gun and water balloon fight in the ruins, but they were cool and stayed well away from us while we were shooting.
Our last stop was Marietta Square and the sun was setting fast. When we arrived, I had forgotten how busy the square gets on the weekend. Lucky for us the "good light" was available away from the crowds and we got some great shots before the end of the day.
It was an adventurous shoot and Breanna and her mom enjoyed it, at least I think they did.
