Ufest was the next day and needless to say I was there! After all it was my birthday! Rise Against headlined and I absolutely love those guys! Check out the gallery on the homepage. I was tired as all hell but damn, I love the energy of being out at a show....I ended up getting some amazing shots that night. I even climbed up an inflatable waterslide, fully dressed to capture a crowd shot! INSANE but super fun!!
I had a week or so of rest then I flew out to San Antonio to shoot for a retail company, Hot Topic. Awesome experience!! I've never flown with gear before and let me tell you first hand that it sucks. I now understand why people rent in their destination cites. You're always paranoid that something will break and/or something won't make it to the final destination. For those reading this and wanting to start traveling, insurance and rentals. Do your research and find the closest camera store! This is no joke, if you are hired for a job, go the extra mile and a half to make sure the job gets done! I got lucky here too because I carried on all my gear and the shoot went off without a hiccup. The CEO, RD's and DM's loved the photos. I couldn't have been more happy! Just hope it happen again in the near future!
Next week, I fly into Hollywood for a little free vacation! I will give up dates when I get back!
That's all for now, back to editing!
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Check it out here!
]]>I shot Tim and Jaimee's wedding Friday night at a beautiful venue in downtown Mesa called Regency Gardens. Small venue but big enough to celebrate their special day with family and friends! Super fun wedding to shoot and I am so lucky to have shared the day with the booth of them. Jaimee was a beautiful bride and Tim looked sharp in his attire! For the ceremony and reception and used a couple Hensel Strobes to give a little punch into the frame and the outcome was pretty sweet! During the reception I had to place myself in front of the light but behind the subjects to give them a little bit of a rim light and accent the details. I had them triggered by a remote as well as had a speed light onto of my camera for that fill. I'm still in the post process stage so stay tuned for the final results.
This past Sunday I had a pool party photoshoot in the middle of day....not ideal but with the everyones schedule it had to be then. It had to be at least 110 degrees outside and it hurt that everyone was in the pool while I was on the cool deck shooting. I didn't mind that much because the photos came out great! I had my Hensel's out there and had them on full power, one had a 43" shoot through umbrella to broaden the light and then had another with a standard 7" reflector for a little bit of fill. To warm up the scene I used a gold/silver reflector aimed at my subjects. Not a huge production but I had a party to work with so I had to have the party goers get involved. Pretty cool to have them get excited about what we were doing!
Later that night, after rehydrating and cooling down, we headed out to Talking Sticks Resort in Scottsdale for the second pool party....311 and the resort pool! Amazing show at an amazing location! This was my third time shooting them and by far the coolest. In typical 311 fashion they had a ton of blue and pink lights which actually work out for black and whites! Kind of a pain in the ass to shoot because the lights are constantly change but shooting in manual and RAW is always crucial. You often her people say to shoot JPEG but in my opinion shoot RAW because the images have all of the information stored so you can pull out the detail in all the ranges. I never shoot JPEG unless I am uploading on site, ex. all day festivals, then you have to get a perfect exposure "in camera." The reason we shoot JPEG at festivals is because they will upload quicker and take up way less space due to the information stored on each file.
Today I'm just catching up on some post processing and I'm a little bummed out that the Men's National team was eliminated yesterday in the World Cup. They had a great run but there's always next time.....
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This morning I had the pleasure of having brunch with my wedding clients at a place Ive never been to but have always wanted to try, Over Easy. If you've never been there before it is defiantly a MUST try! I had the chicken and waffles! YUM!! We discussed final plans for their wedding coming up next week, new ideas and finalized a shot list. I typically meet up with clients to get everything they desire and what time allows on the table. Fresh ideas usually develop because I have a vision and they have their own vision, both of which are very important, theirs more so. I want to make them happy because after all, it's their day and their memories. I can tell you guys this, this one is going to be super fun! I fell in love with shooting weddings and I'm going to do my best to keep the momentum going...of course I will always love concert photography!
Which leads us into tonight's event....
Journey, Steve Miller Band and Tower of Power will be performing at Ak-Chin Pavilion tonight! This is the first time they have been on stage together, ever! I'm super excited about this because of who they are and growing up listening to them! One thing about Ak-Chin is that the stage is about 6 feet off the ground and when you are in the pit you have to choose carefully of what you are shooting with. Drummer shots usually never happen straight on...most often than not, side shots of the kit and the drummers head and arms. Either way I am grateful and blessed to shoot this event. Tonight I will be shooting for 100.7 KSLX and the photos will be uploaded soon after.
Time to pack up and get the ready for tonight!
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This is where the fun begins. Allow me to take you on a journey. Some may have been wondering what I have been up to and I promise not to disappoint. Now sit back and enjoy the show!
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