Lake Orion Football Season Has Begun

Lake Orion Football Season has begun

I'm looking forward to this years football season not just because of my love for this game, but also because I may be able to shoot the games from the sidelines. Sports photography is a lot of fun and takes quite a different skill than portrait photography. It takes knowing the plays and the players as well as knowing your equipment. Stay tuned to my blog for some exciting football action this season. GO LO!

DJ With a View

DJ With A View

The DJ has the best perspective in the house.

Silhouette Toast

Silhouette Toast

Tonight I was a second shooter at a wedding and it was the most amazing experience. Wedding photography is fun, rewarding, and a whole lot of hard work. Stay tuned for shots from this amazing wedding. Here is my favorite not-so-typical wedding shots from the wedding. It's a silhouette of the two bridesmaids during the toast to the bride and groom.

Scripps Mansion

Scripps Mansion

Last weekend I took a photography workshop at the Scripps Mansion and it was a great learning experience. I enjoyed sharing thoughts with other photographers and shooting the grounds. This is one of the shots from that day.

Flowers of Oakhurst

Flowers of Oakhurst

As I was driving out of the parking lot of Oakhurst Golf Club today these flowers were begging me to take their picture. I've been seeing these kinds of images all my life, and only the past year have been smart enough to carry my camera in my car so to take such lovely shots.

Puppy's Love Ice Cream Too

Puppy's Love Ice Cream Too

Today we walked to Evas to enjoy some ice cream and this puppy was doing the same thing.

Baby Feet

Baby Feet

Another shot from last weekend's portrait session of baby Reese. These feet were moving back and forth at the time, so capturing this image was quite a challenge.

Baby Reese Portrait Session

Meet baby Reese, a 5 month old that seems to be enjoying life so far. I went to her home this weekend for a portrait session, and am pleasantly surprised with the results. In this first shot she shows how well her parents have been working on those strength and conditioning skills by holding her head up high.

After working on holding her head up, she showed us her smile.

I asked Mom and Dad to hold her hands for this shot, and it is my absolute favorite shot from the day.

Touchdown!!!!!!

Ok, maybe this next one is my favorite. Mom and baby showing me their supermodel pose.

I can't thank this family enough for allowing me to capture this moment in Reese' life. It was really a pleasure.

Test Subject

Test Subject

This is a shot of my test model during today's photo shoot. He was posing so that I could take light readings, and this expression was just too awesome to not post on my blog for today. Stay tuned for an amazing set of shots from today's shoot.


Camera: Nikon D80
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 320

Scripps Knight

Scripps Knight

Today I took a photo workshop from a brilliant photographer named William Dwyer. The backdrop for today's photo workshop was the Scripps Mansion in Lake Orion Michigan. I took many great shots and some of them you will see here over the next few days. This is a figure that is fixed to the fireplace inside the mansion. If this knight could talk, I'll bet he has many stories to tell.

Red as far as the eye can see

Red as far as the eye can see

Another shot from my photo walk in downtown Plymouth Michigan. This little city has so many photo opportunities to offer.

Upside Down Marketing

Upside Down Marketing

Abacus Accounting in Lake Orion seems to have the most wonderful form of advertising. This sign changes just about every other day. I've been thinking of doing a series on my blog about this sign, because the sayings are usually quite witty. My favorite image of this sign would have been when a vandal removed the letter 'S' from the quote "Free Weeds, you pick 'em" I totally wish I had a picture of that. Another thing to note on this shot is the hot air balloon in the distance. This was accidental photography, but worked out well.

Urban

Urban

Photo walks are a great way to capture a new perspective of the world. Here's one such shot from a photo walk I took in Downtown Plymouth.

Jumping Siblings

Jumping Siblings

Last photo from this photo scouting event. I love all the locations to take portraits at Van Hoosen Farms. It's a great place to take wedding photos or portraits.

Camera: Nikon D80
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/4.2
Focal Length: 26 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Big Brother

Big Brother

Yet another shot from last weeks photo shoot.

Touching Water

Touching Water

Water fountains are mezmorizing and soothing at the same time. Almost like watching a camp fire. This baby was walking around and touching the water today.

Harley Davidson Forever

Harley Davidson Forever

I have to admit I am not much of a motor cycle buff, but I thought this bike looked awesome today.

Jumping for Joy

Jumping For Joy

This girl is one of my favorite models because she is so vivacious and happy all of the time. Jumping seems to bring out the best in people sometimes, and this show really worked well.

Camera: Nikon D80
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 26 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Field of Flowers

Field Of Flowers

I liked how the flowers looked through the fence. I took a few shots from different angles, and this one I was most happy with. The flowers seem to pop out at you and the green adds a great depth. The fence could have been more in focus, however I like the look seen here.

Total Hibiscus

Total Hibiscus

"What kind of flower is this?" That's the question that I ask, and I'm told that this is a hibiscus. I just think it's beautiful.

After The Flight

After The Flight

This morning was like every other morning until I left my home and discovered this lovely balloon had just landed in a field near my house. You may remember this from my posting a few weeks ago titled "Just a Balloon" Yet again I was surprised by this amazing thing and happy to have my camera with me. This balloon belongs to Sky Adventures, and they operate out of Oxford Michigan. The people that were riding this morning really seemed to have enjoyed themselves, and the staff was nice enough to allow me to photograph the balloon. I suggest giving them a call if you are ever in the mood for a hot air balloon ride.
Here's a couple more shots from this morning:


This last one is my favorite shot. It shows the riders after their morning lift. You can almost read their minds as they sadly watch the balloon deflate.

Today's Portrait

Today's Portrait

Gold reflector helped warm up the face while the sun was directly behind the model. This was a great shooting location and I cannot wait to shoot many more portraits here.

Camera: Nikon D80
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Combine Pieces and Parts

Combine Pieces and Parts

This rusty combine was located at Van Hoosen farms in Rochester Michigan. I took a trip there to scout out some shooting locations and found some amazing locations for portraits. In fact, a portrait company was there shooting people. It's a popular place to take wedding photos and senior pictures.

Self Portrait

Self Portrait

Today was a day of discovery. I went to Van Hoosen farms in Rochester in order to examine the site for photographic opportunities. Wow is this place rich with backdrops and shooting locations. Here's a self portrait from this shoot.

Sleeping Bear Bluff

Sleeping Bear Bluff

This swimmer was wandering in the water of lake Michigan. In the distance is part of the sleeping bear dunes national lakeshore. I liked the composition of this one a lot because it highlights the beauty of the dunes and the vastness of lake Michigan. This picture would be nothing without the swimmer wandering in the water. I gave him room to walk in the frame in order to convey the distance and give a natural feel to the shot. Wow that was a mouthful, but these things are really what I was thinking when I took this shot.

I borrowed a friend's Nikon D80 and lens for this shot.
Camera: Nikon D80
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Award Winning Photographer

Patting Myself On the Back

Hey everybody, I'm an award winning photographer! For my first photo contest I received an honorable mention in the Art Center's photo competition. Watch me while I pat myself on the back. Thank you everyone who believed in me and my talent. Here's a link to my blog entry the week after I took this shot.

Empire Memorial Lighthouse

Empire Memorial Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located in Empire Michigan and was built in 1991 as a memorial to Robert H. Manning, a life-long resident of Empire and avid fisherman. I've seen many shots of this lighthouse but none from this direction. Taking the unique shot of something that no one else has done is quite a challenge when traveling, but I think it makes the adventure that much more fun. Everyone can take a picture of this building from a slight distance, so the challenge is to find that unique perspective. That is what I love about photography.


Camera: Nikon D80
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/9
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Sometimes you just need to do a back flip

Backflip Anyone?

When my son and I are on a sand dune, the first thing that comes to mind is doing a back flip. Here's a shot captured of us doing just that. This particular sand dune is 450ft high.

Passion Photography

Passion Photography

How do you represent the word "passion?" This week's photo assignment with fellow blogger from Kevin's Photography was to represent the word passion, and this was my interpretation. My intent is to use this concept with a bride and groom, so who better to test this concept with than my own bride. Check out Kevin's blog and see how he interpreted the assignment.

Dune Walk

Dune walk

Another shot from this week's summer vacation shoot. The sleeping bear dunes national lakeshore is an amazing place to photograph. We took some time to climb these dunes and play in the sand, but mostly it was a relaxing time. This amazing place is the byproduct of iceburgs carving out the great state of Michigan.

Warning: Steep Bluff

Warning: Steep Bluff

Vacationing in Michigan is sometimes referred to as going "up north." This year was no exception because we traveled to the Sleepy Bear Dunes National Lake shore. This is an amazing place if you ever get the chance to see it. The sand dunes are suprisingly high and a thrill to climb. Ok, the thrill is gone after about 100 feet, but it is fun to run down. This is the sign warning climbers about the 450 ft hill.

Vacation Photos

Vacation Photos

Empire beach is a beautiful setting off of lake Michigan. The water can be cold at times, but this week was just right.