Jane and Cameron Engagements

There is a tradition at the University of Michigan that is told to all of the students. It is said that any couples that kiss under the arch near the diag will be married, and this is where Cameron asked Jane to be his bride.

A bit of a boat ride. The mosquitoes were not my friend while photographing these particular shots.

Time for a piggy back ride

Cameron and Jane were a delight to work with. The lighting and the location were just perfect for the shoot.

See the entire slideshow here

"Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. " Mathew 7:14

Classic Shots

I thouroughly enjoy going to classic car shows and photographing other people's prized possessions. I enjoy meeting the owners and learning about the uniqueness of their vehicle and what makes it special to them. The amount of effort and attention provided to these machines is massive and requires a similar passion to that of my passion for photography. We share that love for something and I like to share my photos with the owners. It's a great give and take relationship.

Today I shot entirely in manual to get used to controlling the exposure and really get to know my camera. I used a polarizing filter to take the shadows away and allow the paint to really show it's true colors. I hope you enjoy these shots as much as I did meeting the owners of these vehicles.

Pet me or go away

I find that dogs opinion of me is very much influenced on whether or not I have bread. Meet Reba the dog. She wanted nothing to do with me at first. She curled her tail and walked away from me whenever I came around, and I felt challenged to capture her in any way necessary. Thus comes the need for food (aka instant friend maker). Not only did she stay near me, but by then end of the visit I was petting her and she was letting me pick her up. Man's best friend just really wants to know their place in the world and this dog was happy to know that I had food and that I was in control of the situation. She let me capture this moment of tranquility after a bit of warming up.

Royal Oak Location Scouting

Later this week I have an engagement session to shoot in downtown Royal Oak and I wanted to see what this city had to offer photographically. This city has a lot of great features that will make for some great engagement shots, and I am very excited to see what we can come up with during the evening. I think I'll be using this park bench for one of the shots. Stay tuned....

Softball Season with the color Pink

Youth's learn to play the sports that help define their lives. They begin to learn the motor skills to perform the sport to their very best, but the sport becomes something more than just learning a skill. Sports teach us teamwork, determination, learning how to lose, learning how to win, learning how to react when you win or lose, how to listen to authority, how to become the authority, how it feels to build a team that succeeds, and how it feels to build a team that wins not only in the sport but with each other. Sports help define our lives, and that's one reason why I enjoy photographing them.

Hey Camera Guy, take the picture already

I just finished the edit of these photographs form last week's lifestyle family portrait session and I am very excited with the results. We had fun and photographed for 45 minutes. That's all it took to getabout 60 really great shots. Here was one that I really enjoyed.

One Moment in your life

If you could take ONE picture to remember a moment in your life, what would it be?

What if you could capture a single moment in your life and tell the story with a photograph? There are so many moments in my life to remember including the birth of my children, the first day I met my dog, walking into my first home with my wife, receiving my high school class ring at Christmas, the list is quite endless.

The endlessness stopped on one moment for me that I don't have a photograph of, and it's one I wish I had. It's a photograph of a waiter dressed in black polyester pants, a stained white shirt, and a horrible bow tie. That waiter is talking to the most beautiful woman who is sitting in a restaurant booth. They are smiling at each other. I can see the jukebox on the wall that won't accept any quarters. I can see the cup of coffee with the steam rising above it. I can see the tan wall paper and the paper napkins. I can see a genuine smile on the faces of the couple as they make small talk, the kind of smiles that tell the whole story. This photograph would represent the first day of a very significant chapter of my life. It's the day I met my love. It's the day I met my bride. It's the day I met my wife.

Happy birthday sweetheart.

iPhone Photo Friday

If you have followed my blog for a while you will know that I always carry my camera with me. I am an observer of the world around me and I see images that need to be captured all of the time. Somethings I don't bring the camera because it's a quick jaunt and I know that there won't be any shots (and I'm usually wrong, there is almost always a shot I missed.) Sometimes the best camera you have with you is the only camera you have, and this brings me to my iPhone. When all else fails I pull out this 2 megapixel gem and I get the shot. It's not always the best shot, but it captures the moment or tells the story that I was trying to tell at the time.

This brings me to this week's iPhone Photo Friday in which I am posting a photo from one of those occasions this week where I knew the camera would not be necessary. Boy was I wrong. As I drove down this tree covered dirt road I could not help but visualize an image of the car driving down this road with the trees blanketing the sky, wheels and car hugging the road, and the motion blur of the dirt beneath. I risked the health of said iPhone and held it outside the car with no safety strap (I know, not very smart of me,) and I got the shot. Not only did I get the shot, but the sun was setting and the image was much warmer than I anticipated. That golden hue on the trees and the road is not photoshopped so I was very pleased with the result.

Lifestyle Portrait Session Silent Auction

My daughter's school is raising money to pay for pencils, equipment, etc. So this year I will be auctioning a lifestyle portrait session. It's $125 value, and if you are interested in having me tell your family's story for two hours, then I will be happy to provide details where the auction will be taking place.

These two bought a house

Shown below are Matt and Jen from their wedding last year. I had the honor of telling the story of their day last year and I am pleased to announce that the story continues because they have just purchased their very own home! Congratulations Matt and Jen on becoming home owners.

Lake Orion Police

Another photo for my car butts series. This one courtesy of they Lake Orion Police department, and taken at this year's flower fair. This vintage car most likely pulled over many vacationers that were disobeying the speed limits in the land where living is a vacation.

Lifestyle Family Session

Capturing stunning photographs at sunset in the month of May means that it's going to be a bit cold. Despite the cool temp we were able to get some stunning photographs this evening. Here are just a few of my favorites from tonight.

Mothers Day Tulip

The following tulip is brought to you by all mothers everywhere. Thank you Mom's for all that you do.

Pink Glove

I think the pink glove makes this shot.

Lonely Road

Discovering your passion can be lonely road. A challenging exercise of trial and error. It comes from exposing yourself to new things and new ideas. Try, try, try again. Try until that passion presents itself to you. Sometimes that passion is inside of you the whole time yet the blinders are on and those passionate feelings sit dormant.

Discovering your passion can be a lonely road. Others can guide you to new experiences and situations, but no-one can discover it for you. The feeling of passion wants to be discovered, and once it has the world opens up, the clouds part, and all becomes as clear as a cloudless night sky. You clearly know what it is you were meant to do and what it takes to get there. Outside observers notice when you have found it by the twinkle in your eye and the drive and determination of your every being. Your body language and your presence will show the passion that you have. I get excited when I meet someone passionate about their work or passionate about something. It pains me to see passions unrealized. I want everyone to experience such a blissful aspect of self awareness.

When I hold the camera in my hands, I am aware. I know what I am meant to do. I am blissful. I am happy, and I've found my passion. The discovery of your passion doesn't need to be a lonely road, it can be an exciting time of trial and error. We all want to see each other find their true passion. I'm rooting for you to find yours. So I ask you, what is your passion?

Equine Photography

I can't tell you how thrilled I was to photograph these equine jumpers. This sport blew me away when I first saw it and I found photographing it quite a challenge. For one thing, the horse is very aware of my presence and I needed to be very careful where I stood and how I acted when the competition was underway. Below are a couple of my favorites from the day.

LAX Sunset

The sunset near LAX. Notice the trails in the sky from the planes flying away from this busy airport.

Belair Front End

Why don't the auto manufacturers put hood orniments on the fronts of cars any more? This is the front of a Belair (not sure the year.) The clouds acted as a natural softbox for this shot and I think the range of shadows really add to the shot.

Belair Rear End

Yet another impromptu car butt photograph that had to be taken. This auto was photographed just 3 hours prior to my viewing of the new Star Trek movie. I know this shot has nothing to do with Star Trek, but it was an amazing experience. What a great way to start the summer movie season

Line 'em Up

Another shot from yesterday's softball game

It's alright to cry

I've seen the movie A League of Their Own about 100 times. It's one of those movies that captures my attention if channel surfing and find myself watching it till the end. One of the lines in the movie delivered eloquently by Tom Hanks has become part of my vocabulary "there's no crying in baseball?!?!" No one can deliver that line better than Tom, so why did I think I could do it? I couldn't help saying those words when a young athlete struck out today and cried. I had my long lens on the camera and was quite a long way from the girl (she didn't hear me), but I felt so bad saying it. One of the parents looked at me and said "I was going to say it, but I stopped myself." I know it was on other guys minds and I wasn't alone. I learned a valuable lesson today.

Today I learned that It's alright to cry in softball.

LAX and a camera

I was recently in Los Angeles and had some time to capture planes landing. This photo of a Hawaiian Airlines jet is the result of a mini photo assignment that I gave myself. In order to be comfortable with putting my camera in manual mode and capturing the shot I give myself photo assignments from time to time to keep the camera in my hands and the creativity flowing. Anyone who has been near the LAX airport is aware of the Hot and Now restaurant located conveniently below the landing zone of the planes. I enjoyed a noisy lunch while aiming my camera at the sky.

Free Comic Book Day - Wolverine

Today I got to meet the real fake Wolverine!

It was my first time going to a comic book store, and I must say it was quite an experience. I was able to join the ranks of the comic book allstars today while receiving my free copy of the Wolverine comic book. While in line I met the amazing Iron Man

The best part of the day (above and beyond meeting the real fake Wolverine and Iron Man) was to spend some quality time with my brother and nephew. Waiting in line at the comic book store to receive a free copy of a comic book was not what I had in mind today, but it was a real treat and would not have traded it for the world.