World Famous Chicken Dinners

Frankenmuth Michigan, home of the world famous chicken dinners.  

More swimming and diving Photography

Today I was on deck helping photograph the swimming meet at Lake Orion High School. Here's an image I snapped with my iPhone. I have thousands of images on my camera, but this is the only one I can get to my blog in time tonight. Tomorrow I have an engagement session, so stay tuned for images from that too.

NO DIVING

Taken with my iPhone on the deck tonight during my son's diving meet. Thought this perspective was interesting.

My Son Diving

Photographed the diving meet yesterday. There's not much artistry in this photograph, but there is artistry in the way my son was diving. He's done enough to qualify for regionals, or State, or something like that. The whole organizational structure of the diving and swimming makes my head swim (pun intended.) Either way he gets to dive again this weekend. Way to go son!

Window light Roses

I was noticing how the window light was shining on my wife's valentines day roses.  Grabbed the camera and played with the shot a bit.  I like the composition of this one, even if the roses seem to be wilting a bit.

Engagement Session Heart

Here's a photo from Sunday's engagement session. I forgot to turn the heart back to it's position when we were done with this shot. Oops. [View the rest of the engagement photos here]

Sunset after an awesome sunrise

The clouds were amazing on this day late last week. The way they blanketed the sky made it seem like there were waves in the air. The sunset was enhancing the effect and the look of the sky so much that I had to stop, turn my car around, and capture this moment in time.

Clarkston Photo Walk

I've been wanting to photograph an engagement session in downtown Clarkston Michigan for quite some time now. It's quaint architecture and beautiful park is a perfect setting for photographing two happy people in love. Stay tuned to my wedding website for some photos of the engagement session that I'll be capturing.

Inspirational Door

The creativity in this door makes me want to be a better photographer. The artistry here is truly amazing and I was awed by it.

Rockstar Wedding Photographer

Sometimes I refer to myself as a rockstar wedding photographer. This photo was taken with my iPhone when I was shopping with my daughter and I just couldn't resist capturing this. I should have bought this sign and hung it in my studio.  Instead I'll share it with you here.

Fix it Friday - Cutest Expression Evah!

I've been following the I Heart Faces website for a while now and every Friday is Fix it Friday where we get to take someone elses photograph and correct it to make it look it's best.  Here is my take on today's photo.  First is the original photo shown here

And here's my version after some tweeks with Adobe Lightroom.

The crack in the door

One last photo of St. Benedicts Door.  The craftsmanship on this door is stunning.  The handles are seamlessly in the door and you can't tell that they are there until you naturally grab the door to open it.

Rust and Snow

Taken on my photo walk this past weekend.

South side of the St. Bens

A view of St. Benadicts from the South side of the building.

St. Benedicts Door

I know the guy that made this door and I finally had the opportunity to see it today. Wow is it amazing. The detail is overwhelming.

It's a Tree!

This tree was begging for me to photograph it.  Once the light was right and the scene was correct.

Model Footsteps

My buddy's foot steps when he was modeling for me yesterday.

You saw another photo?

Conversation between me and a friend while driving in my car today:
Me: I just saw another photo.
Friend: where? There was nothing there?
Me: I'll capture it when the sun gets lower on our way back.

Later.....
Me: Do you mind being in the shot?
Friend: Nope
Me: Walk over there while I grab my camera

This is what I saw today. My friend while he is a nice guy and completely awesome, he was not my complete vision for this shot. I envisioned an engaged couple walking together, holding hands, talking about their wedding day, and begin captured with the camera. For today's purposes, my friend was a good substitute. So imagine this photo with an awesome couple in love and maybe kissing near this tall grass.

Learning to see light

The light coming from this window fascinated me. I see light differently now, and that's a good thing.

Quickbooks My Enemy

Quickbooks has been my enemy for the past week. I have been fighting it every step of the way, but the more I fight, the more I learn. The closer I am getting to understanding this beast. Soon I will know enough about it to pass the work onto someone else so that they can do it and I can concentrate on shooting. Shooting is what I love to do. Quickbooks is not in the list of fun things I do, yet it needs to be done.  So what do I do?  I stop the reconciling for a few minutes, pull out the camera, and I shoot.

Sometimes I take a breath.

Sometimes I need to stop and take a breath. Soak up everything going around me, and then take the shot.
Sometimes I need to remind myself to slow down and then take the shot.
Sometimes this helps me focus.
Sometimes.
Sometimes I need to react and not think at all.
Sometimes I need to seize the moment and capture it before it's gone.
Sometimes.

Diving Counties Part 2

Diving Counties Part 1

A lesson from Denis Reggie

You may remember in yesterday's post a picture of my son with the light going across his face from light to dark. Today's pic is a lesson that I learned from Denis Reggie that really helps to light the face even in a dark church. He calls it foofing, and it's a technique that allows me to light the face nicely without blasting a flash right on the face. I get the directional light from my flash by foofing it off into the distance, bouncing it off of a wall that is 40 feet away and letting it hit the subjects face in a nice beautiful way. This photo is an example of why it was essential for me to go to Imagine USA to learn from the best. I can't wait to use all that I have learned in this years busy wedding season.

Window light and Ice Cream

This isn't the best photo because of the iPhone camera lens, but take a look at how the light goes across his face. It really adds to the definition of the shot and helps make it 3 dimensional. Having the same light across the face makes it look flat and undefined. The way the light was hitting my son at this moment was what I was really trying to capture.

Battlestar The ultimate geek license plate

The ultimate geek vanity plate. Battlestar Galactica.

Cake blog post inspiration

This photo actually sparked the inspiration for a blog post that I will write on my other website. Thought I would share with you the origin of a blog post. Actually, most of my images here are the origin of another picture. That's the whole reason for this daily photo blog.

Ski for Lake Orion

One last shot from last week's photo shoot at Pine Knob.  I liked this angle, because it gives you a sense of what the skier is seeing and gives a sense of the scene.