Big lens, little hands

Carolina Roller Girls

The family and I embarked on an evening of adventure and people watching at the Carolina Roller Derby. Great fun, amazing people watching as the variety was as good as it gets. The action was neat to watch too.






These are panning shots taken with my point and shoot camera. Lot's of noise, wide angle and funky colors. I love it.

Hannah, my assistant and future photographer

Hannah helped me at the last shoot. Here she is helping me adjust the lights and showing the other kids how to sit patiently and smile. She was a big help and held up the main light during the whole shoot. I was glad to have her and didn't mind paying her.

A shot Hannah took of her cat with her own camera. Good job!

Lastly, another one from the shoot. Aidan and Maggie.

Maggie, Aidan, Will, Reid and headshot for Heather

Lots of photos today. Maggie was a tough customer but Aidan was a true professional. It was quite the production with one photographer, an assistant (HB), two moms bribing with snacks, one grandmother for security and four kids looking in different directions. What a hoot!
These are a couple outtakes from the shoot although they are both pretty darn cute shots. I did manage to get several photos of the four kids together and all looking at the camera. I'll save those for later.

We had a setting springtime sun. I used two strobes. One main to camera left into a large soft umbrella that my assistant had to hold down. The second was camera right and behind the subjects. I gelled it 1/4 CTO and put the diffuser cap on it. This helped bring out the sunset feeling and provided seperation from the background. The location was Harris Lake Park.

Prior to all the monkey business in the park with the kids I had a head shot session with the beautiful Heather Waliga, the new weekend anchor for News 14 Carolina-Charlotte. Heather was a true professional which is probably why she got hired! It was a busy day.

Family snapshots

Some recent shots of friends and family that I have taken over the last few days. I like to make candid portraits for everyone, especially the little kids.

Mario and Lila


Reid-O burrito


Mario and Darcy


My girl through the viewfinder.

SPAM killer

I hate spam. I even get it on my cell phone now.


Don't ask me how I got the idea. I don't quite know. I literally found a free can of SPAM and thought I could do something with it. I was just recently given the pistol. It was my Dads when he was a police officer in the 50's. I wonder if he ate Spam back then? It's crazy tasty you know.

This is a two light shot. One SB-800, snooted to camera left for the spam. Another SB-800 to camera left, slightly higher and pointing towards the gun, snooted too. All fired via Pocket Wizards in my tiny home studio. The act of lighting and shooting a photo is quite relaxing and a nice way to interject in an otherwise stressful day.

East versus West

I was in Greensboro yesterday doing some work. If I'm having lunch, I always try to sample the local flavor versus corporate chain restaurants. I enjoy the people watching, the different menus and quite frankly, the prices are usually lower.

Pork barbecue is a quintessential part of the fabric in North Carolina. It's right up there with tobacco and basketball. My friends and I enjoy sampling the local 'cue selection whenever we travel the state. I picked up the love of good 'cue from Bill Camp at Triangle Design Kitchens. The man can smell barbecue from across town even when the wind isn't blowing. He routinely fields calls from us as to which restaurant we should try when in far off little towns.

This particular 'cue is Stamey's in Greensboro and is of the Western style. It's red vinegar based slaw is a giveaway. They have two restaurants. The other being in Lexington (the capitol of western style 'cue). I've had the pleasure of dining there as well. I love the old style warmth you feel when you walk in the door. The service was super fast (at both places) and the 'cue was a 7 out of 10. The hush puppies? The best I've ever had. I like them thin and crispy and not fat and doughy.

...back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Anolis Carolinensis

Carolina Anole

I just love seeing these little guys patrol the porch and yard around my house.



It's best viewed bigger.

This shot is was made with a 105 VR macro lens. The out of focus areas (known as bokeh) are really soft and pleasing with this lens. It was pure luck that I had my camera, with that lens, when the Anole popped up on the railing. Hannah acted as Director of Photography and made sure I was in position to capture the little guy.

More through the viewfinder shots: '64 Chrysler

I'm enjoying the through the viewfinder technique as a creative outlet. Yesterday, I only had 30 minutes for photography and needed something close by. I had previously photographed these two decaying Chryslers but decided the ttv technique would be a good fit and they are really close to my office.

A note about how I cropped these images. My digital camera shoots a rectangular photo and the old Duaflex shoots a square crop. Thus my photos are pretty much black except the exposed square of the Duaflex viewfinder. I could have adjusted my crop to align perfectly with the Duaflex square (like the previous post). Instead, I simply cropped a perfect square that fits my digital camera field of view. It illustrates how my digital camera lense was seeing the Duaflex viewfinder. It's not a photoshop border. Very little photoshop was done to these images. Mainly some contrast adjustments, slight desaturation and the previously mentioned crop.

Carter thinks these cars are ugly. I have to agree with him but there must be a reason they never went to the scrap yard?

Pajamas through the viewfinder

My favorite model helped me on a technique I picked up from Flickr called Through the Viewfinder (TTV). I'm making images from the viewfinder of antique cameras. My ultra modern digital camera is teamed up with a 1950's era Kodak Duaflex camera. It takes some effort to get everything aligned just right. The focusing is tricky and I haven't mastered the old Kodak quite yet but the fun factor is large! I added a little Photoshop to this image as well with the rough pastel type border.

I'm going to pursue this technique some more and I want to take it outside, perhaps using old homestead to create some portraits. I just need to fine the right willing subject and the time to pull it off. It's not a point and shoot technique.

Zoey loves cake

Zoey was more than happy to pose for me while covering a 50th Anniversary celebration for her great grandparents. I used an SB-800 flash, on camera, bounced off the ceiling/wall to camera right and a wide angle lens. One of over 300 photos from this exciting event.

Salads for Chef Mario

Chef Mario does a monthly column in a local magazine highlighting his unique culinary creations and nutrition. The team at Chef Mario create some extraordinary meals (I'm no stranger to his stuff, believe me). With Chef Darcy assisting, I shot five salads for them with a combination of natural and strobe lighting. We were going for a close up look with not a lot of styling and propping.


A mix of natural light and strobe on this last shot. My natural light was fading so I brought a strobe/soft umbrella outside and basically helped the sun out a bit. Also a couple reflectors on this. This was the hardest shot of the series.


Look for Chef Mario's column in an upcoming issue of an (undisclosed magazine) later next month. Once it's published I will post up the magazine shots. These are proof shots with little processing or cleaning up. It was great working with Chef Darcy and the staff at Mario's. We were in and out in under two hours. I even got to bring a couple salads home!

Margie and Alfred: 50 years of marriage

I met Margie and Alfred at their home in Durham yesterday to mark the celebration of 50 years of marriage. They have much to be proud of and it was an honor to photograph them both. Look for more photos this weekend as I cover their anniversary party.