Back to school special

Well summer is almost over and school is starting soon. Our September special will be $25 off on any children's portrait session in the month of September. Just mention the blog code: Twenty five dollar special... and your receive $25 off your child's portrait session. This special will also include seniors. All children up to 18 years of age. So don't delay. If you were procrastinating about getting your child's portrait done, now is the time. What are you waiting for? Call 283-0303 today.

Restoration part 2

This photo restoration is a snap shot from the earlier client. I used the same techniques as before but kept a square format cropping and then adjusted the mat sizes to get my 8x10 final image. The mats help me keep the image smaller and retain more resolution.

Instant Portraits

This is my daughter Christina. Today she got a new doo. Looks nice don't you think? I took this portrait of Christina in my livingroom using a portable studio set up. One Nikon speed light in 15x15" soft box as my main light. One Nikon speed light into an 42"umbrella -1 stop from behind the camera as a fill light. And one Nikon speed light with grid -2 stops on the background. Shot with Nikon D3 using 24-70mm lens @ 70mm. Exposure was iso 320, 125th sec @ f-6.3. It took approximately 20 minutes to set up, shoot and and break down this set up.

Restoration Project

Today I am restoring an image for our client of her Father taken in 1957. The original image is 3"x 3" and was a snap shot taken by her aunt. The image shows normal wear marks with some wrinkles and a few spots. It also has adhesive tape marks on the corners. Our client wishes we restore the image and make the final image 8x10 size. In order to do that I had to crop the image to 5:4 format. I don't think the image holds enough resolution to enlarge to 8x10 so I added a nice matted border. This allows me to keep the actual image size about 8x6 and with the mat the final output will be 8x10. The entire process has taken about one hour from start to finish and is shown above. Click on image to enlarge.

Announcement

Congratulations to Mary Helen Nixon & Dan Johnson on their engagement. They plan on a June 2009 wedding. We had a great time at a photo shoot at the falls yesterday. What a wonderful couple. We met them at the base of the bridge that goes to Goat Island and used the upper rapids for a background. We got a ton of pictures here are some of my favorites. I will be looking forward to shooting their wedding.

Lighting basics

Close up shot of this bumble bee created in my garden. The image has impact because of the great directional lighting used to light this scene. One speedlight on camera left as a main light and the sun from behind as a fill light. This combination gives my subject 3 dimension on a 2 dimensional plane. If you want your photographs to pop out with impact you need to use these types of techniques. Learn to use the light to your advantage to make your photographs look their best.

Amazing image quality

The Nikon D3 has a full frame sensor with great cropping ability without losing resolution. Here is an example. The top image is a raw image straight from the camera ( hand held without a tripod ) from the Joan Jett concert. The three bottom images are 100%crops from within the picture. I used a 70-200mm AF-S VR 2.8 lens with VR off . Click on image to enlarge.

A beautiful ceremony.

Congratulations to Lisa & Scott Dingwall. Married today at St. Mark's Lutheran Church on Oliver Street in North Tonawanda, NY. Here are a few of my favorites from the day. Click to enlarge on each image.

Outdoor Concert

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts performing in an outdoor concert at the Seneca Niagara Hotel and Casino on Friday night. It was a hot and steamy evening and the show was rocking.

Macro photography

Great photos are everywhere. You just need to learn to see them and then learn how to render them in photographs. I shot this bumble bee in our garden today. I loved the flowing lines of the cosmos leading right to the bee for a great composition. Close up images of bugs or flowers are always an interesting topic. Click on image to enlarge.

huh... Who knew?

Here is a two headed calf. I found this artifact at the Sanborn Farm Museum. The Farm Museum is on rte 31 in Sanborn, NY and has many artifacts from the farming industry housed in a barn that dates back to 1888. Admission in free but you need an appointment.

Nathan

We stopped by to check on my grandson Nathan and I snapped a few pictures of the happy baby. He is now 5 months old and cute as a button. I am looking forward to get him into the studio again soon.

Just Married

Congratulations to Terrell And Nina Dillard. They were married Saturday, August 9th, 2008 at Bethlehem Revival Temple in Niagara Falls with a reception afterwards at The Crown Plaza Hotel in downtown Niagara Falls.

Niagara's newest attraction

We took a break and went to the newest attraction in Niagara. It's called Niagara's Fury and is located at Table Rock by the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side. Admission is $15 and it is really neat inside. You start out with a Disney type animated movie of how Niagara Falls was formed and then your moved into a room with water underneath you and a 360 degree surround screen. Then your introduced to all the elements, thunder, lightning, rain, mist and even snow. While a video of melting glaciers and then flying through the gorge and over Niagara as the floor bumps, sways and shakes gives the feel of actually flying. The picture above is a feeble attempt to show you rain and snow coming down inside the theater. Be prepared to get wet if you go.

Congratulations!

Congratulations go out to Alan Lisiecki and Karen Watts. They tied the knot with an outdoor wedding held at Banchetti's Banquet Facilities in Amherst, NY. This wedding was one of the sweetest and most memorable wedding events of the year that we have done. The ceremony was held in the gazebo in back and they finished off with a giant pig roast at the reception. Here are a few pictures from Sunday, August 3, 2008. A great day for everyone except maybe this pig...haha!

Joseph & Jessica Lengen

Congratulations go out to Joeseph Lengen and Jessica Stufkowsky. They united in marriage at Zion Lutheran Church in Niagara Falls on Saturday August 2, 2008. The church is the second oldest church in Niagara Falls and located on 10th and Michigan Ave. We had a great time photographing this lovely couple and their wonderful families. Their reception was at Niagara Active Hose on Lockport Rd. in Town of Niagara. Here are a few images from the day. We hope you enjoy them.