Autumn Foliage

Saturday Wendy and I took a ride to Kindzua Dam in Pennsylvania. The leaves still haven't turned color and probably need another 2 weeks to peak. The trip was still worth the effort. It was perfect weather and the scenic vistas were wonderful. The image above was of the Allegheny Reservoir and a good example. Click on image to enlarge.

A different look...

Here is a great technique I learned from the strobist at http://strobist.blogspot.com/. I set my cameras white balance to incandescent. Camera set to iso 100 at 1/250th sec. at 6.3 which is exactly -2 stops less then the sunlight coming in from the right of my subject. I then added an orange gel to a SB 600 set at ttl +.03 as my main light and another SB 600 rim lighting the left side of my subject. This added blue cast to my image but left my subjects skin normal. Cool look don't you think?

Fall Harvest

Beautiful skies are over Niagara County today. Autumn is here and the fall colors are approaching quickly. I plan on getting out to shoot some fall foliage this weekend.

Portraits Outdoors

This is my older brother, Robert. He is my best friend. He supports me in everything I do. Gives me drive and purpose to my life and is just generally there for me when ever I need him. The image above is an example of what I mean. I had an idea in mind of something I wanted to try out and I didn't have the proper equipment. My SB 800 is on the fritz and I knew brother owned one too. I text messaged him and asked he bring over his flash unit. He was at our studio within an hours time with flash in hand. I set the settings on his flash to give me approx. -2.5 stops fill light and used a SB 600 at ttl +.3 in a soft box for a main light. I said now I need a model and outside we walked into the back yard and I took this image. Now that is a brother. The 2 flashes balanced with daylight gives his face nice modeling and a 3D quality to the image.

I guess I'll have to break down and buy a new SB 800 this picture is good.

Spooky Promo

Summer has ended and fall is here. Our special this month is about Halloween. Ghoul Portraits.
Come in costume, bring your pumpkin or jack o lantern as long as it implies Halloween. Dress as scary as you want and your session is free. Yes...I said FREE. That is a $25 savings. Prints may be purchased from that session at our regular prices. Just mention the promo code when you book your appointment and receive your $25 free ghoul session. Promo Code is : "Gone Batty"

Lighting Lesson 03

The above image was achieved with Nikon speedlights using the CLS ( creative lighting system ). As you can see we have a commercial studio look which took about 1/2 hr from start to finish. Our goblet was placed in front of a blank wall. We used two books ends up about 2 feet apart and placed a piece of clear glass across the books on top of a small table. This lets use slide a gridded speedlight underneath our subject to add specular highlights from below. Our main light is diffused in a soft box from camera left. Our background is lit from camera right and is snooted to control light fall off. An additional light from camera right is pointed directly at the subject with no diffusion. The diagram above gives you the complete overview. Click on images to enlarge. All lights were controled with SB commander unit from camera position.

Notification

Notice of announcement that our wedding packages have been rearranged and our top of the line package now includes parent albums and a standard size 11 x 9 story book. We will carry the larger 13 x 11 story book but it will be and additional charge option. There is no change in package pricing at this time but an increase may be coming for 2009. We suggest anyone booking weddings for the upcoming year should consider booking soon to lock in the 2008 prices.