I hate to beat the proverbial horse here, but I really want a studio to work out of. Sort of. I think. Well, yes and no. Yes when it is over 90 degrees, 90 percent humidity, no wind, no clouds, too much wind, 40 degrees, rain, yada, yada, yada. You get the picture. And when it’s not like that? Well, of course, outside is the way to go. Unless I want a pure color background with Cyclorama wall complete with beautifully constructed lighting that never changes unless I want it to. But outside of that pure color background, there is no way I could spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars for backgrounds when if you just walk outside and look, you have hundreds of “studio” backdrops available virtually anywhere you go. It’s one reason I can’t understand photographers that go to the same places again and again. There is only so much of the train tracks, depot, or Savannah Rapids before I go nuts.
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they say never work with animals...
It was W.C. Fields who coined the famous phrase, “Never work with animals or children” due to their unpredictability and scene stealing nature. I have worked with children before, and for the most part I would agree with their scene stealing nature, but animals? One of Rachel’s Zumba classmates lives close by and happens to have a little fluffy young goat to play with and we thought, what the heck, let’s test out this axiom. Couple of phone calls and voila, Jennifer has her hands full of some cute goat-ness and I have two lovely subjects for a photo session.
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my year in the miller theater, volume 6
Welcome back, it’s been awhile since I checked in with this little run down memory lane, thank you Mr. Compressed Vertebral Disc. But, as we have decided to mend our relationship and travel down recovery road, don’t mind us as we take a detour down the aforementioned lane. As for the theater itself, a little inside, a little outside, some close details and some wide expanses. On the portrait front, we inject a little pin-up flavor with the lovely Jessica. Onward we go…
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a half shot session: senior style with cannon
A quick and well, not dirty, but wet mini senior session with the wonderfully affable Cannon. The mini session is not for everyone. It is quick paced, and we get the party rolling right from the get go because we run it for 45 minutes versus our long form 2 hour session. The first 15 minutes or so of a full session is just for our client to get their bearings and relax and be themselves versus the robotic smile for pictures which can dominate once I bring the camera up. With a mini session, we have to start that way from the start. But the thing I kept hearing from Cannon's mom Amanada during our phone consultation was his laid back demeanor. And she spoke the truth. It was an easy session to groove into and it was an absolute joy to shoot. Best of luck to Cannon in all of his future endeavors, in particular his ability to lead a lacrosse team to victory in goal, he has the right mental attitude to succeed wherever he plies his trade.
Read Morea personal maternity session
As I am getting older and mortality is becoming an ever increasing sentiment within my mind, not really but it is a good lead in, I listen to a lot of podcasts where health, nutrition, and fitness is a focus and I have attempted to clean up my act by cutting the sugary snacks and carbs out of my diet. One of the things I have dramatically increased in my diet is nuts, which have a multitude of benefits, one of which is highlighted in the below tweet from the amazingly brilliant Dr. Rhonda Patrick.
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my year in the miller theater, volume 5
This week we open with a little roof exploration, edifice details, and a little stage time. And bees, lots of bees. And we close out with a portrait session with the lovely Lindsay, who got to show off another side from the last we shot her. This time we added the men's room as a location. That's right, I know where to take the ladies for a photoshoot.
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my year in the miller theater, volume 4
This week in The Miller brings us a bit of color and texture shot from the roof, focusing on the surrounding environment of buildings and skyline of downtown Augusta and it's unique mix of brick, sculpture, peeling paint, and rust. We follow that up with a little tour back inside featuring some of the unique fixtures and textures of The Miller, also the ubiquitous front stairwell and finishing with some sunset shots from the roof. This volume's portrait session is a Senior Session featuring Emily introducing the back alley and the room under the secret yellow room room and getting her own time on the roof while joining the "just like a tree stand" club when presented with the many ladders on the roof.
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my year in the miller theater, volume 3
Welcome to Volume 3 of my Miller time. In this episode we continue on from the previous volume and continue to explore the projector room, the ever-present front stairwell, add in a new addition in the under the secret yellow room room, and finally start the love affair with roof shots of the city skyline with the always evocative Lamar Building. We finish with a gorgeous set of photos from our session with Kristen, who pushed us to match the beauty and grace she brought to the table that day. We hope you enjoy!
pb | rb
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my year in the miller theater, volume 2
Welcome to volume 2 of my year at The Miller and thank you for showing up. I introduce a few new rooms (hello projector and uh, lady's bathroom ante-room...) and their treasures as well as establishing some returns from earlier. Here's looking at you , front door, phones and stairwell. The projector room was awesome and I would have loved to shoot there more, but shortly after my photo shoot with Ashley as you will see below, the lock was changed and I was unable gain access to the room. Oh, and for the record, it was not because I did anything, but there were quite a few copies made of the key from other people, so I think the powers that be wanted to limit access where possible.
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my year in the miller theater, volume 1
In mid 2013 the opportunity to photograph in The Miller Theater presented itself. A friend/mentor of mine had access and wanted to know if I would want to take a look. Not really knowing anything about the building or it's history, I said sure and we met a few days later downtown. For that meeting, I brought nothing but myself, no camera. Long story short, at the end of that tour I got a key, had access to The Miller anytime I felt like it, and knew I would not enter the dressing rooms downstairs alone for fear of "her." Whether she still haunts it after the remodel...
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about us series, volume 1
I hate the "About Us" portion of website work, entrepreneurship, promotion, whatever you would like to call it because I basically don't like to talk about myself, hence one of the reasons I like to "hide" behind the camera. Which, when you are a transplant to a community and trying to build a business, brand, and reputation, can cause you some issues.
So, as we are currently working on a website revamp (I totally realize how bloated and convoluted the site has become, and I am sorry) and I have come to that period in time where I have to formulate the About Us section in a way that is clear and concise (not my strong suit as you will find out), why not use the blog as a way to explore our photography, ourselves, our philosophies, and use it as a tool to tell you a bit more about us and how we view and do what we do. Then, maybe I will be able to condense something down into a quick tidbit suitable for all the website developers that constantly contact me about my "web presence."
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a little update for our portrait sessions
We have two new offerings when it comes to our portrait sessions and an updated Product Guide to share with you. We are excited to offer our Double Shot and Triple Shot packages that offer significant savings while offering greater flexibility to meet your needs. Combine our Single Shot packages in any combo you would like, so a maybe a Senior/Family(Spring)/Family(Holiday) grouping or Couples/Boudoir/Portrait grouping, or any other mix and match you can think of. Thank you for taking a look and we look forward to working with you!
pb | rb
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my favorite part of the master's...
...what car will we get this year?
I don't know why this particular neighborhood that I know of always has the newest Mercedes Benz outside of it's entrance. Yes, the Master's, sponsors, house rentals, very important people, yada, yada, yada. I really don't care, I just get excited about the car. And this year? It is a doozy. The 2018 AMG GT R. No specs, no nerd talk, no debates. Just photos a very cool machine. Enjoy.
On a side note, yes, I know. I wish I could get shots of the back, but due to the structure placed behind it, they were few and far between. If I get a chance to shoot the back when they remove it, I will update.
Read MoreLlamas
Llamas.
Because, why not?
So as we all in the area get our last minute prep in for Master's Week, on this beautiful Easter Sunday, or April Fool's, or just another Sunday, or whatever else floats your boat, enjoy some Llamas.
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it's not always going to be perfect...
...and that's ok. Sometimes Rachel get's a bee in her bonnet to shoot a non-commissioned session. She got a new bit of makeup, a new hairstyle she wants to try out, a new dress she found, or maybe someone from church who's hair she's been eyeballin' or face she want's to try that new makeup on. This photo session with Susannah would nicely fit into several of those categories. But as you may know from the previous blog post, I often don't like to repeat myself when it comes to a session, so what do I do when I have my pick of locations for a session with a client who is along for the ride? Well duh, how about behind the Big Lots and Home Depot parking lot? Isn't that what you were thinking?!?
Read Morelocation, location, location
On windy days such as been the case the first two days of this years Master's, it can make me somewhat wistful when it comes to the idea of a photography studio. Through the years I have come across several spaces that have suddenly come available, or in terms of downtown Augusta, spaces that have been vacant for many years, and stood outside of the door, checked every window, checked certain apps on my phone to see when and where the sun rises or sets in relation to those windows and dreamt of what could be. Enterprise Mill, the White building, that secret room in the Miller Theatre, large, small, and everything in between. I think Rachel has heard the phrase "I think I found it" so many times, well, at this point it has gone beyond any sort of response, even the "yes dear."
Read Morethe return of winter, a carly session.
Alright, so my last post caught us up with Sommer during our photo session in the winter, yet was full of witty repartee about the weather turning towards summer (seemingly) and yet as I write this post at 2a on March 14, a few days after we just "sprung" forward and the temp yesterday was a lovely 36° as I trudged through the forest scouting locations for future shoots. Future shoots in warmer weather if I had my druthers. But not too warm, too soon as you all know how lovely the heat and humidity have fun with us here in Augusta during the summer months.
Read Morethe return of sommer
It is hard to imagine that a month ago when we had the opportunity to work with Sommer again (first session here) that we were freezing our butt's off for this shoot. Now, here we are and the weather this week is averaging mid-60's, with mid 70's and a smattering of 80's are predicted for next week. And we are not even out of February yet, go figure.
Read MoreRiverstone, Photographs Of A (Much) Warmer Time
So this is a little quick blog as my mind attempts to wrap itself around the next couple of blogs which will be a bit more, well, personal with just a hint of NSFW-ness. But we are here, in the now, and that now to be honest is quite cold. As I write this at 5:00a this morning, I am thinking about the my last two winters which at times would involve getting up this early, packing a lunch, eating a large breakfast, drinking copious amount of coffee, and then layer upon thermal layer of clothes to survive the day as I climbed in and out of 5-20 foot deep trenches which were invariably 5-10* cooler than the topside all while doing my best not to get in the way of the men who were actually working in this environment day in/day out.
Read Moreportrait photography and patience, the katie session
For those of you in the know, it is Championship Sunday as I write this and one of the biggest story lines of the playoffs has been Le'Veon Bell and his unique running style. If you happen to be around the t.v. while the Steelers are on today, take a listen and see if you can count the number of times you here the word "patience" in reference to Mr. Bell. Please don't make a drinking game out of it, because with Phil Simm's behind the mic, it will be every other word out of his mouth when the Steelers have the ball and you would be well on your way to being toasted by the end of the 1st quarter. But outside of that digression, Mr. Bell truly does have a unique way of running with patience and if I may be so bold, I am going to use him and his style as my segue into this lovely Senior Session with Katie.
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