Halloween

I am a little slow in posting, but these are a few of the photos from a Halloween party last Saturday. The party was a blast and the costumes were great as you can see. I love how everyone gets so into the photos. There were so many good costumes and the personalities are so great. This post wouldn't be complete without the photo darlings below. So this is special shout to Amber, Marily, and Brad. You are awesome! And thanks to Jason and Carrie for being the ever perfect host and hostess. Your parties are awesome.

Solitude Ski Resort

I was up Big Cottonwood Canyon today photographing a house, and as I drove past Solitude I couldn't help but notice that they have been making snow. I got so excited! I am kind of tired of summer and can't wait for some snow and skiing. They haven't made much, but enough to make me think about going home and getting my skis and hiking up the couple of hundred yards they do have. Of course they have signs posted all over that the ski resort is not open. Ha ha! Bring on the snow!

Samsung ISU World Cup

We made it out again to see the US Team compete in short track speed skating. I think it is impossible to really describe the energy at an event like this. It is intense!

The US Team didn't do as well as they did last year, but it was still great to see. The Korean team broke the world record in the relay. They love to play up The Fastest Ice on Earth.

Here are some photos.

Snow in Salt Lake

Impact

I have been out-of-control-busy lately, but was going through photos from a shoot this afternoon and had to post a photo. Every once in a while I will be going through my workflow of sorting photos and will come across a photo that really stops me in my tracks. This is one of those photos. As a photographer, I knew the photo was good immediately after I shot it. I didn't have to look at the LCD. I just knew. I even told Susan about it on the way home. But I didn't think it would be this arresting. I love the eyes. Intense, yet so soft. I have already sent this off to the printer to make a nice big print!  

Tennis

We didn't get home until late, and after downloading and backing up photos from the shoot I was dead tired. Here is a behind the scenes photo from the tennis shoot last night. It was a blast and so much fun. The photos are awesome too!

Ballerina

Here are some of the photos from the ballerina shoot the other day. I love the photos and I am always excited when the final product is just as I had imagined it. I enjoyed this shoot very much, but didn't enjoy dealing with the rain. Although, I do like how it reflected the light off the wet pavement. I want to try some other photos and I believe she is going to let me use her again as a model. Thanks M. 

Ballerina and Graffiti

A couple of weeks ago my sister-in-law was showing me the photos they had received from his football team. They were terrible. I didn't expect much because most of the photos done for sports teams are more about quantity than quality. I understand that they are there to make money, but there are many little things that you could do to make the photos a little better. It got me thinking about redoing his photos in a fashion that they would be pleased to hang on their wall. So I planned a shoot with him after one of his games in Salt Lake. As we were going to be shooting between some buildings and on the street I wanted him to be sweaty and dirty. I wanted a gritty look. I under exposed the background by two stops and cross lit him with four strobes. He literally jumps off the page. Seeing his photo gave me the idea to do a series of these photos. Taking athletes and putting them in strange and alien locations for how they are dressed or the sports they play.

One of these photos that I decided to do was place a ballerina in front of this wall of graffiti. I was looking for contrasts. An elegant and soft ballerina on the street and in front of this very urban wall seemed like a great idea. So over a weeks time I planned the shoot with my darling niece and sister and the company that owned the parking lot. Early Saturday morning we picked up my niece and went down to the location that I had picked. All week we have had nothing but sunshine and temperatures in the 80's. Wouldn't you know it, that today it decided to rain. It was off and on, but we decided to give the weather a try and see if we couldn't get the shot I was looking for. You can see from some of the shots that I had plastic bags placed over the strobes until I was ready to shoot. I actually left the bag over the top of the beauty dish. The rain let up just enough that we were able to get the photos that I wanted. McKenna was awesome and a real trooper to bare the weather in her not so warm outfit. Here are a few behind the scenes photos. I love seeing these photos on other sites. I will shortly post the final pictures. 

James Nachtwey

Here is a follow up to my post about James Nachtwey the other day. Check out the video and photos. It is kind of scary and really impacts you. In a day and age like today, stuff like this is still going on. It kind of makes me think of movies like I Am Legend or other Doomsday films. 

Dress-Up....Jeff Style

OK. Here is the riddle. What do you do at 2 am with a closet full of costumes, a camera, a studio, and one very crazy guy? I think the photos are self-explanatory. 

Jeff (I hope you don't mind me posting about you) is the ultimate character. All you need is a little prodding and off he goes. Who am I kidding? This guy does all of this stuff on his own and I just benefit from it! There were times I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even take a picture let alone compose it and stop the camera from shaking. In all honesty, I really like these photos. I like the memories they bring with them and the good times we shared. (I am sitting here typing this and laughing out loud.) HILARIOUS! The photo below reminds me of a cross between Hulk Hogan and George Michael. You gotta love those glasses. I love the spontaneity that Jeff brings with him. I probably only took about 40 photos and yet every single one of them is something totally different. I had a blast taking pictures. Thanks Jeff! Emily you have a great guy and I am sure he brings you not stop enjoyment.