POTD May 31, 2010

This is a senior portrait of Jessica at an old church in Boise.
I really like the way the colors came together in this shot. This is late in the fall so there are some leaves in the stairway and Jessica looks great in black.

I set this up so the staircase would be the background and shot this from straight above, it took a few shots to get her facial expression just right but she nailed it. This another of my favorite shots.

This was taken with the d300 and the 28-75 Tamron at F4 with the softbox with sb800 from the right, the lighting really worked out nice in this.

In processing I cropped it to me more of a panoramo.
Great shot Jessica!

POTD May 30, 2010

Another engagement portrait of Seth and Elizabeth at Kathryn Albertson Park in Boise.
This one does a much better job of capturing their personalities and the fun of the day.
This shot is also taken in the "tunnel".
Softbox is on the left and the evening sun is on the right, this area is in full shade at this time of day.
The flash output is set very low for this shot so there is a lot of ambient light in this.

Taken with the d700 and 24-70 at F4.

In processing I changed it to black and white, which I really like the look of for this shot.

Looks like fun!

POTD May 29, 2010.

This dramatically lit engagement portrait of Elizabeth and Seth is at Kathryn Albertson Park in Boise.
This is an area of the park i call the tunnel due to the rows of trees down both sides.

For this one I set the flash with softbox on maximum and this was very late in the evening so the background darkened up nicely to create this dramatic lighting. Then in processing I added red tint to the background to make the blacks in their outfits pop more.
I think I could have done a better job with the pose, looking back on it now, but still I really like this shot a lot.

Elizabeth and Seth are such a great looking couple together and we had a lot of fun at this shoot.

Great job on this shot you two!

POTD May 28, 2010

Ranee again at the old Pony Express Station in Homedale Idaho.
Shot with the same setup as the one from yesterday. D700 24-70 at f16 and the softbox with sb800.

We took a lot of shots in this old station. I love the way her dress looks cascading down the back of the wall. Ranee that window has never looked so good! Great job on the poses.

Here is a link to Ranee's bridal gallery at my website, there are lots of nice photos in there:
http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com/Bridal-galleries/Ranee/9991098_Ruxbu#683146409_TnvCE

POTD May 27, 2010.

This is from Ranee's bridal shoot at her farm in Homedale. We almost didn't do this shoot as Ranee and Shawn were already married and she just didn't see a need for it. I convinced her she might like some shots just for her and I am so glad we did the shoot. Some of my favorite bridal portraits ever came from this shoot.
There is an old Pony Express station on their property and this was taken in one of the huge windows.
I normally use large f-stops to blur the background but this was at f16 because I wanted the white wispy clouds to be the background.
It came out just right with the warm evening sun shining on her and lit with flash from the softbox from behind for fill. I love this shot.

Taken with the d700 and 24-70 at F16 with the softbox.

Great shot Ranee, workin that wedding dress!

POTD May 26, 2010

This shot is from Nicole and Joey's wedding at the Wood River Cellars winery in Eagle Idaho
This is one of my favorite just messing around shots. Nicole is playing with the groomsmen while they are fighting over her and Joey is off in the background with that "What the H" look on his face. I like how two groomsmen right in the middle are battling it out.

Taken with the d3 with sb800 on a bracket. It does look just a bit flashed but they are in the shade with the sun in the trees in the background so it needed a bit of flash to bring them out. Most of the time at weddings it is not about lighting things perfectly, it is about getting the shots, and light them as best you can on the move. There just isn't time to set up lights and move them around from spot to spot.

Great shot Nicole and Joey!

POTD May 25, 2010.

Another photo from Jackie's senior picture shoot at Kathryn Albertson Park.
I really like this photo because of the lighting setup. The sun is coming from rear right and the softbox with sb800 is from the left, gives a nice mix of light. Jackies is a very pretty girl and this light adds a lot of drama to the shot.

I set up the background to be nice and dark with no distraction, she is about 40 yards from the background so it is nicely blurred.
Taken with the d200 and 28-72 Tamron at F4. Sb800 with softbox set off with the Nikon CLS system by the on camera flash. If you have a Nikon and are not using the CLS flash system give it a try it is SO easy...even I figured it out.

Nice work on this shot Jackie, the head tilt and attitude are just right!

POTD May 24, 2010

This is a portrait of Jackie at Kathryn Albertson Park in Boise.
This is a senior portrait of her. This was taken a couple years ago actually, since this time I have done two model shoots of her, her engagement and her wedding.
I really like Jackie she is a genuinely sweet person and she is married to my nephew and the entire family loves her.

Anyway this was taken with the d200 and the 28-75 Tamron at F4. I used a sb800 and softbox from the left.
She was laying on the bridge and I was laying across from her.  I chose the background carefull so there is just a pallette of color back there with no distracting elements.
Jackie is kind of shy so she makes a lot of little nervous faces, this is one of those, I think it captures her personality really well.

Nic shot Jackie!

POTD May 23, 2010

Here is another shot from April and Orrin's wedding last weekend. These two were so much fun to photograph, they were up for anything and really made their shoots a lot of fun. Their wedding was on Friday at the LDS Temple in Twin Falls Idaho and their reception was at the 36th Street Bistro in Boise.

We had 1.5 hours for photos on Friday at the Temple in Twin Falls and another hour on Saturday at Kathryn Albertson Park in Boise. Now that is a lot of time for pictues and there are some really nice photos that came out of the two days.

This shot is at Kathryn Albertson Park, right in front of the waterfall. The was shot at 200mm at f4 with the 70-200 f2.8 lens and the d700. The softbox is coming in from the left.
At 200mm the background is blurred into a nice mix of colors and shapes which cause little distraction from the couple which is isolated nicely at this setting. If the background was not so completely blurred this shot would not work as the background would be very distracting with so much going on back there.

This is one of my favorites of the day, it shows them both at their very best, and I like the togetherness of the pose.

Great shot April and Orrin!!

POTD May 22, 2010

Every once in a while I get a shot that I really love. This is one of those. I really liked it in color but when I converted it to black and white it crossed over into all time favorite class.
First of all I love the setting and the way it lays out with the bench and the flowers and pond behind them.
I love the trust she is showing just totally relaxed with the bouquet down below....and just look at his face.
Did I tell you I like this one........

This is set up with the softbox from just out of the frame on the left putting light into the shaded side to reduce the contrast from the bright midday sun they are sitting in. This was taken at 1:00 in the worst light of the day. Taken with the d700 and the 70-200 at F4. I was kneeling down so I would be at about the same level as they were.

What a day we had at April and Orrin's wedding last weekend which is when this shot was taken.
A lot of couple say they are all about the pictures, these two really were, we had two hours to take pictures, I better get some good pictures .............
Here is a link to their gallery on my website: http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com/Wedding-galleries/Twin-Falls-Temple-Wedding/12267896_7GoGs#874827398_Wy9Gb

Thanks April and Orrin, amazing shot!

POTD May 21, 2010

This is a winter shot (really?) of Natalie at Kathryn Albertson Park. A very pretty young lady with lots of personality.
I saw the sun was shining through creating all these highlights through the trees so I set her up next to these small Aspens. Her wardrobe really works well with the background colors.

I shot this with the d300 and 28-75 Tamron at F4. Softbox from the left and sun from behind and from the right giving a nice highlight in her hair.
This was one of my first experiments using the strong backlight, it took some extra processing to bring out the blacks as straight out of camera it was a bit washed out. I think it came out great in the final version.

Excellent pose Natalie, workin' that aspen!

POTD May 20, 2010

This is a portrait of Marissa at Kathryn Albertson Park in Boise. Marissa showed up ready go right from the start. Most girls require about a 20 minute loosening up period, not Marissa. She was so comfortable in front of the camera it made my job very easy.

She did an excellent job of picking her wardrobe for items that make her look her best and her hair and makeup were spot on.

For this photo she is standing out in an open area about 40 yards from the background so all I had to do is make sure there were no distractions in the background as I knew it was going to be very blurred to provide a nice isolation for Marissa.
Taken with the d200 and the 28-75 Tamron at F4. Shot with the softbox and sb800 from the left using the Nikon CLS system. The CLS is so easy to use, if you have a Nikon DSLR and are not using the CLS system for lighting just do it. No one is more of a technofob than I am so trust me....it is easy.

In processing I added just a small blur to bring out the highlight in her hair from the sun which is behind her from the right.

The result is a well lit natural looking portrait of Marissa, a very pretty young lady as you can see.

Very nice Marissa!

POTD May 19, 2010

This is from April and Orrin's engagement portrait shoot at Veterans Memorial Park in Boise.
This is another dip that I really like. The setting was so ideal for a shot like this.
I asked Orrin to dip her as far as he could without getting her wet, key point. Then I had her dip her head back and touch the ground, which ties her reflection in with her nicely.

This was taken with the d3 and the 70-200 at f4, in hindsight I should have used 2.8 to even further blur the background.  Natural light from behind them which gives them a nice border light, which I accentuated by putting a small blur effect on the photo.
This shot was taken in bright mid afternoon sun, so I had to decrease the contrast and give it a shadows and hightlights adjustment.

These two were married last weekend and I am finishing up their wedding photos now. There are some really nice shots in there, I will post some when complete.

Amazing shot April and Orrin, you were workin' it!

POTD May 18, 2010

Romantic shot of Jeff and Ally at the Castle Gardens in Kuna Idaho.
They are out on the second floor balcony doing a little messing around. I told Jeff to kiss on her a little and that Ally should like it....will they didn't need much coaching....

Shot with the d200 and the 70-200 at F4 natural light. I vignetted this one quite a bit and turned it to a midnight black and white. This really highlighted the couple, which after all is the story.

Ally and Jeff having some fun!

POTD May 17, 2010

Ally and Jeff at the Castle Gardens in Kuna Idaho. Just a classic dip picture, my favorite of all the ones I have done to date. I set this up with the castle in the background and the fountain framed on the left.
Normally I would have used a larger f-stop and blurred the background more but in this one I wanted the background to be more prominent.
Shot with the d200 and the 28-75 Tamron at F5.6 with natural light.

This shot took 3 or 4 practice attempts but Jeff and Ally were such good sports they enjoyed the process. I shot this wedding a couple years ago, but still one of my favorites. I will post another one from them later.

Great pose Jeff and Ally!

POTD May 16, 2010

Another shot of Savannah. Again with the d700 and 85 1.4 lens at 1.4.
This is a fun messing around pictures, I asked her to do the smoochy face to herself in the mirror and this is what came out.
She had just finished putting her makeup on and we were heading for the dress next.

Again in this one I am bouncing just a bit of flash off the ceiling.
The background has a lot of distraction in this but it is busy enough that it evens out and with the creamy bokeh from the 1.4 and does not distract from the photo.
I was kneeling down as she was sitting and I wanted to get this from appx. eye level so the photo would feel like the viewer was right there.

Great pose Savannah!

POTD May 15, 2010

Savannah and Bruce got married at the Nampa Civic Center in Nampa Idaho. It was a small ceremony with family and friends but they still had a lot of fun.
Some of you may recognize Savannah from the shoot we did in the park where she was doing the dance jumps. She is a ballet instructor at one of the local academys and appears in some local production.

Savannah is one of those ladies that does not know how beautiful she is and has an amazingly calm and easy to get along with personality. A real joy to be around.
This was taken in the bridal room, she had just  finished getting ready and was looking amazing.

This was my first wedding with the 85 f1.4 lens and was still working out some of the bugs in focusing but as you can see this one came out great, this is at F1.4 with the d700, I am bouncing a flash on a bracket off the ceiling. See the clean background, I had to move her a couple times and get the angle just right to remove all the distractions in the background, we are about 10 feet from the wall so it just disappeared in this shot.

In processing I converted to black and white. It really works with her coloring and the pearls.

Beautiful pose Savannah!

POTD May 15, 2010

This is Kristina again at Kathryn Albertsons Park in Boise. Obviously a very pretty girl, this girl should be modeling somewhere and I told her so....not sure she believed me.
Anyway I really like this shot, she was fiddling with something and I yelled her name and she gave me that what look and I took this. It is a great way to get a quick relaxed look from someone who is nervous and with Kristina's good looks I like it.
Taken with the d300 and 28-75 Tamron at F4. Softbox is from the left. This is a great little log to put a girl on with this type of pose as it  provides a nice angle. Kristina did not need much help posing and really like the pose she hit for this one.....the lioness...

In processing I made this black and white because of the distracting branches in the back, I find them much less distracting in black and white and Kristina's skin and hair color really work in black and white.

Love this shot Kristina!

POTD May 15, 2010

This is a fun shot of Kristina at Kathryn Albertsons Park in Boise. I like the way this rock lays out so we sprawled her across it with her head and long hair hanging over the side.
Kristina was a good sport, she was pretty shy and it took a while to get her loosened up, as you can see by the end of the shoot she was pretty relaxed.......

This is with the d300 and 28-75 Tamron. Softbox from the left. If I had it to do over again I would have moved the light more from the front so there was not so much falloff on her feet. There is a big fountain behind her but I cropped this to extreme horizontal to take all that out. I thought it was distracting and the horizontal really makes Kristina look long and lean. I will post more of her later.

Great pose Kristina!

POTD May 14, 2010

Another shot of Tara in Kathryn Albertsons Park in Boise.
This is such a great setting for a pretty girl, the little rock platform out over the water with the rocky shoreline and the cattails in the foreground.
This is lit with the 42" softbox and sb800. In this one I turned the flash up stronger to accentuate the dress and hair and foreground. In effect this darkened the background which really highlights Tara in the photo.
I think she looks like  movie star up on that rock with here her amazing/confident pose.
I told her to lean her head back and stick her booty out and have an attitude about it, it worked.
As I mentioned in the last shot we turned her a bit more than normal due to her being 5 months pregnant and she did not want a belly picture........

Shot with the d300 sb800 I think this was set on +2 for flash power, again using the Nikon CLS system.
In processing I pumped up the blues and contrast which really makes the greens and the reflection pop with color.

Beautiful photo Tara!

POTD May 13, 2010

This is a ashot from Tara's engagement shoot in Kathryn Albertsons Park in Boise. Tara is a beautiful young lady, you can't tell in her pictures but she is 5 months pregnant at this time.
This particular photo stirred a bit of controversy due to the pose Hmmmmmmm.....
Well until someone pointed it out I had not even thought about it.

I actually love this photo and have no issue with it at all, Tara also really likes it which is all that matters.
I really like how the red shoes match the flowers and the setting and pose really make this nice.

I took this with the d300 28-75 Tamron at F4. The 42" softbox is set very low and is coming in from the right with the evening sun coming in from the right. At this point the sun was down so the light was very nice!!!
For processing I added a bit of vignette to really accentuate Tara, not like she needed any help ....

The setting for this was a place in the park I call the tunnel and I go back there time after time, I really fits my eye.

Thanks Tara, amazing photo!

POTD May 12, 2010

This portrait of Laura was taken at Kathryn Albertsons Park in Boise. You can probably tell I shoot there a lot. It is a supermarket of photography scenes, we find new spots every visit.
Back to Laura, this was shot on one of the wooden bridges in the park. I had her lay down on the bridge and I laid down on the bridge about 20' from her so to be at eye level.

Laura showed up with her brother and they were laughing and cutting up the whole day and it really could not have been more fun. Laura has a great personality.

This shot was taken with the d700 and 70-200 at f4. Used the 42" softbox with sb800 from above to the left. I was glad I had the softbox this day, as you can see there was potential in this one for some really distracting shadows but with the softbox everything came out nice and soft lighting wise.

So we got everything in position and I told Laura to throw me some steam, so here it is guys, Laura's steamy look.

Great shoot Laura, thanks!

POTD May 11, 2010

This photos is from Kathryn's bridal portraits shoot. This is in October at Kathryn Albertsons Park at peak fall color.

I love this litte rocky shoreline, there is just enough room for a bride and groom on this flat grass covered rock she is standing on. If I get the composition just right I can get her full reflection and also some flowers at the bottom. For this one I was using my 70-200 so did not have a wide enough lens to get the flowers at the bottom, but the rest of it came together nicely. Kathryn is a  natural poser so I just left her to pose on her own.
Here is a link to Kathryn's gallery on my site: http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com/Bridal-galleries/Kathy/10002064_Pnget#726204291_gWCxh

This is taken with the d700 and 70-200  at F4.  The 42" softbox with sb800 is a few feet to the left in this photo. I lit her up to be the brightest part of the photo and reduced the overall exposure of the setting just a bit, this accentuates the colors and highlights her more.
In processing I added a bit of blue tint to really bring out the colos and the blues in the water reflections.

Beautiful shot Kathryn, nice job!!

POTD May 10, 2010

This portrait of Jessica was taken at an old abandoned church in Boise.
Jessica is so pretty and has a great attitude. I love this setting and we had perfect light this fall day with lots of clouds.

I set this up so I am at eye level standing on another staircase opposite here. I used the building for framing on the left and right and the stairs on the bottom. I faced her this direction because the light was hitting her perfectly here and had her move her hair all to the opposite side. Her wardrobe with the black jacket and boots fits perfectly with the black and white processing in this photo. This is one I should have blown up large and put on my wall.....well if I started doing that I would run out of wall space.....oh wait I already did years ago haha.

Shot with the d300 28-75 Tamron at f4 with natural light.

Great shot Jessica!

POTD May 9, 2010

This shot is from Takara's senior portraits at Kathryn Albersons Park in Boise. Late evening light from the right is just right to make Takara look amazing in this portrait. Such a pretty young lady. We had an amazing time in the park at this shoot, Takara has a great personality and really likes having her picture taken...it was all good this night. 

Well almost....this was the first only and last time I did or will lose a card....OMG....I never want to have that feeling again. We finished the shoot and after Takara left I asked my assistant if she had the first card we shot and she said no....well I didn't have it either!!!!! Ensuing panic..we looked for the card for two hours in the dark...just could not find it.

Spent a sleepless night worrying about it, then before first light I was back at the park looking again. Walked right in on the path and there it was laying in the grass in the sprinkler about 10 feet off the path 200 yards from anywhere we had been shooting, go figure.
Well needless to say it was soaking wet so I still was not out of the woods.  A few hours later after a few thousand "Please let them still be there's"!!!......
I plugged in the card and the pictures were all there....Thank You Sandisk Extreme!!

Amazing shoot Takara!!

POTD May 8, 2010

This is a portrait of Elizabeth from her engagement portrait session with her now husband Seth.
Now Elizabeth is a very pretty lady but when we put Seth's cowboy hat on her, well.....judge for yourself.

This is one of my all time favorite portraits. Late in the evening the light was perfect, I hit her with just a little bit of light from the 42" softbox. Then in processing I turned the background slightly red to set off the black outfit she is wearing.
I took this with the d300 and the 28-75 Tamron at F4 and the background is pretty far away so there is a nice blur to the background.

I pretended like I was taking some flash adjustment shots then I told her "I really like the way that hat looks where it is setting right now" and I got this small grin.....Money!!

Thanks Elizabeth!

POTD May 7, 2010

This is a shot from Andrea and Eric's wedding at the Ustick Baptist Church and reception at River Rock Ranch in Boise.
This is in the bridal prep room at the church, she is having a toast with all of her ladies there are 6 of them and they all have their glasses raised I found this little space in the arms to frame Andrea's face and here it is.
Andrea is so pretty and she has a great personality, she and her ladies gave that prep room a workout haha.

I took this with the d3 and the 24-70 2.8 lens at f4. This is natural light.
I had a great day with Andrea and Eric, I will post more from their gallery on another day.
Here is a link to their gallery at my website: http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com/Wedding-galleries/river-rock-ranch-wedding/7909992_LXi2n#629461629_SrLSA

In this shot again I went to the black and white, it takes the shot down to the essence of it which is Andrea and her excitement for the day and how much she was enjoying her time with the girls.

Thanks Andrea!

POTD May 6, 2010

April and Orrin's engagement portrait session at Veteran's Park in Boise.
These two are so cute together and are so much fun. They were laughing and messing around the whole time which made the shoot go by in a blink.

In this photo I put them on the bench and pulled a switch by reversing the traditional positions so he is sitting on her lap. I framed the shot with the bench and the two trees to either side of them, then shot it at f1.8 to ensure a good blur on that busy background.
They I told them to relax for a second because I had to fool with my camera, naturally they started messing around and I just started shooting. As usual, less posing of the subjects makes for more natural shots.
Now some couples will just sit there and look at you waiting to be posed, but not these two.....
Here is a link to their gallery at my website: http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com/Engagement-galleries/April-and-Orrin/11275104_cKb3E#791035479_oGHdA

Taken with the d3 and 85 1.4 lens natural light. The old formula works, attractive fun subjects in a good setting with good light, just don't screw it up haha.
I processed this in black and white because I wanted the accent on the couple and their relationship not on the scenery.

Great shot April and Orrin!!

POTD May 5, 2010

Once in a while you get lucky and capture a moment that defines a couples relationship, this is one of those.
Katie and Trevor are one of those couple that are just so right together, you know they will still be laughing like this together in 50 years.

I told Trevor to whisper something in her ear that he wouldn't want her Daddy to hear and it must have been good because this was her reaction. She obviously was loving what he said and he obviously was loving that she loved what he said .............
It was this kind of day with these two. Really one of my favorite couple of all time. I also shot their wedding and we just did family pictures for their entire family two weeks ago. I hope I will be photographing them again.

This is at Kathryn Albertsons Park in Boise, but really it could have been anywhere, this photo is not about the surroundings it is about how much fun they have in each others company.

Taken with the d700 and the 70-200 f2.8 at f4.  I used the softbox with this one but it was set very low, the sun was coming from the right and flash from the left.
The background maybe isn't the best with the sidewalk running through it. If every shot had a perfect background it would get pretty boring in a hurry to look through a few hundred pictures. I think in this shot the sidewalk adds some texture and energy to the photo. The background is blurred and busy enough that I don't think it is a major distraction.

Here is a link to their gallery at my website, if you want to see a couple having a great time at an engagement shoot check it out: http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com/Engagement-galleries/Katie-and-Trevor-engagement/8318816_rbzqy#544964436_BYSj2

Katie and Trevor great job!

POTD May 4, 2010

Portrait of Jackie from her wedding to Eric at The Bishop's House in Boise.
As you can see Jackie is a beautiful young lady. I have shot her twice before but she never looked more beautiful than on her wedding day...that is how it is supposed to be right??

So this antique couch set back in the bridal suite made a perfect setting for this portrait.
I set her up in this pose because I wanted it to look casual sexy but not to over the top. My general rule is anything more than a bikini is ok.

This is shot with the d3 and the 24-70 2.8 lens at f2.8. I shot this with natural light because it just looked better. I also shot it with the softbox but the soft light coming in from behind in this natural light version just looked better to me. I kneeled down to take this shot because I wanted to be at about eye level, if you are using a faily wide lens and you shoot down or up on your subject it can cause a lot of distortion...bad.

So here you have it Jackie in her soft light romantic black and white with a slight strawberry tint added bridal portrait. Looking great Jackie!!

Her is a link the Jackie and Eric's wedding gallery: http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com/Wedding-galleries/Bishops-House-Wedding/10833779_wsf4g#755634048_TP5nW

POTD May 3, 2010

This is from Krystal's bridal portrait shoot in Kathryn Albertson's Park in Boise. If you haven't looked at her gallery on my website and you like bridal portraits, check it out there is some good stuff in there.

This one looks like I am above here but I am standing on the ground and she is on a very small hill, because I shot this at a pretty wide angle it makes it look like I am above her.

So we were walking through the park and I saw this amazing red tree with the sun shining into the back of it making is positively glowing with color. I found this little opening between the tree and the bush and that is where we placed Krystal. We spread her dress to its maximum look at me factor, then set up the light just to her left. It is adding some pop to the bush next to her and her dress and hair.

Shot this with the d200 and the Tamron 28-75 at F4, using a 24" shoot through softbox.

I have this photo on a 48" canvas print in my office, so yeah you could say I like it, the print is glowing with color.

Here is the link to Krystal's gallery: http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com/Bridal-galleries/Crystals-Bridal-Photos/10005431_dEUeR#400658080_PDN9C

Love your pose in this one Krystal!

POTD May 2, 2010

This is Brianna,
This is a natural light portrait taken in downtown Boise a couple weeks ago.
I just said something socially unacceptable and she is rolling her eyes at me...
She is set up about 20 feet from the wall and I shot this at F2 with the 85mm 1.4 lens on the D3 so the background didn't have a prayer of showing up in this one.

Brianna is so much fun to shoot, she gets so excited to shoot she is like a little girl playing dressup, obviously doesn't look like it.
Her galleries are consistently the most viewed on my site....hmmm I think I will have to shoot her again....
Plus the fact that she is more fun each time I shoot her helps.

This is a crop of a full photo. I think the crop shows her personality much better and really put the focus on her expression.

The black and white processing works with this so well because of the way the light is hitting her face.
This is a natural light photo by the way.

Here is the link to her portrait gallery at my website, there is a second gallery of her on there as well from a few months ago: http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com/Portrait-galleries/Brianna-in-Downtown-Boise/11668410_B9byB#823072524_Rhdng

Great look Brianna!

POTD May 1, 2010

Another picture of Jessica. Just a classic portrait. She has such a great confident look it really shines through.
Shot against the wall of the same old church from the previous days POTD.

D300  28-75 Tamron at F4. Her dark hair and skin color work perfectly against the color of the wall behind her.

I set her up about 10 feet from the wall and used a large f-stop to make sure the wall would be a complete blur.
This is one of my favorite natural light shoots of all time. The old church was a perfect setting. The church has since been turned into a business so it is pretty difficult to get in a daytime shoot there now.

Here is a link to Jessica's gallery at my website, give it a look if you like natural light photography there are some really nice shots in there....if I say so myself: http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com/Portrait-galleries/Jessica-at-an-old-Church-in/7488520_N9Q46#483246717_zv7Ks

Great job Jessica!

POTD April 31, 2010

This black and white portrait of Jessica was taken last year at an old abandoned church by The 8th Street Marketplace in Boise.
The set up was this great old weathered stain glass window for the background, I used a little smaller f-stop than normal so it would not be all that blurred.
This stone railing was built perfectly for a shot like this as it had some nice dips in it where a person could settle into.
I told Jessica my idea for this shot and she said "Sure why not", well initially we set her up to low on the railing so then we dragged her by her belt up about three feet to where she is not....guess that was why not haha.  It was pretty funny at the time.

So anyway I had Jessica put her hair up and arms, she posed her legs and here it is.
I really like this black and white version and her outfit was perfect for it.

Equipment was the D300 with 28-75 Tamron at F5.6 all natural light.

Jessica if you see this call me...I would love to shoot you again!