Regular readers will know that I’ve been working with the wonderful Ms Cherry Dollface on her 2009 calendar…to say we are both excited about how it’s turning out is a huge understatement! We can’t wait for it to hit the presses, and wanted to give everyone a sneak peak. Here then, is October!! All the shots are inspired by classic 50’s pin-up artwork. We sweated and bled to get as close to the original paintings and drawings as possible, then put our own spin on it. This shot is the result of a couple of hours of painful studio work for Cherry (having bolts drilled into your hands and springs welded to your knees isn’t nice ya know!!) and around 15 hours retouching on my part. This isn’t the final image, but it’s close. More images in the coming weeks, and hopefully a finished calendar for you to buy soon after that. Enjoy!

No photography today - busy retouching my last wedding and Cherry’s calendar. Here are some of the songs currently rocking my playlist:Bon Jovi “Dirty Little Secret” - on hellova sexy song (no iTunes link)

Mötley Crüe “Saint’s Of Los Angeles” - anticipation for the new album is at boiling point…

Elvis Presley “Viva Las Vegas” - I miss Vegas…must get back there soon…

And - bizarrely - Def Leppard’s latest…”Songs From The Sparkle Lounge”. My buddy Steve told me to get it, crank it, and rock out. He was not wrong. I’m not a huge Leppard fan, but this takes me all the way back to the 80s. Required listening for anyone who still dreams of ripped jeans and long hair.

Another from my recent session with Cherry…

Sad…yet beautiful.

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of shooting Sunshine and Grady’s wedding. Helping on the day was Bo Baumgartner. Great fun to work with, Bo shot some awesome images for the happy couple. He’s available for weddings to, take a look at his site!!

It’s always fun to see images of myself shooting - cringeworthy, but fun - here are a couple of me getting right in the way of Bo’s camera!! (Thanks Bo!)

I like to get close to my subjects!

Yup - that’s me…right in the middle of Bo’s shot!

And here’s me looking all action man!

Meet Ceanna and Greg - a sweet and lovely couple who got married today at the Portland Yacht Club. Great wedding, great people, and the weather played nice too!! Loads of images to work for this one, here a few of my favorites as they came off the cards tonight!! Good luck to Ceanna and Greg!

I’m just sitting in my studio backing up tonight’s 2nd session for Cherry’s calendar shoot, and looking through some images we shot at the end - not for the calendar, but for fun. Cherry had quite a bit of eye make-up on, and wanted to have some fun with it…we went sad!! Here’s the first one that popped up, there are tons more to come….awesome session, once again!

My first wedding of the year, and an awesome one to kick off the season! Sunshine and Grady are two of the sweetest people I’ve ever been lucky enough to photograph, and their vows brought tears to the whole congregation, and this silly old photographer too!! Good luck to them both as they start their marriage together.
As I’ve previously mentioned, this year I’m an associate photographer for the great Powers Studios here in Portland, run the awesome Ben and Laurel Powers.

Whether you’re shooting a model, bride or child, interaction with your subject is a must if you want stunning images. Some photographers expect their victims, sorry, subjects, to do all the work for them. That’s fine if you have a very animated person to shoot, but it’ll only get you so far. Part of the job of a photographer is to also be a director. This needn’t mean pushing your client around and micromanaging each pose, but it should mean having fun, telling stories and putting your subject at ease. I love messing around with my models and brides, and it always produces a fair amount of outtakes which I think are often the best - as they have the *real* laughing smiles! During the winter when wedding season is slow, I spend a lot of time photographing models for both my and their portfolios. It keeps your shooting mind sharp, allows you to practice new techniques and is a great way to polish up your interaction with your subjects. Here are a few outtakes from recent sessions at my studio - full edited highlights of these sessions coming soon…..

Hunting through my archives this morning looking for a certain image for a killer new project (more soon!!) I found these shots of the Alameda car show a few years ago. Park Street in Alameda was chock full of chrome, fins and more Mustangs and Cameros than you could shake a stick at. I was obviously going through a ‘detail only’ period, since there isn’t a single full shot of a car…only lovely bits of shiny stuff…..

I found this quote on a blog I read often:

“When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for the famed teacher, Diogenes replied, “Only stand out of my light.” Perhaps some day we shall know how to heighten creativity. Until then, one of the best things we can do for creative men and women is to stand out of their light.–John W. Gardner”

With photography, it’s often very easy to forget that the number one most important ingredient is the light. You can buy the most fancy pants camera in the World, attend all the seminars money your wallet will allow…but if you don’t *see* the light, you’re dead. Much of my work is created from studio based shoots…and that usually means ‘flat’ lighting - that is non-directional. I then add the mood later depending on how I feel the image can benefit. Wedding photography is hard, since you can’t control the main light source - the sun - that much. You have to learn to work with the sun and use whatever it’s deciding to do on that given day. Cloudy and overcast? Awesome…great for beautiful soft portraits. Full sun and blue sky? Great…get that sky *and* the sun in the shot. Make them focal points. Use the sun, play with it. Cloudy / sunny / cloudy / sunny?? Close your eyes and pray……

Trying to get your website found by Google (well, and the other engines, but Google is the daddy..) is a mystery to most people. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to how or why they rank certain pages above others. There are things you can do, and many people out there who *claim* to be able to help. One person I know who is a genius at search engine optimization is Rob Oresteen. He’s on top of all the cool Web 2.0 and social media marketing and can help push your site up the rankings. Check him out!

Just got home from the first of my 2008 weddings, and what a hum-dinger it was!! Tons of fun, great people, awesome ceremony!Here’s a sneak peak as I download them…more later. First, the Right Reverend James Lawrence…the Manhattan Monk, who officiated over proceedings with charm and dignity!

Sunshine - the life of the party!

Grady - cool and calm!

Awesome…

A big weekend ahead photography wise…Tomorrow I have my first wedding of the year with the fabulously good fun Sunshine and Grady - should be a blast!!Then, on Sunday, the first of two shoots with the amazing Cherry Dollface for her 2009 calendar…I’m ultra-excited about this - her ideas are awesome, and the calendar is going to be out-of-this-World!! Stay tuned - details soon!!

Another great bridal fashion shoot…this time with the lovely Catriona!  This turned out to be a rather large shoot, and there are lots of images to come!!  

At Times Two Studios, we use a variety of tools to get the look and feel that photographers want for their images, and we are excited to announce that we are now using some awesome actions, textures, brushes and shapes from the Design|House set from Andy Armstrong. Born out of a desire to give his own photography a signature style, Andy has put together a stunning suite that rivals any others on the market….check ‘em out…! On a personal note, I’d like to thank Andy for inviting me to be a beta tester for his suite!

Wedding season is in full swing now - and this past weekend I had another engagement session. This time it was Jenica and Bart’s turn to face my camera!! Despite blinding sun which I made them look into all the time (sorry guys, it was worth it!!) they got into the swing of things and are natural models!!

This was my another session shooting as an associate photographer for Powers Oregon, here in Portland.

My first engagement session of the year!! Meet Andrew and Tori - getting married in September. This was my first session shooting as an associate photographer for Powers Oregon, here in Portland. Run by Ben Powers, they have 12 awesome photographers to choose from…if you’re getting married this year…give Ben a holla…and pick me!!

Because one is most definetly not enough..!! A few more from the awesome bridal fashion session with the incredible Cherry Dollface…

After a rather quiet winter, spring has been mental as far as photography goes!!! In the next few weeks, I’ve got several shoots with models, some engagement shoots and wedding season kicks off on the 10th…the first of 15 booked so far this year!!!On top of that, I’m going to be shooting a calendar with the awesome Cherry Dollface which will be in 50’s pin up style!!I’m also in the process of getting together a new portfolio for my ‘Intimates’ sessions (hence the work with models)…stay tuned…big things coming late summer!!For now, …here are a few from the ‘intimate’ session with Cherry: Cherry, Dollface by name, Dollface by nature…