Daily Photographer – Day 47

I can’t even begin to describe how happy I am that it’s finally starting to warm up.

I’m not made for winter. If Kansas would stay a nice even 75 degrees I would never want to leave.

Anyway, enough dreaming of drastic climate change. Here is today’s shot.

Do I really even need to say how much I love this shot? Lisa did a great job!

I still have mountains of photos to go through so I’ll talk to you all tomorrow.

-D

Daily Photographer – Day 46

Soooo happy about today’s shot. It’s the first part of a series that I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time.

A big thanks to Lisa for flying out all the way from California just to shoot with me.

There are some really cool shots coming from our sessions, but this is definitely my favorite so far.

See you all tomorrow,

D

Daily Photographer – Day 23

For some reason I had it in my head that I had already posted this entry. Apparently I was wrong.

Shows what a little sleep deprivation will do for ya. Anyway, it’s monday again and there is some cool new stuff coming this week. So keep your eyes peeled.

By the way I think that is one of the grossest expressions ever.

D

Daily Photographer – Day 14

I can’t believe I’ve been at this for two weeks! I’ll take a pat on the back for such consistency.

Say hello to Jessica Ahlborn, an amazing photographer in her own right. She’ll be flying in from Seattle in a couple weeks and we’ve planned a pretty awesome set for you guys. You can check out her work here.

Anyway, I’m off to continue my efforts in productivity.

Take care,

D

Daily Photographer – Day 12

I’m beginning to think this may not work.

What do you think? Maybe we should try reverse image-psychology! Should tomorrow be some artic tundra?

Momentum

Well, as per usual it’s been about a month since my last update on here. 2010 is fast approaching and you can bet that just like last year “update more frequently” will be on my list of resolutions. At least I’m consistent, right? It’s 5am and I’m ready to ramble!

So what’s new?

Very good question… If you haven’t heard yet, on October 8th I was voted the best portrait photographer in Kansas City! Naturally I’m pretty excited about that. I didn’t realize I had so many fans. It’s been quite the surreal experience.

Aside from that coolness I taught at a fellow photographer’s workshop in the beginning of October. I absolutely love doing things like that. I get to meet great people and help them learn about new ways to look at their craft, their work-flow and their business… tons of fun. Plus I get to do some shooting too, and we all know I like that at least a little bit.

Overall I’d have to say that life is good. Sokah is huge, and healthy. I am medium-sized and healthy as well. I have some work coming up in a few magazines which I believe will be out before the end of 2009. I can’t be totally sure but I think one will be out next week. I’ll scan the pages or something when they hit so I can keep you all in the loop (it’ll have to be the ‘or something’ option since I don’t recall owning a scanner anymore).

Oh! I just remembered. One of my clients from earlier this month, Brad Sarver, caught a huge gig from the portfolio shots I took for him! Out of a pool of hundreds Brad was cast for a TV commercial with a major auto maker. How cool is that?

I don’t know which of my shots did it for him but here is the star himself:

We’re shooting again at 2pm today to round out the rest of his portfolio. After that, I’m going to get started on my book.

That’s right.

I’ve decided that I’m going to write a book on Photoshop techniques aimed at high-level users. I haven’t decided yet on if I’m going to limit it to one subject (ie. people, products, etc.) or if I’m going to make it all inclusive. So far the former seems to be the most likely.  If you have anything specific that you’d like to learn about, let me know and I’ll at least answer you directly even if your question doesn’t make it in the book.

Given how long it takes me to crank out a new blog entry I can’t really say how long it’s going to be before I finish this project…but it’s gonna happen. I have a feeling that once I get going on it, I’ll finish quite a bit quickly. On the same note, If there is enough interest I’ll start doing some video tutorials for you all as well.

I know more has happened this month, but for now I can’t remember anything else. My brain is trying to write chapter one of my book instead of wrapping up this entry with something resembling wit.

Anyway public, I hope each of your lives are going well.

Until next time…Keep the faith.

-David

Your Powers Combined…

Man, what an exciting week!

First off…let’s hear a round of applause for me updating the blog in under a month! Wooooo!

Remember me saying I was going to revamp my style a bit? It’s here…and I love it.

This is by far the highlight of my week though…

Just a few days ago I was notified that I had been nominated for something called “The A*List,” I had no idea what it was so I figured I should go check. Well, turns out that the city gets to vote on who they think is the best of the best…pretty cool. I’m in the portrait photography category.

So I spread the word around thinking I might do alright, but that there were a ton of great photographers in this city.

Here’s where I have to gush a little bit…you all (clients, followers, friends, family, fans, etc…) are incredible. In a few short days your votes have taken me from the bottom rung all the way to 1st place. Knowing that you all support me so much is a truly incredible feeling! I’m not a clever enough writer to be able to say it any better than that.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, or just haven’t voted yet…go check it out. Voting ends on the 27th, so there is still a long way to go but with your help I know I can stay on top!

Let’s talk more about photos though, and the lovely Jessica Crider…

If you’ve ever worked with me before, you know that I’m a bit spontaneous. This time my spontenaity got me, Jessica and her boyfriend Jordan all soaking wet. All because I decided on a whim that we needed to shoot in a lake. Yes, in the lake.

This wasn’t so much of a problem for Jessica (except for her aversion to mud) as it was for me and her boyfriend (my assistant for the day), she had plenty of swimsuits. Jordan and I both came without something to swim in. It’s so great when people are able to go with the flow though, I love it. Jordan didn’t even flinch when I asked him to get in the water and hold a reflector for me. He waded in jeans and all just to help out, and that made all the difference in the shots. I couldn’t have gotten them any other way.

Thank you to both of you for catering to me. I know you agree that the ends justified the means.

I also had some time last week to sit down and finish going over my second shoot with the ever-beautiful Randee Jean.

I don’t know what it is…I think she understands what I’m looking for before I do. Either that or I’m just that good at communicating what I want (don’t laugh too hard).

A big part of what takes me so long to go through her shots is that I can’t decide which ones I like the most…there are too many!

All of these photos were shot at the same studio where the workshop I mentioned in my last post will be held. I love the location because of how versatile it is. There’s a ton of space and it’s right in the middle of downtown so I can just walk outside if nothing indoors fits the look. How could I complain?

I firmly believe that the location can make or break a shot. I know that looking at beautiful people can make us critical of ourselves. Beautiful locations do something different though…they allow us to imagine ourselves there, I feel like they give the audience a kind of freedom. I wonder if it’s possible to shoot models in a way that eases individual insecurities while granting that feeling of freedom and empowerment.

Alright friends, it’s time for me to wrap up. A big thanks again to everyone that has supported me so far. Even if you choose not to go vote for me, the fact that you are here reading and looking at my work is enough!

Labor day is knocking on the door so, please have a safe and relaxing weekend.

-David

Meet Otto

What a weekend. Otto is the newest official family member now and as promised, I have some photos.

I forgot to take my camera with me while we were outside. Ooops. It worked out better that way in the end though. Otto is a very intelligent dog (as I believe most of them are) but his fearful nature is a major obstacle.

I know I can change that as I’m able to work with him on a daily basis. So far that seems like it will be the hardest part of training him. More than anything, training the people that he will be around will be  a bigger challenge.

Given that today is the day he doesn’t get to go back home to his previous owner, I’m sure it’s especially tough on him.

Anyway, so that’s today’s news.

OH, and the Central Missouri Humane Society is now #4 in the contest on ZooToo.com that I told you about in my last post!

How awesome is that?

The Past Before the Future

I know.

Deep title right?

Ha!

Aside from actually writing a blog entry I think coming up with the title is the hardest part…so, I give up…from now on it’s going to be the first thing that comes to mind no matter how stupid.

Anyway, today’s is relevant, thankfully. Last night I got the urge (as I sometimes do) to go through the discarded images from last year’s sessions and see if I could find a few gems to spark some creativity.

Some of them turned into very close crops like the one of Ashley above. I originally discarded it because the eyes aren’t tack sharp like I like them to be in my shots, but the crop wowed me so I had to work it and overcome that pickiness.

It’s been quite some time since I dirtied up a photo. I love playing around, and although I prefer clean n’ simple looking shots embellishments can really transform a piece.

The one above was done when creativity woke me up at 5 this morning. Such is life.

Back to work now, I have some jewelry photography to finish up today and then hopefully I’ll be able to post that up here too.

Hope you all have a great day!

-David

Jason and Jennifer – Wedding

Jason and Jennifer’s wedding…what a blast. You may remember them from the engagement photos I posted on here a while back. Maybe not, who knows.

The day started around 2:30pm with photographs of the preparation mayhem.

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