Early November and Cheap-o Fog Machines

I can’t believe I forgot about this.

Halloween is over and that means that all of the tacky fog machines that places like Home Depot and Target carry, will be on sale now.

They aren’t quality products by any means, but for $30 or less you can’t help but grab one for grins. A little smoke can do wonders for an image. Fact is, nothing makes backlight cooler than a bunch of fog with beams of light shooting out of it.

Normal professional-grade fog machines are a few hundred dollars to start which is why the popular lust for cheezy halloween decor is a great lighting opportunity for photographers.

Also they tend to clog, so every few times you use one, run a half/half mixture of water and vinegar through it to clean it out.

It stinks like mad but it will keep it from clogging and therefore keep it running.

Jason and Jennifer - Engagement Session

What a cool couple. Let me just start there. After some unsavory weather on our first session the skies cleared up and gave us a beautiful day to capture these two.

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Roots N’ Blues N’ BBQ - 2008

Well readers, it is just after 11pm the Sunday after Columbia’s second annual Roots N’ Blues N’ BBQ festival, and like last year (before this blog was alive) I was in the thick of it. I had a blast, they put barriers up this year so us lowly photographers didn’t get trampled (thank you). As of this moment my lovely computer is putting the finishing touches on the 1,700 images I took over the 2-day festival. I’ve been giving it some thought, and I think it will be easiest to split up the images I want to show you by artist, rather than kill your internet connections with one huge post full of images.

There are a few that don’t fit that category though, like my hot air balloon ride over the city. So I’ll show you that now.

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Sarah and Erin

I had the pleasure earlier this month of photographing two photographers from Iowa. Sarah and Erin came down on a Saturday and spent the weekend with me snapping who knows how many frames.

The first location we went to was an open field with an abandoned home and some rusted out vehicles. It had been pretty sunny the week of the shoot so I figured that it would be pretty easy to get in and out. I was definitely wrong.

You wouldn’t know it from the photographs but, it was insanely muddy. I didn’t realize this until I had already driven my poor car halfway up the sludge-like road leading to the location, parked and tried to get out. So, fifteen minutes later when I’ve gotten my car back on solid ground we get to start shooting.

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Portraits With Ashley

Ashley came in for her second session with me last Saturday, stunning me with another breathtaking shoot.

She likes to be humble and say that she doesn’t know what she’s doing. That may be true and if it is, the girl is a natural. Any of you photographers out there reading this… Get a hold of her, not only could she use the experience but you know you need her face in your book. End of story.

I will post some more as I get her approval.

Until then, ciao my audience.

David Bickley, Professional Photographer