Bridal Portrait Session

Wanted to share some photos from a fun bridal portrait session at our studio Monday.
I'll be photographing Chris and Sheryl's wedding in Winston-Salem in early December. Sheryl traveled down from Raleigh for the shoot and to make other wedding preparations.
Betsy and I had a good time working with Sheryl and she had some creative ideas for the photos.
We tried several approaches using both flash and available light in the studio and some off-camera portable flash. I love to shoot at very wide apertures to "wipe out" the backgrounds and I often use my Nikon 85mm f1.4 lens for that purpose.
I have a set of Dyna-Lite Jackrabbit strobes that can be used in the studio or on location (they have portable battery packs but can also be plugged into an AC outlet). I also utilize my Nikon SB-800 strobe off camera for certain situations.
As far as the post production goes, I really like Kubota Image Tools and I use them mainly for black-and-white conversion as well as to "punch-up" the color on some shots.
Thanks for making the trip Sheryl and I'm looking forward to working with you and Chris!

Window light Nikon D200 ISO 250 1/100th at f1.4

Available light Nikon D200 ISO 400 1/60th at f1.4

Betsy gives an assist with the veil

Betsy used her Nikon point-and-shoot to catch me in action

One Dyna-Lite strobe Nikon D2X ISO 100 1/250th at f10 (17-55mm f2.8 lens)

Window light Nikon D2X ISO 320 1/50th at f2.8

Off-camera Nikon SB-800 Nikon D2X ISO 250 1/30th at f2.8

Open shade Nikon D2X ISO 200 1/2500th at f1.4

Open shade Nikon D200 ISO 200 1/2000th at f2.8 (70-200 mm f2.8 lens)

One Dyna-Lite strobe Nikon D200 ISO 100 1/250th at f20

Studio Session

Did a quick studio session today for Dan, a local businessman looking for some promotional photos.
Dan and I hit it off right away as we chatted about our mutual loves of golf and music. (His wife recently gave him an awesome birthday gift as he got to play Pebble Beach Golf Links, one of the best courses in the world.)
My son Sean has been helping me lug equipment as he learns more about photography. (Sean actually had his first photo published in the newspaper at age 13 when he got a great shot while working with me at the Carolina Panther training camp.)
We also had some fun taking some pictures as he helped me adjust the studio lights. I was also trying to show him how you can change the mood of the photos by using one light instead of two.
We did some standard head-and-shoulders photos of Dan and then did a few that were a bit more relaxed.
Dan was great to work with and I'm hoping we can get together for some golf in the near future.

Sean looking serious as we set the lights

The many faces of Sean
We utilized one light for the second shot and two lights for the other two

Standard head shot

More interesting lighting with a relaxed pose

Beautiful Day

It was a beautiful day in Davidson with temperatures in the mid-60s and abundant sunshine. Betsy and I worked in the studio as we prepare for three weddings in April.
I decided to take a walk around town and grabbed a few photos on the way.
The first shot is Davidson Presbyterian Church on the Davidson College campus. Davidson, which was founded in 1837, is an excellent private school with about 1,700 students.
Then I got a nice reflection of Main Street in the window at Kudzu on the Green, a fine dining restaurant with some great seafood and steaks.
I also got a shot of Betsy hard at work.
Stay tuned for some favorite photos from 2006 and some photo tips.

Betsy at work