Taking a Little Time to Catch Up–Photos of the Snyders and Raya

My goal with this blog was to keep it relatively up to date so that all the blog stalkers would have something to read, and keep traffic coming to the site! So, to keep up my end of the deal, I thought I’d update it by sharing some of what I’ve been up to…

Firstly, the pro shooting ball has finally started rolling just a little bit, thanks to Trish and Lila (it was my photos of Lila that did the trick), who have been advertising my photos on Facebook. Friends of the Christies, the Snyders wanted some photos of the three of them for John’s hometown newspaper, and also some of their son Webb for themselves and for the grandparents.

I had a fantastic time shooting at Duke Gardens with the Snyders, and was really pleased with the experience and how the photos came out. I’ll leave it to the Snyders to talk about the experience in their own words, but suffice to say I think we’ve made some friends from the experience.

I realized that the photos are in a private gallery, so here are some of my personal favorites:

This photo session has already hooked me up with another family who I’ll be shooting next week, and will hopefully lead to some regular work with families. Thanks to the Snyders and the Christies for getting the word out and helping me to get something going!

Next, for a bit of a change of pace, one of my good friends asked me to do some “modely” shots for her at Duke Gardens… so we went back, and based on the light, what Raya wanted, and the scenery at the gardens, I went for a sort of Urban Outfitters-y catalog look, but not in the deliberately crappy style they seem to be currently favoring. It’s up to the viewer whether I achieved that goal, but I’m pretty sure Raya was happy with the end result…. here are just a few shots from that shoot:

I had a great time working with Raya, and look forward to doing more shoots with single models as well. Photographing children has really helped to develop speed and accuracy, as well as catching the genuine expressions with acuity while following around a model who doesn’t take direction and has a mind of his/her own. Shooting an adult–one who wants to be shot, and who takes direction while following their own ideas–is much easier in comparison. Both are rewarding, and each experience has shown me that this is something that I am really very passionate about (as if I didn’t realize that already).