Carmen & Lauren (Chiefs)

Carmen & Lauren's Chiefs Shoot Album

Aww yes, new pictures! I met Carmen on a modeling site, and we agreed to do a shoot. Then she found another girl who came along for some group shots. Since it's close to Halloween, they dressed up as Chiefs cheerleaders! I really like the boots, they are pretty sexy... :)

Same as before, I used the 580EX II on camera, and the 580EX I on a tripod wirelessly. The sun was still very harsh, so I had to put their back to it and use the flash to light up the faces. I am really liking this two flash set up now!

I find the poses in this photo is very edgy/sexy!

Carmen close up shot

Lauren with an edgy pose

Hehe, don't mess with these girls!

Used the tonal contrast effect to give it the "harsh dirty" look, I kinda like it!

I really like this one, I kinda want to print a calender size of it... :)

I threw in this effect since it looks like a lot of people liked it... and they do still!

Christy C #2

Christy's Shoot Album

Awww yes... Sorry about the long wait! Finally another REAL post, one that has photos! If you recall, Christy was actually the very first model I shot, she volunteered to help me start my portfolio. Well, I kinda sucked at the time, so giving her a proper reshoot was the only way I can repay her. She seemed to like them... phew!

This shoot was also my first shoot with two flash units, a Canon 580EX II (that I recently bought) and a 580EX I that I borrowed from a friend. The 580EX II was on my camera with a sto-fen diffuser, and the 580EX I was on a tripod, being triggered wirelessly via the Canon's trigger technology. I still have much to learn, but I think I am getting better!

Normal portrait shot

The slave flash was placed to the picture left, pointing at her. The flash on my camera filled her face.

Slave flash to picture right, giving the hair some highlights.

Slave flash from left, natural light from the windows on the right.

Gotta have a full body shot! :)

And we end with a beautiful B&W! She was actually fixing her cloths, but I saw this shot later.

Blog Statistics

So I regularly check to see if there are anyone even reading my blog, and to my surprise, there are! Here are some stats (for the past 30 days) that may interest you, meanwhile, please bookmark this blog because I will regularly update it, sometimes with new pictures!

- Most visitor in a day: 26
- City that contribute the most visit: Mission, KS (weird, I am from MO...)
- Best referring site: FredMiranda.com (which I visit daily!)
- Most used browser: Mozilla Firefox @ 47%
- Number of different countries: 17 (Thanks people!)

I think that's all, not sure what else you want to know... Leave in the comments and I will try to find it. Also, I took more pictures this past weekend, so more pictures coming soon! Yay!

First paid shoot!

Woohoo! One of the models from the House of Style shoot really liked my work, so he wants me to give him a one-on-one session shoot, which I will get paid for!

Buddy - House of Productions

Speaking of charging, I am officially open for business! My rate is simple:

$10 per edited hi-res photo (without logo) sent via e-mail. We will shoot, I give you a gallery to choose the ones you want me to edit, pay for it, and I will edit and e-mail. You can then print them however you want. Good thing about this is that if you don't see any photos you like, don't need to pay a cent. Although I'd have to deal with flakes, it's no risk to you.

OR, $100 for 15 photos, $5 each after that.

If you want a makeup artist, you can provide your own or I can get you one for $20, let me know ahead of time.

House of Style KC

House of Style KC Shoot Album

Sorry about no new posts in a while, I was busy editing these photos from HOS-KC! I am on this modeling site called Model Mayhem, and one day I got a message from House of Style Productions inviting me to their upcoming shoot.

I have heard about them before from another friend that shot with them. It's basically a group led by David Hamilton, where local models, photographers, makeup artists, hair stylists, and designers gather, and work together to get everyone networked.

After the models are done with makeup, they get assigned a photographer (like me), and we shoot for a while. When I am done with a model, I kick him/her to the curbs and get a new one... Oh wait, we are not talking my love life here... :P No, the models return to get a new look/style, and I get the next available model. At the end, I provide at least 3 pictures for each model. Anyways, enough with the talking, below are some of my favorites!

Sarah - This is probably my favorite of this shoot... The green and black really make her face stand out!

Chantal - I wasn't sure how to shoot her, but I think the results are nice :)

Jessica - Heh, not too crazy about the crazy hair, but people seems to like this effect I used...

Jessica - same girl from above, but just crazy makeup this time :)

Kim - This girl, has the most vibrant beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen!

Molly - Another "creative" style from the artists... She looks really nice without the makeup though.

Nikki - You know, I really like her hair! It's very cute!

Sarah - I like these chain fence shots...

Steve - How about some guy photos? :)

Tom - I feel this one can be used in an ad or something...

Kayte

Kayte's Shoot Album

Kayte was super awesome to work with, because when you are ready to shoot, she has already made her pose, and waiting for you. All I had to do was click away! I told her, "wow, you seem to know how to pose pretty well...", and she replied, "well, I watch a lot of America's Top Model!" Ha ha, notes to other models, watch more TV!!!

We shot this at the AmeriStar Casino in KC, because I was told there is this train inside that is pretty historical. However, upon arrival, I noticed that the whole place is super dark! I had to shoot with my 50mm f/1.8 lens the whole time at f/1.8, because there was never enough light. I used a flash I borrowed from my friend, so that helped a lot. Even though the shoot was challenging, I learn a lot about my camera/lens and techniques for shooting in the dark. Surprisingly, most people seem to like it, and want to shoot with me in the dark! Time for me to get better lenses!

Headshot, playing with the ambient lighting

Kayte is bring sexy BACK!

Some people really like this 45 degree portrait shot

If the girls are wearing skirts, I will show off their sexy legs, it's only fair! :)

This photo was in total darkness, I was surprised that I actually captured it! I like it...

Ha ha, a guy actually came and told me that I had a very pretty wife/girlfriend, and that I had good taste. Umm... Thanks? She is already married? I will pass on the word. :D

It didn't really jump out at me at first, but after editing, I really love this one!

The Proposal

As usual, I am surfing photography web sites when not busy at work, and I came across this post in a forum. It was a pretty cool/sweet/touching/etc. story so I thought I'd share it. :)

The original story (with the pictures)

Long story short, he is a photographer, and he asked a friend of his to do a fake casting call for a couples shoot, so he and his now fiance (yay) can model for him. After a few shots, he popped the question and the photographer was there every second to capture the moment!

This is pure genius! I am gonna do it when it's my time... Hopefully my future wife is not reading this! Ha ha...

Amanda (Sexy Black)

Amanda's Sexy Black Shoot Album

Amanda and I originally only planned for a morning shoot, but since the day was nice, we both had nothing else to do, we decided to change wardrobe and have a second shoot! The first set (Amanda Blue) was more of a pretty senior shoot, and I wanted a young sexy shoot, so she put on a black top with white shorts for maximum contrast.

We drove over to the KC Art Museum, and found this building, which had translucent glass walls. Translucent glass means the harsh sunlight will be nicely diffused! Perfect! The inside part of the building had white walls and dark floor, so matches perfectly with her outfit. I focused on her long legs for most of the shoots, and then her long hair.

Model portrait shot

Higher angle, which I like, but I wish I had better depth of field

This could almost be a B&W shot, but I wanted to preserve her skin tone

One of my favorite effects, good for sexy shots like this :)

Creative composition

I like the line her body makes, yet she looks comfortable