onenine images

Death of a blog...

2010-02-26T12:33:00.000-08:00

ok so i am not actually killing it as i am just laying it to rest...

the ride has been crazy over the past couple years but it's time to move on to something a little better...so, this will be my last post on this blog.

crazy to think that this is my 565 post.
it's fun for me to look back to when i first started and to see where things have ended up....even more fun when i get to think about where things will be another 2 years from now

i definitely don't have all the answers and have not figured everything out (in fact, incredibly far from) however, for one reason or another, i have been able to grow and improve as a photographer and it seems as though God is really up to something with all this...so we will see what happens

as one blog get's laid to rest, another one obviously has to take its place.
therefore, from now on, this will be the link to my new and improved blog:

NEW BLOG!

this blog was put together by an incredibly gifted man, Jared Erickson
You can check out his work here: Jared!
He was great to work with and am pumped with what he came up with

Also, big thanks goes out to my brother-in-law Brady for coming up with a killer new logo which you will see all over the new blog and has been updated to my website....here is a link if you ever want to get in touch with Brady: Brady!

please, feel free to let me know what you guys think.
The images will be MUCH larger on the new blog and in some case may even cause you to scroll to see the entire shot. However, as frustrating as that can be at times, I wanted to be able to showcase the quality of my images which can sometimes be missed in smaller crops

So, thanks for your faithful blog following (all 7 of you) and PLEASE pass on this new blog to everyone!
Thanks.....peace out blogspot

traveling to Ireland...

2010-02-23T12:34:00.000-08:00

so here is the first of a few...

our vacation to Ireland was incredible.....words can't even express what we experienced, so hopefully the pics will help

i am going to be posting everything from a daily basis, but for now are just some shots i grabbed while traveling there, many of which consists of layover pics from Chicago

so here ya go
Jenica did an incredible job researching for our trip and pretty much planning the whole thing....it was one of those have a plan/don't have a plan situations. we knew where we wanted to go generally each day, but that was totally up in the air at the same time
this book helped A TON though...no matter where we went, chances were it had reviews on places to eat and things to see....and they even have the Let's Go books for cities and places throughout the states also....well worth it

and of course i pretty much just took pics and listened to music

Jenica is also quite the photographer as you will find out through these posts...she may need a little reminder from now and then on what does what but she has a good eye for things...if only i could get her to second shoot for me then we would be a force to be reckoned with

so, there you have it...the travel day: we will call this day 0
more to come very soon!

SNOW!

2010-02-13T12:08:00.000-08:00

so i am used to big snow falls consisting of no less than a foot and up to 4 feet...however, while living in Atlanta, I have come to appreciate whatever we get

while taking these shots my wife said, "i don't want to have kids with you." she says she doesn't mean it, but instances like this i think do cause her to worry just a bit

(...and rightfully so)

my snowman didn't work out so well so i needed to dispose of it...also, living down here has also turned me a bit redneck. Point in case - red oven mitts as gloves

this thing is way too fun

2010-02-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

took out the Zumi 2.0 again this morning to see the aftermath of the "blizzard" here in Atlanta...ha

thought i would also show my morning routine of making a cup of the sweet nectar of life....coffee

Ireland in 2 days!!!!!!!! can't wait to go...

"blizzard" aftermath and coffee from onenineimages on Vimeo.

new toy for Ireland

2010-02-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

hey there....long time no post...i know i know....

but anywho, got the zumi 2.0 digital camera and video recorder to take to ireland b/c the quality is crazy awesome (and by crazy awesome i mean vintage and bad which makes it crazy awesome)

so, here is a test shoot and some pics and we will see what it's like! let me know

zumi test shoot from onenineimages on Vimeo.

Cait - senior shoot

2010-01-19T21:43:00.000-08:00

so this could possibly be one of my last posts before moving to my new blog! still putting the finishing touches on it

for now though, here is Cait
she is a senior at PRHS and has such an infectious laugh....i was supposed to take her shots a couple months ago but took a little tumble and busted up her nose after being pushed down the bleachers as students flooded the football field after a playoff win...ha. what a way to go out though i say

the weather was incredible today and it felt so good to finally have another senior shoot....these are probably one of my favorite kind of shoots b/c they are so chill and relaxed....and most high school kids are up for whatever, especially when it involves going to areas they feel as though they shouldn't be in...

big thanks to stuart for helping hold stuff, sarah for making cait laugh even more, and for carol (cait's mom) for convincing the sheriff that we were not "punk kids causing trouble" which someone apparently labeled us

ok...enough chatting. here ya go

lack of posts does not = lack of shooting

2010-01-10T20:54:00.000-08:00

more to come on that later

for now, here are just a few quick shots i grabbed from Passion2010.....

even though i was only there for about 30 minutes of the 4 day conference i was able to get the sense that God was and would be moving in the hearts of lives of tens of thousands of university students...

the stories and updates have been unbelievable and i already can't wait for next year...

on a side note...pumped for Passion City Church to start...

my friend is talented

2010-01-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

so you have to check out the work of Stephen Hunton...

he has become a great friend and encourager as i continue with all this photography stuff. when we were done with a shoot today, we decided to take a little extra time to just shoot for fun and i was able to get a few of him

here is his site: www.stephenhunton.com

Great way to start 2010...

2010-01-01T08:46:00.001-08:00

Is revealing my new logo!

pumped about the work that my bro-in law Brady did on this...He is awesome to work with and strives to offer his client a product that they are truly satisfied with.

His business is called Media Redemption and you can contact him here: BRADEN@MEDIAREDEMPTION.COM

My blog is also almost completely finished, which means this one will have to be put to rest....but the good news is that the new blog will have many of these previous posts reposted so that it does not look as though it's starting from scratch.

so, as a teaser for now, here is one of the many options for my new logo! let me know what ya think...

polaroids!

2009-12-30T20:09:00.001-08:00

still diggin' the fujifilm instax from urban outfitters that my wife and friends got me for my birthday back in november...

plus one iPhone shot i grabbed while leaving the city this morning on an overcast day

hanging with family...

2009-12-30T19:47:00.000-08:00

i love christmas time b/c it's one of the few times where we get to spend quality time with all of our family back north

it's great going from the country which is quite and relaxed and snow filled to being in the city and wrestling with my niece and nephew...and of course jenica and i both love the face to face conversations we get with parents and siblings no matter how great skype may be

crazy to think that we are just a little more than 24 hours away from a new year starting....i don't think i have ever been as expectant for a new year to start than this one. Not b/c this year has been bad, but b/c i am more excited than ever to see what God has in store

i am still hoping to get a "favorite shots of the year" post in, even though that may land a few days in to 2010....we shall see though

here are some more from chicago - bowling and korean bbq

the routine:
shove

watch intently

keep watching intently

celebrate with dance despite the outcome - then repeat

mom and dad!

korean bbq time!

they brought out tiny marshmallows for the kids at the end of dinner...it was great! inspired a run to the store for s'mores back at home in the fireplace

finally some fun with lights on the drive back from dinner (i wasn't driving - btw)

black and white

2009-12-29T21:51:00.000-08:00

shots while driving around...

monthly iPhone shots....

2009-12-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

you will see most of these if you are on twitter and following me....if not, here ya go

country and city

2009-12-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

it's always a great mix of four wheeling in the country to heading downtown chicago...we just got into the city last night and i took a couple shots of the snow falling while my brother in law Dave road around on his bike with his snow tires

i am loving the mark II video stuff....too bad i am a video moron and can't edit everything. maybe Stuart will try teaching me for the 5th time and i will get it this time.....probably not though

for now, here are just some of the pics

christmas eve

2009-12-24T22:59:00.001-08:00

can't believe it's Christmas already...crazy

so nice to be home with family and enjoying the wintery weather...stayed out for just a bit today and rode the four wheeler around while grabbing a few shots....then it was off to the candlelight service, christmas with the extended fam at grandma's just down the road, and then chillin' with some board game action

now it's late, i'm tired, but wanting to post....so here ya go

good night and merry christmas!

in the making....

2009-12-22T07:22:00.000-08:00

haven't posted in awhile, but it's not due to a lack of shooting

i am currently working on a huge project that i can't wait to unveil....but until then, i will just have to throw in a few i have grabbed in the process....also, HUGE thanks to Javi, Stuart, Miranda, Josh, Chase, Pastor Paul, Drew, Joshua, Amy, Dave, Russell, Maggie, Annie, Lee, Melinda, and especially Jacob for the help so far on this...and my awesome wife who has not seen me much lately

i have no idea what 2010 will hold and where everything will go....but i am beyond excited to find out

we leave for IL tomorrow to hang with the family over Christmas, and then it will be hitting it hard again once I get back to knock some of these projects out...

posts will be scarce for a bit, but look out for a "Shots of the year" post where I hope to put up some of my favorite from the entire year...

Aubrey and Chris

2009-12-14T18:33:00.001-08:00

so this was the first wedding that i booked for 2009 all the way back in December of last year.....crazy that it was my last of 9 this year.

Aubrey is a cousin from Jenica's side of the family and I was able to take her and Chris' engagement shots last December is just about the exact same weather we had for their wedding which was awesome.....i am pretty sure it's exactly what they wanted too. well except for the 15 some degree wind chill...

their wedding was gorgeous and it made me miss what winter is supposed to look and feel like....cold and snowy

i had a great time shooting their wedding despite feeling a little under the weather....just glad that i was healthy enough to shoot it

i look forward to seeing these two grow together over the years as well as growing closer with them as family...

their wedding closed the wedding chapter for 2009 and not it's a bit of a break before the 2010 wedding chapter begins....can't wait to see what all takes place though....

now for the good stuff....

Justin - senior shoot

2009-12-07T19:21:00.000-08:00

Justin is another guy that i know from the youth group

we had a great time as we headed out to a new place that i have checked out for awhile now.

he was a trooper as we had to bare the cold weather....also, big thanks to blaine for helping me out even as he wore shorts. crazy kid

looking forward to shooting my last wedding of '09 this Saturday and seeing what's to come for 2010...already good things around the corner

can't wait to share with everyone soon the opportunities that have been coming up

here are Justin's pics for now though!

Radu - senior shoot

2009-11-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

Radu is another guy i know from the youth group i work with....it's been cool getting to see him grow and mature over the last few years.
he is a brilliant guy who is also a great writer

he has a maturity to him that is not often seen in guys his age as well as a thirst for wisdom

i know that this combination will take him very far and make him successful in anything he gets himself involved in

looking forward to see what comes his way....

iPhone pics

2009-11-27T08:38:00.000-08:00

so i update these about every month or so....

here are some of the latest

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T21:29:00.001-08:00

unlike many of you, we were not able to spend this thanksgiving with all of our family who is back home in Illinois.

However, we have been blessed by our good friends, the Arnold family, to have joined them and their extended family over the past couple years. it's great having such awesome people who open up their own families to be ours for the day...

they mean so much to us and are thankful for who they all are in our lives.

here are a few shots we got of their family with a couple extra added in.

hope everyone had a great thanksgiving, realized how blessed they are, and were also made aware of how they can bless the lives of others.....just as the Arnold's have blessed us.

thanks Arnold family. we love you guys!

Kathleen - senior pics

2009-11-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

so yesterday i had the chance to go and talk to a high school class about the journey i have been on over the past 2 years with photography as well as just how i do things

i had never shared about my photography in that way before in front of a group and it was really incredible

i don't really take the time to sit and reflect all that much on what has happened over the past couple years and just how quickly things have seemed to happen....maybe that's why i stayed up until 4am as i prepared what i wanted to share

with that all said, it was cool then going in to this shoot that same night...i felt a little more inspired than usual.

i have known kathleen for the past couple years as she has been involved with the youth group.
she is crazy talented in theatre and is probably one of the funniest people i know

she has a great heart and i know will do big things with the talents she has been given and the passion she has fueling those talents...can't wait to see where she ends up

2009-11-23T14:05:00.000-08:00

wanted to put up these quick shots and say thanks to Javi, Stuart and Jacob for their support and help in all these crazy photography adventures....

they are the beginning of an empire....ha. but really, these guys are really cool and i absolutely love working with them. if i had it my way, this would be the beginning of something pretty cool. we will see though.

oh and they make me laugh a whole lot, which is needed

Javi is my gear horse and carries my stuff around for me all the time
but he also plays a huge part in making sure that the lighting is in place as well....without him i would not be able to get a lot of the shots that i do

stuart has also played a huge part in encouraging me and helping me chase after this passion....however, he is pretty ridiculous in his own right when it comes to video.
you all should check him out at: http://vimeo.com/user996645

and then there is also jacob, who was not with us on this last trip but has played a big part as well.
he shoots some great stuff and has been a huge help at some of my weddings. look forward to seeing what this kid does...
here is a link to his blog: http://jharkey.blogspot.com/

Kristen and John - wedding

2009-11-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

it's crazy to think that this was my 8th wedding of the year...that may not sound like a lot to you people doing this part time, but it's been cool seeing it go from just 2 of my own last year, to 9 total this year, and already having 5 down for next year

again, this may not seem like much to those of you doing this full time, but to experience this growing from a hobby to somewhat of a reality is pretty exciting

i can't wait to see what 2010 has to offer...

kristen is good friends with my friend paige and we met back and paige and stuart's wedding in Colorado back in April

i was honored when she asked me to shoot her and john's wedding down in Orlando...
this had to be one of the best receptions i have been to....primarily b/c everyone loved to dance and weren't afraid to let it all go out on the dance floor. plus, being on the top floor of an 18 story building downtown Orlando was pretty sweet as well

one of the coolest things for me was seeing what an amazing community of friends these two have....once the night is all over, i am used to seeing the couple take off and head out to be together. however, kristen and john were so excited to have all their close friends together that they took advantage of it by heading out to a local line dancing bar so that the party could keep going....ha. it was awesome.

oh, and kristen stayed in her wedding dress. it's going to be great staying in touch with these two and seeing them grow together. maybe i will even be able to hit up a Florida Gators game with them sometime....i hear that they kind of like that team or something

can anyone find the garter?

The Sumners - family shoot

2009-11-18T14:10:00.000-08:00

Jake and Hannah are two more of our closest friends and they have an adorable 2 year old girl Mavis...they are also expecting their second in May and we are all super excited for them

I have worked with Jake the last 3 1/2 years up at the church and have grown to become great friends
Hannah has also been a great friend to Jenica and helped make our transition down here from Illinois much smoother....it's such a blessing to have the friends that we do

we have been talking about getting together now for awhile to do a family shoot and finally it all worked out...

the first thing that you need to know about Jake is that he is probably the biggest Waffle House fan you will ever meet....so it only made sense that we meet there first for breakfast and some initial shots. they also wanted some there b/c it was the first place they ever took Mavis...haha. so awesome

even though the weather was cold and damp, we were able to get some great shots in before the rain came...

birthday present!

2009-11-17T22:01:00.000-08:00

so my birthday was on the day i shot aynsley and brett's wedding.....not gonna lie, one of the best ways to spend a birthday

well that morning my wife and many close friends met up at waffle house to celebrate and they gave me this fun little toy i have had my eye on for awhile....

i love it and went through all my film that day

Brett and Aynsley Wedding Video!

2009-11-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

Stuart did a freaking amazing job on this video! Everyone needs to check it out and spread the word for this guy.....he does a great job on capturing the wedding day as it unfolds and putting together something that the couple will absolutely love having from their day.

so check it out, update your twitters and facebook, and share this with everyone ya can.....his work is pretty great

Brett + Aynsley from stuart atkins on Vimeo.

friends...

2009-11-15T19:13:00.000-08:00

had some dinner and much needed hang out time with some close friends of ours tonight....stuart and paige

i have known stuart for about 9 years now and he is a ridiculously talented videographer who is growing in his understanding and skill every day. you can find a video he shot of me in an earlier post as well as click on a link to his stuff here: http://vimeo.com/user996645

his wife paige is great and her and my wife love to sit around, along with some other lady friends, and talk about raising babies and starting up small businesses that will make millions

i messed around with some lighting stuff while we were there and liked these couple frames...

lots coming up soon including more senior shoots and a wedding this friday down in FLO-rida

Sarah - senior shoot

2009-11-14T21:00:00.000-08:00

i love when you have been driving by a location you have wanted to shoot at for months and when you finally do it's so much cooler than you thought! i seriously want to live on this plot of land....or at least go camping and have fires

the weather was awesome and there was only one little incident involving a rusty nail.....but everyone is ok

I met Sarah through one of her friends whose pics I had already taken and felt like I got to know her a lot better while also hanging out with her friend Cait, whose pics I will be taking in a couple weeks, and my buddy David who did a great job giving me a hand tonight

that's one of the more rewarding aspects of photography for me...the relational piece.
it's cool hearing everyones story, what they enjoy, and what they are about

it's cool watching them become more comfortable in front of the lens and being able to reveal the person that is generally reserved for only those close to them

Kelsey - senior shots

2009-11-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

never had so many cars honking during one shoot in my life.....probably b/c we were so close to a big high school where playoffs started tonight. but still...

we were able to sneak in this shoot in about 1 1/2 hours before the sun went down on us pretty quickly.

kelsey is a ridiculously talented musician and even had one of her own songs she wrote recently recorded on the cd put out by the student ministry i am involved with....pretty crazy awesome talent coming from these kids

it was fun finding a few new looks in an area i have gone through a lot...

was happy with what we came away with

photobooth from Aynsley and Brett's wedding

2009-11-09T21:56:00.000-08:00

this was my first time doing this....and it was a huge hit.
so glad that i tried this

thanks to Jacob Harkey for pretty much taking just about all of these shots while i was off covering other things
i think i will starting adding this on as an option to wedding packages

the people are what make or break it though....and these people made it

so much fun going through these shots....

Brett and Aynsley - Wedding!

2009-11-08T21:42:00.000-08:00

So i don't even know where to begin with this one....

these two have meant so much to me, my life, my marriage, and ministry. Brett is an incredible man with a passion to lead people to a place of intimate and authentic worship of a Holy God...He is full of wisdom beyond his years and has touched the lives of so many
I had the privilege of working with Aynsley for a few years in student ministry....she has an unbelievable gift of connecting with girls and speaking grace and truth into their lives....

jenica and i saw from the very beginning that there was something special between these two and to celebrate with them this past weekend was a huge blessing...and what better way to celebrate with them than having the opportunity to tell their story through images

i can't wait to continue to walk with these two as well as see how God uses them...they are a blessing to all whom they interact with as they strive to bless the name of Jesus in everything they do

so cool...

and their wedding was killer...

more to come from this wedding.....photobooth action was awesome!

Camille - senior shoot

2009-11-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

probably shot in one of the creepiest abandoned locations i have ever been in...but so much fun

i loved that Camille, and her mom of course, were up to shooting inside for a bit...big thanks also to her brother Wade for being my assistant for the day
i was pumped about a lot of the shots we were able to get and look forward to hopefully getting a few more gigs from over in their part of town

thanks Camille for being great to work with and being up for whatever...

Carrie and Nick - engagement

2009-11-03T06:17:00.000-08:00

i had such a good time hanging out with these two and just getting the chance to know them better....i think that's what of the best parts for me. i love getting to hear the stories of other people and how they met, first got together, and their expectation of spending their lives together.

Carrie and Nick are so full of joy and laughter whenever they are together....all they have to do is look at each other and they immediately start cracking themselves up. they made my job very easy and the fact that the weather and the colors were stunning happened to help a little as well

looking forward to shooting their wedding next year....

Hannah Parets - senior shots

2009-11-01T18:19:00.001-08:00

ok....so hannah is just straight up crazy...but in a good way

i have known her family for awhile now and it's been so cool to see hannah grow up...she has an amazing voice and just has a contagious personality that you want to be around all the time

she definitely made starting at 6:45am a much better experience than i was expecting

oh yea, and then we got on top of a train and my whole lighting rig just about blew off the top....so that was cool
good thing i grabbed it by the very end of one of the legs before it crashed to the ground

monster mash

2009-11-01T17:59:00.000-08:00

last night was great hanging out with friends at our place....ended up being a little bigger scale than we thought, but that was ok by us

it was fun decking the place out with strobes, a fog machine, caution tape, and that fake spider web junk that gets everywhere and is hard to clean up.....but that stuff is so cool

and of course....the photobooth

Halloween pre-post

2009-10-31T21:17:00.000-07:00

tonight was awesome...here's a taste.

more to come later...

behind the scenes video!

2009-10-22T10:16:00.001-07:00

so this is my first time of hopefully many...but I have decided to start putting up some behind the scene videos of some of my shoots

my friend Chris (www.chris-o.com) just happened to be in town (or country) from Belgium and helped me out as well as provided some of his own thoughts as heard in the video...ha
Stuart (@stuarta13) helped teach me a thing or two on final cut express to put the thing together

hopefully you enjoy it! let me know...

Kristen and John engagement from onenineimages on Vimeo.

kelsey and collin - family

2009-10-22T05:42:00.000-07:00

both these cool kids are involved in the youth programs at our church....they have a great family who are incredibly supportive and have been a blessing to the ministries I have been involved in as well as my personal life

it's cool seeing siblings that get along...for the most part...ha
i hope that when Jenica and I start raising a family that we are able to be blessed with children who enjoy being around each other, at least half the time...

we had a fun time hanging out in the awesome weather we have been having lately

Amber and Andy - wedding celebration

2009-10-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

so I have known Amber for a couple years now....she has volunteered with the middle school kids at our church and has recently been helping me out as a YoungLife volunteer
she has got a great heart as well as an adorable little girl Ashley

the first time I met Andy, I knew that they were a great match...
they were one of those couples that once you know, you know...so they decided to have a very small and intimate wedding together a couple months ago
however, they still wanted to have a wedding celebration and reception for all their other friends and family

so, here it is...it was a bit on the chilly side for GA this time of year, but it was still gorgeous out

i am really happy for this family and excited to see them grow together over the years

this shot is fairly similar to one i was able to capture at my last wedding, but I loved how the wind was able to make her dress wave behind her...epic skies always help as well

Kristen and John

2009-10-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of meeting Kristen at the wedding of my good friends Stuart and Paige...
Kristen and Paige worked at a summer camp in CO one year and have been close ever since....through that connection, Kristen got in touch with me about shooting their wedding in FL this November...

i just so happened to be spending this past weekend down there and so i was able to hook up with the both of them and fit in their engagement shots.
although the light decided to depart rather quickly, we were able to fit in a few more the next morning...

it was so fun just walking around the streets of New Smyrna...they were great to work with, and we even had the pleasure of enjoying some dinner afterwards along with my assistant for the night Chris...he is a long time friend who currently resides in Belgium and was visiting for a bit (www.chris-o.com)

anyways, without more delay, here are some of the shots....these were crazy fun

oh yeah, and John (and his family) were awesome enough to let us all crash on their beach front condo...big win

Project Live Love

2009-10-15T04:16:00.000-07:00

so i have connected with an amazing guy, Drew Benton
he used to be on staff at Safehouse Outreach downtown ATL but has since left to pursue the start up of a non-profit he is calling Project Live Love

his passion is to challenge and empower people to do just that - live out love
it's one thing to talk about it and say about how great it would be to love on others. however, it's a totally different thing to do it
this is still in the beginning stages but we have come together, along with Stephen Hunton (www.stephenhunton.com), to work on a project for helping to get this off the ground

so, with that in mind we just went out to hang with some people and try to catch a vision and direction we want to go with this project...really excited about things to come and looking forward to push the envelope on what i feel as though i am capable of

so here are some frames for now...more details to come later
for now, you can follow what's going on with Drew and Project Live Love on twitter:
@drewbenton
@ProjectLiveLove

Stephen @stephenhunton

i let one of the girls we met take a couple frames of me since i used her camera

life = crazy

2009-10-13T18:26:00.001-07:00

with that in mind, here are just a few iPhone shots of randomness...

more to come very soon....i promise

larry...

2009-10-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

here are a couple more cover option shots i took for larry parker for his upcoming christmas cd

this is obviously before he sends the work out for a graphic designer to add everything to...and these may not even be the shots we use. i just decided to pull these

finally....

2009-10-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

i am posting these polaroid shots after a very long time.....i also decided to throw in some sunrise shots from yesterday

i have a lot around the corner coming up but it will just be a matter of finding the time to post everything....sorry about the lameness

also, i am starting a big project i am very excited about today but don't want to say too much about it until later. looking forward to january though.....so stay tuned for that

chicago

charleston

it's been forever....

2009-09-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

and i'm sorry. life has been much busier in other areas though.

here is a shot i loved as i continue to edit tindell and ben's wedding.

many more pics coming up soon with a shoot for the fashion blogger for Star94, many senior pics around the corner, and a couple more weddings not too far away

sorry again....i am lame. i know this

charleston

2009-09-21T14:14:00.000-07:00

so this place is awesome...had such a great time hanging out for the weekend reconnecting with cody harris. we did ministry together in germany a few years back

i am pumped to shoot a wedding here in march. so much to see and do and can't wait to visit again...thinking of renting a vespa next time though

2009-09-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

have not posted recently due to a crazy schedule...here are a few though from Javi and I hanging out before the rehearsal dinner to last weekends wedding

lots of other pics to post from my time in Charleston as well as some stuff around the corner which should be fun

Tindell and Ben wedding

2009-09-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

ok so here it is....such a freakin' awesome wedding as mentioned in the earlier post.

i was able to figure out a couple other tricks with my lighting which gave me some great effects during the dancing...

anywho, it was a great location with two great families who made me feel like i was such a part of their day rather than just documenting it
tindell and ben have a love that is so real that made this day such a great celebration of who they are and what they seek to be about in their marriage

enjoy the shots!

first here are some from the rehearsal:

the only problem was that one of the boats broke down on the way so the other one had to tow it

after the delicioius rehearsal dinner and hearing all of the hilarious stories and huge impacts these two have made on the lives of others, it was time to get the day started

Tindell and Ben wedding teaser

2009-09-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

this wedding was ridiculous! so much fun to shoot and came away with some great shots...

i considered it a blessing to share in this day with these two families.

there are about, oh, 60 shots that I want to post....but it's late and i need sleep
so this will have to do for now...

more to come soon

few more from chicago weekend

2009-09-10T04:06:00.000-07:00

so there are usually thousands of shots i am sifting through to post.....some shots don't necessarily stand out to me right away until i take a second look a few days later

here are just a few more.....still crazy to think that all these chicago shots still only make up about 15% of the total shots i took

Honey Leaf Jewelry - part 2

2009-09-09T20:13:00.000-07:00

so a few weeks ago i posted shots taken of a couple models wearing some pretty dang amazing earings designed by Diamond for Honey Leaf Jewelry

well we got together to knock out some more shots of her earrings to use as just product shots, but then got a few of some of these headbands that she has also designed

thought i would share them with ya...

that's it for now....big wedding on Saturday. should be fun

Haley - senior shots

2009-09-08T19:31:00.001-07:00

so thankful for the clouds and cooler weather...headed over to downtown Duluth but shot in a competely new area.
i try and force myself to find the shots in areas i have never been instead of going to the places i already know

i was also pretty pumped tonight b/c we got to shoot on a roof! i had been wanting to for awhile and i guess the stars just aligned for it to happen....or two men painting a building didn't care that we used their ladder and promised not to tell anyone...ha

Haley was a trooper and was totally up to everything...props to her mom as well for allowing her to....they were awesome
my buddy Javi also made a great assistant....and his espanol came in handy as well

Labor Day weekend in Chicago...

2009-09-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

Jenica and I had a great weekend in Chi-town....i miss that city so much

we spent it with my sister, Jeni, and her family. it was great being there for my nephew's birthday and just hanging out and not doing a whole lot...

i'll warn you: this post is a bit big...but i though, of course, that my weekend would be best expressed with the pics

so here we go:

traveling there was fun....i love traveling but don't do it as often as i would like...chances have it though that the next couple months will be full of some cool trips

we got in a little late friday night as so we just chilled, went to bed, and were then attacked by the niece and nephew the following morning which is one of my favorite parts
lauren and garrett have differing viewpoints on what it means to "attack" us come morning time....for garrett, being a boy, this generally means a gun of some sort is involved...he didn't let us down

that day just also happened to be garrett's birthday, so the day started off with a new found hobby of his: golf
so off to the driving range we went

we are both pretty horrible

garrett on the other hand seems to have a knack for it....

and lauren really, really, really wanted to make sure that the ball made it on the tee...(or just pretty much waited until her picture was taken) ha

after that we had some time to chill before going to Chuck-E-Cheese for the birthday party...so we fooled around in the backyard playing games and messing with the dog....apparently he enjoys chomping down on the water coming out of the hose....sooo funny. these were the shtos from the 2 seperate times we did it

this is the look you get when you tell lauren that it's time to put away the hose...

and then there is the losing battle of trying to keep the towel away from porter...this is how well that went

then it was off to the birthday party...let's just say that Dave and I owned this one game which helped garrett bring in tickets....he was one happy birthday boy

we ended the night playing around with the lighting gear

after a long day of craziness, it was time for a relaxing day of legos, cafe by the lake, and night out for the adults
i decided to take the liberty of shooting some pics of garrett's legos as he played with them...they look just a little different than i remember

then off to the cafe on the lake...
awesome place!

kaboom

this guy decided to sing happy birthday to jenica and jeni and then tell jenica that she should be a model for crest toothpaste....we are looking in to that

walking back to the car...

after hanging for a bit, it was time for the adults to grab some food and spend a night catching up on life...

passed on the palm reading, but the lighting was awesome!

then espresso from one of the best...

some shots driving back after a long day...

headed downtown on our last day which included the hello kitty store, lego store, and crazy ridiculous fog like i have never seen in the city

had thought about going to the skydeck to stand in the glass boxes over the city, but the wait was crazy so we opted for the ground floor view...

finally, the weekend was coming to a close so i grabbed some shots of the city, we boarded the plane, and said goodbye to what was a great weekend.....
(oh yeah, and oprah thinks she owns the world so they shut down michigan ave. so that she could have her show IN THE ROAD!)

whew.....i need a nap.
too much to do though

oneninimages vid by Stuart

2009-09-04T06:49:00.000-07:00

Stuart and I went downtown to hang out the other day and just check out some different areas...
he is loving his new flip mino HD and so he decided to capture some footage as usual....but then he started asking me questions which made me real awkward....totally normal reaction for me...ha

anyways, he just asked me about photography and how onenineimages came about and then he put this together...
he did an awesome job and it's been incredible watching him grow and learn as a videographer....

this dude is going to be good....

check it out and let him know what ya think...vimeo name is: Stuart Atkins

here ya go

And Stuart: thanks! your friendship means more than anything

onenineimages from stuart atkins on Vimeo.

Donna and John

2009-09-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

so I had another project to do some headshots....this time for Donna...

however, we also decided to squeeze in some headshots of her husband John as well as taking some of them together

we were able to tough it out through periods of rain as well as getting kicked out by a security guard in a new location i was trying out....tried it....didn't work. ha

anywho, it was so much fun watching these two interact together. they have so much fun together and are like 2 young kids just goofing around together.

here's what we came away with...

a birthday of sorts...

2009-09-03T04:24:00.000-07:00

yesterday was Jarren's birthday....he is my brother-in-law (Jenica's youngest of two younger brothers)
He has been staying with us the past couple weeks before heading off to Florida for what's called the Masters Commission

it's been great having him around...mostly because i dominate his world at cornhole...however, he got his revenge at mini golf last night

the cool part about him being here is that he has been able to meet so many of our good friends and they have all really enjoyed getting to know him....it will be a bummer to see him go
but the coolest part i think is all the people who showed up for his birthday party....they have only been able to hang with him for 2 weeks but they still came out...i know that this meant a lot to him considering that all of our friends and family are back in Illinois and i am pretty sure this is his first birthday ever away from all of that

it means a lot to have the close friends we do down here, but knowing at the same time that we really do miss all of our friends and family back north. hopefully for all of those back "home" who follow this, you will see what a great time we had and what great friends are around us who love and support us....even to the point of making someone away from home still have a great time on his birthday.

we love and miss everyone in Illinois, but are also so thankful for the people who we are blessed to call friends here in the ATL

so, without further delay, here are the results of too much ice cream cake from Bruster's...

early morning Atlanta shoot

2009-09-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

Stuart and I were wanting to head downtown and get some more shots and footage for this side project we are working on...

we wanted the shots to be at night, but considering our nights are crazy busy we just decided to head on in at 5:30am

i think that i'm going to start taking portraits of random people as long as i have their permission...they are some incredible looking people who i wish i had all the time in the world to just sit by and listen to their stories....

there is so much beauty found in someone's face if you just look long enough to see past any of the hurt they are experiencing or the walls they have put up

here are some random shots i got while in the city as well as some portraits of the few people i met this morning

and here are some of the people i met: could not keep it to just one image for a few of them

this was the most interesting man i met today, and pretty much i have come across in awhile. really wish i could have heard more to his story

one last city shot...

thanks...

2009-08-31T19:04:00.001-07:00

to everyone who checks this out on a regular basis, who keeps encouraging me to move forward, and shares my work with others

this past month i have seen a huge rise in hits and it's only because of all of you....so thank you

i hope that i don't ever disappoint....you are the ones who push me to create something new on a regular basis
if you ever have ideas or input on things that you would like to see or locations you feel as though i just absolutely have to shoot at, then feel free to hit me up

september should be a fun month...senior portraits, another wedding, and hopefully some shoots that i haven't even booked yet

here are some random shots from the past month that i just decided to grab and share...
thanks again!

stuff...

2009-08-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

had a shoot downtown tonight that i will be working on....

for now though are some shots i got from walking around with stuart as he shot some video stuff

found some cool new places...hope to find more still

photography day with the high school peeps

2009-08-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

i had a blast hanging out with about 15 high school kids today who are all in to photography...

the last time we did one it snowed....so we were due for a warmer weather shoot
some of these are so stinking talented it's ridiculous....i can only hope i get to play a part in getting to see them move on to be freakin' awesome photographers....

here are a few i got from tonight, but look for a post that includes many of the shots that everyone else got as well

few more from earrings shoot...

2009-08-28T05:09:00.000-07:00

couple more that i liked from shooting the earring product shots the other night...

you can see the other shots in a previous post from a few days ago

Jeremy Cowart - Help Portrait

2009-08-28T04:05:00.000-07:00

Calling all Atlanta photogs, designers, hair/make up artists....this has been something that's been on my heart ever since watching Jeremy and some local Nashville boys do something like this initially last year.

now it's grown in to something bigger....If you are an Atlanta photographer and interested in doing this then please get in touch with me as I am working with some people to coordinate and make this happen.

I unfortunately will not be able to actually participate in it here as I will be shooting a wedding in Chicago, but I am working to do everything in my power to equip others and set up the details to see that this happens in our city

check it out!

The Least of These

2009-08-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

so there is a cd out that you need to go and get...

One of my best friends in the world, Ben Blascoe (on the left in the pic), is the bass player for an incredibly talented group called The Least of These based in the Chicago area....i remember not being able to get any homework done in college b/c all i would do is go in the other room of our apartment and listen to them jam out

the other two guys in the band are brothers Ben and Josh Calhoun...both are incredibly stand up guys
Ben Calhoun and his wife Alison mentored Jenica and I in the early stages of our dating relationship which was huge for us

these guys all mean a lot to me, have crazy ridiculous musical skills, and it's so cool to see how the Lord is using them in big ways and expanding their ministry through music

go check them out right now at: http://www.theleastofthese.com

you can buy their newly released full length album....i highly recommend it as i just picked up my own copy today

here is one of their promo pics (sadly one that i did not take though)
check 'em out and help support their ministry

Collin - senior session

2009-08-24T22:34:00.000-07:00

Collin is a senior at North and I have known him for a couple years now...
tonight it was great to hang out with him though for an extended amount of time and get to know him a little better

he has got a great heart and is not afraid to make the hard decisions when he knows what is best for him...that's cool to see in someone so young

i was so happy with the way the shoot came out and it's always great shooting in a completely new area...so much out there yet to find

also gotta give some credit to my bro-in-law Jarren (better known as Gerv) for helping me out the last couple days...he has made a great assistant....so i threw a couple in of him in action

this would be Jarren...

whew.....crazy large post!

Diamond - Honey Leaf Jewelry

2009-08-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

Diamond is the older sister of Devin (previous post) and is in her senior year at SCAD on the Atlanta campus

she has uniquely designed all of her own earrings and was needing some shots to show to jewelry stores
we were able to get some great shots of the models showing them off as well as just plain product shots of all her designs

it was really inspiring to see the vision that Diamond had for each look and how proud she was of each individual pair
if you see anything you like then let me know and I could put you in contact with her

Devin...headshots

2009-08-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

so I was able to take care of a couple shoots in one tonight
Devin is a senior at Peachtree Rdige HS and needed some updated headshots as he seeks some acting gigs

he has a great personality and was awesome to work with...he's gonna be rocking the big screen some day so keep an eye out for him

so.....

2009-08-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

this week has been a lot of things.

i have felt incredibly inspired with continuing to go forward with this whole photography deal....as well as feeling like God is placing big dreams on my heart and mind...we will see how it all pans out

however, i have come to the realization that i need to pass by the excuses that quickly enter my mind and keep taking steps in the direction i know i'm supposed to be going...

here is one of my dreams....a studio someday. may not even be this space...but it would be pretty sweet
i also have some other ideas floating around in my mind which you will hopefully hear more about in the coming weeks and months...stay tuned

location scouting...

2009-08-21T20:02:00.001-07:00

went tromping around in the woods and other places for an upcoming shoot....may be next week or in a couple months

it was fun just going out and shooting for the heck of it again though...need to remember to do that more often

pitch for kids cooking show...

2009-08-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

So my contact from the Star94 shoots is putting together a pitch for a kids cooking show that she hopes to air on NBC...

as she gets everything together, she has hired me to shoot the headshots for those involved, including Lewis who she hopes to be the host
Lewis is currently one of the DJ's for 99x and is absolutely hilarious

it was cool to see how the shoot progressed until we finally came away with some shots that we felt would really help in the pitch and hit the look we were going for

Aynsley and Brett

2009-08-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

here are a few more from the engagement shoot the other night...
we drew so much attention to ourselves at IKEA but thankfully none of the staff questioned us...just a few disgruntled shoppers who apparently hate love and those who are in love

it was definitely a test on my patience as it seemed everyone was scheming against us to stop right in front of my lens and prevent me from getting the shot that i wanted...but we waited it out each time and i think it was worth it

you will probably see these guys again on here as we are going to try and get some killer night shots at some point...but hopefully this will do for now

and then there was the booty dancing...

teaser...

2009-08-16T20:04:00.001-07:00

many more to come from this engagement shoot with my great friends Aynsley and Brett...here are a few for now though

so excited for these two and can't wait to celebrate their marriage in just a few short months!

surprise birthday party for Jenica

2009-08-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

so i threw a party for Jenica a little over a week before her birthday...that way i knew she would be surprised...plus i can never wait

no way i could have pulled it off on my own and we are so blessed to have such great friends...everyone pitched in to help cook...there was even a pony cake!

and of course we had to set up a photobooth which the girls took over for the most part

here's the result of their ridiculousness...

happy birthday love!

Tindell and Ben

2009-08-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

so there was pretty much no way I was going to be able to take a bad shot of this couple...i literally had over 30 great shots i was debating on putting up...i guess i will have to leave it to these...see the rest on facebook
I had a blast with these two hanging around downtown ATL where we started off at the Biltmore and then made our way walking around the city

we came away with a lot of fun shots as I slowly saw their personalities come out more and more...it was cool to see how in love these two are with each other as they walked around holding hands and enjoying each others laughter...which there was a lot. especially as Ben's love for music by Shakira was finally exposed...I think he's a bigger man for it...ha

anywho, enjoy the shots and look forward to seeing them again soon on here...

P.S. jk on the whole Ben loving Shakira deal...in less he does...guess we will never know

Ashley - senior session

2009-08-06T06:49:00.000-07:00

this shoot has already gone down as one of my favorites...
we had perfect weather and some really great lighting...not to mention a location I have been eyeing for about, oh... 7 months and finally had the chance to use it

Ashley is a rising senior at North and is connected with a lot of other kids that i know through the youth group and younglife. She was great and also pretty tough considering she just got surgery for a blown ACL just two months ago. It was also fun having her mom, Deatra, along to help out and hearing her reactions to the shots as we took them...i love that part

Stuart gave me a hand again with all the new lighting equip and is starting to become quite the photographer himself...
looking forward to getting more in to the seniors market this year...

one of the shots that stuart grabbed along the way

here is an idea of my setup

hmmm....

2009-08-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

i have had some ideas going on in my mind ever since seeing a video that inspired me last christmas season...

the crazy thing is that i am starting to meet people that could help make this idea a reality...excited about this and praying for big things

at the lake

2009-08-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

a bunch of us headed out to the lake to celebrate Bri's birthday...

it was a great time of tubing, canoeing, water bombing people, playing cornhole, grilling out, swimming, jumping off the two story dock, and a bunch of picture taking
been taking a lot more with my dad's old polaroid which i will have to put up after while...

for now here are the digital shots we came away with...

these next 3 shots were by Paige...well done

Star94 - Jenny "School Girl" Food Blog

2009-07-31T05:50:00.000-07:00

the other day Stuart and I went out to get some shots of Jenny for her food blog from Star94

We went to the Whole Foods down in Buckhead near the station

almost got taken out by ladies in motorized carts a few times, but other than that all was good

iPhone shots

2009-07-31T05:44:00.000-07:00

here are just a bunch of pics i have taken with the iPhone i got about a month or so back...
really fun to have with me on all times when i'm not lugging around my gear

High Museum of Art

old high school hang out

Jason Mraz concert

random shots downtown from the other day

flight home from Illinois last month

still playing with the new lights...

2009-07-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

jacob, chris (kid from the youth group i am hanging with this week as his parents are on an alaskan cruise), and myself took the lights out to play...i have so much to learn now that i am using more than one light

i sort of feel like throwing my camera sometimes and quitting...i have heard that's not a good idea though

so, i will just keep trying to figure out all this lighting stuff more and see what happens.

NEW TOYS!

2009-07-10T05:39:00.001-07:00

finally bumped up my lighting game a bit and got some alien bee B800 strobes...
as well as some light stands, beauty dish, octabox, portable power pack, and the like.

went outside with jenica for about 30 minutes to play around....can''t wait to get the hang of these things more

Star94 shots

2009-07-06T08:26:00.000-07:00

so i posted shots from the Star94 Morning show the other week of Cindy, Ray, Spoon, Ali, and Casey

I have also been busy shooting their other personalities as well

here are the shots of Heather Branch (10am-3pm DJ), Darik (night time DJ), and AC (their traffic guy)

we took Heather's shots in the High Museum of Art downtown. here is their link: http://www.high.org/
they were great at working with us and allowing us to use their space for these shots

for Darik, we went and hung out in the Inman Park area of town. We also took some shots inside of Zaya (www.zayarestaurant.com) Tarek, the owner of the place, and Darik are good friends and so Tarek hooked us up with some unbelievable mediterranean food....soooo good

and finally, we have AC. we got some shots earlier in the week, but we were really going for this one at night and i think we got what we were aiming for. we took it on a median off of the Pleasant Hill exit....drew some attention, including a cop...thankfully he was cool and left us alone when i told him what we were up to
here is a shot to show our set up:

and the final shot:

Tommy and Olivia

2009-07-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

just a warning, but i think i got a bit carried away with the number of pics...i just loved the look and feel of this wedding though!

plus, who doesn't want to see as many shots as possible from their wedding day?...i would

Olivia and Tommy had a gorgeous day for their wedding which was a huge blessing considering it was outside in the middle of a HOTlanta summer...
Olivia is the sister of one of our very good friends, Hannah, and it was such a great time meeting all of their Wilmington friends who came in for the wedding. it was so evident that this couple has an unbelievable community back home who love and support them with everything they have...it was such an honor to be invited in and see a glimpse of it all

Magnolia Hall at Piedmont Park was the perfect place for them to have their vintage wedding which consisted of a wide array of decor collected over a long period of time...yet it all fit together seamlessly

hopefully this offers a small taste to what was a great day...

who would buy prints?

2009-07-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

I have had this come up a couple times recently...
if you would be interested in buying a print of any of the images you have seen on my blog, feel free to contact me with the size and type (canvas, print, etc.)

I may make a separate section on my website at some point to have images for sale....we shall see though

have some big stuff i want to post at some point as well as another wedding on Friday...then a breather from photography for a bit....at least client wise

went through some old work and decided to put some up for the fun of it...

sorry for the randomness but it's fun to look at old pics and see them differently than before

Star94 Morning Show

2009-06-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

so I had this unbelievable opportunity to work out a deal with radio station Star94 where I would shoot all of their radio personalities in exchange for advertisement on the radio and on their web....i was thrilled when I found out

these are the shots we took away from the Cindy and Ray morning show last Tuesday

I have also shot pics of their traffic guy, AC, as well
I look forward to finishing up more of the pics later this week

this could be big...

Cindy

Ray

"Spoon"

Casey

Ali

Lisa and Young's Wedding

2009-06-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

i'm surprised i didn't melt my face off this day...
it was sooo hot, and so we did our best to make outdoor shots quick and painless

what a great time taking pics and documenting Lisa and Young's big day...(well their 2nd big day after getting married in Korea a few weeks earlier)
it was a blast shooting a wedding that was different than any wedding i had shot before

great seeing the sweet and humble love that these two have for each other...they also know how to love others well which was so evident

thanks again guys for allowing me to share in your big day.

blessings,

got the new...

2009-06-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

iPhone 3Gs

i am loving it! so nice to be able to answer email while on the road to a shoot, figure my way around the make-no-sense roads of Atlanta, and lash out in an impromptu attack on my cool wife with my light saber

oh yeah, and you can take pics all the time without lugging a heavy camera around

weekend with Jenica

2009-06-22T21:54:00.000-07:00

we had the chance to get away this past weekend up to Helen, GA
it's a little town made to look like Germany...it was so nice to just get away and relax

we slept in, went to the pool, ate monkey bread (sooo good), had some German food, watched USA soccer pull off the unbelievable, and did our best to avoid the creepy people who come out at night

all in all, great weekend

got a big shoot coming up these next few days...hope all goes well
i will keep ya updated

round 2 from Dusty and Katie

2009-06-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

so i haven't posted for awhile....sorry about that

however, here are a few more shots from my last wedding
almost done with editing on this one (my goal is tomorrow night)

this week is going to be crazy and i feel as though will give me a good taste of what it would be like if i were to ever go full time with this crazy deal

3 days this week i will be shooting for the number 1 radio station in Atlanta, star94
i will be taking shots of all of their radio personalities in exchange for some ad time on the air as well as on the web....so, pretty pumped about that

i also have a wedding the next two weekends

so we will see what happens and how much i enjoy life the next couple weeks....hoping everything goes well though

Dusty and Katie coming at ya'

2009-06-15T00:08:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a blast hanging with Jenica's side of the family...
and of course getting to shoot Dusty and Katie's wedding

these two are young but madly in love with each other which is so evident to see when they are around...
i have had a lot of great times with both of them whether it be playing death frisbee at night, beach volleyball on vacation in florida, or having them hang out with Jenica and I in the ATL...i look forward to many great memories with these two in the future

it was such an honor though to shoot their wedding and it seems as though i keep coming away from each shoot claiming that, "these are my favorite shots ever." i meant it with this wedding though...finally feeling as though i am getting to a place where i can consistently get good shots throughout the whole day

this is just a small taste of what was a day of joy, celebration, and a crazy dance party!

enjoy...

pretty sure that according to this list below, i would have been in major trouble and had a very sore butt as a kid
mostly because of numbers 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, most definitely 15, 16, and 18-24 (although Mill or Barn could be considered to be my friends house when we skipped sschool)

it's now 3:45am....going to bed!

celebrating 3 years of marriage!

2009-06-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

can't believe it's 3 years already...
there is no way that i would be who i am and where i am today without my wife
she is my constant source of encouragement. it's great to have someone who loves you in a way in which they accept you where you are at and pushes you to become who you are not yet...

so blessed to have her as my wife and look forward to many more anniversaries in the future...

Larry...

2009-06-10T05:53:00.001-07:00

is the worship director at the church I work at.

we have had a lot of fun talking photography and just hanging out. he is set to release a Christmas album and so we went out last night for a bit to get a few shots.
not sure these are necessarily ones we will put on the album, but just a few quick shots i wanted to put up.

been in a bit of a funk lately....really wanting to grow more lately as a photographer but feel as though i have hit bit of a wall.
looking for things to swing back here quickly.

i have a wedding coming up this weekend which i am really excited about, then another in a couple weeks.
good things to come as well as a meeting on thursday morning which could be potentially huge....we will see what happens

anywho, here are those shots:

Finally able to release these shots!

2009-06-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

So, only a handful of people knew that I had the opportunity to shoot the promotional shots for Christy Nockels back in December.

It was such a great experience and I feel as though I learned a ton both about photography and the business side of everything.
I'm so grateful to the friends at sixsteps for believing and building in to me.

Her album released this past Tuesday and sounds awesome...if you haven't already, head over to www.christynockels.com and order a copy

here are the shots they used for the back and inside.

first test with new Totally Rad Actions

2009-05-29T15:30:00.000-07:00

can't wait to learn how to use these better...

Evora band shoot

2009-05-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

today was my first full band shoot...this is definitely an area of photography that i want to improve on

i thought it went well for the most part despite all the mud and pouring rain for the first 30 minutes
These guys are a local band who are all headed off to college in the fall. they are also leaving for California at the end of the week to record their demo

these guys have a very unique sound and play so tight together...can't wait to see where they go

the guys:

javi

andy

diego

boom

weekend in Illinois - part 2

2009-05-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

i am already wishing that we were staying here longer...
it's been so relaxing and i wish i could have a whole week of this

did some more four wheeling, shot clay pigeons with the 20 gauge (jenica got one too), took some more pics, went to a cousin's grad party, then off to grandma's for dinner...
we played some bocce ball as the sun was going down...the weather was perfect tonight! the sunsets have been pretty unbelievable. finished it all off by grabbing all the kids to do some light writing...this may have sparked some ideas for the future....we shall see

there are a lot this time...coming home tomorrow. don't want to just yet.

weekend in Illinois - part 1

2009-05-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

came home to be with the fam over the weekend...

today consisted of: sleeping in, playing softball with my 10 year old sister-in-law, almost having my 10 year old sister-in-law rip my head off with a line drive, riding the four wheeler, running out of gas on the four wheeler and pushing it back to the shop, filling it with gas and riding it some more, taking some pics in the nearby "downtown" area with the brother-in-law, and finally meeting up with my parents for some dinner.

good day...enjoying the weekend very much so far

Kyle and David senior portraits

2009-05-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

these guys are pretty much best friends....they are also two of the biggest jokers in the youth group

had a lot of fun hanging out today with them...crazy to think these guys are headed off to college already
enjoy the serious and not so serious shots we got today

kyle

david

and of course had to get some with the both of them

2009-05-19T13:43:00.001-07:00

two more from Tyler's senior session

2009-05-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

so this is somewhat of a test...
one element of exposing a picture is ISO. the smaller the ISO (50,100,200) the sharper the image. The higher the ISO (1600, 3200, etc) the more grainy or "noisy" the image will become. So, i have always thought, stay away from the higher ISO's.

well, this shot has completely changed my understanding of that...this was shot at 3200 ISO...so, i put it in black and white to start since that just seems to fix about any photo
however, changing it to color blew me away.

i love having revelations like this from time to time...makes me excited to shoot all over again