DigitalAspirations

Family in the Studio

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:44:57 +0000

Capturing images in the studio is fun and gives me greater control over the lighting. In this recent shoot with my family we had fun with the kids posing for their portraits. The 4 year old in the family even brought her Russian dress for the occasion. Here are some of my favorite from the session.

2011 TBEC Honor Roll Conference

admin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:07:33 +0000

On December 2nd, 2011 I served as the primary photographer for the Annual Texas Business & Education Coalition state Honor Roll conference to recognize Texas schools for academic performance. To qualify for the Honor Roll, schools must have a high percentage of students meeting state standards on every TAKS test for three consecutive year and perform at the state’s most rigorous standard – commended – in ALL subjects.

A large room was dedicated as the “photography” room so that every group could return home with a publicity photo for local news and district web and print publications. In this room, I used studio strobes and a curtain backdrop for all groups. When not “manning” this studio I was out capturing the speakers and action shots of the attendees. 253 schools were honored and attendance. The following are examples of the 200 plus photos I captured.

Family Portrait In November

admin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:48:43 +0000

Below are some of my favorite photos from a Nov 2011 family portrait session. I met the family at the Palomo Lake subdivision in Round Rock, Texas. We used the architecture of the subdivision entrance as our backdrop. The session took place between 10-11 am in the morning. I used a mono-light to match the brightness of the sun making it possible to keep the background from being to bright. After the group shots, I captured a number of photos of the children and smaller group shots for the family. I think everyone had fun and we got some great photos for framing.

November Wedding

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:24:03 +0000

I provided photography services for a November 5 wedding at the Texas Baptist Children’s Home chapel in Round Rock recently. Friend Dena filled the people wrangling role. The wedding was well organized and was enjoyed by all, including this photographer. Along with typical images captured during the ceremony we spent about 30 minutes after the ceremony capturing both group images and close-ups of the bride and groom. I also attended the reception and provided images such as cutting the cake, the toast, and the tossing of the bouquet and garter. Below are few of my favorite images.

Searching for the King

admin — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 22:05:18 +0000

Each year I volunteer as a photographer and media development specialist for the Christmas pageant of First Baptist in Round Rock, Texas. Along with developing graphics that are projected during the live event, I help create the marketing images that used to drive attendance. The 2011 event is entitled Searching for the King and is based on an exciting script which juxtaposes one of the Magi (Mordecai) as he follows the Star of Bethlehem with Benjamin, and a soldier stationed in the Middle East 2,000 years later, who is looking up at the same stars.

I completed a photo shoot in which I used studio lighting to capture the characters for the soldier and the Magi in costume. The end goal was a poster that depicted the two looking at the same star filled sky across a middle east night time landscape. The lighting was a single softbox mounted 8 feet up and a 72 inch reflector to reflect light on the subjects back. In the event gallery you will find a few of the images I captured and the final composite poster.

Kim & the Hat Collection

admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:26:20 +0000

I recently completed a photo session with Kim, featuring a portion of her ever growing hat collection. I first realized Kim had a “thing” for hats when I noticed she wore a different hat in the choir every Sunday morning at First Baptist Round Rock where I attend. I complemented her hat of the day and offered to do a photo session to help her create an online gallery to share her collection with friends and family. Kim is in the last years of completing her medical training so it took a while for her calendar to be open. The results were rewarding to both of us as she showed up with 72 hats. We plan to do more soon featuring additional hats. You can see the complete photo gallery here:

The Hat Collection

Here are a few of may favorites:

Keller Williams Photoshoot

admin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:31:10 +0000

I was invited to capture professional business portraits (head shots) for Keller Williams Realty this week. They were in the process of moving into a new building, requiring all staff to get new business cards. The invitation went to all Williamson county agents to come by for a portrait. I enjoyed meeting each of the agents and discussing their photography needs for the real estate industry as well as discussing meeting their family portrait needs. I set up my portable studio in their offices which includes a 44 inch reflective umbrella and flash, a 72 inch vertical silver reflector opposite the flash, a pop-up gray background, and a small hand held reflector to bounce light up under the chin. Thanks to KW agent Clark Shubert for making this happen.

Below is a composite of a portion of the images captured.

Caleb Luncheon

Keith Mitchell — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:24:57 +0000

The following are from a collection of over 100 images captured at a luncheon at First Baptist Church, Round Rock on July 26, 2011. My charter was to capture the fellowship for the attendees as well as images of the major presenters and performers. I accomplished this with a combination of flash and non flash images. The completed collection was delivered to the church office the following day on a CD. I have been the primary photographer for this event for 4 years. Each year the images from the previous year are displayed on a large projection screen during the lunch.

Ballerina in Training

Keith Mitchell — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:42:21 +0000

The images below are from a recent photo shoot for a young ballerina in training. These images were captured in the DigitalAspirations studio using a 9 foot wide paper roll extended to cover both the background and floor. I used a large softbox to the left of the subject and a 72 inch reflector to the front right. The background was lit with 2 36 inch strip softbox units. All 3 lights were professional mono-lights. (Einstein 640). Both the subject and her mother were pleased.

Portrait of a Musician

Keith Mitchell — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:55:30 +0000

I met with musician, Kennith Mitchell, to help him capture a portrait series that could be used for marketing his music on the Internet and potentially on CD covers. Kennith was great at posing and had the unusual ability to display a natural and fun smile on demand. The reflective surface of the guitar posed some issues but by changing the angle of the main light and the guitar’s location relative to all of the light sources, we were able to get both the subject and the instrument in good lighting. We chose a black background to make it easy to substitute images in as required. But the white shirt against black background is a great combination by itself. Kennith is my twin brother and for one of the photos I have a composite of the 2 of us together, him on guitar and myself on the blues harp.