This is a challenge I made to myself in an effort to:
improve my people skills
try new lighting techniques on the fly
and work outside my comfort zone.
So I took advantage of the somewhat-nice weather, loaded up my “instant fashion lighting rig” (more on that later) and headed to South Street to chat up and photograph complete strangers. Here is what I got.
All that walking and shooting made me hungry so I stopped in at Homeslice for some pizza lovingly made by Brett and Andrew.
Last but certainly not least, I headed north a little further to Fishtown to the super cool home of A-game photographer, Mark Gardner.
What a blast! Next time out there should be a bunch of us shooting so look out for your favorite Philly photog offering free portraits on the spot and then getting together for a beer and critique. Take the challenge, fellow wedding photographers!
For those of you who don’t know, Cathy and I just got married yesterday. Yay! And as a gift, she got me this awesome groom’s cake! Yes, it’s a real cake (I had a slice right after photographing it) and it is delicious!
Just finished up the “Light It, Shoot It, Finish It” workshop and it was an absolute blast! One fantastic venue, two gorgeous models and 18 photographers got together for a full day of shooting and Photoshop. First we all went to the Wilmington Grand Opera House to shoot. The whole workshop revolved around making extraordinary photos quickly and with only the stuff in your camera bag. This one as well as the rest were lit with just on-camera flash. Add a little due diligence in Photoshop and you’ve separated yourself from the pack!
It was great to see so many eager photographers looking to learn and innovate.
Gray, blah day? No problem!
We made a giant softbox from a white wall and we had an instant studio!
What a fun time that was! The next workshop is already in the works. It’ll be at least two days with more models, wedding gowns and will be ultra-intense so stay tuned!
I just got this email from my friend, Vera LaMarche, who attended my “Light It, Shoot It, Finish It” workshop (which I still need to post my own photos of). This makes it all worth the effort!
Hey Joe, I just want to take a minute to thank you again for the Light it, Shoot it, finish it workshop. I used the bounce the flash off the wall technique at my last wedding. When I showed my bride this picture of her and her Dad she was brought to tears!!! -guess what he’s getting for Christmas. I love the moment but also know it would have never had the same impact with straight on or bounced off of the ceiling flash. Thanks again! Vera
Just showed this album pre-design to Jillian and Rocky here at the studio. A few tweaks and it may be ready for the WPPI album comp. Click the HD button to watch it in hi-def!
I met Jillian and Rocky in Wildwood NJ last weekend for their Trash the Dress session. The weather wasn’t quite what we expected but it made for some awesome photos!
Cool and desolate. Wildwood in the off-season is quite a contrast to what it is in summertime.
There’s something so Bruce Springsteen about the boardwalk when it’s closed.
I had never really given it a thought but I’m beginning to realize how lucky I am to be able to take the very first studio portraits of someone in their lives. My friend and fellow pro photographer, John Bartholomew and his wife, Cindie just had their first child, Ashton. Although John already had lots of photos of Ashton from his very first minutes, I was honored when they asked me to do Ashton’s first studio session.
Just got back from a workshop with David Beckstead hosted by Cynthia and Paul Meyer at their cool studio outside Pittsburgh. David got me to work outside of my comfort zone and shoot much like I did when I was 20 years old with my first Minolta.
What a great workshop! It’s great to get away with some other eager photographers and do some new stuff once in a while. Can’t wait to do it all again!
