Derik here is a real estate agent who wanted to update his head-shot and specifically didn't want the cheesy muslin background cliche. Bravo Derik, bravo. I honestly can't figure out the fascination most agents have with the cookie-cutter head-shots - this was definitely a welcome change.

The shot is really straight-forward: a set that tells us what Derik does, a composition that can be cropped for both horizontal and vertical orientations, and a two-light setup that defines and separates him from the background. The set and composition are obvious, but the lighting may not be as easy to decipher. The one-light setup works really well, but by adding a second light, we can further separate the subject from the background as well as light up his hair. Lighting up someone's hair may seem a little odd at first, but without it in this lighting environment, all we get is darkness, not hair. The light illuminating the front of Derik is diffused using an umbrella at a distance of about 3 feet. The separation/hair light is the bare flash (not diffused) about 2 feet behind him, and is also about 1 foot above his head angled down. All totaled, it makes a nice combo of light and shade which defines the features of our subject's face and clothing.

This place is a beautiful location for a wedding.

Most of the work is done for me by the setting - let's be honest. The sky and the dress are where we can choose what tonality we want. Believe it or not, I don't want a blue sky - it would compete with our focus on the bride. All we want is the outline of the view with an overexposed sky. Green and white are the colors we should be processing, not blue. If you look closely on the dress, you'll actually notice the different shades of white in the dress from left of right. That's because there's a strobe on it - the light defines the different shades of white as well as the edges of the dress.

This one doesn't have a strobe on it because the setting sun is defining the edges for us. The colors were desaturated and the vignette was added in post-production - just a unique look for the great location we're working with.

This was one of my favorites from this wedding - there's something about the symmetry, the parallel pews, the bride in the middle. This is a shot that doesn't follow the rule of thirds. In fact, it kind of flies in the face of it. That being said, I think it's a better image because of it.

The other effect that could be done to this image to make it stand out more is the use of selective color. Jamie here had a bouquet of roses that really make an impact. I chose not to do selective color because I think it distracts the viewer from the composition of the photo, but it could still be a pretty neat effect.

Back to interiors this week.

So here's the deal - you may have noticed a common thread between this kitchen and the previous one. No, not the similar composition (well, yeah), but rather the staging - citrus fruit! First oranges, now lemons. Believe it or not, I didn't pick either of those items for staging purposes, but they both fit really well. Kudos to the homeowners, they know what's going on.

I'm trying to think of a more interesting story about this shot other than oranges and lemons, but there really isn't one. This kitchen was captured in three separate shots, this happened to be the one I liked the most. The first image showed the entire kitchen, the second showed it from the opposite angle, and this one showed the highlights without showing the surrounding space. To me, the surroundings are less important than the highlights, and I guess that's why I chose this one.

Most of my recent posts have been either interiors or bridal work so I thought I'd change it up a bit with a little photojournalism this week.

Scary, eh?

Well, the mad-surgeon is actually about to fix up a dog's knee, so it's quite the opposite of what it looks appears. The point is that we can create the wrong impression with a few photographic tricks.

First, the doc's out of focus. He's actually smiling under that mask, but we can't see that. Second, we're looking up at him, giving him power. When we look up at somebody or something, we remove power from the viewer and give it to the subject. Third, it's off-axis creating a disorienting feeling, almost sense of imbalance - meanwhile, I subject isn't affected by this imbalance, further giving him power.

Add all of these things up and you get a relatively nefarious photo out of a skilled medical professional. Moral of the story: don't believe everything you see.

I wouldn't mind having this as my kitchen, would you?

Most of the time, we tend to pop a wide-angle lens on our camera to get a shot of a space like this, but that won't work here. We don't need to see everything to get a feel for the space, so in fact, the closer we get, the better. Instead of a wide shot, we tighten in with a 24-70mm, right around 35mm. Now 35mm may not seem very tight, but when you're capturing a space as opposed to a person, it's actually very tight. The added advantage of shooting at 35mm is that the countertops are compressed to appear almost like they would in reality. If we're shooting wide, the countertops appear wide - if we shoot tight, we get closer to what our eyes see.

If that's the staircase, just imagine the rest of the place…

While many interior shots need a significant prep and post-production time, the 'details' don't. Typically, they can be done on-the-fly and shot with ambient light. In fact, it's better when they are shot with ambient light as the captured image is very representative of the true feeling of the space.

There's not much to say other than I wouldn't mind living there.

Normally, the ideal exposure for an outdoor scene is neither under nor overexposed - it's average. That little exposure compensation dial comes in handy for scenes like this because the truth is that we know better than the camera does (hopefully, anyway). Dial in +2.0 and you'll be pleasantly surprised during your next outdoor shoot when the sun is high in the sky. The next photo is the same concept, just a different pose. 

Here’s one more for this post. Even though we're indoors, the lighting is still a little more than meets the eye - she's lit by ambient, the entire alter is lit by off-camera-flash. See, it doesn't seem like he's lit (which is why it works), but if there hadn't been a light down there, you definitely would have noticed more detail, which would ultimately detract from the foreground.

In the theme of my last post, I thought I'd continue working on my landscape photography. 

What's so interesting about this, to me anyways, is that these bails were gone the day after these photos were taken. In addition to them being gone, about 1/8th of the farm is now flagged off for the ever-widening road. Kind of odd realizing that if I hadn't got off my butt to get see photos that day, they wouldn't have been possible to capture. 

So there there you have it.

I'm no landscape photographer. In fact, I'm pretty bad at landscape photography, but I'm not sure anyone could mess this view up. This view here features Cinnamon Beach and the British Virgin Islands - I mean, serious, how much better does it get? The view is so massive, you have to turn your head to see the whole thing, it's just incredible. 

I just like these next two shots.