It is awesome getting to hang out with so many people with so much potential. The seniors that I shoot are all on the cusp of graduating and moving on to become adults. While that has it’s draw backs (Bills!), it gives me confidence that the world will be full of movers and shakers who are ready to rock n roll.
Kyle has his hands in lots of stuff. From film to business, he is starting to rock even before college. We shot some photos in downtown Milwaukee with his bike, some shirts he made, and the pending doom of rain. The rain didn’t turn into the down pour it was on Thursday, so the show went on. Check the photos:
1 Grandpa + 1 Grandma + 3 Grandkids = Chaos (and superfun photos). Running around a park is so much fun when your chasing crazy kids who are jumping on everything and making faces… somehow they remind me a lot of myself…
I really love shooting engagement sessions for a few reasons. One, there isn’t a ton of pressure on the photographer. Two, there isn’t a ton of pressure on the couple. And three, it gives the couple a chance to see how the photographer works and gives them an opportunity to trust that the artist is going to capture them in a flattering way.
Well, Andrew and Abby needed no help from my camera or me to be flattering. They were a great looking couple that showed up and were ready to have fun. Jake and I thought that the Third Ward would be a good place to shoot, so we met them right by the Milwaukee Public Market. From there we wandered around the streets, jumping on things, going in and out of alleys, and even jumping in fountains. There were so many opportunities to make great photographs that it was hard to whittle down this post to the size that it is (and it is still big). I am excited to shoot this couples wedding because I know it is going to be fantastic and so much fun to shoot.
What the heck is a Trash the Dress session? I’ve had lots of people ask me about this and it is kinda hard to explain, so instead of explaining, I figured I would just show.
A TTD session is all about showcasing you and your dress. Some people really want to save their dress and use it as an heirloom or keep it for their 20th anniversary, but some people put it in a box and never do anything with it. Hopefully on your wedding day you were able to get some fantastic photos of you in your dress and you love them. On the wedding day though, there is a limit to where you can go and what you can do as far as photos and locations. Either there is a time constraint or you don’t really want to go into the middle of a forest, the sand dunes, or an old warehouse. I get that. No one wants to get to the reception and look like they were hiking up Mt. Everest or white water rafting (although that would be a sweet shoot… holla back if you wanna do that), so those locations are out the window. With a TTD session, you can go to those places and get crazy fantastic shots.
TTD sessions are not about trashing the dress (as the name implies), but they are more about showcasing the dress in situations that you would not normally see a wedding dress in. It’s not about getting dirty, but it is being able to let go and let loose to get awesome photos without having to worry about showing up to the reception looking like a mess. Heck… bring your man and make him get all crazy with you too… Who doesn’t want to make out in a lake with the sun set behind them?
So… because this is kinda hard to explain in words, Jake and I got the idea to do a TTD session with a model to show you what this whole thing is about. The story below is our adventure into the foray of: TTD, Valo-syle.
First thing we needed was a lady who was up for anything. I had worked with Amber a while ago and knew she was a lot of fun to work with. I shot her a message and she was all about doing the shoot. From there, we needed a dress. I really do not know how you ladies do it… Amber and I went to pick out a dress from David’s Bridal. They have a huge rack of $99 dresses that we were picking from (a good option if you want TTD photos and still want to keep your real dress). I had to register and we were mistaken for a couple quite a bit. It was also around the time when people were picking out their prom dresses, so the store was crazy busy and filled to the brim with ladies. I kinda felt like I was invading a female only club… got some really funny looks from some ladies. Anyoldways… Amber and I found a dress that we liked, she tried it on and it looked gorgeous.
From there I contacted two of my good friends Kristin and Amy who work at The Fringe Salon to do Make Up and Hair for the shoot. After I got them on board, I wanted to get some flowers for the shoot, so I contacted Greg from Gregory and Company and got an amazing Bouquet from him to use for the shoot. We finally got everything set up, nice weather, great team of people, and great location… then… it started to snow. It was in the 60′s a few days before, but then the temp dropped very quickly the day before and the day of the shoot to somewhere around 30 degrees. We got out to shoot and were able to shoot for about 30 mins before it started to snow. It wasn’t too bad at first, but when you have a model in a wedding dress and sandals… well… that is just crazy stuff. She was a trooper and we were able to get some fantastic photos while we were out. We might end up doing another shoot when it is a bit warmer… but for now, check out the photos we took.
Today I took some time out of my crazy schedule to chum it up with a bunch of local photographers at an event called PhotoCamp Milwaukee. It was a good time. Next time a PhotoCamp happens you should attend if you are in the Milwaukee area and interested in photography. Lots of learning happened and I even taught a session on using natural light for portraits. Good times. Here are some of the photos of the models I took:
Business branding is not something new and should never be overlooked. Once you have a good product or service, you then need to figure out how people are going to remember it, hear about it, and spread the word about it. Comet Branding is in the business of making that happen. From creating social media networks to promoting your brand through PR and other media outlets, they do it all. Al Krueger and Sara Meaney are not only fantastic, energetic people, but they are also great at what they do and take pride in their work.
Jake and I got a chance to shoot some branding photos for this branding bunch which was a real honor and ridiculously fun. Here are a few shots from the shoot that you will be seeing on their website and promo material soon.
We started in their office space where all the Comet magic happens.
From there took some shots around the building.
then From there we carried the Comet Chair (Vintagely awesome chair Al does his best thinking (napping) in) outside in the middle of the street in the middle of the day. (Bad idea to shoot photos at High Noon, but we rocked it none the less).
Leave some love for the Comet Cats.
(Oh yeah… Al’s hair is pretty much a work of art. Simply amazing. Discuss.)
It is starting to warm up here in Wisconsin. Starting to…
Jake and I got the privilege to be interviewed by Blake of actionstalk.com about our business. He interviews start up business and posts the interviews on the website. Blake is a real cool cat that we met at the Teecycle.org shoot. Our video should be up on his site sometime soon. I will post a link when it is up.
After our interview with Blake we had a shoot with a model named Emmanuel. It was a semi-nice day out and we ran around downtown Milwaukee. There are tons of great spots to shoot and so much character. We would walk just a few feet and have a new place to shoot.
We went over to North Ave. and there is a park that is newly built that overlooks the city. It was awesome durring sunset and we got some really great light.
I also messed around with a bit of video on this shoot and put together some of the clips that I shot. I still have a lot to learn about how to use this camera to its full potential and how to do video with it. This is only the third thing that I have had a chance to edit/record with the camera.
I am alive! I think… I have been super busy these past few weeks getting things ready for our site lauch, shoots, and putting the finnising touches on the Brewlypse photos (soooooooo many of them to go through). I should be updating the blog a lot after this week is over. Jake is in Mexico and got our real site up before he left and we have so much to still add to it. It is crazy trying to balance a fulltime job with a fulltime job.
Here are some sneak peaks of shoots that I have done in the past few weeks:
Last year I shot Tom and Sarah’s wedding (I am shooting Sarah’s sister’s wedding this year), and I ran into Shawn. He was one of the ushers there and is also in a Band with Tom. We ran into each other at Guitar Center just a little while after the wedding and he told me that he was getting married in September and needed a Photographer. We chatted and he said he would give me a call. Sho nuf, a month or two later we were talking wedding. They booked me and I will be shooting their wedding in September. Nice. They are getting married at the Eisner Museum here in Milwaukee which is an uber sweet place. I am stoked to shoot their wedding. So much fun.
Anyoldways… We got together a week or two ago and shot their engagement session. I was stoked to shoot the E-session, then it rained. It was in the mid 50′s the weekend before and up until that day. Sooo we had to reschedule. They were open the next weekend, so we met then and got to making awesome.
The light was so awesome. It took me a second to get the shot that I wanted and told them that they would have to keep kissing, they said they were fine with that
As we walked around we found a manhole, sewer cover, underground thinggy that was shooting steam into the air. I thought to myself, FOG MACHINE! Busted out the light and went to work.
It was so much fun to shoot and actually be outside. The Midwest can get pretty nasty in the winter. I am not a big fan of frostbite and loosing digits, so I am glad I can start shooting outside again.
While yo’ur at it, check out Jakes post of photos from the same session.
A little while ago Jake and I went up to Minneapolis to shoot a wedding. The day after the wedding we stuck around and shot some promo material for Christ Church Internantional’s new website that is in the works. After we shot that we hung out with Jamey who is one of my mentors and a good friend. Some people just have a cool, down to earth vibe and that is very Jamey. He is the pastor of Leadership and Development at CCI and does his job well.
One of the things that I really admire about him is that he is good at reading people and encouraging people. We went to the Tea Garden (whish they had one in MKE), and chatted for a while about Valo and the big ideas we have for our company. He gave some great feedback to our thoughts and encouraged us to keep going after our passions. Here are a few photos that we took when we were walking around in South Minneapolis.
then From there we carried the Comet Chair (Vintagely awesome chair Al does his best thinking (napping) in) outside in the middle of the street in the middle of the day. (Bad idea to shoot photos at High Noon, but we rocked it none the less).
