Had a fantastic time yesterday shooting the wedding of Pamela & Ron. Again, weather was threatening all week but all turned out perfectly! A bit chilly but the sun broke through and lit up the early Fall colors at the most opportune times. Here’s but a few quick sneak peek shots. Thanks to Jim and Paula for all of their hospitality hosting the event and for their warm and gracious nature! You two are infectious (and I’m not talking H1N1). I’ll be back to test those trout fishing waters and work on my fly fishing skills soon. Pamela and Ron, enjoy Anguilla. We’ll have some images waiting on you when you get back. Thanks also to Jessi Ringer for second shooting, keeping me on task, holding a flash on a stick on occasion, and wading in the water in your rain boots to get some fantastic shots.
I’ll be teaching my Location People II workshop all week so will be largely out of pocket and get to step out from behind the camera and hopefully give some other folks some insight and encouragement!
Here’s a few quick sneak peek shots of Kara & Frank. Many, many more to come. I nearly sprained my trigger finger with these two! These guys were a pure delight to photograph and the scenery was just spectacular as well. Kara and Frank were married on Frank’s parents’ incredible property on Douglas Lake. We all worried about the weather all week and in the end it all worked out. Dramatic skies all day but hardly a drop of rain! Thanks for the honor of capturing your day you two. I’m sure Hawaii is a welcome relief from the weather we’ve been enduring here in Knoxville. See you when you get back!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Here’s another sneak peek (no retouching applied) from a model shoot with 18 Karat Model and Talent. Say hello to Kara. Kara lit up the camera and was just as easy to work with as could be. These images were shot on the same lake and cabin location as my last post (Blaire). Despite the challenging weather, we had great light and took full advantage. Kara’s full portfolio will appear on the 18 Karat web site soon.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Hello everyone. Here are a few sneak peak (no retouching applied) shots from a recent model shoot for 18 Karat Model and Talent. This is Blaire who was a bit under the weather due to a recent bout with the flew but you’d never know it. She hung in there and we had a great time working together. This was a day planned on the lake and focused on swimsuits. We had a little challenge with the weather but definitely made the best of the situation. Blaire’s full portfolio will appear on the 18 Karat web site soon.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Back in late July I once again had the pleasure of photographing another Olympic Gold Medalist. This time it was the delightful ball of energy, Shawn Johnson. Shawn was the 2008 Olympic Balance Beam Gold Medalist, Silver Medalist in the Individual All-around, and the 2007 All-Around World Champion in gymnastics. She also recently won the very popular TV show, Dancing with the Stars. She visited town to appear at John Macready and John Roethlisberger’s Flip Fest Gymnastics Camp which is located in nearby Crossville, TN. It is always fun to visit John and John and see the incredible camp they have put together. It is one of the finest gymnastics camps in the world and people come form all over the country to train and attend camp there in the summer. I spent my day largely covering Shawn working with the campers and then followed her through the 75′ high ropes course with three cameras strapped around my neck. Shawn was a great sport and easy to work with. In person, her personality is exactly as you would imagine seeing her on TV. The highlight for me was watching her attempt back-flips on a damp log suspended 75′ in the air. She summoned up the courage to try this in the first place, which is no small feat I can tell you. However, the best part was that she missed and fell off the log at first. She would not be denied however. She tried again and again, making small adjustments each time until she finally nailed it. It was quite apparent why she has been and will always be so successful.
Here are some more images of Shawn and many other elite gymnasts from years past.
Also, here are more photos from Shawn’s recent visit.
And now, here are a few favorites from the day . . .
Robb and Angie should be back from a beautiful honeymoon in Fiji by now so I wanted to get some images up for them to enjoy and share with friends and family. This wedding was a blast despite the August heat in Atlanta. Robb and Angie and all of their friends and family were incredible to work with and a delight to photograph. The weather was spectacular and the venues awesome too! The wedding was held at beautiful Villa Christina and the reception was held at The Pavillion of East Cobb. The accomodations and preparations took place at the beautiful W Hotel Buckhead.
I want to send a huge “Thank You” out to Jessi Ringer for second shooting with me. Jessi’s work is fantastic and I’m always confident that we’ll get great images when I know she’s shooting with me. Also, a big thanks to Allan Mueller making a day trip down to Atlanta to assist, shoot, and wrestle with assembling and manning my new photobooth! Be sure to check out the photobooth imgages at the end of the post!
OK, enough rambling. Let’s see some images. There are a bunch so be sure to click on the thumbnails to dig deeper within each category. You can also see all of the images below (and a few more) here.
Posted in People, Wedding | Tags: Allan Mueller, Angie Taylor, Atlanta, Bryan Allen, Georgia, Jessi Ringer, Robb Seahorn, The Pavillion, Villa Christina, Wedding
Thursday, August 27, 2009
I often get asked if I ever photograph guys. Well here’s your answer! Yes I do indeed photograph guys. On balance I just do less with men than women. This post is just a sneak peak of a model shoot for 18 Karat Model and Talent Management and these are simply quick and dirty contact sheet images. Shawn and Terry were great fun to work with. Both are just getting started but have promising futures.
The next question I often get asked is if photographing guys is different and/or harder than photographing women. I don’t find it radically different or harder. It simply depends on the model. Man or woman, every model is unique and different and thus presents the same set of challenges. I have to figure out how to connect with the model and get them comfortable and confident in me and what we’re going for each and every time I shoot (assuming it’s someone I’ve never shot before). That’s a unique proposition each time.
Then there’s the actual photography part of the equation. The final question . . . Do I shoot men and women the same creatively or technically in terms of lighting, etc. Well the answer is yes in general but well sometimes no, not really. How’s that for an answer. Again, it just depends on we’re going for and that dictates what I do in terms of lighting and composition.
I could generalize but I don’t want to mislead you. I simply view each person as an individual and go through my same creative process. I’m comfortable and confident shooting either or both and really don’t worry too much about any gender specific differences other than what the creative concept dictates.
OK, on to the images . . .
Hey everyone! After an all day model shoot on Friday (more on that in future posts), I decided to take a weekend off from “real photography” and editing and just have fun with friends and family. A guy needs a break every now and then right?! Days like this serve to remind me of why I love lake living and love photography so much and also why family and friends are really what life is all about. So, this is how I spent my weekend. It doesn’t get much better than this for me!
Wake up to dinosaurs, froggies, etc. This morning it was the miniature doll house and a little doctoring of old dad. Seems I always have some ailment requiring special medical treatment.
A few funny faces . . .
Learning to climb onto, stand on, straddle, paddle, and swim after (or have Dad swim after) Mommy’s new wake surfboard . . .
Teaching our daughter to ski for the first time . . . a landmark event of the summer!
Avoiding having my camera drenched by a sneaky and mischievous 3 year old . . .
A little reading . . .
A little pruning . . .
Watching my wife model her fancy new birthday hat . . .
Comparing painted toenails. Yes, mine are the green ones . . . an outcome of poor timing for a nap last weekend with a 3 year old in the vacinity!
And finally getting in some surfing time of our own whilst the little one naps!
Posted in Harper, LifeStyle, People, Personal | Tags: Bryan Allen, Country Music People, Family, Harper, Knoxville, LifeStyle, Norris Lake, People, Personal
Thursday, August 20, 2009
HEAT seems to be a running theme for me lately. I guess that’s to be expected with the summer wedding season. This post goes back to mid June and the reception of Matt & Kenya. It was a blistering hot afternoon when the party started, and it didn’t end until well after midnight. Matt and Kenya were great fun as were all of their friends and family. I think the kids had it the best though. Seems someone got them the message to show up with bathing suits and so they did. While most of the adults cooled themselves with liquid refreshments and sought shade, the kids took to the pool and had a blast. Matt & Kenya, I owe you a debt of gratitude for helping me loose 14 pounds on this fine day. Unfortunately, I have since found it again 
You can check out more images from this shoot here.
Technical: This shoot was pretty challenging technically. Kenya wanted group shots of all of the family that was in for the event. Of course it was 4p in the afternoon with not a cloud in the sky. Oh joy! So for the group shots, I setup a 4×6 softbox horizontally camera right, metered f/8 or so, and adjusted my ISO/shutter speed to taste with the background. I put the groups in the shade to avoid extremely harsh light and make them more comfortable. Most of the shots of the kids playing are simply available light and over with exposure compensation dialed in to deal with the ambient light. The night stuff is a combination of high iso hand held with my Canon 5D MII and a few with a “softbox in the sky” (on a deck near the dance floor) to provide some level of illumination in the pitch black. Post processing on these is simply various creative treatments applied via LightRoom and my own custom presets.
Here’s the image gallery . . .
And, here’s a video slideshow from the day . . .
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Now that Robb and Angie are officially hitched, here’s a look back at some of her bridal session images. We spent a wonderful afternoon at my studio and around downtown Knoxville shooting these images. Angie was glowing and radiant and full of life and energy. We spent a few hours making these images and then met up with Robb for a couple’s session that evening. Thanks to Allan Mueller and Jessi Ringer for their splendid support as always!
You can check out more images from this shoot here.
Technical: I’ve been asked by some fellow photographers to share more technical and post processing information. This series includes both in studio and on location images. In studio shots were shot with multiple large soft boxes for main and fill and a stip box for a kicker for the highlights/rimming. THe headshots are primarily diffused natural light through a 1/2 stop scrim against a white wall. The location shots are typically natural back/side lighting with a Californial Sunbounce used to reflect as the main. Post on these are simply various creative treatments applied via LightRoom and my own custom presets. No retouching has been applied to these images. They are “proof” quality.
by Bryan Allen
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