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Showing posts from 2012

Another couple found their hearts..

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I shot another beach wedding in November and the couple wanted to give their all, firstly to each other, and then for the photos. It was a small intimate event with 7 people in total plus myself and an assistant. The weather was beautiful as we met on Baker Beach, the Pacific Ocean side of the Golden Gate Bridge. The wind had been noticeable all morning but now in the early afternoon it was really picking up. This meant we were seeing lots of surf breaking on the beach and it was tempting to go and play in the water — so we did! The couple got wet and so did I. But did we have fun? Oh yes! And we ended the afternoon with goodbyes and new friendships. I had got soaked all the way up to my waist. But in anticipation I had brought a change of clothing for myself so it was a dry comfortable drive home. First and last stock image sales for November are below.

Electric Dreams On Death Row

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So many people find it romantic to propose in San Francisco...

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Everyone seems to have been becoming engaged this year. Some of the shoots were arranged to capture all that good feeling and some have been surprise engagements where in some instances I've had to work in a covert way. I've even shot one occasion where the couple got engaged and brought a minister with them so that they could get married half an hour after becoming engaged! And here are a handful of people who may be walking down the aisle together in 2013 :)

October clients were all dressed up

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Not "everyone" was dressed up but costumes featured a lot in my shoots this month. Halloween was obviously a big influencer. The month was another good mix of events, portraits, and product photography with great subjects and locations. Stock photography sales are still doing well even though I haven't been able to upload any new content for the last 2 months. First and last image sales for October

The Power and the Glory

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I've had quite a few portraits to do recently which indirectly inspired me to take another look at the portrait paintings of some of the old masters. I had a session booked for a friend of mine with his daughter and the paintings I'd been researching allowed this idea to form in my head. The little girl was a great model to work with and dad was a real sport on the day :) I used a pipette to put drops on water on dad's forehead, although if I'd left the lights on long enough, he might have broken out into a sweat anyway! The key light is directed through an un-gridded snoot to camera left, and the fill is high and to camera right with the power down very low. It was a really fast set up and I had to shoot quickly so that we didn't lose the attention and great facial expressions we were getting from our fabulous young model!

I'm helping more corporates

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I've been working with some great tech companies in San Francisco and am enjoying their abilities to integrate fun into their work! Of course we also get the shots that work well for those investment opportunities, but we're not holding back on capturing the cultures of these, still very individual, businesses. It certainly keeps my work fun! I've shot all the categories of photography I offer in September except for product. And even got some of my Folsom Street photos picked up by the news media. And the update on my first and last stock photo sales for September is:

Roi Brooks & San Francisco Police Chief capture couple!

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Greg Suhr, San Francisco Police Chief. A young couple from Canada eloped to San Francisco and I had the pleasure of being their witness and photographer for their big day. After the ceremony in City Hall and a photo session in the beautiful interior, we ventured outside for some more photo opportunities. As I walked out of the doors I saw the San Francisco police chief, Greg Suhr , Standing at the top of the steps by the main entrance. There were some media people setting up video cameras etc., preparing to interview him. They weren't quite set up so I walked up to him and asked if he'd pose with the newlyweds. I told him they were from out of town and had just been made legal. He accepted and while he held them in his cuffs, I captured them with my lens  !

Sunny, swirly,

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I've been fighting to keep a cold at bay and believe I've been successful. Flying on planes with sneezy, coughing people tends to make colds inevitable. However, feeling much better today and we went for a delightful walk in the sunshine that poured itself over Golden gate Park. The sound of music and laughter led us to the Aids Memorial Grove where there was lots of activity and colour. A DJ, food, and an eclectic mix of people were out in the sun and obviously feeling good. Apart from the people making giant bubbles, there were many flaggers gathered here to enjoy and show off their art. We were given a quick lesson by a guy named Mark along with a brief overview of what it was all about. It's amazing what  visual delights you can create with 2 squares of cloth.

My August assignments calendar was really hot...

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The month of August simply flew by during which time I enjoyed working on a nice range of photography assignment types.  Setting up the lighting for a group photo There was a lot of range in the temperature, locations, and environments too. In Washington State and Idaho temperatures were in the upper 90s, while some of the work I shot in San Francisco was windy, cold, and foggy. There were Graduate shoots, a wedding, event shoots, portraits, product, and some news coverage in the mix of work for the month. I had one couple who left their sunny home town in the South Bay area to have their photo-session done on the Marin Headlands just by the Golden Gate Bridge. Well San Francisco Bay threw one of it's regular curve balls.  The fog came down and the wind picked up and the cold breath of the Pacific Ocean clung to the hills. Although we had to work fast, (my clients only had a light summer dress for her, and short sleeved shirt and shorts for him), the combinin

Phemale, pheline, phashion...

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Model: Alicia Silverfarb    Makeup: Peacock Artistry So we found a wooded area where we could release our "wildcat" back into a suitable habitat. It was an overcast day in San Francisco but working in a dark area of woodland  with portable lighting meant we could control the light fairly easily. I used one naked speedlight , one speedlight through a 36 inch white umbrella and a hand held reflector. The lights were triggered by wireless and an assistant manipulated the reflector . We explored a whole range of feline poses and expressions before a quick costume update to capture a few "aristo-cat" type shots.

You can go with your head and art

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I was asked to do some headshots, but with a slightly more modern, grittier feel than the type of images that usually come to mind. It was a great location which was excellent for a few portraits too. If you're in San Francisco and you enjoy street murals/art, visit Clarion Alley . So I had a great shoot with my client who also really enjoyed herself which is always great to hear. The sun was really strong and still quite high for most of the time so I shot many of the exposures with a Nikon SB-600 Speedlight as fill flash. There was no assistant budgeted for the shoot so handheld, off camera flash made the day for me.