DRUM MAJORS

The subject of a recent senior portrait is Alex, a musician. From the start I was enthusiastic about this job because there was a good chance we would shoot a performance. When I found out he was also one of three drum majors in the marching band I knew we had a great story to tell.













His family wanted picture choices, and we began with Alex in orchestra mode, posed alone on campus with his main instrument.  Later in that session he changed into his drum major get-up and we used the football stadium as a backdrop.  It was October and this is where he “lives” in the fall.

the Western Minnesota Threshers Reunion

For three days every year the town of Rolag, MN, hosts a popular gathering of serious steam wonks called the Threshers Reunion.

Anyone interested in how technology has changed society would be drawn to this collection of working agricultural equipment from around 1840 to 1950.

Creadon Woods Gallery of Art

Dennis Creadon (blue shirt and shorts on the left) and Brad Woods (White shirt and shorts center) are the two artists of Creadon Woods Gallery of Art.  Their first gallery space opened two years ago in Naples, FL.

National Center for Civil and Human Rights

The National Center for Civil and Human Rights is located in Pemberton Place, a park adjacent to Centennial Park in Atlanta, GA.  It is hard to miss the center’s unique exterior design.

The entrance lobby is a popular stop for memorable pictures beside the large collage.  You can also see the second floor mezzanine in this view.  

Washington DC Monuments

I have been collecting images of Washington DC monuments for three years with the goal of adding to my portfolio.  For me, that type of picture needs impact and storytelling (in addition to other qualities).  Monuments are designed with those ideas in mind, and a simple clear illustration is always a starting point .  I chose to use the image below as a possible introduction to the FDR Memorial.  However the weathered metal statue of President Roosevelt in the “Third Term room” was way too green for my taste. 

 I prefer a B&W treatment in a tighter crop.  The web site link has a nice color detail picture with muted weathering.

Family Picture Book

 Printed albums or photo books are one good way to display images from the family archives. A book only needs daylight to “operate”, and prints age very slowly in a closed book. 

Last year Mary and I began scanning vintage family photos.  Soon we realized we had enough beautiful examples for a 

picture book covering 4 generations.  We decided to design a double spread page for each family in a generation (a total of 17 families).  Pages 9 & 10 are above.

We began each spread with a custom background from the family archive. (Vendors offer a wide variety of design themes with easy “drop-in” file features that can save time).  The background for 9 & 10 , left, is a  backscreen (washed-out) treatment to a picture from the family archive. 

Counting the background, there are 7 pictures here.  If we added any more it would resemble a product catalog more than a family album.   

Photo Essay

On Friday I used fill flash to shoot for the photo essay assignment.  The task was to pick up the kids when their school was over.  I rode the bus to Norcross HS, Stripling Middle, and New Life at River Green.

It was a bright sunny day so there was a large difference in light value between the street and the inside of the bus.  I set exposure for the street using my largest aperture (f/3.5) and shutter speed at 1/2,000 second.  That made for a normal exposure out the windows.  The camera body was set to flash in FP mode and the speed light was initially set at full manual power.  The flash was mounted in the camera body hot shoe, aimed up and behind me. The bus interior was glossy white paint (a large and harsh reflector).  The ride was an hour, and I shot about 100 frames at power settings from full down to 1/8.  I couldn't really view the results in this bright light so I relied on histograms.

I wanted the inside of the bus to come close to the exposure level of the street, and I think this picture achieves that.  The rear facing flash actually brightened the bottom too much and I pulled a  -1 stop gradient in Lightroom to make the light direction seem more normal. 

The problem is the composition.  I thought a student studing on a bus ride was a cool idea, but it's not working.  The frame is cramped and it's hard to tell exactly what we are looking at.  The bus windshield is visible in the upper left.  Unfortunately a mess of shadows and shapes makes it confusing, and the red seats are just plain big distractions.  I can hear the critique already, "Why are you making us look at a seat back and a dash board?"  So, yeah, bus insides are hard to shoot.  If I get another chance I'll try for more of the window/street view, maybe a horizontal crop.