18 years underage

This is my son Isaiah with his best friend in the south, Gill. I bought Isaiah a pack of candy cigarettes, and he's sharing them with his friend. I'm limiting him to a pack a week.

Gill belongs to Jordan and Kristi, and is one of the coolest kids I know.

This was shot on a rather sunny afternoon in the shade, lit with a soft box over my Alien Bees B800 and a Nikon SB-28 off to the right with a green gel providing some subtle rim light.

Brothers

This is Steve and his younger brother Jerry. We had just finished some family portraits and were having a little fun with poses, so Steve took the opportunity to teach his little brother how to make a "Hand Gun".

Shot with a Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 (at f/9) using an Alien Bees B800 through a 47" octabox from camera-right. A Nikon SB-28 Speedlight was set up with a shoot-through umbrella off the left side to give a little depth and knock some shadow away.

Wood Grain and Shadows

This portrait of Luke was shot with him laying on the floor and a light in a soft box lighting him from above. I then attached a 20 degree grid to the front of a Nikon Speedlight and pointed that at his face just right of the camera position. I didn't want to light him from the hard left, which was my first thought, because then I would have gotten some pretty nasty glasses shadows. I wear glasses too, and so I'm always trying to think about the glare, reflection and shadows that they produce.

This is my favorite shot from the bunch, and I think it accurately portrays his quirky, musical, artistic sensibility. If I may say so myself. And I may, because it's my blog. And you may too if you wish, with a simple comment below.

The Mexican Luke

I can say that because I am 1/4 Mexican. Besides, I can't just call him Luke, because then you might get him confused with the white Luke just one post away. And I can say that because I'm 2/3 white.

Seriously though, I think we all just need to lighten up, stop trying to be "politically correct", and start supporting our local bands.

Luke Ramos here, he's starting a local band. And he's rad. And he is a professional smirker. Yes, he smirks well.

I shot this photo in the B-Room at Bright City Studios in Fort Mill. I took a break from using only one light and I ending up using three strobes for this shot. I used the Alien Bees B800 in a large octabox positioned high and camera-left, and then a Nikon SB-28 speedlight outside shooting through the window, and another SB-28 positioned behind Luke, high, and camera-right. The rim-light behind Luke is my home-made "Lysol Snoot" with a 20 degree grid bungeed to it.

I'm going to post another photo from my session with Luke tomorrow morning to distract you while you're at church. It's a really good one.

Luke Stasi

This portrait was shot using the Sigma 15mm f/2.8 Diagonal Fisheye lens I bought specifically for my trip to Africa with The ZAO Water Project earlier in the year. I don't usually use this lens for portraits, mostly as an exercise in self-control. I want to use it ALL THE TIME, but I try my hardest to refrain. The sky and the subject were just too well suited for the angle this time around and I just couldn't help myself.

This is Luke Stasi being a good sport in 98% humidity during our little Zoolander excursion.

What An Honor

Last week, Chase Jarvis, one of my favorite photographers who I follow on Twitter, held a contest. With the arrival of the new iPhone 3GS, he was giving away his current iPhone 3G to the person with the best photo taken with a mobile phone. I entered. I didn't win.

Beside lauding due praise on the winning photo, Chase also chose 100 of his favorite images out of the 3500 submitted, and posted them in a gallery on his blog.

There are some amazing photos in there, one of which is a photo I took of Zoyenka, pictured above. I am very honored to have a photo of mine anywhere near Chase Jarvis' name, let alone on his website. It's a photo taken with a cellphone, and all the the photos in the gallery are, so it's just shows to go you*, it's not what you use, but how you use it.

(congrats to Omar, winner of the iPhone)

*Ten points if you can tell me what movie the phrase, "It just shows to go you..." is from.

Do What The Model Does

Isaiah loves to "help" at the photo shoots, but unfortunately he also like to trip over cables and knock over light stands.

During the first two shoots we had with Yuri and Christina, Isaiah felt the need to do exactly what the models were doing. It's his way of practicing for when it's his turn to be my test subject instead of his mother.

Turn On The Charm

This is Rachel, Justin's youngest sister.

She was always posing. I was taking pictures of her brother and there she was, hanging on to a pole, leaning back, and looking out into the vast expanse beyond. Turn the light, compose the shot, snap the photo. She's a natural. And she's 5 years-old.

Profile Picture

I've been on twitter now for almost 2 years now, and I've never actually used my real face as my avatar. I rarely update my profile picture on facebook either, but yesterday I found a good reason to change both of those.

An idea I had turned into an experiment. That test turned into a project, and that project turned into my favorite self-portrait ever.

I set up my Alien Bee B800 with a large softbox directly behind me in the bathroom of our hotel room. That light provided the white background, bounced off the walls, ceiling and mirror in front of me and lit my face. I had the camera sitting on the counter with a 24mm f/2.8 pointed at me. I dunked my head in water, looked in the camera, and pushed the shutter release button.

One shot, one light, one kill.

The fact that I have sweet new glasses really helps as well.

Luke And Brittney

Right after I blogged about it yesterday, Luke and Brittney decided to upload all the photos from their shoot to Facebook and give nearly all of them a quote from Zoolander. During the shoot we were quoting the movie a lot. "You're a monkey Derek, dance monkey!" And we had so much fun.

That, my friends, is the biggest reason their photos turned out so well. We had fun.

This Is Justin

Justin is the oldest of four kids who are all actors. I had the pleasure of spending time with them for a couple hours in the hot Carolina sun as we took head shots and portraits in NoDa. We stuck to one street corner in the area of North Davidson and 36th street, but anyone who has been there will tell you, there is enough texture to go around.

The entire day I shot with one light to balance out the sun, and sometimes I used a shoot-through umbrella to knock the sun down. The breeze was welcome to the face, but the umbrellas and soft box didn't enjoy it as much. It was so amazingly hot and humid, but these kids did a great job, and they never complained about it.

A Couple of Models

Thanks to spam, I'm getting about a dozen new comments a day. That's great, except, I'm not in the market for enhancement drugs. Real feedback from real people is always strongly encouraged.

If you're reading this, do you want to hear more technical details like the gear used and how I modified the light? Do you want to hear a story attached to the photo? Do you want to know more about the subjects? Let me know, shoot me a comment. Right now I'm being brief, but if there are certain things you're curious about, don't hesitate to ask.

This is Luke and Brittney Stasi. They are friends of ours who are also survivors of what we affectionately refer to as "The Summer Tour". These two were so much fun to shoot because they had little hesitation to pose and turn on the charm. Plus, they quote Zoolander, so what's not to like?

This photo was shot using a 24mm lens and a battery-powered flash shot through one large softbox. Really simple set up. We shot for only an hour and we got dozens of great photos because the set up was small and the models were naturals.

Heather, My Joy

So, this was a test shot that I took while getting ready for a photo session last night. Isn't she beautiful?

Heather is my very faithful wife, mother of my kids, friend, creative director, and photo assistant. And she makes some mean Jelly Boppers (Isaiah's way of saying Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches).

Jordan and Kristi

This is Jordan and Kristi, but not in that order.

When it comes to portraits, I'm usually very intentional about keeping straight horizons, but I really like the crooked lines in the background on this photo.

Trask Family

This is a little sample of what Heather and I shot today. I love this family, they are so much fun to be around.

Yuri (2 of 2)

Here is another shot of Yuri from our 'emergency photo session' yesterday. Right now, Yuri in en route to Mongolia for a ministry trip.

If you're interested in a portrait session, I'm currently running a '$25 per person, per look' special for people in Charlotte. Check it out on Facebook, and contact me at levibethune.com

Christina (2 of 2)

I need to find some more stained-glass windows. I love this look.

I wanted to add some more light here, but one of my Nikon speedlights bit the dust right before we set up for this photo. Still not sure what's wrong with it.

If you're interested in a portrait session, I'm currently running a '$25 per person, per look' special for Charlotte folks. Check it out on Facebook, and contact me at levibethune.com

Christina (1 of 2)

This is Christina. I get to see her almost every day at MorningStar, and she's been a big part of the School of Ministry here. Christina certainly has a unique look, and if you can get her to smile, it will make your day.

If you're interested in a portrait session, I'm currently running a '$25 per person, per look' special for people in Charlotte. Check it out on Facebook, and contact me at levibethune.com

Yuri (1 of 2)

As part of the portrait giveaway on the Organic Visual Facebook Page, I booked Yuri for a last-minute session before he left the country. Yuri is part of the ministry group at MorningStar, and they are taking a trip to Mongolia. Today.

If you're interested in a portrait session, I'm currently running a '$25 per person, per look' special for Charlotte folks. Check it out on Facebook, and contact me at levibethune.com

Jonathan David Helser

This is Jonathan David Helser in what I like to call, "The heat of battle". This was taken during the "Two Nights in June" event at MorningStar that wrapped up yesterday.

Second Night. In June.

This is a photo I took of John Mark McMillan playing along with Jonathan Helser during "Two Nights in June". It was an awesome weekend of music, conversation, and chilling out. It wasn't churchy, because there wasn't really a sermon, and the music never stopped, so it was pretty much perfect. Of course, they have to start this up right before we move away. :/

Check out Lee Worley's face in the background. Somehow, he knows I'm taking the picture, so he's giving me the "Oh Levi, I don't even have my makeup on" face.

Cool It

At the Norfolk Zoo there are these fountains of water splashing up from the ground. These kids had the right idea on that Friday afternoon. It was about 80 degrees in the shade, and if I wasn't carrying a camera and wearing jeans, I just may have joined them.

Monkey See...

This is my beautiful niece Isabella getting the attention of a monkey at the Norfolk Zoo during our last family visit to Virginia.

Rest Stop Self Portrait

I had a legitimate reason for stopping at this location at 11 o'clock last night, but this is the only part of that journey that I will share with you.

This is a 30-second exposure, with me standing there for about 20 seconds or so.

Drive-By Storm

This one was taken out the driver-side window while traveling south-bound on Interstate 85 last night. 4-second exposure with traffic going the opposite direction, and I got lucky.

Lightning on the Highway

If my wife knew how many times I almost died in order to get this shot, she would kill me.

Over The Ocean 2 of 2

I was playing around with two off-camera strobes, with slow shutter speeds. The venue was unique in that the only significant lighting on stage was LED lights, so the colors were super vibrant and changed instantly.

Over The Ocean 1 of 2

I was playing around with two off-camera strobes, with slow shutter speeds. These are some of my best friends in Virginia. I really miss being around them. They sounded great, looked awesome, and smelled even better.

Le Tigre. Use it for footwear.

This is my pudgy little niece, Isabella. I'm not a violent person, but I want to eat her face off, she's so cute.

This was during a family outing to the Norfolk Zoo this past weekend. It was a hectic, and short trip, but one of the best visits to Virginia in a long time. I love my family so much.