Daniel on a Pile of Trash

This was taken on top of Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach. For those of you who grew up in VB, that doesn't phase you at all.

Mount Trashmore is a landfill that the city turned into a park. It's favorited by kite-flyers, joggers, and when it snows, it's frequented by daring kids with trashcan lids.

We were fortunate enough to have clear skies and gorgeous weather for Daniel's senior portraits.

Shot with a 80-200mm Nikkor lens zoomed to 80mm @ f/16. The sun was to the left of the frame, and my Alien Bees B1600 at half-power was providing our key light.

Daniel is a natural in front of the camera, and such an easy-going guy to begin with, it was a cinch to get what we needed.

Michael in the Parking Garage

I like this portrait of my good friend Michael because he is not the first place your eye goes. Naturally, your eye goes to the light, to see if there's anything there, and although Michael is not really in the shadows, I wanted him to not be completely in the light either. My goal was to create the illusion of a dark underground parking garage with some of the lights out. In reality, this was a very well-lit, above-ground garage with plenty of daylight pouring in.

On the technical side of things, I was using a Nikon SB-28 speedlight shot into a 46" reflective umbrella triggered by pocket wizards. I was using my "new" Nikkor 20-35mm f/2.8 lens that I got from UsedCameras.com - This is the first zoom lens I've owned in about 5 years. Primes are still my first love, but I figured, since it's a constant aperture, it will have plenty in common with the other glass in my bag. Plus, it's a preemptive step for more international travel.

Brother and Bride

This is my brother Jared and his fiance Kelsey. I was honored to be able to provide them with engagement photos that they will be using to announce the date of their wedding.

I'm especially proud of this shot because we only had the sun for about 20 seconds at this location before it ducked behind the clouds again. The one day I want direct sunlight for an outdoor shoot, it decides to hide. I got it though, and that shadow makes this photo.

Special thanks to my beautiful sister Phoebe for assisting me on this shoot. The wind would have surely taken my lighting gear down if it wasn't for her help.

Also, thank you to all the field owners out there who don't have prominently displayed "No Trespassing" signs.

You can browse the entire collection here, and I'll be periodically posting more photos in the coming days/weeks/months...

The Men of Bound4LIFE

I was going through some old photo sessions to find a classy, yet hopeful and inspirational photo of my good friend Ian Kelly for his blogger bio on moraloutcry.com. I stumbled upon a series of photos I took of Matt, Ian, and Craig in downtown Charlotte, NC. These are the men of Bound4LIFE.

Turning on the Charm

These are Isaiah's model eyes. He is no stranger to being in front of the camera.

At The Picnic Table

Scott Wilcher, one of my former bosses, taught me so much about how to be successful. However, he never told me he was teaching me that. He simply listened, and loved well. Often times, he would listen to what I had to say over lunch or at a picnic table. When I wouldn't have much to say, he would ask questions.

Anyone who has had a picnic table talk with Scott will tell you that it helped shape their life.

The Men

When I'm taking portraits of a group of men, the one thing I use as inspiration for posing and composition is "Oceans Eleven".

Taken with the Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 and lit with an Alien Bees B800 with a shoot-through umbrella and a Nikon SB28 bare as the backlight. This was taken in an almost completely dark room, but the low-light autofocus of Nikon cameras is unmatched.

Doug and Sara

It's hard to get a photo of my parents. Either my dad is behind the camera, or one of them isn't in the mood. When one is ready, the other is busy, or sleeping.

This was taken at Sandbridge in Virginia Beach during our Thanksgiving vacation weekend. We just wrapped up a family portrait in really cold, windy weather, and I grabbed mom and dad for a couple quick shots.

Lit with one Alien Bee B800 outfitted with a shoot-through umbrella. My very faithful photo assistant Craig Kuhns reminded me that we didn't have any modifiers on this light. It was straight flash to battle the sun.

Isaiah is Three

Here is a little sneak-peek at our photo shoot with Isaiah this past weekend.

The sun was shining, and the park was empty. Perfect.

My plan is to take portraits of all my kids on or around their birthday every year. It will be a fun life-long experiment to see them grow up, and to see my photography evolve. I have more to share, but I need to set aside some time to process the rest of them. This one pretty much sums up the fun time we had at our first location.

This photo was taken with all natural light in the early fall afternoon clear skies and spotty shade make it a challenge. I'm employing a little different processing procedure than normal, but still keeping it vibrant and with the season.

Family Is Everything

This is a picture of the Soto kids during a recent family photo shoot.

Shot with my 15mm fisheye lens while laying on my back. Triggered a hot shoe flash with a pocket wizard that was laying on the ground next to my head, under a shoot-through umbrella that was stuck in the ground.

If you're looking for some fun family portraits before Christmas, I'm booking dates the weekend of Thanksgiving in Hampton Roads as well as December 14th through 17th.

Ladies and Gentlemen... Scott Wilcher

I tweeted a few days ago, right after I wrapped my portrait session with Scott Wilcher, that he is the Gandalf to my Frodo.

For those of you who don't know Scott, or are confused by the Lord of the Rings reference, allow me to explain.

I met Scott Wilcher right after I got out of high-school. I visited a youth-group at Kempsville Presbyterian Church at the invitation of a girl I really wanted to date. I started getting involved at that youth group, and eventually attending the church. One thing led to another and I ended up on staff and leading worship every weekend. I was working very closely with Scott in the "Family Ministries" department doing everything from creating advertising for events to calibrating projectors and printing notes. We developed a lot of things together, and they were some of the most fruitful times of my life. Scott pushed me harder than anyone to work hard, take risks, and dive for the Frisbee even when it's not necessary. He was there when I broke up with two girlfriends, and he was there when I met, courted, and married my wife. He was at the hospital with me... more than once, he has been there to listen, talk, and process with me. Most of my best stories involve Scott.

More than anything else though, Scott Wilcher introduced me to the the Macintosh computer. Thank you Scott, for showing me the light.

This portrait of Scott was taken with my "Nifty Fifty" 50mm lens outfitted on the Nikon d200 body. I had my Alien Bees B800 strobe at 1/4 power shot through a large softbox camera-right. I had another B800 camera-left at 1/16 power shooting through a large octabox to add a little fill. I shot this at Scott's home in Chesapeake, VA as part of a personal branding campaign for him as he gets his book published.

UPDATE: For more Scott Wilcher goodness, and for those of you who do know Scott, here is a tribute video I produced years ago celebrating his time at KPC: Big Fun - A Scott Wilcher Tribute

Princess Bride: Bekah & Patrick

When I was prepping for Bekah and Patrick's portrait session before their wedding, I asked them what their favorite movies were. I like to ask those kind of questions to people, just to get a feel for their personal style and taste. I then planned on doing a partial recreation of key poses from their favorite movies.

Lit with a single Alien Bees B800 strobe at 1/4 power through a beat-up shoot-through umbrella. The sun is high in the sky creating our fill light, and the strobe acted as our rim. We were able to get a partial silhouette out of this set up, and I'm very pleased. Oh, and that lens flare off to the side? That's real. I'd tell you if I was photoshopping these things.

Scissorhands: Bekah & Patrick

My wife and I had the pleasure of shooting the wedding of our two friends, Rebekah and Patrick. This is from our whirlwind portrait session. We were trying to escape from direct sunlight and have a healthy amount of portraits from the 45 minutes we had with them.

This pose is inspired by one of their favorite movies, Edward Scissorhands.

If you're getting married and need a photographer, let me know. I'm currently looking to fill up my calendar and my portfolio.

Derek and The Space Shuttle

Can I just say, I think that is the coolest wall hanging, ever?

This is from a portrait shoot this past weekend in Hampton Roads. I'm still working on getting some more bookings down in that area of Virginia, so if you're interested in family portraits, head shots, or press photos, let me know.

The Actual Moment

Michael proposed to Melody while I was taking photos of it all going down.

Yes, this is the actual moment that Michael showed Melody the ring. No, this is not a reenactment. You know it's love when that index finger pops up like that.

The FRINGE Report

One of my favorite shows on TV right now is FRINGE. I like it so much that myself and my two friends Ian and Craig have started a live internet show where we talk about the previous week, discuss theories, and make predictions about the coming shows. We started this show only a couple weeks ago in conjunction with the starting of the second season of FRINGE. Check us out Wednesdays at 9pm EST at theFRINGEreport.com.

I took these photos and created this composite to help promote our show, as well as provide a classy user icon for the myriad of social networks that allow to you present yourself as a 80-pixel-wide square icon. I modeled the light and composition after the official FRINGE Season 1 DVD cover.

CJ

This is a photo of CJ Hardee at Bright City Studios in Charlotte, NC.

CJ wrote and performed a song on an upcoming album that was produced at Bright City, and I am REALLY looking forward to it.

Old Man And The Bride

One of my favorite shots from a wedding I was second-shooter for. Not much to say about this one except how much I love his little "I (heart) Jesus" button. Old people are so cute.

This was shot in a gymnasium with a really really high cream-colored ceiling. I bounced my little battery-powered SB-28 strobe straight up to get some bounce. I had that little guy turned all the way up for the whole reception, and I was just going through batteries like a hot knife through butter.

Proposal Session

This is my beautiful sister-in-law Melody with her now-fiance, and my good friend, Mike. This photo session was actually just a device that Mike used in order to propose to Melody. We shot several set-ups all around Lions Bridge in Newport News, VA and finally settled under a big canopy tree by the water for the last set. It was here that Mike handed Melody a letter while I pretended to adjust settings or something. When she was finished reading, he asked her to be his wife and handed her a ring. It was precious and romantic, and surprising, and all captured with nice, balanced, soft lighting.

I like the story this photo tells, or rather, the story that this photo reflects. Mike had been interested in Melody for years, but Melody didn't know. Mike was doing what he had to do to ensure he could be with her, trusting that she would return his feelings after he wooed her. And woo her is did. And then Melody knew. Mike remained patient throughout the process, and never kept his eyes off the goal. He never kept his eyes off of Melody.

This shot was taken with an Alien Bees B800 light being shot through a 48" umbrella fired with Pocket Wizards in the shade of the bridge.

I'll post more photos from their engagement, but you can see the whole story unfold on Facebook for now.

Nate At The Norva

My friends are in a band. That band is called Over The Ocean. They are brilliant.

This is a photo of Nate Crawford slaying people with his rock at the Norva in Norfolk, VA on September 11, 2009.

I had one hot-shoe Nikon SB-28 flash mounted on the balcony camera-right, and had my shutter speed somewhere around 1/30th. I used the 15mm Sigma fisheye lens that I bought specifically for Africa, and waited until the lighting guy gave me some really heavy back-light.