The Mother Of The Groom

This is an older picture of Patrick dancing with his mother at his wedding last year. The room we were in was not the most photogenic, thus demanding extra creativity in framing.

the women

I was hoping that this photo from the Crane/Charlton wedding would compliment the photo of the men that I took earlier in the day.

Going for a Vanity Fair cover idea, this probably would have been easier if it wasn't 20 degrees outside.

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.

Mr. and Mrs. Charlton

I don't usually like posting photos of clients until they have seen them, so now that Mike and Melody have their photos, I am going to blog them. Of course, if you know Mike, and are friends with him on Facebook, you'll probably get to see them all pretty soon.

Here is their first dance as Mr. and Mrs. Charlton. I snapped this with the 15mm fisheye lens I try so hard to use sparingly. It was perfect for this shot, but really hard to get away with. I shoot with prime lenses exclusively, which may seem like suicide for wedding photographers, but it's worked out pretty well so far. I use two bodies and four focal lengths to choose from in my shoulder bag. I could use some more telephoto lenses, but my style centers around the wide angle more than the tight crop, as you can see by the photo above.

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

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.

A Failed Headshot

Shooting some head shots for my wife Heather, I must have said something to make her laugh. Of course, I probably said it so that she would laugh. I love it when she does that.

This wouldn't work as a headshot, but it's certainly one of my favorite moments of her in front of a camera.

More Hulking Out

In keeping with the previous montage, this is what happens when a young boy sees his friend take off his shirt and make intense faces. Clearly, Samo has had more practice than Isaiah, but there is still time.

Hulking Out

This is Sam. He has an incredible imagination, and if you know him, you know that the words "incredible" and "imagination" don't hold a candle to what Sam is really like.

Heather and I had just finished a little birthday session for Zoe when our kids' friends came to see what all the fuss was about. Naturally, they wanted to see themselves on the screen like Zoe as I was tethering the Nikon D200 to the Mac Pro via a new piece of software I'm trying out called Sofortbild.

I couldn't resist.

Sam, or Samo as we call him, loves The Incredible Hulk. Despite it looking like he's having pants trouble, in this photo, Samo is "hulking out". In his mind, he turns a deep shade of green, his muscles become huge, and his blue jeans turn into purple shorts.

But please don't tell him that his favorite Marvel character just got bought by the same company that brought us Hannah Montana. He'll probably hulk out for real, and you won't like him when he's angry.

Zoyenka, Age 1

This is the last post of Zoe for a while. It was her birthday on Friday, so I have to post photos online for the family, right?

A new tradition in the Bethune household is that I will be taking a portrait of my kids on each of their birthdays. While they are kids, it's for me and my wife, but when they get older, it will be for all of us, and when they become adults it will be for them. And when they get married, I'll use it to embarrass them. Because I love them.

Mattias In The Studio

This is actually a test shot of Mattias in my father's storage/studio/piano/costume room. The black roll of paper was apparently crushed in one spot, and that's enough to ruin the whole roll. That's why you never store those rolls on their side either, always store them standing up.

I like this shot nonetheless, almost more so because the background is nearly unrecognizable, as my sister pointed out.

Beef and a Plane

This is my beautiful sister Phoebe. A friend of ours switched the syllables in her name and called her Beefy. For years now I've called her Beef. It's just one of the many nicknames in the Bethune household like Uncle Davis, Ner, Tom, Jeardod, Motcat, Trandoshan, Naynay, Cofaehater, Nakeyboy...

Phoebe, in all of her wonderful quirkiness, was posing for head shots and portraits when she decided she needed a prop to motivate some new poses. If you've been to my parent's house in Chesapeake, Virginia, you know that there is no shortage of props or costumes, so this Fisher Price airplane was just begging to be picked up and cradled. Even jumbo jets need love.

Shot with two Alien Bees in my parent's converted garage using my dad's grey paper background. Minor editing in Aperture, my post-production workflow program of choice.

I Told Him To Act Frustrated

This photo of David is part of a series of portraits I took for musicians at Bright City Studios in Charlotte, NC. Great friends of mine, and really good sports, I had the opportunity to be creative and let them be themselves.

Jiza

This is Jiza. One of my wife's friends, she offered her services for the portrait giveaway we held.

Jiza is engaged to a military man. In a little while, she will be a Navy Wife. Now, I'm a fairly patriotic person, but when it comes to the armed forces, I'm die-hard American. I love our men and women in uniform, and I have so much to thank them for. Their significant others, in my mind, deserve the same amount of respect and admiration.

So Jiza, thank you for your sacrifice and your willingness to serve.

This shot was lit using my new ring flash. I like the effect it produces right around the subject. The subtle shadow outlining her almost makes it all kind of surreal.

Sara Without An H

This is my sister-in-law, Sara. I married Sara's eldest sister, Heather.

You wouldn't know it, but we weren't the only people on the beach. I'm pretty sure I'm hiding a boat behind Sara's head as well. There were constantly people walking behind, in front, and around us. I think there was a lady asking if I would be there next year because she might want her picture taken.

We had a lot of fun shooting out in the Chesapeake Bay, and there will be more shots to come.

Sarah With An H

My wife and I had the pleasure of photographing two beautiful young women named Sarah and Sara. The Sarah pictured is a good friend of ours, and has such a distinct "oceanfront" look. She belongs in a surf mag during a perpetual sunset.

See a natural light picture of Sarah on my Facebook account.

Under Siege

This is Matt Lockett, director of Bound4LIFE, praying in front of The Supreme Court building on Friday, July 17th, 2009. Follow him on twitter (@mattlockett) or the beard will do something terrible.

Shot with two Nikon SB-28 hot-shoe flashes on an overcast day. One flash was high and camera-right, at 1/2 power, shot through my home-made "lysol grid snoot" and the other was bare-bulb at 1/8 power laying on the ground angled up 45 degrees. All fired with Pocket Wizards and snapped through the 24mm with the d200 for 1/250th of a second at f/16.

It's hard to not only battle the sun, but also the crowds of tourists always streaming in and out of the court. What you don't see in this photo is the family right behind Matt's head. Of course, the beard is a force to be reckoned with anyway, and usually eclipses whatever is near.

YooSung

YooSung is crazy awesome. You have no idea until you actually meet him. Add a fauxhawk/mullet and a passion for prayer and the unborn, and you get the epitome of the Justice House of Prayer intern. Musical abilities and a sense of humor don't hurt YooSung's personality either. Follow him on Twitter: @yoosung

As part of the internship with JHOPDC, YooSung joins the other interns every day for prayer at the Supreme Court. With red tape covering their mouths and the word "LIFE" written on it, they pray for the ending of abortion, righteous judges, and mercy for America. The tape symbolizes the silence of the unborn, and how they can't speak up for themselves. YooSung, in his silence, is speaking for them. Praying in front of the court is part of Bound4LIFE and message of LIFE they promote. They call it a "Silent Siege".

There was construction at the court, but I like the line the crane creates.

This was shot with my "Lysol Grid Snoot" on a very overcast day. It's an old Lysol wipes container with a hole cut in the bottom in order to create a nice narrow beam of light coming off my little Nikon SB-28 hot-shoe flash. I strap a 20 degree grid to the front of it to give the light a nice feathered edge. I also had a second SB-28 flash laying on the ground, shooting up at a 45 degree angle at low power to balance it all out.

More Stained Glass

This is a photo of Christina from one of the first portrait sessions we did back in June for the Organic Visual Facebook portrait giveaway.

Shot using two hot-shoe flashes, I set one Nikon SB-28 flash behind the stained glass at 1/2 power, and then another SB-28 also on 1/2 power with a 60" shoot-through umbrella just right of the camera. There was a lot of natural sunlight in the room, but I wanted to get rid of it. Success.

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.