Shea's Dress

Shea's dress fit her perfectly. Not just physically fit her, but it fit her personality. You see, Shea is one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. She is bubbly, but not obnoxious, trusting, but not naive, fun, but not pretentious. She is a classic woman, with a modern elegance.

This photo was taken in the back corner of the lobby of Founder's Inn of Virginia Beach. We had an Alien Bee B800 with a translucent umbrella shooting through the window from the outside.

Jasmine's Instant Exposure

I'm about to start offering a Polaroid add-on to my portrait packages after doing a little trial run with Jasmine on our recent photo shoot. You can see more of Jasmine's shoot on Facebook.

Shea, The Bride

I had the distinct pleasure of shooting Shea's bridal portraits, and now that she is married, I can share them here.

This was shot in the Founders Inn lobby in Virginia Beach. My trusty assistant Craig is outside keeping the light stand company. I had an Alien Bee B800 shooting in from the outdoors through a translucent umbrella.

Grace In Her Backyard

My wife and I had the pleasure of spending time at the Tate farm in Windsor, VA to shoot Grace's senior portraits. I am a texture fiend, so walking around their farm is like Toys-R-Us for a 7-year-old.

Shot with the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 on a Nikon d700 with an Alien Bee B1600 with 48" shoot-through umbrella providing the light.

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.

Sarah's Head Shot

This is Sarah Meeker. Sarah and I worked together in the independent theater scene in Virginia Beach, VA way back in high school. What's that? You didn't know Virginia Beach had an independent theater scene? Oh. Well, neither did anyone else.

Sarah is a very talented, obviously beautiful, and very sweet young lady who is finishing up her senior year at VCU. Heather and I packed up the kids and a bounce card and headed down to Richmond on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. The weather was absolutely perfect.

I used my 85mm lens almost exclusively on this shoot, and also had the chance to experiment with some lighting techniques. I used all manner of modifiers and reflectors to get creative catch lights in Sarah's eyes.

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...

Stephanie

Here's a photo from a highschool senior shoot I had this past weekend in Hampton Roads.

Her name is Stephanie, and she was great in front of the camera. She wasn't shy, she was naturally elegant, and wasn't afraid to look into the lens. She made my job pretty easy.

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.

A Dress In The Field

This is another bridal portrait of Melody. I had a lot of fun on this shoot, but not nearly enough time. We got rained on once we started getting comfortable, but we still walked away with several great shots.

I started playing around with textures in a few of these photos, to the prodding of my future sister-in-law Kelsey Essmann. I trust her eye and her taste, so I applied some overlays to this shot to give it a little more depth.

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.

Wind-blown

Yes, it was cold, wet, but also windy. Jane is a real pro.

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.

The Walsh Family

Taken in Historic Yorktown, yet another "Olde Towne" just outside of Newport News, VA, my friend Craig Kuhns, my wife Heather, and our kids assisted me on this family photo shoot. It was a little chilly, but so easy because the Walsh family is so good looking.

I used my Nikon d200 fixed with a 24mm f/2.8 lens. I love the d200, it's a perfect camera for me right now. Of course, I dream about the d3, but I think the next logical step for me is the d300 or d700.

Jane Zook

Jane and I have been wanting to do a proper photo shoot for a while now, and it just so happened that the only day we were able to pull it together was a freezing cold, rainy day in December. She was amazing though, she has such a natural beauty that it's hard not to walk away with dozens of great photos, regardless of the temperature. She was a really good sport, doing everything I asked of her, which included standing in the middle of the road, in the rain, in the cold, in traffic, without a coat.

She certainly got a lot of stares from the bundled-up people in Ghent.

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.

Lying In The Grass

One of my personal favorites from our little "Birthday Session" with our kid, Isaiah. Again, playing around with some creative processing... I'm still not certain on how well I like it... It might not be subtle enough for me. I'm the kind of person who likes clean, simple, and classic. I like to achieve my look in the camera, with light and shadow, and I'm not a fan of "photoshop fads", but... I understand that creative processing can help to accentuate the message in the photo.

In this photo, I wanted to cool down the light a little and make it seem a little older, more colorful, and playful, without destroying the skin tone. I may or may not have succeeded. Let me know what you think in the comments.

See the whole collection at prints.levibethune.com

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.