Until last week I had never been to the American Indian Museum. It’s just one of those places that I drive by all the time, but have never taken the time to step inside.
Anyway, I was asked to photograph the event decor one evening since the venue was setup for a private dinner. The upstairs room has a really nice view of the D.C. skyline.
It sure is cool to see these public spaces transformed into something so different. Check out the rest of the photos here.
This has got to be one of the most eclectic shoots I’ve ever done. I shot corporate headshots, kids playing, sand sculptures, and architecture at/for Gaylord National this week. It was quite a shift in momentum to go from corporate headshots to candid pre-schoolers, but I love the variety.
In less than two hours I snapped over 900 frames of kids just being kids –running around and goofing off like little boys do. You can find a few of my favorites here.
Man! This event ended a week ago, but it feels like it was yesterday. Two full days of shooting followed by an all-nighter editing so that I could deliver everything by 5 PM the third day. I tried a lot of new techniques, and I learned an awful lot. Be sure to view some of my favorites and read the full story here.
Larry contacted me right around the time that I was so inspired by the Strobist that I had to try something new. We exchanged several ideas for a couple weeks before the shoot, but we left a large “wingin’ it” contingency.
Not only does he have a contagious smile, but he was so easygoing and willing to experiment throughout the whole process. I love working with people like that! Thanks, Larry, for a great shoot!
Check out the photos and let me know what you think.
Man! This shoot was a blast, and the story behind it is even better! Rose and Matt started dating on June 6th last year despite living on opposite sides of the country. He’s in Washington state; she’s in Washington D.C., and Rose wanted to surprise him with a photo shoot when he visited for their one-year anniversary.
His plane landed at 9:00 AM, and we had planned to start the shoot at 1:00. However, around 11:30 I got a text from Rose saying that he just proposed! So, by the time I got there it had turned into an engagement shoot. =)
We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around the Tidal Basin before heading to Union Station and then finally Ebenezers. These two are so much fun to shoot. They’re so full of life and love, and they seem right at home in front of the camera. All day long it was: smile, kiss, laugh, kiss again, and then start dancing.
See for yourself, and then hit up her blog.
Shortly after I sent the photos I got an email from Rose saying, “I only made it through 10 pictures before I started crying, so can I just say… THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! The photos are incredible…I am at a loss for words.”
Brandt Siegel joined me for a spontaneous photo shoot on Memorial Day. It was just the two of us, and someone had to be the model. We played around with some creative lighting, and I put together a short visual effects shot from one of the photos. You can see the full story here.
Last Saturday I had the privilege of shooting photos for BizBash Media Inc., producers of a leading trade magazine for the event industry. I was asked to cover the Washington Performing Arts Society Gala at the Wardman Marriott. It was a big event, and everybody was a lot of fun to work with. You can see the BizBash article here and you can find a few of my favorite photos here.
The United States Honor Flag is dedicated to the Americans who have lost their lives in the line of duty. Yesterday the flag was raised in a special ceremony at the Gaylord National Hotel. It was a very cool ceremony to witness, and even more fun to photograph. You can see my favorites here.
For the last few months I’ve been trying to attract some business from GEP Washington –an event planning company here in D.C. They agreed to let me do some room shots for an event they were doing at the American History Museum last Saturday. It amazes me how these public spaces get transformed into an elegant setting when you put some colored lights, linens, and flowers on ‘em. More photos here.
My dad needed some new headshots, so I said, “Well, I know this great photographer guy…”
We shot in only two locations, so I treated it more like a studio shoot rather than my usual roam-around-and-grab-whatever-you-can approach. It was a fun balance of capturing a technically perfect picture with just the right expression too. Photos here.
Gaylord National celebrated it’s first anniversary by throwing a carnival for the STARS (i.e. employees) and their families. I had a blast just photographing all the fun activities. I think this was the first shoot that I have relied exclusively on ambient light –I didn’t use my flash once! It was at times a challenge, but it also gave me some unexpected and creative opportunities. Check out the photos here.
Props to Marquis for helping me keep my sanity while we printed off 650 photos in seven hours! It was a lot of work and a lot of fun!
I had to rent some extra lighting gear for a photo shoot a couple weeks ago. The shoot was on a Saturday and the gear wasn’t due back until Monday, so my friend Rodney and I decided to capitalize on the leftover time.
We threw our humility to the wind and had a blast taking turns as both the model and the photographer. As someone who usually shoots events, I don’t normally have much control over the lighting, so this was a welcomed change of pace. More photos here.
So this lady called me and said, “Would you be able to shoot some photos of our patented glass wall/door thing?” Okay she didn’t say it quite like that, but you get the idea.
I happily agreed and then quickly found myself in a nervous crash course on architectural, interior photography.
See the extended post here.
So tonight was the official anniversary party for Mud Productions. I wanted to do something special for my family and a few close friends who have been so generous in their support of me and my business.
I “decorated” for the party by setting up some lighting and camera gear –basically I wanted to make it feel as if you just walked onto a film set. These two guys were greeting everybody at the front door.
Definitely a memorable evening! I can’t wait to see what the 10 year anniversary party will be like…
Yesterday I shot my biggest event yet, the Texas State Society’s Inaugural Ball. There were 12,000 people, and I was given the task of covering the entire event for the hotel’s (Gaylord National) marketing team.
I really wish I wore a pedometer because I seriously think I walked at least 14 miles during the 8 hours I was shooting. The highlight of the evening was when Denzel Washington greeted the crowd. Definitely a memorable event!
Becky Merritt and John Purcell got married last weekend, and I had the privilege of being their photographer. This was one of the first 20 shots I took; I love it when the shoot gets off to a great start!
As usual I’ll be editing the photos for the next couple weeks, and you’ll be able to see the rest here on Pictage shortly thereafter.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the Gaylord National Hotel. I had the privilege of shooting the tree lighting ceremony –man! what a show! I got goosebumps while I was clicking away.
After the fountain/fireworks extravaganza they turned on some snow machines, and I watched as the little kids tried catching “snowflakes” on their tongues. Much to their dismay, the “snow” was actually soap.
You can catch some of the photos here. If you’re in D.C., you should definitely head down to the National Harbor and check out the fountain show.
Earlier this week I rented a 14-24mm lens for a shoot I was doing down at the National Harbor. It has been one of the three lenses on my wish list for a while now, but this was my first time getting to play with it.
As I showing it to Amanda she snapped this beautiful photo of me, so I returned the favor by taking this one.
It’s a fun lens –not ideal for shooting people unless you want the distortion– but it’s a life saver if you find yourself working in close quarters.
Last week my grandpa turned 90 years old, so my entire extended family (32 of us) got together in Florida for a week-long celebration. It was the first time we’ve all been together in the same place, and despite all our differences we had a blast just hanging out.
It was so nice to get away from the politics of D.C., to turn off the cell phone, and just relax. My uncle graciously hosted the party and he made sure there was no shortage of memorable activities. Catch the highlights here.
It’s always fun to see the creative costumes that people come up with around Halloween. This year, Amanda and I went as Napoleon Dynamite and Deb. We had a killer time.
I posted some photos on Facebook.
I’ve got a boatload of recent work that still needs some face time on my blog, but posting this sounded more fun. =)
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