My first self portrait- "Inconsolable"

I haven't made any pictures in going on three weeks. Hence my total abandonment of my photo blog. I realized that I have never done a self portrait and considering how I have felt lately I decided the time is now! I hadn't picked up my Nikon in over a year since I have been using Republic or Tribune gear and it was a harsh reminder of how wonderful it was to walk onto an assignment like a professional with tons of gear. I had a tripod, but had to take the backing off of my shelves for the back drop. I stacked two suit cases on top of one another to create a light stand. I don't have a flash cord and in order to use wireless the pop up flash has to be on so I had to tape that. Of course every time you take a frame you look at it, correct what you don't like, but unlike directing a subject to put their chin down or tilt their head slightly, you are in fact the subject and by the time you see what you want to fix you have already moved and must start all over!

Anyway, this project was for me to pick up my camera once again and express myself in the best way I know how. It was a blast!

Gilbert Village Festival

Creed Funeral

I shot my first funeral.  I borrowed a ladder to get an overall of the procession of motorcycles and while on top I noticed these little kids all excited about the motorcycles.  

Pet-o-palooza

I'm including this assignment not because the photos are good, but because it was a really refreshing assignment after a few pretty bad days for me.  I had a few rough days in row with people being nasty and refusing to give names making it difficult for me to turn in good photos.  This assignment really gave me breath of fresh air on a day that I was just dying to get off work and go home.  It was laid back and fun and everyone was especially nice.  

Church Donation

This was a very humbling and sad story that I covered.  It was about a church handing out donated clothes, shoes and toys.  The thing that was so sad was to see these families, especially the children, flock to these card board boxes looking for clothes.  Assignments like these really drive me to try and capture the intensity of the event.  The story was about a church donating clothing, but it turned out to mean so much more and I really wanted to portray that.

This little boy looked for a matching shoe for an hour.  He never found it

I wish I had slowed my shutter to show the movement and chaos that was taking place around this little girl clenching her toys and clothes.  Everyone around her was digging through boxes and shuffling.  She remained still with just this look on her face.

This little girl broke my heart.  She was there the entire time picking out clothes for her mom and siblings.

Portraits

Portraits are by far my biggest challenge.  There is just so much involved: telling the story, capturing an essence, directing a subject, really portraying your subject all while in a very intimate setting that can be pretty intimidating and trying to brainstorm you plan of execution.  Here are a few that I shot recently.  I strive to really improve on portraiture. 

Suns