Preschool!

Quickly I wanted to share a photo of my son's preschool class! Clayton attends preschool at a school where they not only learn, but the students do a bit of tumbling and dance. Fun stuff.

Do you see Clayton in the mix?

Nashville pt.2

I wanted to put up an audio clip of a song that my brother in law Stoker recorded. The vocals were done by me, but Stoker tuned up the song to the extent that I feel proud to say that it was me singing (versus how the original sounded which I won't claim as my own voice). However, I don't feel comfortable putting it up the music due to copy right issues. So instead I am sharing a few photos taken at Stoker's studio.

The main man Stoker:

Stoker working the impressive console:

Sister in Law Nikki:

The beautiful wife:

Oh ya and one of me:

Ohh and that hat, is mine. Yup I was contryfied, while down in Nashville.

I have a lot more band photos. I will have to share a few more of those later on.

Nashville pt. 1

Recently (hours ago) we visited with my Sister-in-law Nikki and her totally rad husband Stoker. Nik, and Stok live in Nashville, I took a lot of photos, and honestly can say that for me our visit was one of my favorite vacations ever.

Here for your viewing pleasure is Nik and Stok:

Of course I gotta have a photo of the Sisters:

Nashville is the city of music (it was obvious when exited the airport where the guitar is an essential part of travel luggage).

Here is another of the gang (minus the photog):

Here is one more, a little preview of what is to come later. Some photos of music in action (and maybe an audio clip mixed by the main man Stoker).

Once again I am trying to be better at the blogging thing, so expect a bit more action (or maybe not)...

Making dull light pop

It is no secret that I am a big proponent of using flash to augment or even over power natural light. In this case I wanted to show a side by side example of using flash vs no flash to augment a photo, in this case to add to the feel and enhance a theme I was shooting for.

ISO 100 1/250 second F/8.0 with two rim lights behind Wes (the model)

The photo on the right is of course enhanced with flash, while the photo on the left is natural light only. The day was overcast which is a nice light, but in this case not the kind of light I wanted for this type of photo (over cast = even but flat light). I needed something edgy and hard.

The ambient was underexposed by about 2/3 of a stop with the flash on the hot end of the exposure spectrum. The images are straight from camera with only a minor White Balance tweak.

Moral of the story, flash is a tool, to help you achieve the style and look you are working toward.