Let me start this post off with something I know I've disclosed a number of times, and that is I LOVE MY JOB. Ok, now onto the post. The idea for doing a father-son super hero shoot was born a couple months ago in my...
These big blue eyes are killer! And what a sweet little man little Michael was at his 6-month photo shoot. He had JUST started crawling and was still a little unsure of himself, but determined to get from A to B at the same time....
No, this isn't a guest blogger, this is the formal introduction of Alice to the Matty Photography blog. She's been shooting with me for well over a year now, serving as an assistant on my commercial shoots, and a second shooter for events. During that...
During my stay in Arizona, I spent time in both Flagstaff and Phoenix. I spent the first couple days catching-up with some distant family who live in Flagstaff. The McKone family were a big help for me, as I wanted to photograph some of the surrounding area, but aside from the Grand Canyon, I didn't have a clue on what was around, so I didn't know where to start. Luckily, Rod and Ann Marie, along with their two sons, Richie and Mike, knew plenty of locations to take me. First thing was first, we wanted to make a new family portrait for the troupe. So, after shortly after pulling into flagstaff after a 21-hour drive, we were back in the car headed for Sedona. I travel a quite a bit for my work, but the bulk is done all in Washington, so my environmental equilibrium never gets too rattled. Extreme environment, weather, temperature, altitude changes, and even sunrise and sunset times were all way off from the norm for me. Predictability of the photographic outcome was kinda non-existent, and it being my first day in the place, taking a family portrait, I had no idea what kind of photos we were going to walk away with. I didn't even know what the final location for the photos would be, what the background was going to be composed of, if the sun was going to be in front or behind the subjects. We packed the car up with people and gear and hit the road
This has to be my favorite family portrait shoot to date. It also happened to be the largest yet, with 14 (if you count the bulldog). Where do you effectively prop this many people without it looking boring? You have to find the right location which is a good compromise of lighting everyone well, everyone looking naturally posed, and make a fun looking photograph. After all, if we wanted everyone standing uniform, lacking any kind of creativity, they may as well get their portrait at Sears. To ensure I accomplished all of the above, I went scouting the day prior to the shoot, making sure the location would foster the right kind of fun, natural shots I was after for such a large group. I picked a location in the North end of Tacoma. Within a small area we had lots of options, lots of different props to stand, lean, and sit on. This made my job easier, allowed the family members to situate themselves without much direction from me, and that lead to more natural looking photos. If people sit themselves you get a picture of "them." It made things move much quicker and we got a lot more photos take. Was the posing "picture perfect?" Absolutely not, and that, in my opinion, is what makes them work that much better. It's a half posed, half candid style.
Last weekend I spent a couple hours with the kids of the Mossor family. The family wanted some individual and various group shots of the kids. Another glorious rainy day in Washington, of course, which limited our shooting possibilities. But, this is why I love Tacoma, especially the downtown district. There are countless little nooks and crannies with cool walls and textures that can be found under cover and out of the rain, you only need about 20 feet of covered space to rock a shoot like this. Rain or shine, I can shoot all day long in Tacoma, love it.
