Thursday Part III

...we got back from the shoot at discovery park much later than expected, (around 2:00 or so) and I had all of five minutes to get ready for the last shoot of the day. I hadn't even had a chance to think through what we were going to do for this particular shoot. All I knew was that I was shooting pictures of one of the trainers at the PRO Club with his bicycle. I took some time to talk to this trainer about cycling to get a feel for his personality and come up with some ideas for photos... I actually ended up learning a lot and now it's got me thinking about selling my car to get a bike. I've been threatening to sell my car for a couple years now so I could get a bike a ride to work. I only live 2 miles away, and it's just seems so silly to pay insurance on a car that I drive four miles a day, only to have no time to exercise because of my busy schedule! Not to mention the environmental issues. Now I'm starting to sound a little like an actual Seattlite... (If my family from back in NC reads this they are going to think I've turned to the green-side). Before you know it I'm going to be standing on a deserted street corner in the pouring rain waiting for a crosswalk signal. Don't worry, I haven't sold my car yet. And even if I do I promise it's for all the right reasons--like getting to wear tights... er... I mean, so I can get some exercise and save some money.
ANYWAY, the pictures turned out great, and I really like the one we will actually use in the magazine--although if you want to see them you will have to get a copy of the magazine...I don't have permission to put it up on here yet. However, I hate to close up shop here without giving you something to look at, so I cropped the guys face out of the picture.
Oh well.

Gerald

The day before yesterday cont....

...so as soon as I got back from the photo shoot at Marymoore Park, (the one I started talking about yesterday) I had to start preparing for the next one. We had to finalize the wardrobe, send the model off to the makeup artist and hair stylist, go through our ideas for the shot list one more time, and backup all the shots from the previous shoot. One of the huge benefits of doing the photography at the PRO Club is that I have people to do a lot of this stuff for me. It's incredible really--their PRO Shop sells all kinds of clothing and equipment that we can use, there is a full-service Salon and Spa, and I even got my car cleaned while I was waiting for my model's makeup to get finished! Did I mention that it's the largest fitness club in North America? I'm already sounding like a commercial, and I haven't even mentioned the two restaurants, medical facilities, PT, 4 pools, 6 indoor tennis courts, etc.........

OK enough about that... We finished getting ready, headed out to Discovery Park in Seattle, WA. and went to work. While I was getting set up we spotted a Bald eagle in a nearby tree so I snapped a couple shots. I wanted to get a shot of it flying, so I walked right up to the tree hoping it would get nervous and take off. It just sat there and looked at me like I was an idiot. It was cool either way I guess.


I can't post all of my favorites from the shoot itself, (since they haven't been published yet) but here's one of my favorites that didn't make the cut... Here's one of my co-worker putting my reflector to good use!

more about the day before yesterday, tomorrow...

Gerald

Yesterday

Yesterday was a busy day! So busy in fact, that I am going to take a few days worth of entries to tell you about it. It was a very long day, but an awesome one! I had photo shoots for the PRO Sports Club all over the place in Seattle and Redmond, and a meeeting with the local PUG (Pictage User Group).

I started off by getting up at around 5:45--a full two hours earlier than usual. Very painful. However, it was totally worth it for the photo shoot I got in! I went to Marymoor Park in Redmond with my models (members from the PRO Club) and had a great time shooting with them as the sun came up. The frost on the ground was glistening and the fog was rising--it was just beautiful! We shot around out there for about an hour to get some shots of them running and headed back. Here's a couple...

Gerald

Tulip Festival

I know it can be a little cheesy and "touristy," but for the past couple years Airika and I have gone up to the Tulip Festival in Mt. Vernon, WA. Right around this time of year the tulip fields absolutely explode with color, and everyone and their cousin goes up there to take pictures of each other in front of these flowers. As a photographer, I love the challenge of coming to a place like this--not necessarily because it's such a picturesque place, but because it is usually quite challenging to get an interesting, unique, or unobstructed shot with throngs of people lining up to get their pictures taken. It's one of those things that I would highly recommend doing once, just so you can see these fields for yourself. For a lot of people, seeing it once is enough because it pretty much looks exactly the same every year. :) Airika and I, however, go back just about every year. Even though we know exactly what we will see when we get there, it's always nice to walk around outside on a beautiful spring day and take pictures.... enjoy!


Gerald

Adobe Suite CS3!!!

Tomorrow is an exciting day! Adobe is launching the newest version of the Creative Suite (Photoshop, InDesign, Flash, etc.), and we are going to buy it! It will be launched tomorrow in New York at 3:30, and if you are so inclined, you can watch this launch live with tens of other supremely introverted, reclusive, and debilitatingly geeky Photoshop freaks by following this link--click here.
I don't know. To an extent I am a little interested in finding out what could possibly be so interesting about this launch that it would justify a live launch. But then I come to my senses and remember that I have a life.
In any case, I am actually excited to get this software, and in particular, InDesign. It's the best software available for creating layouts for things like Wedding albums, which I will be doing a lot of this year...
That's all for now,

Gerald

DIY Macro Studio

I found these instructions this past week for building your own macro photography studio (little light box) for photographing small objects. Since I needed to take pictures of a few products at at my day job (at the PRO Sports Club), I decided to give it shot to see how well it worked. I was actually quite impressed, and the best part--I was able to build it with stuff I had availble in the office!

Here's a shot of what it should look like... mine does not look this good.


Here's a few of the shots I took with it...

Have a great day!

Gerald

Sebastian (Seabass)

For those of you who have yet to have the pleasure of meeting our cat Sebastian, your time has arrived...


To start off, I just want you to know that I am not much of a cat person. If it weren't for the fact that Sebastian (Seabass) likes to fetch, do backflips, and bark at intruders, I really wouldn't have much of a reason to include him in this blog. Ok, so maybe he doesn't bark at intruders (unless they try to give him a bath) but he is pretty cool.


Gerald

Latest Wedding

Editing the photos is by far the most time consuming part of photography, but it's always exciting to finish up and show the Bride and Groom their pictures! For the last couple events I have been using a brand new program called Adobe Lightroom. Like all new software it still has a few kinks to be worked out, but all in all it's an incredible program that has helped me organize and streamline my workflow. It also offers some powerful photo editing/processing and RAW conversion capabilities.

This wedding was at the Lakeside on Lake Union in Seattle. It rained pretty much the entire day (of course), except for about an hour while we were doing pictures outside! Here are a couple of our favorites...

Gerald

First day of spring!

Well, it's the first day of spring and I'm so happy! I look forward to this time of year when the sun starts to break through the clouds a little more frequently (this is called a "sunbreak" for those of you not from the Northwest) and when it stays lighter longer into the day so that I can enjoy views of Mt. Rainier and Lake Washington on my drive home to Redmond from Seattle. Here's a shot that Gerald took of Mt. Rainier a couple of years ago--I love the clouds! Gerald and I are hoping that the good weather will hold out until this weekend so that we can take a much needed day off on Saturday (we've been planning it for months) and go do something outdoors like a waterfall hike, an Arts festival, or maybe even fishing! Until tomorrow~ Airika

Wedding Attendance

This past weekend we had the pleasure of ATTENDING the wedding of a friend out here in Seattle. It has been a long time since I just attended a wedding, and I must say, that it is a little awkward for me. I am much more comfortable BEHIND the camera! I had a great time though, and Airika and I met tons of cool people from Sanctuary in Seattle, the Green Bean Coffeehouse in Greenwood, and some fellow photographers--Maurice photo, who was shooting the event, and Keatley.

No matter how fun a wedding is, I'm not sure I could make it through the night without at least taking a few photos because I just love it too much!!!

Gerald

Kara & Greg

Here are a few shots we took at a wedding a few weeks ago. We had sooo much fun hanging out with these guys and getting to know them over the past few months. Their story, faith and love were an inspiration to us. Thanks for your friendship, Kara and Greg. We can't wait to get to know you even better in the years to come! Airika

Another day...

Well, it's only like day four of this blog, and already I'm suffering from writers block. Just last night I went to bed without posting a thing. I suppose that's pretty normal when you're starting something new, but I'd like to think that I am capable of putting something together. :)

I was tempted to not even write tonight, but just "plan" on doing it even later. That's because it's almost 1am, and Airika and I just got home from hanging out with our good friends Paige and Tim in Seattle. I am extremely tired from a long week of work--but I will BLOG, and I will do it now!
So, here goes--

Disc golf (that's Frisbee golf in layman's terms) is probably one of my most favorite sports. If you've never tried it, you should. It's fun, relatively safe, and really cheap (if you already have a Frisbee, it's free!) Click here to find a course near you!

I got to play a few holes tonight with my wife Airika, and the previously mentioned friends, Paige and Tim. Here are a few shots I got as we played the course near SEATAC Airport.

Ok, now it is bedtime. Goodnight!
Gerald

OSP Seattle Photos!

Here are the photos from tonight's shoots. Enjoy!

Gerald