Wedding in Tennessee USA

I am back in the US again to shoot a wedding in Tennessee. At the last moment I asked a friend, a fellow photographer from Newcastle if he would like to accompany me as lackey. Within three days he had organised himself and Steve Scalone met me in Knoxville. These are some of the images from the wedding on Saturday. (These are mine, Scalone can do his own.)

The Red Car

Last session for today was in a windy paddock near Bundaberg which made a perfect backdrop for mum's new red car. It was also bloody freezing.

OK, SO I STAYED UP A LITTLE LATER!

We MUST have exhausted the supply of cute kids in Bundaberg by now! Every kid session has brought us the best looking families on the planet. Look at these two cuties.

SECOND OF TWO MORE BUNDABERG SHOOTS WITH SUSAN WALL

Today was a 2 shoot day with this three generation group (and dog) on the farm.

John (dad) was a cattle man and brought his dog, Jack, for the occasion. His hat, whip and Driza-Bone added some personal touches to the portrait. I wish more people would put the same amount of effort into their sessions. I will post some of the first portrait session tomorrow.

I'm off to bed, it's 12.40am!

2nd DAY IN BUNDABERG

We arranged to meet this family on the beach, and were astounded at the beauty of these two young ladies. Our only problem was keeping them within camera distance...... they were all over the place and thoroughly enjoying the experience.

I am in Bundaberg at the moment photographing a number of families with photographer Susan Wall. This is yesterday's family; mum, dad and three little scamps.

We all had a wonderful time playing, exploring and laughing. The two little guys came armed with their trains, and we were told that our little princess here had puffy sleeves like Snow White - and we agree! What a great way to spend a beautiful winters afternoon.

We have four more to photograph before the weekend and then back to the big smoke.

MORE OF CHRIS AND MICHELLE.

You can see more of the San Fran wedding here.

My perfect bride in San Francisco.

This was photographed at the top of Lombard St, (the world's most crooked street) in San Francisco last Thursday. I will post more in the next few days. Probably after we arrive back in Oz.

Brides of Venice

As part of Yervant's seminar each photographer was asked to go away with one of the brides and photograph her as we wished. This was a beautiful Russian girl whose natural elegance made her a joy to photograph.

This is an Italian girl studying languages at Padua University just outside Venice. She was great fun and very vivacious.

VENICE: DAY TWO (OR THREE)

We stayed at the beautiful Palace Bonvecchiati  right on the Grand Canal. This is what we had as a view while we had breakfast on the terrace each morning. Tough Life.

This is just a tourist snap from the Rialto Bridge, but I couldn't resist it.

VENICE: DAY ONE

Shirl and I are in New York at the moment after a couple of weeks in Italy. Venice is the most beautiful and interesting place I have ever been to and it was a pleasure to take part in a workshop there with "the Great Yervant". These are some of the shots of and around Venice before Yervant arrived. We have not even sifted through most of them yet, because I took about a thousand shots a day and preferred to go to a restaurant and sample the Venetian fare than to catalogue, number, convert and correct images. Over the next year or so that little job will be attended to.

Portrait on the Gold Coast

Last week I had tbe pleasure of photographing a family at a Gold Coast location  We almost didn't make it because the mum thought that it was too overcast and it might rain. Luckily she believed me when I explained that my best shots happen in bad weather.  If it had actually rained I was all ready with three umbrellas in the car. These are some of their portraits.

WE'VE BEEN TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA!!

A couple of weeks ago we went to South Australia to photograph some families and this week we are back to deliver the final portraits.

The country people have always been willing to go all out to help us get the portraits we want, and this town is no exception. All I had to say was " bring your $30,000 dressage horse down to the dangerously rocky beach and ride her flat out through the surf" and it was a done deal!!..... or "let's get out of bed really early and we'll meet at a farm ten minutes out of town so we can get some sunrise shots". 

OUR GOONDIWINDI WEEKEND.

My wife and I joined a few other photographers for a jaunt out to Goondiwindi last weekend to spend some time with Wayne Pratt, Goondiwindi's premier photographer. At the close of the first day we were on a riverbank enjoying the solitude when Jan and Mark asked if I would take a shot of them. I stood them in the grass and this  is the result.

A couple of local boys and their horses met us at the river and there was a little drama when one of the horses lost its footing in the soft river-bottom. These are some of the images I captured as the horse struggled to regain its footing while the rider was under the water! Looked a little dangerous there for a while.

Not everyone came unstuck.

JAMES STREET

Last week I was at the James St Markets, with my camera of course, and found this gentleman enjoying his coffee. He may not look it, but I think he owns the whole place.

CALOUNDRA DURING STORM

Last Sunday I had a portrait session to photograph in Caloundra, about an hour away. The appointment time was 5:00pm but because it looked as though it may storm we decided to start early at 4pm. Lucky choice, that! 

This was the day of the biggest and most damaging storm in Brisbane in 35-40 years. The sky gave us a background to die for and these images of the family will be a very real reminder of that day. The decision to go with the green tone and the wind blown look was something the client and I agreed on, because of the nature of the day and the green tinge to the hail filled clouds. 

The look and attitude of their son reminded me of the old sailors from the days of sail, so I have added to the effect with sepia and blur.

In New York city you are likely to see just about anything!

We were right in the middle of it all, staying just two doors from Times Square.

Little Italy, on a day when there was a soccer match between Italy and, I think, Germany?

Some of the pigeons in Times Square. They don't like being chased by a camera!

These are just some of the disreputable people we had the misfortune to meet at our workshops. Actually, they're not too bad, they're just American. :-)

More of the same.

Oh dear!!  I have just been chastised for not including any pics of the Florida group.

Maybe it was just that they were less disreputable than the others and did not qualify for the honour! However, here is one of  "Rob and his girls" (quote from Dotti)

These few shots are "happy snaps" from our recent trip to the US. This is an old house at a place called Cades Cove in Tennessee and was made from seven different exposures, then  converted in HDR to reveal all the detail in the extremely long tonal range of the scene.

We were on a street walk in Dallas, searching for light and interesting subjects. This man happened to be on the same street, so he was fair game! As it happens he is a poet and orator and put on a performance while we photographed him.

Joe, you will do anything to get that shot, won't you?

We're baaaack!!

We have just come home from a tour of the Southern States of the USA, giving a series of workshops to photographers. Here are some of the images. Most of them are taken of members of the workshops, plus a few of people we found in the streets of Dallas, Fort Lauderdale and Knoxville. We would approach some people in the street and without exception they all agreed to be photographed by the group. 
The image below was photographed in an old warehouse in Knoxville TN. The group decided to do a street walk and find suitable locations and people to photograph. It was an education for all, and a memorable walk.

Some people are just born Photogenic! In a studio in Dallas TX there was a window with the most beautiful, useable light flooding the room. One of the delegates, George, had that kind of presence that just cried out to be photographed.

Shot in a car park in Dallas.
A mother and daughter in Ft Lauderdale. Photographed in the median strip of the main street.

Good Friday Portrait session. 23 PEOPLE

This is one of the larger family portrait sessions that I have done recently. It consisted of Granddad, Grandmother, their 5 children, their husbands/wives and their children. I began at 4pm with individual portraits and smaller family groups, then as the sun disappeared behind a hill I was able to go out into the open areas for the large group. This is one of the (almost) full family photographed on a jetty. There are probably better ones of this particular group but that is something the family will choose. They are coming in tomorrow to view and order their portraits, but I promised some people I would post today.
The second image is one of the cute little kids from the same family.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting a fellow photographer in a small town about an hour's drive from Brisbane. One of her two lovely little daughters was very co-operative, resulting in some beautiful portraits. The youngest......... NOT so co-operative! She decided (at the age of 2.5 yrs) that she did not want photographs. After an hour of watching her older sister dressing up and having a great time, she suddenly leaped in front of the camera and shouted, "I'm here now......SHOOT" Needless to say, neither of us could photograph her from where we were...... rolling around on the ground laughing.

YESTERDAY AT WOODFORD

Yesterday Rob and Shirl took a much deserved rest from the studio to travel to Woodford, about an hour and a half from home, to photograph a family on their property. Besides the parents and grandparents, there were two little boys, one about three and the other less than one year old. They were photographed at the house, on the road, in the creek and around the sheds. The following few shots were the tip of the iceberg with many, many beautiful portraits to choose from.

RAIN, LOVERLEY RAIN!!

The last two days have been raining and/or overcast at various times of the day, so everyone is very pleased at the moment. We are on severe water restrictions and have been for the last year or so. Without substantial rains, Brisbane will be out of water within twelve months. What this rain has meant to me is that we have had lovely soft light instead of the usual harsh, contrasty light that Queensland is known for. The following images were taken at my last two portrait sessions using that soft light. Many people mistakenly think that overcast weather means that their portrait session will be cancelled. Nothing could be further from the truth! This is the weather I hope for.

KATOOMBA WORKSHOP

Last month Rob and his wife Shirlene gave a portrait workshop at the Mountain Heritage Hotel and Spa a beautiful old hotel in the centre of Katoomba. Although we expected it to be cool it was a bit of a shock and we really needed those open fires in the rooms. We only had a limited time to explore the town, but we did of course, make the obligatory visit to the Three Sisters. 

Part of the seminar was teaching photographers how to find suitable locations for portraits and there were plenty of them around the hotel.

As part of the journey we called in to see a photographer friend, Kelly Munce, in Muswellbrook.  Late one afternoon we went to a hill on the outskirts of town and photographed her daughters, Abbie and Brooke. (Tayler wouldn't be in it!) This is Abbie but I can't show you Brooke because I may want to put her portrait in the awards. I don't want the judges to know whose image they are judging.

AN ASSORTMENT OF FAMILY PORTRAITS.

I have just realised that although I am a photographer specialising in family portraits, I don't actually have many on the blogs. To rectify that, here are a few from the archives to fill out the empty space.This is a recent family portrait session photographed down by the Brisbane river. This family is very keen to keep their memories intact, so they have a portrait of the family made regularly. The following shot is of the same family about three years ago, photographed at Wynnum during low tide, hence the boats high and dry behind them. Something that a lot of people don't think of is a three or four generation portrait. Bring the grandparents along for your portait session. It takes no longer and you have those cherished memories preserved.
One of the common questions I am asked is, "what if the weather turns bad?" The best answer is that I have made some of my best portraits in the rain and wind. They have an excitement about them that can't easily be shown in fair weather. I don't really need to say too much about this image. Two cute kids, sand and sunset........ Can't go wrong.

Black cat in a coal cellar

One of the exercises in photographic exposure is to correctly expose a black cat in a coal cellar and a white cat in a snow storm. This is half of it. The cat belongs to my sister, but I could not find a coal cellar, so I used her lounge room instead.

Paris in the Springtime.

I have a friend who has a scallywag of a daughter who has her own ideas on how she should be photographed. Can't say that I disagree with her. Can you?

Sabrina

Sabrina is a young 13yo aspiring model who needed some shots for her comp card.  My wife and I met Sabrina and her mum at Park Rd, Milton and after our coffees we used the surrounding area to produce stacks of beautiful images. Could not go wrong with a model like this, though, could I?

I'VE BEEN REALLY LAZY.

I should have put these images up ages ago, but you know how it is.
This young couple needed some unusual pregnancy shots and we went to a railway overpass in the city. I love the silhouettes with the splash of light to give it colour.

Riverside walkway

I have just finished a portrait session for a young family in the city. They have chosen this full face shot as a 30x40" for their foyer and the other one of his sister in a similar size for their lounge room. Great kids to work with and they really deserved the treat their parents bought for them after the session. (If they didn't buy them one, they should have.)

TARA RODEO

Last weekend we packed our bags and headed west to Tara, a small town about 80km west of Dalby, to shoot some images of the Queensland rodeo championships for the stock library. This is one that I particularly like. Let's call it a portrait of a rodeo.

A few weeks ago I photographed a lovely lady just a couple of days before her little girl, Asia, was born. My personal favourite is the B&W image, but my wife prefers the colour. How do you vote? Comment if you feel inclined.

Very young family at Shorncliffe.

This afternoon I photographed a young couple and their 5months old baby. Autumn in Queensland is quite mild and we waited until the sun almost set to get this shot of the young family. The slight breeze gave me a little trouble with the mum's hair, but I think the final image is beautiful.

I had finished a portrait session with a family of Greek boys and the sun had gone. Too dark to do anything. Thought I'd try something anyway and left the shutter open to capture the movement of the boys collecting crabs on the beach. Love the colour and the movement that resulted. Again these were done for me, not necessarily for the customer but as often happens, they also liked my games and purchased one of these for themselves.

Again, I have photographed this family for many years. The first time was when the father was about 6 years old. Since then I have photographed the entire family a number of times, including James' wedding, his sister's wedding and various family members' weddings.
One this particular day, the weather was atrocious! My windscreen wipers were at full speed and the oncoming cars had their lights on. James, however, knew what I could do with bad weather and continued on his way to the appointed meeting spot. Which is a good thing because on this particular day there was a film crew from the UK also in attendance to photograph yours truly in action. I think they got a bit more action than they had expected. They also got a bit damp, but they were not alone in that.

It is often quite difficult to come up with a new and different way to sensitively depict a pregnant lady. I have photographed this family since the wedding in 1995 and have some beautiful portraits of the entire family over the years. For this instalment we decided to go to King Island near Wellington Point. The three boys were also there and a nanny came with us to care for the wardrobe and to look after the kids.

Why have you been directed to this blog?

Many people who phone to book a portrait session, have family who have not seen the type of work that we do. Most are of the opinion that a portrait session means sitting on a box in a dark studio, and being surrounded by lights.

Nothing could be further from the truth when you engage Rob to preserve forever, this time in your life. A portrait session is usually planned at an outdoor location that suits the lifestyle of your family. If you live and work in the city, you may prefer to be photographed in the city; or maybe you prefer to break out of that mold and have your portraits made at the beach or waterfront. Tell us a little about yourself and we will find a location that will suit your requirements/lifestyle/needs/wants.

The choice is yours.