At the recent seminar I gave in Green Bay, I focused on talking about the importance of always shooting for yourself first, client second.  It sounds weird to some, but it is the sole reason I remain focused, motivated and inspired with artistic vision in my photographic career. I maintain the stance that if I shoot for myself, I’m constantly able to push my creative limits and hold myself to the standard of creating something that stands out from the crowd.  Of course, I shoot what my client’s need.  But I take the necessary time with every shoot I’m on to do something different, stepping away from the stereotypical norm.

This past Sunday, I traveled three hours across the state to my aunt’s farm to shoot senior photos for my cousin Alisha. This place has always been magical for me, as I pretty much grew up here hunting, doing manual labor and spending time with my family.  Aside from battling some last minute schedule conflicts, I was excited to get over there to shoot.  A long-overdue trip.

Alisha was very easy to shoot and pretty much rolled with all of my ideas, regardless of how crazy they seemed.  She brought a creative element to the shoot and was eager to let me take the reigns and run with it all. The first round of photos posted below, showcase a small series I shot within her senior shoot that was very much in a different direction than I have gone before.  The locations were hands-down amazing and I felt compelled to try something new. Have a look..

Here are some more shots from the day:

We trekked pretty dang far to shoot these last few..

~dave

BETHANIE & KEVIN
October 23rd, 2009
Long Grove Community Church
Makray Memorial Golf Club
Barrington & Long Grove, IL

—————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Congratulations!
~dave

A day with my girls at the Little Farmer pumpkin patch in Fond du Lac. The weather was miserable and all my kids got sick a few days later, but the trip was worth spending some much needed time with them.

The below photo of Melanie and I was shot (composition and focus) by my 5 year-old.  Better to get ‘em started early, as I always say…

~dave

A few excerpts from two recent engagement sessions. We’ve had some extremely rough weather to shoot in as of late, but we’ve made it work:

Nicole & Paul

Stacy & Craig

~dave

I would like to extend a huge thank you to the photographers who came out to my Shooting For Yourself seminar I held for the Green Bay Digital Photography Group this past Sunday! I was excited to see that all 40 seats sold-out within the first few hours of registration and we ended up packing the house to the max. Mark Anderson from Arketype Inc did a wonderful job coordinating and hosting the event, along with the help of ten fabulous models we had on hand for the group shoot.

The focus of the seminar hit a broad spectrum of photographers, from amatuer hobbyists to working professionals.  As I said at the beginning on Sunday, my purpose for the event wasn’t in hopes of re-inventing the “photography wheel” or making everyone into sophisticated photo rockstars, but to hit on some fundamental basics that often times seem unreachable. We covered topics such as developing our photography style, maintaining motivation within our own work, setting realistic goals and a look at difficult and new lighting techniques.  There was plenty of discussion about personal frustrations within our own photography work and simple steps we can all take to make improvement. All in all it was a great day and I met a ton of cool people.

Since the conclusion of the workshop, I have had many people inquire as to the possibility of future events. Aside from my upcoming speaking appearances at The Get Real Workshops, I plan on hosting a few smaller-sized workshop style seminars here in the Fox Valley in early 2010. These will be separately geared towards beginners, advanced amateurs and those contemplating making photography a career. We are still working through many details, but expect an announcement for such dates in the coming month.

Below are some photos I shot during the seminar while working with a few models and some behind the scenes shots taken by Alex Nelson:

Behind the scenes look, courtesy of Alex Nelson.

(Photo by Terry Dewey - www.tjdphotography.com)

~dave