I’m excited to say I have won a 2008 WPJA Award for Quarter 2. The shot comes from Bill & Beth’s wedding on May 3rd of this year. The image placed 16th in the Creative Portrait category for the contest.

The contest was judged by Preston Gannaway (Rocky Mountain News, Denver CO), Renee Byer (Senior Photojournalist with The Sacramento Bee and the recipient of a 2007 Pulitzer Prize), Annie Wells (L.A. Times and a 1997 Pulitzer Prize winner), and Janet Jensen (NPPA Region XI Photographer of The Year for 2007). Here’s what they had to say about the photo:

“I kept going back to the expressions on these people’s faces. It doesn’t feel traditionally “wedding” at all and that made it stick out of the group. It’s just a lovely, almost haunting photo of a couple.”

While shooting their on-location portraits, we made a last minute stop at this abandoned school house outside of Sherwood, WI before the reception. Beth was brave enough to allow me to drag her out in the rather dirty and nasty location to shoot in front of the building. I like the shot, because of it’s dark and eerie appeal. Definitely an unusual wedding portrait, but in black and white it has a lot of moodiness.

Thanks go out to Bill and Beth for helping me make this image!
~dave

Do more, with less. Make cool pictures. It’s simple.

This is a re-post of sorts, thanks in part to my friend Zack. A number of years back he blogged about his homemade version of a ring light set-up. Not quite remembering his technique, I decided to take a stab at making a rather cost effective ring light set-up.

Ring lights, for the most part, are very limited in the scope of their use. They cast a very soft glowing light and most notably, generate beautiful catch lights seen in the eyes. I’ve always wanted to try one out, but at the cost of $400 for an AlienBees ABR800 Ringlfash and $1400.00 for an Elinchrom Ranger RX1500 Ringflash, I think I ‘ll pass.

I did it for $50.00 and heres how..

Everything I used to make my “ghetto” ring light was purchased at Home Depot. With a little elbow grease and few nasty words, Rob and I made it come to life!

Here’s what you need:

In order to put it all together, you’ll need some tools including an electric drill, assorted drill bits, tin snips or an angle grinder, wire cutter/stripper, wrenches and a screwdriver. There is also a bit of electrical re-wiring needed to get the job done, but nothing too difficult. Take a look at the rough layout below:

(As a note, line the edges of that 4-inch hole with gaffers or electric tape to prevent scratching the body of your lens.)

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It ain’t pretty, but it works…

Below, we used it as off-camera lighting..

As a final note, this set-up is constant lighting casted by the fluorescent tubes. You’ll need to keep the light fairly close to your subject. I used a 16-35mm f/2.8 lens. A wide angle lens is best, staying close to your subject. I have yet to try long focal lengths.

Enjoy!
~dave

Wow! I’m finally back to maintaining the blog!

I never quite feel like I’m in one spot at one time, with both feet firmly planted on the ground. It’s been crazy to say the least. I took some time off a few weeks back to just hang out with my family, although it was consumed with waaaay overdue home sorta tasks. One of the facets to being self-employed, is the double-edge sword of life’s balance. It’s good and bad, all rolled up into one chaotic package.

Nonetheless, I’m caught up with my senior shoots and am in the process of finishing some weddings from the recent weeks. Melanie and I have also been talking about how we plan to structure the business in the coming year. All I will say at this point is my main focus of photography work will more than likely change gradually in the coming months and more definitively in the next few years. More on that later…

Some of my recent work. Enjoy!

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Bascom Hill. Love these guys!

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Nick.

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Emma is my niece. While in New Glarus I took some shots of her in front of their house! 50 feet away and at an amazing location. I’m so jealous.

My nephew Ben. We had just enough light to grab a few at the end of his practice.

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Ben.

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Lexi.

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Michelle & Tony. Madison.

A few weeks ago, Adam and I took Danielle Burren out on a shoot and showed her my approach to portrait photography. Thanks go out to Ben and Jordan for being our models!

Danielle.

As a side note, Adam has launched his new website over at www.adamkoepke.com. His site was desinged by Jordan. Check it out.

~dave

Errr…. I mean…. the garage. Matt, Trevor, Ajay, Adam and I had some fun a while back. All shot on white seamless.

~dave