Cayo Costa Portraits
May 12th, 2010
What is a portrait? Does the subject have to be facing you? Must they be the only one in the frame? How much of the frame does the person have to take up to be a “portrait”? Do they have to be looking at the camera? Do you have to be able to see their face?
I remember these questions coming up in a commercial photography class when I was studying photography at Ohio University. During the class we were required to take a “non-traditional portrait”.
This last weekend I accidentally relived this class. I had a camping trip with a group of 30 friends and took my camera along with no real goals – just to have it with me for whatever struck me. It was only after the trip when I sat down to edit the images that I realized that 90% of the shots were portraits. When I say this I don’t just mean that 90% of the images had a person in them – having a person in the picture does not make it a portrait. I mean that 90% of the frames captured something interesting I saw in their personality, mannerisms, or character.
I owe an enormous amount to the work of Stephen Kennedy, from whom the style of several of these images is blatantly lifted (hopefully with my own additional style mixed in).
Hometown Hotties Competition
April 7th, 2010
Heather and Becky are competing for the title of Maxim Magazine’s Hometown Hotty.
Hair & Makeup: Stephanie & Scarlet
March 14th, 2010
Hair and Makeup by “Hair by Heather”
Models: Stephanie Fernandez and Scarlet Gruber
See the rest of this shoot.
Hair Hair Hair
February 28th, 2010
Hair and makeup by “Hair by Heather”. Model is Autumn Feaherty
Olivia
January 20th, 2010
Elize Tomas w/ Julia Kreibich Styling
December 25th, 2009
My collaborative shoots with Julia Kreibich are always a highlight of my week. While preparing for a wedding this weekend I was happy to shoot Julia’s latest clothing line made of found objects and discarded or recycled items. The model is new to me, Elize Tomas, but it was obvious after just a few minutes that she was both professional and easy to work with.
Nadine Bodypaint
October 17th, 2009
Photoshoot produced by Julia Kreibich
Concept by Julia Kreibich
Styling by Mary Gray and Julia Kreibich
Photography by Doug Peterson
Modeling by Nadine
Emilie, Hayley, and Michi
September 13th, 2009
This Sunday was an early morning! Three budding models and I spent the morning in South Pointe Park in South Beach Florida. Most of the morning was spent with Emilie, with Hayley and Michi joining midway through the shoot.
More Photos of Emilie and Michi, and a few of Hayley after the jump
Fashion Show at the Setai
June 24th, 2009
My good friend Julia Kreibich (ShoeBizness.com) was at her best earlier this month styling a fashion show at the Setai.
Susell in the Sun
May 15th, 2009
You might think I could get tired of shooting beautiful women in the South Beach Sunset. Actually, you probably don’t think that.
This was Susell’s first shoot; though you wouldn’t know from the images, her work ethic, or her natural manner in front of the camera.
1 in 9 take 2
Tina in the Rain
April 13th, 2009
The same beautiful Tina you may have noticed in the Seaquarium Charity Event photos. These are a few weeks old, but better late than never.
Styling by the lovely Julia of Pearl and Company. Small world right?
Viva Las Vegas
April 13th, 2009
I’m really not sure what day or hour it is right now. Red eye flights from Vegas always leave me disoriented and confused.
While I went to Vegas to help my friend and fellow photographer Luke Potter shoot a wedding (including a shoot at an abandoned Vegas Sign graveyard) I couldn’t pass on the chance to shoot in the desert.
The wind was blowing across the sand like a banshee. Fortunately Teri Marie was a truly professional model and stuck through the high wind, constant dust in her eyes, and abusive sun. Finding good models (10% looks, 40% talent, 50% professionalism) is hard work, so if you are in the Vegas area and need a model who you can count on I can strongly recommend Teri.
The style in these shots is heavily dependent on the lighting technique. The camera used for this shoot was a Hasselblad H2 medium format body with a Phase One digital back. The H2 system uses leaf shutter lenses which can sync with flash at 1/800th of a second, which means it’s relatively easy to under-expose the ambient light (making the clouds, sky, and ground dark) and take most of the light from the strobes.
