Yesterday Shannon and I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with Clare and her mom Anne shooting her senior portraits. Clare is one of my ambassadors for a local high school. She was an absolute blast to work with. Very creative, full of energy and stunning to shoot. Very little direction was given during the shoot. We try to make each shoot new and exciting for each client and Clare really wanted to have images that represented her art background. Thanks to her father we were able to set up part of our shoot in the painting studio of Koch Hall on the campus of Wittenberg University. What a fantastic room with a plethora of colors and objects to use in our background.

Today was part one of Samantha's senior photos. She wanted to go with a downtown/urban decay look. We had a lot fun with this shoot. Samantha was up for any idea and you can see she is a natural poser. I used a mix of modifiers today with my off camera flash. I began with a 48" umbrella and finished up with my trusty 28" Westcott Soft box.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of shooting Mandy and Ben for their engagement photos. Shannon and I had a wonderful time with this very fun and creative couple. Mandy and Ben reside in Cincinnati and drove about 90 minutes north to meet us in Yellow Springs. We spent the afternoon in Glen Helen and John Bryan Park. I had asked them prior if they were adventurous and didn't mind getting wet. They were definitely up for the challenge. They truly made this photo shoot very easy for Shannon and I. To me an engagement shoot is not all about the location or the gear but the way you can get your models to forget about the camera and to be able to interact with you or their spouse or loved one naturally. Mandy and Ben were pros. I gave very little direction and stood back and spectated and captured their true love for each other. It was a really wonderful day.

We were able to get the photo shoot in before the remnants of Hurricane Ike rolled in with its 60 plus mph winds. As of today (2 days later) the entire village of Yellow Springs is still without power. A day never to be forgotten in many parts of Ohio.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of photographing my most favorite model Annalise Smith. "Annie" was adopted by my best friend Jerid and Marin Smith one year ago from Taiwan. Many of you may recall during that time Jerid was unable to travel to Taiwan with Marin due to awaiting a lung and liver transplant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Marin made the international trip on her own and brought her home to meet her new daddy. I have had the pleasure of photographing Annie's life during her first year in the states. She is an absolute pleasure to work with and already works the camera at two years old. I am also incorporating off camera lighting in just about every shoot I do know. This was no exception. All photos were shot with and Oly FL-50 flash shot through a 48" umbrella. Light is so key to bringing images to life and I am enjoying the exploration and study of off camera lighting. Oh... by the way for those of you who are curious, Jerid is doing great after his transplant.