Ice, Ice, Baby!

Who says you have to trash the dress in order to 'trash the dress'? As trends go, all the cool kids are doing it, so why not get in on the act? Never one to just conform, we decided to mix up things a bit and just go for a nice, family-friendly ice skating session. But this one was literally right after Mariah and Reed walked back down the aisle and out of the church following tying the knot in Beaver Creek, Colorado. It always helps to have a rink 200 steps away from the church (and to arrive in style by showing up in a stretch Hummer limo).

Mariah & Reed hit the ice

Glory Community Golf Benefit

I got to spend the afternoon photographing foursomes from the 13th tee at Coal Creek Golf Course last week in a benefit for Glory Community. They are a faith-based non-profit group that provides assistance to the mentally-handicapped as they become adults and seek work, housing and meaningful contributions to society. They are a wonderful group and are doing a lot for the community.

I enjoyed the balmy afternoon in the shade and getting to brush up on some cross-lighting techniques with my trusty speedlight and umbrella. Also found 18 premium golf balls in the rough behind our tent that were written off by their former owners. And if that is not enough, I got to photograph the weatherwoman for Fox News, my high school principal from 20 years ago, my now-retired eye doctor and a friend from bible study--as the photo suggests, fun times were had by all!

Senior Session with Hanna

Senior portrait photography is starting to grow on me. For this portrait shoot we met up in downtown Boulder, Colorado on the Pearl Street Mall, looking for something urban, yet vibrant and bold. So while Boulder Pridefest was in full swing on the mall, we explored a few alleys to come up with several locations we liked. Taking full advantage of off-camera lighting using Nikon SB 800 speedlights and an umbrella and light stand, we turned the harsh, late-morning sun into an asset for some strong compositions.

Training Day

We're putting together a collection for a potential children's hospital client that focuses on the theme of trains. Kids love 'em, boys and girls alike. If I were a kid again and had to be in the hospital, I'd love if they had trains everywhere to look at and to play with! Heck, I'd like that even as an adult stuck in the hospital!

Here are a few of the photographs we put together to go with the train theme.

To the Trains!

Circle Day, Red Day

Looking for a creative way to change the way I see things photographically, I decided to come up with a personal challenge. I would only photograph circles or round object. Another day I walked around the neighborhood and photographed anything red that caught my eye. Then I assembled them into a 5x5 collage using a free Photoshop Action I found online. A good time was had by all. If you have any creative assignments that have worked well for you, post them in the comments.

Best of Denver

For some reason I keep thinking of this famous National Lampoon magazine cover from the 70s where the publication shows a gun to the head of a lovable dog stating that if you don't buy this magazine, they will shoot the dog. Okay, we're not taking such drastic measures to get our clients and readers to vote for us in the photography category for Channel 7's A-List Best of Denver, but we thought some subtle association couldn't hurt. Vote for us and add your comments, too, at this link:

Channel 7's Best of Denver voting

More Lightpainting, Different Subject

Many of you have probably seen the recent Sprint commercials showing dancing figures of light moving about the screen. Using flashlights and other LED-based lights, a Japanese performance group known as Pika-Pika discovered a whole new way of painting with light. Not sure if they are the designers of the new commercials, but if not, they certainly were the inspiration for it. What's neat here is that instead of painting a surface or tree or cactus with a lightsource, the light itself becomes the subject. They make repeated photographs of the lights spinning, moving about in distinct shapes. Then they animate them with software to create a type of cartoon that will blow you away.

Check out more here (courtesy of Strobist blog) and follow the link to watch the Sprint commercial and the original Pika-Pika videos:

Lightpainting Videos

Lightpainting--What Is It?

Forget lightsabers and paintbrushes for a moment and think of light as a way to illuminate the surface of some object or scene. Now imagine setting up your camera on a tripod and leaving the shutter open for several seconds, if not for many minutes. Then take a light source (flashlight, strobe light, LED keychain light, your open cellphone or even car headlights and placing light just where you want it to go. Now if you do this under cover of darkness, no one will think you are weird or working for a counterterrorism unit, but rather that you are having a blast making one-of-a-kind images that extend your creativity in entirely new ways. Of course they might still think you are weird--just look at the shot of me above lightpainting in front of the Flatirons in Boulder, CO.


For a basic primer on the topic, visit the link below:


Dave Black's Cool Lightpainting Tips