tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34851499362821168302024-03-14T05:07:06.338-05:00Shirk Photography BlogWelcome to Shirk Photography's Blog! I love making creative images and I work very hard to produce amazing artwork. I also recently have had a lot of opportunities to travel around the country teaching other photographers and feel blessed to have so many people love the work that I do. If you get a chance please let me know what you think.Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-17024970408312303122016-08-28T22:26:00.001-05:002016-08-28T22:26:17.115-05:00Featured on Photo Plus!
I'm excited to be featured as Photo Plus's member of the month! Check out their blog - Photo Plus with some Q&A about Photography, Art, and FamilyShirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-72857384427040641372016-07-13T08:31:00.001-05:002016-07-13T08:31:33.724-05:00Cinematography
I've been working on some new fun stuff at the studio and one of those is Cinematography. I shot this in the studio using our new set of stairs and a fog machine. Loving the look!
Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-87029056081089600032016-05-16T15:12:00.002-05:002016-05-16T15:12:47.995-05:00World Photographic Cup Official Announcement
A clip of the video released by the World Photographic Cup announcing the finals for the Illustrative Category. The finals were held in Portugal this year and I placed third in the world!Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-42151551769288911792015-12-23T14:35:00.002-06:002015-12-23T14:41:41.770-06:00A trip to France for the World Photographic CupWe took a trip to Paris this spring for the World Photographic Cup. Out of six categories I had been nominated for the best in the world for three of them. We flew in a few days early to do some exploring and had many great adventures. Each could probably be a book in itself but I have finally taken the time to process a few images from my favorite adventure.
On the third day Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-29920209981155185172015-09-01T13:12:00.001-05:002015-09-02T09:08:59.700-05:00A perfect 400 print case
So I had a lot of people really like my entries this year and in competition the District judges scored all four of my prints as a perfect 100 which has only happened twice in history. They also did really well in PPA's International Competition - below is the press release for those portraits!
Ben Shirk of Shirk Photography was named a Diamond Medalist during Professional Photographers of Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-25586410648509583282015-09-01T11:21:00.001-05:002015-09-02T08:53:33.300-05:00WPPIThe Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) holds their annual convention in Las Vegas every year. They also host a very prestigious print competition where photographers from around the world enter their best work. This year I placed in the top three in four different categories. Here are my winning portraits!
Titled "Turf War"
Titled "To Fetch a Pail of Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-5386130339759730722015-09-01T11:01:00.004-05:002015-09-01T11:03:07.601-05:00Team Sports PostersWe have been cranking out a bunch of team sports posters again and having a lot of fun with them! Teams come into our studio to be photographed on green screen then we extract them and create an awesome scene around them. Eventually the posters get turned into layered photoshop templates that can be reused for other teams around the nation. If you are a photographer you can see Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-68512247916363900192014-09-22T23:01:00.000-05:002014-09-25T23:20:42.160-05:00Double Diamond International Awards!I really should blog more, there are certainly a lot of people that check it out each day but running a business, making happy clients, and spending time with family certainly takes up a lot of time! Keep an eye on my facebook and instagram for my most recent work!
I have been honored with many state and national awards but really haven't taken the time to post anything so I figured Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-10633553785542282092014-07-21T12:14:00.002-05:002014-07-21T12:14:12.586-05:00Senior PortraitsWell, we are in full swing for senior portraits and have been creating some pretty awesome stuff. Sam came in last week and we had his portrait session in the morning and then we were able to show him his portraits in the afternoon and place his order. His mother had also brought her older daughter to us a few years back for senior portraits. They are a very artistic and fun Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-58508084345716466402014-03-16T14:10:00.000-05:002015-09-01T11:26:08.235-05:00Just a few of my favorite sports posters from the year.We have a lot of fun creating awesome images and we can be especially creative with sports teams because they are normally looking for a Hollywood movie look with lots of special effects. Here are just a few that we did this year! The first 5 are from a calender we created for the University of Iowa Dance and Cheer teams!
This softball poster has been a favorite Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-62054882843001138282014-03-16T13:46:00.001-05:002014-03-16T13:46:13.287-05:00Shaydee Stark Senior SessionShaydee is a senior at Indianola High School. Shaydee is an All-American Cheerleader and was chosen to be a Shrine Bowl Cheerleader! It was so fun to photograph Shaydee because her personality was easy to capture through the lens... her outfits were fun and outgoing!
We started Shaydee's Senior Session across the street from the studio at Wilton's historic Candy Kitchen! It was cool to Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-3659031168860752512013-09-15T20:27:00.003-05:002013-09-15T20:29:20.041-05:00Master Artist CompetitionAt the PPA International Print Competition there
are two different contests. One is the Photographic Open Competition and the
other is the Master Artist Competition. I wrote a blog earlier about my Loan
prints in the Photographic Open Competition but I haven't yet gotten around to
writing about the Master Artist Competition. Seniors, Families, and Weddings
have been keeping me very busy Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-89968368265051442112013-09-13T10:10:00.001-05:002013-09-13T18:55:17.367-05:00Fall Sports Posters!It's that time of year and I've been busy creating some new posters for sports teams. I spend a huge amount of time coming up with ideas and figuring out how to make them come to life, but sometimes the teams don't give me much notice on what their theme is going to be.
The football team was one of those times. Originally they had said they didn't have an idea and wanted Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-2591375530105243542013-08-21T10:13:00.000-05:002013-08-21T10:13:48.472-05:00Shannon's Senior SessionWe’re keeping busy here at the studio with senior sessions. School is just around the corner ( or already here for some) and we’ve got some seniors trying to sneak in before their final year gets started!
We’re sharing one of those seniors with you today… meet Shannon! Shannon is a senior at Pella High School. She’s laid-back, easy-going and was fun to get to know. Shannon totally rocked this Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-36437859110373158452013-08-07T11:54:00.001-05:002013-08-21T10:19:52.857-05:00Brad and Holly's Wedding!
THE FISK WEDDING!
Brad & Holly's wedding day took place at the historic downtown Hotel Blackhawk. We started the day photographing in Holly in her hotel suite. It's always a great to have somewhere nice to create some getting ready shots. Many times brides underestimate the importance of their getting ready portraits and choose a cluttered church basement which can Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-51306245573324101602013-08-05T23:39:00.000-05:002013-08-06T13:08:20.896-05:00International Awards
So many
photography studios now days use the term “award winning portraits” to promote
their business. So many, that the term no longer really seems to carry as much impact...
Understandably so, for all you know the only awards some of those
photographers may have won were for local competitions
amongst non-professionals, right?
So to justify our Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com2Shirk Photograhy37.160316546736773 -96.679687513.051140046736773 -137.9882815 61.26949304673677 -55.3710935tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-80832829576022847392013-07-02T15:53:00.000-05:002013-07-02T16:16:22.848-05:00We welcome you to the Shirk Photography Studio!
This is what our building looked like when it was purchased nearly 3 years ago in the historically known downtown of Wilton, IA. It wasn't much to look at but it had the right amount of space for the right price!
Using the image above I took it into photoshop and created my ideal studio.
This is the image I created in photoshop
And this is what it looks like now! (Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-84312681272585380962013-07-02T13:59:00.000-05:002013-07-03T12:40:32.535-05:00Megan & Ross Petersen Wedding
It was a rainy overcast day for Megan & Ross's wedding but that just means that there are some cool clouds to photograph with!
Megan and Ross' wedding day started as a rainy overcast day. But I wasn't worried. We had a great location at the Celebration Barn to photograph their big day! We were able to set-up their first glimpse of each other in the Timber Frame barn, it hasShirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-10960180203276806912013-07-01T15:09:00.000-05:002013-07-03T12:38:55.284-05:00Carissa & Matt's Wedding
We had a beautiful day for Carissa & Matt's wedding! It started off a little crazy with a huge farmer's market right outside the church doors when we arrived to set up. Luckily the farmers market disappeared in time to start taking some portraits.
We headed outside for some beautiful portraits at the park across the street. We were able to capture some awesome portraits Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0First Presbyterian Church, 310 5th Street Southeast, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401, USA41.9787442 -91.66327716.4567097 -132.971871 67.5007787 -50.354682999999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-46252092909266718182013-06-17T21:59:00.001-05:002013-06-17T22:00:37.787-05:00Muscatine Girls Softball PosterI've been doing the Muscatine Girls' Softball poster now for a couple of years and each year they have gotten better. The first year the coach wanted to do a circus theme which was very fun, the next year the coach was thinking about doing something with Harleys and using the saying "Ready to Rumble." I tweaked it slightly since I have seen a lot of posters with Harleys andShirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com1Wilton, IA 52778, USA41.5889154 -91.01681789999997841.565163399999996 -91.057158399999977 41.6126674 -90.976477399999979tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-78453339571610848012013-06-11T21:20:00.001-05:002013-06-17T22:01:04.587-05:00There are not many people who would say a rainy cold night would make an ideal couple's session but then again you can't really argue with how cool these images look.
We were staying in St. Louis at the old Grand Central Station and it was a rainy cold night out. We had done a bunch of portraits inside but I really wanted to do something creative. I suggested to Jason and Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-62441622501662438272013-03-28T16:24:00.000-05:002013-03-28T16:24:42.403-05:00Track and Golf PostersYes, it's the start of a new sport season so I have been blogging about my newest posters. Just finished up with the guys track and the golf posters. To be honest I had no ideas of what I was going to do with the posters. Yes, even I go blank occasionally. But I know how to light and I know how to composite so I figured I would take their pictures first and then come up Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-590538836138748922013-03-18T11:31:00.001-05:002013-03-18T11:31:59.802-05:00Fun New Track Team Composite!So each time I have to create a new team composite one of the biggest challenges is coming up with cool new ideas. The day before they came in I had no ideas what so ever. I was completely blank and to be honest feeling a little of the winter blues. I spent that evening randomly searching for some kind of inspiration. Not only did I have the girls track team to create Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-16038883724061588752013-02-27T23:24:00.000-06:002013-03-01T09:36:51.379-06:00Some Very Big Honors!Where oh where is that slow season I'm supposed to be experiencing right now?? I'm feeling just as busy as ever! Since this is the time of year most photographers seem to find a little extra time down time in their schedule, there are many photography conventions and seminars going on and I have had the priviledge of speaking and teaching at quite a few of them lately.&Shirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3485149936282116830.post-51656101164924112162012-12-10T22:06:00.002-06:002013-03-18T11:55:31.555-05:00Diamond Photographer of the Year ArticleBelow is one of my international award winning portraits that recently appeared in Professional Photographer magazine.
This is the article that ran with it...
Each year, Professional Photographer shares a feature story
about the Diamond Photographers of the Year. These esteemed image creators have
earned the highest level of success in the PPA International Photographic
Competition (IPC) byShirk Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09466279446854126498noreply@blogger.com0