Miami Models

Last week we were invited down to Miami to help out at AfterDark. AfterDark is an amazing educational event for photographers to learn and shoot along side of some of the very best photographers in the country and the world. What makes this event so amazing is that it is hands on. Instead of sitting in a lecture hall listening to someone tell you about photography attendees actually get to take models out and learn by doing. Anything and everything that you can dream of is happening here. From shooting models underwater in a pool and trash the dress sessions on South Beach to amazing night shots with the lights of Miami in the background. AfterDark travels around the country holding events every few months. Next month it will be in Minneapolis MN and I'll be heading up there for a few days to assist and learn from the very best.

watch this video of some cool modeling portraits while we were in Miami

What happens in Vegas - we bring home

We just returned from our trip to Vegas. We flew out for WPPI (Wedding and Professional Photographers International) It is the largest trade show and educational event for photographers. We went there to help out our website company - More Photos and to find the newest and greatest products to offer to our clients. We found a bunch of amazing album companies - from custom wedding albums with 14 carat gold cover and diamonds to really cool senior albums with any kind of cover you can dream of- aluminum, ostrich leather, python skin and so much more! We also found a great new frame company and are excited to offer the option of printing your portraits on very cool new materials too. We were so busy there that we barely had time to see Vegas. The very last night we did get a chance to get away. We went out to eat at the top of the Stratosphere. The restaurant slowly rotates high above Vegas to give you a view of the entire city. We also went to a Circ-de sole show and toured a few of the hotels.


A view of the strip
















Trying to look cool with our friends Troy and Lisa

Our dinner view from the Stratosphere

Random sign advertising...me?

the view from our hotel room

After Dark

Every year we take a few weeks off to study with the very best photographers in the country. We travel all around the United States to learn new techniques and get new ideas. The very best opportunity that we have found is AfterDark. AfterDark has the very best of everything. It is a hands on learning experience where photographers have the opportunity to shoot along side of the countrys leading experts in almost every area from lighting and posing, to photoshop, fine art, and marketing. You don't simply just sit in a lecture hall and listen to them you actually are taking models out and working side by side or sitting on a couch with them as they show and discuss their post processing techniques and marketing ideas.


This fall we had the opportunity to help out at AfterDark in Austin Texas. Austin's city theme is "keep Austin wierd" and there was definitely some very cool opportunities. Each night at AfterDark was a different modeling theme. One night it was bikers and ballerinas, the next was bands and street performers, another night was photographing models with amazing tattoos.

Very soon we will be heading down to Miami to learn more and help out again. It is going to be another amazing opportunity and I can't wait to hang out with all our photog friends again.


Here are a few images from AfterDark Austin

Beautiful Maternity

Take a look at the video above! Just an idea of what is possible if you are willing to step outside the relm of average everyday portraits. Melissa was ready to try something different and I think we definitely succeded in creating some amazing pieces of art for her from her maternity session. A maternity session in the snow is certainly a creative and fun way to capture some amazing portraits. I can't wait to meet the newest baby Coss - he should be here in a week or two. Keep an eye out for some amazing portraits of him very soon.

Award winning prints!

The annual Professional Photographers of Iowa convention and print competition was this past weekend. Sara and I took a few days off and headed up to Des Moines to learn from & hang out with some of the top photographers in the country. This was our first time attending and I wasn't sure what it would be like, but it was a blast! We also entered some of our prints in the competition to see how they would compare to what everyone else was doing around the state. Monday night was the awards banquet and the judges seemed to really like our work.
We swept the competition in the digital category - 1st, 2nd, 3rd and honorable mention! I also took 2nd place in Mr Photogenic. 6 of my portraits were awarded Distinguished Print & 7 others Honorable Mention. Quite an honor to get so many awards as a new member of PPI. Now that we have a better idea of how prints are judged, we've got a new goal in mind... top photographer!

(1st place digital)

(2nd place digital)

(3rd place - digital)

(honorable mention- digital)

(2nd place - Mr Photogenic)

The following were awarded Distinguished Prints:

And these prints awarded Honorable Mention

So you think summer is the only time for great portraits, think again

Makenzie, Lauren, Sami, and Hillary came in for some fun portraits a few weeks back. When we'd talked about what they wanted to do and wear we had no idea how cold it was going to get on the day of their session. The temp barely broke zero that day, it maybe reached 4 degrees tops and that's not an exaggeration. I was almost positive they were going to reschedule -especially because they wanted to wear their prom dresses in the snow.

Wow, did I ever underestimate them! Not only did we do everything we planned but we spent quite a bit of time doing it. They were spinning circles with their dresses, climbing snow hills, jumping, and running. We had a blast!

















playing around with some vintage looks













A sweet January sunset at 4 degrees.

Rain, Cold, and Beautiful Portraits part 2

We kept Viola dry for the first part of her portraits by using overhangs and shelters to stay out of the rain. It looks as bright and sunny here as it would on any summer day but it was actually dark, cloudy and cold.

One thing that Viola especially wanted to do was to get some uniqe portraits in rain in the waterfall. Normally it is a tad bit warmer when anyone braves the water but Viola wanted something a little different than everyone else and she definitely got that. If you look close you can see the streaks of rain falling through the images and the raindrops splashing in the water around her.