Big pressure!

So those of you that don't know what PhotoVision is - PhotoVision creates educational videos for photographers. It offers the unique opportunity to observe photographers in their actual working environments. PhotoVision's cameras take you behind the scenes of some of the top photographers in the country to show you their workflow, their lighting techniques, their marketing ideas and much more. I have been watching them for years and last year I was honored to be asked to be a featured mentor on a series of videos for them. They spent three exhausting days at my studio filming me while I created some pretty cool portraits. I did everything from family portraits in a waterfall to an engagement session in an antique semi junkyard and even a senior with a horse in my studio under the chandeliers! I thought I would be super nervous but it was actually lots of fun!

I was again honored when Ed Pierce (the creator of PhotoVision) called me up and asked me to create some images for their new website they are launching! He wanted me to photograph some of the very best photographers in the nation and then create something cool from those portraits. Talk about nervous! Being asked to photograph some of these photographers would be like asking somebody to paint the portraits of Michal Angelo, Leonardo, and Picasso. Photographers like Brian DeMint (fashion photographer extraordinaire) Julie Klaasmeyer (maybe the countries most popular and well known children's photographer), Richard Sturdevant - (the only photographer in history to ever win two double diamonds in a row) and many other crazy awesome photographers who I have looked up to for years and have learned many techniques from. And me - yes ME had to come up with three different scenes, compose, direct, and light each of them!

Well I survived but barely :) These images are going to be viewed by 10's of thousands of photographers from around the world so there was also that to think about. Luckily I have learned a few things these past few years and seem to have a small knack for knowing how to light and composite people. If you know how I work you realize that I do things the hard way. Much of the time I don't know what the scene will be until after I photograph the subjects. I like the challenge of allowing fate and chance to play a big role in what I do. I feel it helps create unique situations with non-standard results which is what helps set my images apart.

Well anyway enough blabbering, here is what I have come up with. Hope you like them!

 

 

 This scene included Dave Junion, Julie Klaasmeyer, Beth Forester and Brian DeMint.  I will eventually need to switch out the images on the TV screen before they go on the website.

this was one out take from the shoot when Dave gave Brian a titty twister  :)  There wasn't a green screen available so I used a blue screen.

I wanted to use a vintage tv but vintage tv's are small so I had to make a big screen vintage tv - I kind of want one now!  notice the batman/photovsion logo in the sky!

This was option B - having them all gasp in fright (but we didn't really want them make people think photovison would be something they might be scared of)   This scene included Chucky Arlund, Amy Parrish, Jed Taufer, and  Mike Ridinger.

This scene I had to change a few different times.  I had a few different ideas with a jacked up red 55 Chevy but it got sold so I used the truck of one of my seniors.  This was especially difficlut because I had nothing built beforehand so I had to guess on exact positioning and angles.  This scene included Richard Sturdevant, James Hays, Dan Frievalt, Dan and Alex McClanahan and Me!

this was a fun shot of Dan that I used.