Retro Pin-up Shoot

This week I had an awesome Retro Pin-up shoot coordinated by the Charlotte Portrait Meetup Group.  It was so much fun.  The models were awesome and the looks were classic pin-up with an edge.

Very Cool Portrait Inspiring Music Video

A friend of mine, Mindy Reaves, just sent me this link and I think you might enjoy this video by Monarchy.  All the images in the video would translate beautifully into an awesome studio shoot with some photoshop and light painting thrown in.  Enjoy.

A little light painting and some multiplicity

Nick and Christine can over last night for a little light painting and some multiple exposure fun.  All images were created from a single exposure in camera.

Note: my hand was cut off due to some overlapping of Nick strobing my arms in my camera's line of sight.  This was a great practice session.

Spinnin' Wool in the Desert

While in Vegas, I met up with a local pro, GW who runs The Las Vegas Photographic Society Meetup.  He was very curious about light painting and wool spins and wanted to learn more. He agreed to take me out of town for some LP fun.

We drove about 20 min from the Las Vegas strip to the edge of town.  For those of you who have never been to Vegas, there is truly a line where the buildings and roads end and the desert starts.  We did a little off-roading in my rental car to a spot above the city with the skyline in the background. 

We parked our cars and when I got out I was surprised how light it actually was.  I really didn't even need a flashlight.  It was cloudy and the city lights were lighting up the clouds and then bouncing off the sand.  Sand is a lot more reflective that I would have thought.  I had heard that in order to escape the light pollution of the city you have to drive about 150 miles out of town to be able to see the stars.

Anyway, GW brought his 13 year old son Justin with him.  Justin was very excited to try a wool spin.  He is into anything with flames or sparks.  We had a great time.  The light painting was challenging due to the excessive ambient light, but the wool spins came out great.  

In the desert, there aren't many landmarks that you can include in your image to really give a sense of shooting there.  At this location there was a lone Joshua tree and a pyramid hill in the background that added an interesting fore and background.  Otherwise, there is just a lot of sand.  By the way that "hill" in the background is probably about a mile away and is several hundred feet high.

Later that week, GW invited me to do a brief Light Painting presentation for his meetup group.  I am now a member of the Las Vegas Photographic Society.  I got to meet some great folks and now have some new friends to shoot  with when I am in town next year.

Exploring The Valley of Fire in Nevada

Last week I was in Las Vegas for the PPAI Convention and was able to take some time off to go exploring in the desert with a few folks from Ash City.  The weather was perfect and we had an awesome time!

Light Man in Las Vegas

Last week I was in Las Vegas for a tradeshow.  Whew, tradeshows can take a lot out of you.  You are standing in a booth for several hours showing and selling your products.  It is a lot more tiring than folks think.


At the end of the day all you want to do is crawl back to your room and get some rest.  The Mandalay Bay Hotel is ginormous!  You can walk for miles and never leave the hotel.  The hallways are never ending.

When you finally get to your room, you just want to relax.  Or break out your light painting travel kit and see what magic you can create.

Hmm, should I go to bed or stay out all night and party and gamble....

Nope, better get to bed.  I need to be rested for the adventures I have planned.