MARIA & ANDREW'S ENGAGEMENT SESSION

Yesterday I met up with Maria and Andrew for their engagement session at the Lincoln Memorial. I'm shooting their wedding on June 9th at Meridian House in D.C. and it's going to be a fabulous event. What a gorgeous couple, I see a sample album in the near future. :) Here are a few favorites from the shoot.

PATTY'S BRIDAL PORTRAIT

Patty (one of my darling brides) came to visit me at the D.C. studio for some pre-wedding bridal portraits this afternoon. Her wedding is coming up this weekend at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. this Saturday. The Willard is this amazing old hotel just filled with history. I lifted a couple of images off of the Willard website.
Building exterior

The bathroom of the Jenny Lind Suite, I have photographed bridesmaids eating lunch in this bathtub...yes this is the actual view from the tub


Here are a few factoids about the place...

Nathaniel Hawthorne described the hotel with the following passage.
"This hotel, in fact, may be much more justly called the center of Washington and the Union than either the Capitol, the White House, or the State Department... You exchange nods with governors of sovereign states; you elbow illustrious men, and tread on the toes of generals; you hear statesmen and orators speaking in their familiar tones. You are mixed up with office seekers, wire pullers, inventors, artists, poets, prosers... until identity is lost among them."

The hotel has hosted every president, as a sleeping guest or at a social function, from Franklin Pierce in 1853 to the current President.

President Ulysses S Grant, after a long day in the Oval Office, used to escape the pressures of the presidency with a brandy and a cigar in the Willard Lobby, where many would-be power brokers approached him on individual causes. Grant called these people "lobbyists", hence the term today.

Now that the history lesson is over, here are a few images from today.
Rob (Patty's fiance) specifically requested the infrared look

A little loungy

A little demure

A little fun

KAY HANLEY, TIGGER & POOH

Hey everyone, check on my amazing rock star sister-in-law, Kay singing the theme song to "Tigger & Pooh". I missed this shoot but Gary went and said it was amazing...he thought he had stumbled onto the set of a movie. I was so sorry to have missed all the madness. Hope you enjoy!

RETOUCHING FOR BEAUTY

I checked with my friend Jackie to make sure she was okay with me using her as an example for a little lesson I've been wanting to do about how to retouch faces for beauty-type images. Obviously she said yes and since she's a beautiful girl anyway, it was very easy just to do a few things to make her headshots "pop" even more.



The first thing I did for this image (which I shot in raw on a Canon 5D with a 70-200 f2.8 lens) was to take a look to see what I could do to enhance it. The first thing I usually do with women (and we all have some issues) is to see what the skin needs in order to improve the overall image. That usual entails a little bit of work under the eyes and maybe cleaning up a few minor blemishes and softening every so slightly around the mouth. So on this image, I used the healing toolbrush to fix any little dots on her skin. Then I set the cloning stamp at about 15% opacity and sampled the skin on the cheek area. Then I ran it back and forth under her eyes a few times to take away any darkness and to soften the lines under the eyes just slightly. You want the person to look like themselves, only well rested and maybe a couple years younger. This was very slight with Jackie since she is young and beautiful to begin with.



To proceed from here you need to have Kevin Kubota's Photoshop actions, you can get them at http://kubotaworkshops.com/store/catalog/index.html. You can also do everything on here the long way in PS if you're REALLY good (which I'm not) but it also takes longer. I recommend investing in actions or making your own in order to save lots of time.

So, the next thing I did was to take a look at her eyes, I wanted them to pop out at you a little bit more. So I used the "eyes & teeth enhance" action to whiten and desaturate her eyes just a little bit, then I reduced the opacity of that layer a little bit until I thought it looked natural. Using the same action, I also darkened her eyeliner just slightly. Then flattened the image.

Next, I applied the "lord of the rings everyday" action which is one of my favorites. This applies a softening look to the whole image. However, I only want her skin to look soft and creamy and not the whole image. So, I selected the eraser brush set at about 40% opacity and then erased the softening wherever I wanted the image to be sharp...her eyes, eybrows, lips and hair. At this point the real retouching is done and I just wanted to add a tiny bit of contrast and sharpening to the image. I do this with the "daily multivitamin" action. At this point the image looks fabulous but I also wanted to crop in a little closer to improve the composition and so that the focus is on just her face.

In the version at the top, I also took it one step further by adding Marcus Bell's "sepia halftone" action to bring the color down a little bit. Marcus is an incredible Australian photographer. His actions are available for sale at http://www.studioimpressions.com.au

Feel free to ask questions and leave a comment if you're interested in seeing more lessons like this...

POLL #1 - WHO IS READING THIS BLOG

I've been having lots of fun with this blog but I feel like it needs to be a bit more interactive to I've decided to start posting some polls so that I know who is reading and what you like to read about/ look at. So, here's the first one....everyone please answer. It only takes a second and in the future I may offer some incentives...aka prizes. :) Consistency wins points people!

OLIVER'S FIRST TRIP TO THE BEACH

Since I've been a little under the weather this week I thought it might be a good time to catch up on some old images I have yet to edit. About a month ago, Gary and I took Oliver to Malibu to this wonderful dog beach. He had soooo much fun, I mean I knew he would like it but he didn't know what to do with himself. He met some nice boys along the way who took pictures of him and gave him kisses. He was NOT as big a fan of the seagulls as he took every opportunity to chase them around. So much fun! Here are a few images.

Gary and Oliver take a stroll

Wonder what they're looking at?

Ollie makes some new friends


And has a run in with a seagull

The view on the drive home.

JACKIE'S HEADSHOTS

Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing some headshots for my friend, Jackie Brubaker. She is an incredible makeup artist with her own agency called Dollface. www.dollfaceartists.com. She is also a singer and dabbles in acting a bit. I met her through ISES a few months ago and we have been friends ever since. Here are a few images from our shoot which we did in or around my yard and neighborhood.

DEAL OR NO DEAL

In light of very sad events today...and because I've been waiting for these pictures to arrive by email, I figured now would be as good a time as any to post something really silly on this blog. And here it is. Last weekend Gary and I went to the season finale of Deal or No Deal. I am a huge fan of the show and honestly didn't know Howie Mandel from anything but an animated show called "Bobby's World" which I was really too old to be watching at the time anyway. Gary's friend Allison is a producer on the show so we got to waltz right in and got great seats in the one area that was not a "hot spot" for the cameras. We sat there for a bit. I noticed that across from us was Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover Home Edition along with his family...they actually waited in line with all of the tourists which seemed pretty sweet of him. He got some applause upon being recognized and turned bright red. (Later on in the show, we realized that Danny Glover was sitting right in front of us.)

When the show finally started, we played along with all of the smiling and clapping we were supposed to be doing. And I think we were lied to because there was a camera about 3 feet from my face for a good solid half hour. Then I got really self conscious about how my smile probably looked stupid and how I knew my hair was messy. I'm sure we are going to be all over this show. Anyway, it was a real roller coaster ride and it's amazing how you feel so attached to the person playing the game...you really want them to walk home with some money. Gary and I were both supposed to be yelling "No Deal!" the whole time since we were both born during the first half of the year. I couldn't help but yell "Deal" pretty much as soon as the offer hit 6 figures which is exactly what I do when I watch from home. Luckily this lady didn't listen to me and she walked away with a lot more money than I would have.

It actually took 3 hours to film this show and since I hadn't eaten since breakfast, by about 11pm, I was starving and about to chew my own arm off. I was so happy when Allison invited us to stay for the after party because they were serving fried chicken! This is the first thing I did...

Once my belly was full, I pretended to take the deal...

Then Liz and I stood on the famous stairs and pretended to be models who showed up about 10 years too late for the job.


At this point, there was a dj spinning tunes and 20 year old models dancing all over the place. We called it Club DOND. It really was such a fun experience...and I plan to go back next season. I think that episode airs sometime in May or June so when I find out, I'll be sure to post the date and time so that you can all watch and laugh at me looking like a total idiot in the audience. :)

PAULA ZAHN MAKES ME MAD!

I have been absolutely glued to CNN all day to watch for updates about the VA Tech shooting...little did I know when I wrote in my blog this morning that this was to become the biggest school massacre in U.S. history. I've watched a number of interviews with current VA Tech students that have aired throughout the day. They all seem shaken up and upset by the whole incident. But it seems to be the position of Paula Zahn and other news anchors to try to turn the students against the administration of VA Tech by telling them that they should have been notified, that something should have been done. Not one of the students who I've seen has shown any anger towards anyone except for the actual gunman. Leave it to the news media to try to divide the school at a time that it most needs to be united. I'm just so furious that Paula Zahn is reporting this story in an almost gleeful manner. This is so incredibly sad for the families and friends of the victims and she is on tv smiling.

SHOOTING AT VA TECH

This is so incredibly sad and it's all over the news today. 21 people have been killed at my alma mater, VA Tech this morning. There still seem to be no reports about why this happened or who this gunman is/ was...as police have shot and killed him. Thank goodness it is over though. The first shootings took place in my old dorm, West Ambler Johnston or West AJ as we called it. I can only imagine what It must have been like for those poor kids. My thoughts are with them and their families today and I'm so sad for everyone who was affected by this terrible tragedy.

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS

Okay, so I know that there are at least a few people who check this blog regularly and I have to scold you all for not leaving comments. Please please, it makes me feel all alone in the world when I don't get any comments. So, if you are a regular reader, I would love just one comment every now and then. Even if it's just to say hello or to get credit for the visit...ask Janet and Gary, they can tell you all about that. :) On that note, I want to say thank you to Gary, Mary, Missy and Carrie for being regular commenters. Wilkie, I know you're out there so drop me a note sometime, okay? :)

JACK


This is Jack, he's the son of our friends "Burke and Doc" as they are generally addressed. I took this picture during a birthday party and it has haunted me ever since...in a good way. It's images like these that make photographing really little kids so much fun and so rewarding, even though it's really really hard. You just never know what they're going to do and they are so natural and unposed...mostly since it is nearly impossible to get them to stand still for even a second. But every now and then you catch them in their own element and it's magic.

Here are some more images from the party, same 3 adorable kids. The others are Valentina and Joseph who are going to have their own portrait session at home next week.

GARY'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION - PART 2

Tonight, Gary, Lisa, Stephanie and I had the most fabulous dinner at Simon's L.A. which just opened in the new Sofitel right across the street from the Beverly Center. It was Lisa's idea and she made the reservations but Gary and I had actually met the sous chef, Andrew a couple of months ago when we sat next to him at Hungry Cat when we were celebrating our anniversary. Small world, I guess. Anyway, we had the most fabulous dinner, sort of family style and then capped it off with an amazingly colorful and inventive dessert try of cotton candy, caramel popcorn, various rice crispy treats, cookies, pear sorbet, peanut butter ice cream and some hostess cupcake-looking things. What a treat! There was even a candle in a glass filled with pink sugar for the birthday boy and girl (Happy Birthday Lisa), hers was last month. Tomorrow is Jamie's birthday so I have to give a shout out to New Jersey. Happy birthday lady, hurry up and move back, we miss you!

A DAY WITH KARA DIOGUARDI

On Friday, Gary, Kaylyn, Chris and I (on official Sixteen Blue business) went over to Kara's house up in the Hollywood Hills to shoot the open of a show they are working on about her life. Kara is an incredibly talented singer and songwriter and although she has one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard, she chose instead to make her mark by writing hit songs for other people...like Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Hillary Duff, Katherine McPhee and tons of others. She was on the cover of People Magazine last year but she would never actually tell you that but I took this picture of a poster her dad had made from it.

This is Kara being really embarassed by some old home movies we got to see. I think this one is going to end up as another one of dad's posters for the office. :)

We spent the first hour or so playing with Stephen's new puppy, Kirby. Stephen is Kara's business partner in their publishing company, Art House Entertainment. www.arthouseentertainment.com


Some headshots...



Writing...

And from the back seat of the car on our way to the studio...


After a few hours at the house, we headed over to meet Nick Lachey and Mitch who were working on some songs with Kara.






Kaylyn and I actually managed to get locked in the building somehow but in separate areas. She was stuck inside the parking lot while I was trapped on the upstairs balcony. Luckily Mitch came to our rescue to let us out. Thanks Mitch!

THE DAN BAND

Okay, does anyone remember the wedding scene in Old School where Will Ferrell is dancing with his bride to 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' and the song starts to get a little...inappropriate? Yeah, well that was The Dan Band and that's who I saw play tonight at The Avalon in Hollywood. It had to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life. These guys perform their own "versions" of womens' rock and pop songs from the 80's and 90's. Trust me and see them if they're ever in your area. Here is a video to jog your memory of the scene from Old School.

MARIA & JASON'S WEDDING

Here is a wedding album that I just finished designing from a beautiful wedding at the Mayflower Hotel on March 10th. Maria and Jason are the most darling couple, both finishing their masters degrees at Oxford. Their first dance was one of the most memorable and adorable of anything I've seen. They came out to a sort of ballroom-type waltzy number and then all of a sudden broke into a choreographed version of Michael Jackson's thriller. It was such a riot and all of the guests went crazy!

Wedding coordination by www.engagingaffairs.com, flowers by www.nicksflowers.com, Hair by www.hairbygiselle.com, Makeup by www.beautymark.biz.