To ring in 2019, I traveled to Arizona with my family for a little work, relaxation, and sightseeing. I followed the weather and knew there was a possibility for snow, what I experienced on the drive from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon was unexpected. Nearly a foot of snow on the road and often whiteout conditions made the New Years Eve drive quite the adventure. I’ve visited the Grand Canyon several times, but never after a significant snowfall, and the breathtaking experience of walking up to the rim becomes otherworldly. Photos never represent the size and power of the Canyon, but some snow helps make the photos a bit more impressive.
When I was in Hawaii back in February, I was taking photos primarily for stock, and for demonstration in the stock photography course. One of the less productive activities was a visit to the Dole Pineapple plantation. Granted, it was trip for my one year old to ride a train, but I did feel rather defeated in accomplishing any stock photos at the location. While looking back the photos I did discover a couple pretty good backgrounds that I could use to make a successful photo. I made up a story of about the pineapple moguls daughter coming back home for a visit and turned it into a photoshoot. I found the perfect model to play the role of “pineapple moguls daughter” and photographed her in my studio, mimicking the sunshine from the day and incorporating Dole pineapples and this is what I turned the plantation visit into:
Model: Marissa McBride
Hair & Makeup: Kristina Grohs
As you know from the last couple post, I was preparing to teach a course on stock photography. Well that course happened, It took a month of planning and it was over in a day, pretty much like any of my photoshoots. The week before the course I did an in the field shoot at Carkeek Park in Seattle that was recorded and included in the course. It was fun to be out early in the morning taking some pictures and sharing what I was doing and thinking. Below are a few of my favs from the preshoot. All in all it was a great experience, I enjoyed sharing my knowledge and hope to do it again sometime. Check out CreativeLive and my course if you’re interested in learning more about how to incorporate stock into your workflow!
I spent a cool Saturday morning photographing some seriously tough ladies at Crossfit Phinney Ridge. Lately I’ve been challenging myself to get out and do some shoots that are outside my norm. I’m most comfortable in the studio or in a remote landscape by myself, so walking into a crossfit gym with no lights and no real plan was a challenge. I got some fun shots, had a great time and left feeling like a real wimp.
