Life in Art Photography: She said YES!

I can see it now. Despite not having any new posts for over a month you decide to check my blog today on a whim thinking maybe there will be something new. It's Valentines Day weekend...Then you see it. "SHE SAID YES!" You explode with joy running around your house yelling "she said yes...she said yes!" About half way through the second lap around the living room it dawns on you...wait a minute...they are already married. You get this horrible heaviness in your stomach as if someone just socked you there...or you ate your califonia burrito too fast and now your tummy hurts...either way...your joy and jubilance that you were experiencing just moments earlier has been replaced with a sinking feeling (or bowel movement if you really did just eat a burrito too fast). What in the world is he talking about? Before you turn that embarrassment into rage read on. So sorry to get you all excited. I am already married and no, i did not propose over the weekend. So what then did she say yes to?

So I like taking pictures...my wife hates having her picture taken. Sounds like a perfect match. :) Well, after being rejected many many times...this weekend I wanted to play around with some lighting stuff and she finally agreed to letting me use her as my model. No alcohol was used to trick her into it...nor bribes of Norstrom. Not really sure why she said yes...maybe the excitement of the new season of America's Next Top Model put her in the mood. Whatever it was...it was fun to go out and play around with the camera.

So I wanted to play around using a flash in broad daylight. I didn't really care much about composure of these shots...just wanted to play with the lighting. Usually you stay away from shooting in the middle of the day if possible, but I wanted to this time cause I figured if I can get it down during the middle of the day, I should be able to get better results when the natural light is mo betta. We started around noon...finished around 2:30. I never really thought of using a flash in the middle of the day for anything but fill lighting, but when my model is not modeling I like to read stuff on this cool thing called the internet. Read about it...wanted to try it. anyways, here are a few shots from saturday...

So we thought it would be fun to try some jumping shots. On America's Next Top Model they always do awkward shots and Tyra yells at them to make sure they keep posing the entire time. It's actually pretty difficult to think about keeping your hands in a beautiful position as you are thinking about tripping and falling face first into the pavement. Ca (Erica for non family members) did the modeling part pretty well...not so good on the jumping. Does a two inch vertical leap really count as a jump?

here I am...no model pose here...but a slightly improved vertical. I am sure it's just the camera and shadow angle that is giving me this false sense of leaping ability. I was probably only about 4 inches off the ground...but it sure looks like more. If only I was taller I could have been a baller...

Finally we messed around with taking some shots against the backdrop. Here is one of Ca's favorites. This explains why she fell in love with me so many years ago. I look so darn sexy rockin' a guitar...