09/29/2011 ***We rented an 85mm 1.8 prime for the cowgirl shoot with Celine. When a lens gives you clarity like this in the eyes, why keep renting it? We bought it. [edit by david: I'd been eyeing 85mm/1.8 lenses on Craig's List for a while but had not committed to buy. We'd rented a Sigma 85mm/1.4 from the local camera store because the Nikon lens they normally had was out. We went to rent that one again, but it was a one time deal and they no longer had it in the rental stock, so we took the Nikon 85/1.8. We went around shooting Celine in various places around town. Jacci liked it, so when a lens popped up on Craig's List last week, I jumped on it and bought it for her. I bought the hat at Goodwill. There was no price on it, so when I asked at the checkout how much it was, I was told it was $15. I told the clerk that I didn't want it that badly, but just before she finished ringing me up, I told her to just add it. When I got home, I found out that she'd rung it up at a reduced $3.99. I'm glad I took it because it's a real cowboy hat.]

9/28/2011 *** "Who's been sitting in MY chair?" said Mama Bear. I got another shot in my neck this morning, Then I came home to this sight. I think Goldilocks is a little confused about whose chair this is. After note: She actually fell for a decoy of sorts. She HATES getting her picture taken. So when she saw the camera come out, she turned in the other direction... right at the remote flash :D Now, she seems to be avoiding my chair. Poor Tiny. She just can't win. I really wasn't trying to get her to look at the flash.

09/27/2011 ***The Bravados (local Austin band)*** Sunday evening, we went to a local parish festival (St. Ignatius). The band that was playing outdoors in the last couple of hours of the festival gave me the opportunity to put my new lens (Nikon 85mm f1.8) to the test. I shot this at 1,000 ISO and opened it all the way up to f1.8. I expected to have to run the image through a noise filter. But when I muted the already surreal colors, I found that I really liked the grungy feel of the high ISO noise. So I left it alone and this was the result.

09/25/2011 ***Strike a Pose*** Celine at the North side of the Texas state Capitol. She is definitely learning to strike a pose. [edit by david: For this photo, as I recall, I was in front of Celine and on the camera's left. We used a "flash-sicle" with an umbrella. Athough I forgot to bring a pole and my painter pole adapter (http://blog.sundayschildsnapshots.com/wp/2011/09/diy/the-poor-mans-painter-pole-adapter), we did have a light stand with us, which is effectively the same thing. The flash was mounted atop the lightstand with an umbrella and extended. The flash was fired using Nikon's CLS. (Did I mention today how much I like CLS?)]

09/24/2011 *** Well, howdy there, pardner. [edit by david: It's hard to tell, but this shot was taken out in back of our church with the late afternoon (almost 5 pm local) in sprinkling rain. Although Jacci was kind of antsy to get going because of the rain, I wanted more dramatic stormy sky so I kept fiddling until I darkened the sky while keeping the flash's light on Celine right. Once I had the exposure and flash power settings right, I handed the camera back to Jacci and she took this one. See Strobist for how to control the lighting ratio between the sky and the subject here: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/06/free-custom-backdrops-delivered-daily.html]

09/23/2011 ***Men in Blue*** Rising up to Indigo's blue challenge, this image is from Sunday's concert. The blue lights were so strong on stage that when I tried to correct the white balance, I couldn't, not even off the keyboard. I'm thinking about creating a collage of this picture in numerous tones. One of them I wanted to have flesh tones on flesh. But alas, I guess I will have to do it with variations of blue, purple and green. One of the things that popped out at me when I processed this image is the way the lens flare is resting over his heart. Hmmmm...I just realized that I posted this too early for Indigo's challenge. Oh well, I'l have to post yet another blue image in a few days :)

09/22/2011 ***Stu G on stage with Matt Maher. I did not realize who this man is until after I processed the picture. He was part of a British Christian band "Delirious" from 1994-2009. Many Christan musicians credit "Delirious?" with the inspiration behind the start of their music careers. In 2001, just before the release of Matt's first disc (The End and the Beginning), my son interviewed him (Matt) for a 7th grade school assignment. That was one of the things Matt and Russell talked about in the interview, that Matt was inspired by "Delirious?"How amazing it must have been for Matt to share the stage with Stu G.

09/21/2011 ***In the Light*** (Father Brian praying over the teens at the foot of the stage before the concert)

09/19/2011 ***Matt Maher in Concert*** I absolutely loved shooting this concert. There was a time when I heard Matt sing in person at least once a week. We went to the same church for about 7 years. So when the opportunity arises to photograph him in concert, I'm more than happy to do it. He is one of the most deeply spiritual people I have ever met, very rooted in Scripture and prayer. Last night's performance was no disappointment. Don't get me wrong... it was most certainly a rock concert. Most of Matt's music is very upbeat. It has always kind of reminded me of King David coming before the Lord with joyful song. I took this shot while he was singing a beautiful song (My Only Love) from his new album (The Love In Between) scheduled for release tomorrow. I consider this my best shot of the night because of its clarity. When I was processing, I took one look at those eyelashes and I just had to share. Later today, we will have a blog posting on the experience. Meanwhile, may you be blessed today with the Love that will get you through in between all of your triumphs and trials. Post Note: The blog entry is up at http://blog.sundayschildsnapshots.com/wp/?p=504.

09/18/2011 ***Celine is helping us out with a new project, a service we will be offering soon, model portfolios. For more information on what it entails, see our blog :) http://blog.sundayschildsnapshots.com/wp/?p=490 This shot was taken at night at the south gate to the Texas state capitol. The original attempt gave us a flat looking shot. So we had Celine step forward to put some space between her and the gate. Then David put a flash directly on the gate. That did the trick, no more flat light. [edit by david] The flash on the gate was bare and off to the right on a stand. I was holding the other flash and umbrella (voice activated light stand) on the right. I also had to hold a flashlight on Celine's face so the camera would focus.

09/17/2011 ***Today, Tricia is moving out of our home. I guess childhood officially comes to an end today. How poetic that our friends' journey with their son is just beginning.

8/30/2011 ***There's just something about B&W portraits that tugs at me. Maybe it's the simplicity. But I think there is more to it than that. When I process portraits in B&W, I nearly always keep the color versions as well. But for some reason, the emotions seem more isolated and compelling in B&W. [edit by david: There's a short behind the scenes blog posting from this studio-on-the-go shoot here: http://blog.sundayschildsnapshots.com/wp/2011/08/austin-portrait-photographer/gabriel-behind-the-scenes/]

08/26/2011 ***Having a house full of teenagers (the count is currently at four) really works out well for sample senior portraits. This is our son, Andrew, a junior this year. This is from the same set of pictures as the zombie apocalypse shot the other day. In the heat (105+ degrees) I set the ISO at H1 (6400) rather than L1 (100) and couldn't figure out why I was still overexposing at such fast shutter speeds. I guess in the heat induced delirium, 6400=100. I really liked everything about the pictures other than the ISO blunder. So I processed all of the 6400 ISO shots as nostalgic high grain B&W images. It amazes me how Andrews striking blue eyes penetrate even the B&W. He kind of has a classic James Dean look about him, doesn't he?

08/25/2011 ***My favorite model comes through for me once again. Wardrobe and makeup was essential for this shot. I saw a similar shot in a modeling book and David set out to imitate. See our blog at http://blog.sundayschildsnapshots.com/wp/2011/08/26/learning-low-key-portraits/ for details on how the look was achieved.

08/24/2011 ...How Dry I Am... Yeah, we went out there in the triple digit heat. Tomorrow's forecast...105 and Friday...109. Makes for a great Zombie Apocalypse shot though. (Notice Zombie Andrew in the background.) More on our adventure at our blog http://blog.sundayschildsnapshots.com/wp/2011/08/austin-portrait-photographer/portraits-with-the-kids/.

08/23/2011 This is a combined behind-the-scenes shot from the semiannual job where I photograph artwork to create an online slide show of the physical gallery in the hallways at the Diocese of Austin's Pastoral Center. The inset is what the camera saw in front of the sculpture, partially processed. The larger photo surrounding it shows the various background and light stands with the diffusers (flat white sheets) all lit up. There are more details at the related blog posting I put up here: http://blog.sundayschildsnapshots.com/wp/2011/08/20/semi-annual-art-gallery-shoot/ When I first started shooting this job, I used 4 compact fluorescent bulbs in Home Depot clamp lights, later moving to four white LED panels. This time around, I used four 45 Watt-second fixed power strobes. I was told last Friday that although I keep changing and improving what I do, they've never felt that it's detracted from the final quality of the images and slide show. Faithfully capturing the artwork while avoiding reflections of myself and the light sources has been the biggest challenge of these jobs. I really like how the large diffusers soften the light. Previous artwork slide shows are here: http://www.austindiocese.org/department_home.php?id=33. The source SmugMug galleries are here: http://www.sundayschildsnapshots.com/Art. [This is david posting since Jacci's been a little under the weather lately.]

08/19/2011 Fabi, simple head sot. I don't have to do too much to emphasize her radiance.

08/18/2011 ***This is Fabi. She was born in Venezuela and is now a high school student living in Austin. We shot her last night in an out-and-about session on South Congress.

08/14/2011 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. ~Psalm 121

08/13/2011 ***Our first studio mommy & baby portrait :) Please forgive my absence lately. I've had a poison ivy outbreak all over my body. So I haven't done much shooting all week. [edit by david: When Jacci says "studio" above, she means our studio on a bag/box. We carried props, clothes, light and backgrounds stands, and camera equipment and set up a studio in their living room. I will be putting some behind the scenes photos on our blog. update2: BTS blog posting link: http://blog.sundayschildsnapshots.com/wp/2011/08/14/gabriel-behind-the-scenes/]

08/05/2011 ***More of Haven*** Thank you for all of the wonderful encouraging comments on yesterday's post of Haven. Today's post is from the same shoot. But I shot this one (David shot yesterday's image) and processed it using Kubota Production tools and actions. For more information on the various ways we processed yesterday's and today's images, see our blog at http://blog.sundayschildsnapshots.com/wp/2011/08/austin-portrait-photographer/haven-off-the-track/. We have three variations of each image there and a list of all of the tools and actions used to achieve them. Of all of the actions, the one on this image is the least invasive to the original image. I chose to post this one because of the way the colors in the background trees make it seem like autumn.

08/04/2011 ***Haven off the Track*** We processed this one in color and in two different B&W techniques. I like this one the best because of the moody shadow areas. The baton in Haven's hand is actually a track trophy he won when he set a record in a 4-man run. [edit by david: This shot had the sun behind his right shoulder and above the top of the frame. A 40" umbrella with flash was to the right of the frame, fired wirelessly. I just love Nikon's CLS.]

08/03/2011 ***It's all just sleight of hand. This is our neighbor, Nick... Let's just say it's a belated senior portrait since he just finished his senior year in high school. As for sleight of hand, maybe just a blue gel cap on the background strobe. The background is really black. Other than that, it sure has been magical over the years watching Nick grow into this handsome, caring and responsible young man.

08/02/2011 ***David on historic location at the Austin Women's Club. One of the location packages we will be offering for senior portraits is a list of buildings in Austin's historic district. This evening, we went on a "location hunt" to pick out the best spots for portraits. We thought the back porch of the Austin Women's Club looked pretty nice for a backdrop.