Soon to be the Thompsons

We had a great time capturing some engagement photos for Alex and Ben around their hometown of Atlanta. We hit some of the most significant spots to them, like their church and engagement spot in Piedmont Park. Alex and Ben were so easy and fun to work with, and I wish them the best in the future.

(click on photos for higher res)

Graduation

Tomorrow I move on and grauate from high school. I could write a blog on all the thoughts and such that graduation evokes, but I will refrain. I figured this would be a good oppertunity to try out the 'seamless' wall again. This was my first attempt at a full body shot. We got a peice of tileboard for the flooring, which makes a killer reflections, and tried the full body shot. Anyways, here's the shot. All the credit goes to Laura- she released the shutter! (click to see it large or see it on Flickr for best quality)

Enjoy,

-matt

(photos look terrible on here- click to view large or visit my flickr for better resolution)

So as I said in the last blog, I'm venturing into some 'studio' work. I use ' 's because I don't have a studio, I have a basement. I'm in the process of ordering some seamless paper and making the shooting area as legit as possible for as absolutly as cheap as possible. Like I said, I have no experience at all with seamless photos, so my friend and I set up a test/ghetto rig. I'm talkin' cardboard 'barn doors' and a stinkin' box spring mattress. Check out the stuff before judging our ghetto setup- i was really pleased with it.



The main challenge was the size of our background. I'm excited to get the 9' wide paper and some tileboard to do some full body shots. The box spring was really limiting in this department.

I'll update on the progress of the mini 'studio'. It would be a sin for me to not throw out Zack Arias's name into the mix. His series on Cyc walls and seamless shooting is pheneminal. I literally have learned every little thing i know about photography from this guy. Ok well and a little from the strobist blog too!

enjoy!

-matt

Here's the setup for the blackout shot below (also on Flickr for better quality):

My inspiration came from the strobist blog. I really wish i had a softbox to use, but I used the reflective umbrella to try and reduce all the light falloff that i could. The softbox would'a helped a ton, but some quick fixes in ps finished the blackout. The SB 600 was set to 1/2 if i remember correctly, and I shot at max sync speed to black out the dark green wall. The flash was triggered by Cactus ebay triggers, and the camera was tripoded. The color treatment was all LR adjustments, and so minor adjuestments in PS were done to really blacken the black, If that makes any sense.



My next venture is into some white seamless. Borowing my buddy's D90 to fire both of my SB 600's, hopefully we can get some good results with the new setup.

Enjoy!

-matt

Senior Portrait Session: $50

• Unlimited number of shots/locations etc.

• DVD of all high resolution images (usually around 20-30 images)

• All photos edited with multiple variations (black and white/color etc)*editing also includes image optimization such as facial retouching etc.

• a very very very quick turnaround time (get the photos within one/two days)

• Gas costs to the unlimited locations
  

Email me at: mattgold@bellsouth.net if interested.

Cleansing Grace.

Today I don't bring a photo, but a painting that i daily use as a visual for grace.

Tomorrow is Easter, and a good one it is.

Today is a day of suspense, mourning, and wonder.

Yesterday was a crazy day. Jesus encompassed all sin so that we can live. The One of Perfection took on our mistakes, our mess-ups, our infinitely massive failures just so we can live. On Friday, it was finished. On Friday, WE crucified the One of Perfection. He died for me. He died for you. What did I do for that kind of gift? What did I do for the God of the Universe to sacrifice his one and only Son, who was spotless in the name of the Lord, for me? This is what blows my mind- He did that because He loves me. That's how much He loves me. And that's how much He loves you. God loves us so much, He sent his only son to take in my sin, your sin, our sin. When i think of this, I don't understand how people can say it's "so beautiful". For me, Good Friday is a day of guilt- but should it be? I feel so terrible that I killed my God- that I have failed. But the beauty for me comes on Sunday...

Sunday it all happened. Like yeah, that just happened...He is that good. Wow. On Friday, Jesus was pierced for our transgressions, but on Sunday He proved us that He is bigger than that. Our God overcame all of our sin. He wanted to show us that He is infinitely bigger than my humanly mess-ups. God is bigger than that. Jesus was victorious over my sin, your sin, and our sin. How incredibly beautiful is that? So tomorrow is the celebration- Celebrate that we have been given the opportunity to worship so freely the God of the Universe, The God that knows your name and your story. Hallelujah!

So Christ cleanses us. He gives us an opportunity to be alive. No matter how bad I mess up day to day, He will never cease to cleanse me. My God of infinite chances washes my crimson sins to pure white snow. For He sees the depths of my heart, and He loves me the same.

Joel Seibel.

Here are a few from a photoshoot with the very talented Joel Seibel. Go now and check out his stuff, it's worth the visit. He needed some promotional material for a upcoming tour, as well as some dabblings at album art, so we did our best in the freezing winterous April weather. Enjoy!

-matt

ps: The photo quality is pretty bad on blogspot, check them out on my flickr for better quality.