Tonight's Inspiration...

...comes from an amazing video production group- Cana Video Productions.



These are a couple of guys, awesome Christian guys, who really inspire and encourage me. Their work is primarily weddings, but they have a passion for working with non-profits all around the world serving others with their God blessed gifts. They inspire me because these are the shoes I dream of filling. For me to use my God given gifts in a way that serves most importantly Him, but also others- that is my aspirations. These guys inspire me, and maybe you too.

The confidence their videos and blogs exude is abundant. The duo has a presence of amazingly high quality and an abundance confidence, and that really inspires me. The extremely professional quality of this group's video elegantly mixed with the subtle artistic edge truly gives the videos a unique and often times inspiring feeling.

One thing I lack in my photography is confidence, and I know it. I have doubts all the way up to post production- then I get to relax, take my time, and see what I have to work with. I have never had a shoot where I am not proud of the work. I have never had a shoot where I regret doing something, or regret missing a moment etc, yet I still lack confidence in my work- I am my biggest critic i guess. Maybe that's just how i'm wired...? Maybe it works for me, we'll see.

Tonight (or this morning) I have been inspired by Cana Video Productions- maybe this can be a sorce of inspiration for you too. And if not, what/who inspires you?

-matty

JK and the Lost Boys

Here's some from a recent quick shoot with JK and the Lost Boys.

(click on the photos for a better look at 'em or see some on my Flickr)

-matt

Little, Noah

We had lots of fun today photographing this little guy at a cool park in Covington. This guy has like over 1000 photos printed of him, and I'm honored to help add to the collection. I always enjoy shooting the little folks- they're not afraid of the camera and are so easy and fun to work with. It becomes more of a game of timing and not of posing and positioning, which is a breath of fresh air not worrying about us awkard old folk!

Enjoy!

-matt

(photos higher res if clicked on or seen on flickr)






(my personal fav- WAR EAGLE)

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