Posts Tagged ‘Photography’
Why We Go to School in the Summer
No, we didn’t flunk Phys-Ed class.
Since Wendy is a teacher and I taught for several years, you’d think that school is the last place we’d want to spend our summer. (Yes, kids, your teachers look forward to summer as much as you, and probably much, much more.) But for the last three years we’ve spent four days of each summer on the campus of USC taking classes. Why would we do this voluntarily? Because we’ve gotten to study the art of image-making with some of the best photographers in the country.
The school is The Lamarr Williamson School of Photography: an annual collection of workshops put on by the Professional Photographers of South Carolina. This year featured an amazing group of instructors including Judy Host, Lou Freeman, and Louis Tonsmeire. Wendy and I studied with Ted and Rachel Linczak of Linczak Photography, who, in addition to being spectacular photographers and educators, are a great couple to hang out with.
Wendy and I keep coming back to the Lamarr School because we truly believe that photography is an art and a craft, and that great art cannot be created consistently without hard work and study. The instructors at the Lamarr School are committed to their craft, and have spent years (usually decades) becoming masters of it–not only learning the rules, but how to obey and to break them in ways that surprise and delight the viewer.
The image above is one that Wendy and I created after Ted and Rachel sent us off with our class’s models to put into practice some of what we’d learned during our first two days of study. We were less than half way through the class and already we were seeing new ways to photograph our clients that, hopefully, will knock their friggin’ socks off.
On Wednesday, students submitted our favorite photos taken at the school for the instructors to judge and ours (the one above) won the best image award! [Insert photo of Wendy and me fist-bumping.] That felt pretty amazing, but it’s also humbling, because The Lamarr School is filled with incredibly talented students, and we were up against photos that took my breath away.
That’s the other great thing about the Lamarr School: the students. Everyone in our class was already a truly skilled photographer, but they were committed to excellence–to continual growth and to never being satisfied with “good enough”. They were also really encouraging and a lot of fun to hang around.
Because of all of this, for the foreseeable future, Wendy and I will continue to go to summer school.
Why We Go to School in the Summer
No, we didn’t flunk Phys-Ed class.
Since Wendy is a teacher and I taught for several years, you’d think that school is the last place we’d want to spend our summer. (Yes, kids, your teachers look forward to summer as much as you, and probably much, much more.) But for the last three years we’ve spent four days of each summer on the campus of USC taking classes. Why would we do this voluntarily? Because we’ve gotten to study the art of image-making with some of the best photographers in the country.
The school is The Lamarr Williamson School of Photography: an annual collection of workshops put on by the Professional Photographers of South Carolina. This year featured an amazing group of instructors including Judy Host, Lou Freeman, and Louis Tonsmeire. Wendy and I studied with Ted and Rachel Linczak of Linczak Photography, who, in addition to being spectacular photographers and educators, are a great couple to hang out with.
Wendy and I keep coming back to the Lamarr School because we truly believe that photography is an art and a craft, and that great art cannot be created consistently without hard work and study. The instructors at the Lamarr School are committed to their craft, and have spent years (usually decades) becoming masters of it–not only learning the rules, but how to obey and to break them in ways that surprise and delight the viewer.
The image above is one that Wendy and I created after Ted and Rachel sent us off with our class’s models to put into practice some of what we’d learned during our first two days of study. We were less than half way through the class and already we were seeing new ways to photograph our clients that, hopefully, will knock their friggin’ socks off.
On Wednesday, students submitted our favorite photos taken at the school for the instructors to judge and ours (the one above) won the best image award! [Insert photo of Wendy and me fist-bumping.] That felt pretty amazing, but it’s also humbling, because The Lamarr School is filled with incredibly talented students, and we were up against photos that took my breath away.
That’s the other great thing about the Lamarr School: the students. Everyone in our class was already a truly skilled photographer, but they were committed to excellence–to continual growth and to never being satisfied with “good enough”. They were also really encouraging and a lot of fun to hang around.
Because of all of this, for the foreseeable future, Wendy and I will continue to go to summer school.
Divided by Friday: Santa ain’t the only one who flies
In May of 2009, I photographed a young band from North Carolina called Divided by Friday. They were on a tight schedule and I was in the middle of a very busy week, so they skipped class (shhhh!) and I came straight from school (still wearing a button-up shirt and khakis) and we had a shoot that I blogged about last year. Well, 2010 has brought great things for the guys in Divided by Friday. Earlier this year they released their first video and in November they announced that they’d signed with Hopeless Records. With the signing came the need for new pictures, and we were thrilled that they called us up.
Shooting a band is oh-so-slightly different than shooting a wedding, and it gives us a chance to play in ways we normally don’t. We love the playful aspect of shooting musicians, but the other side is that there are a lot of clichés to avoid (think railroad tracks and brick walls). For this shot, we decided to draw inspiration from the same source that the band did. The title of Divided by Friday’s new EP, The Constant, is a reference to Lost–specifically the fact that Penny (the one whose boat it isn’t) is Desmond’s constant–the thing that keeps him anchored in time/reality/whatever was going on. If you haven’t seen Lost, go ahead and watch all seven seasons. The rest of us will wait.
Okay, I guess you’re back. Wasn’t that great? Well, yeah, maybe not the last episode, but otherwise, awesome!
Anyway, Wendy and I were discussing the idea of a constant–something that draws you back to a central point, like home. We decided that food is something that draws people together (think holidays like Thanksgiving), and it could be cool to see the guys drifting away, yet pulled back together by the fellowship of a shared meal. Admittedly, I also liked the idea of putting a rock band in my mom’s kitchen (thanks, Mom!). This is what we got:
If you have some free time, feel free to use this like a Highlights magazine and circle all the floating food in the image.
If you prefer your band pictures with more gravity and fewer calories, here’s another from the shoot:
Now, the event that actually inspired this post is the release of Divided by Friday’s latest video, their version of “O Holy Night”. Are you looking forward to Christmas? Do you like to rock? Yes? Then check it out!
After that, go check out the rest of their music on Myspace.
Photo Booth: Alison & Hugo’s Wedding
At Alison and Hugo’s wedding, we set up a photo booth so that guests could take pictures of themselves for the newlyweds, and even add a message to them if they wanted. Since Wendy and I weren’t behind the camera for these, when we got home and loaded them on the computer most of the images were totally new to us. We hope you’ll enjoy them as much as we did!
Joie & Chris: Married
Summer is finally here, and you know what that means: a flood of blog posts from Lumos Studio! I’m not sure whether there will be another TEN (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING, but it seems like a possibility right now.
To start with, we’re going to celebrate the wedding of Chris and Joie. These two were married on a beautiful (if famously hot) South Carolina day at the Seibels House and Garden. Chris and Joie are a fantastic couple and obviously overwhelmingly in love. Wendy and I both love the way they look out for each other, even if it meant Chris shooing us away so that he could have some alone with Joie before the wedding. And Joie–when she looks at Chris, you can just tell she has his back and that she knows that he has hers. They’re a beautiful pair.
Anyway, enough of my blathering. Here are the pictures!
(Don’t forget about the guys.)
I swear we did not set up these next two photos.
Chris and Joie opted to have a “first look” before the ceremony. That gave them a chance to spend a few moments alone together and gave us a chance to get these uninterrupted photos of the two of them seeing each other for the first time on their wedding day.
The party next moved on to the Columbia Museum of Art…
We don’t know exactly what was hanging from the ceiling, but it looked dangerous!
[Update: The chandelier is by artist Dale Chihuly, who looks fairly dangerous, himself.]
Chris dancing for joy at his good fortune in marrying Joie.
Chris and Joie, it was wonderful celebrating with you and your delightful family and friends. May you continue to delight and delight in one another for many, many years to come!
Professional Photographers of South Carolina: February Midlands meet-up
A few weeks ago Wendy and I went out to 701 Whaley here in Columbia for a meeting of the Professional Photographers of South Carolina Midlands chapter. The get together was a “show up and shoot”, meaning that we, well, showed up and shot…pictures (I feel that I should clarify that for my hunting relatives and friends in law enforcement). Lee Bradshaw of One 27 Media (and one of our amazing wedding photographers) set up the meeting, so a couple of weeks before hand I emailed him and asked if they could use any models. He said that some additional models would be appreciated, so I got in touch with Michael and Katie who had recently gotten engaged and who are a stunningly beautiful couple, inside and out. Wendy and I probably hogged them for way more of the night than we should have, and I hope the other photographers there (like the talented and very sweet Stephanie Seay who we met there) didn’t mind too much.
Anyway, we put together a slide show of some of the photos we took. We hope you like it!
At one point, while I was either hogging Michael and Katie or looking over Lee’s shoulder, Wendy grabbed Megan, who also graciously agreed to pose for us that night, and got these glamorous shots…in the bathroom. Yup, for some reason that’s where they keep the really cool furniture at 701 Whaley.
Thanks to the PPofSC and to Lee for putting this together, to 701 Whaley for having us and providing a great backdrop and to our lovely models Katie, Michael, and Megan. You guys rock!
