Phun Photogs having Phun!

A few of us photographers went out to take some sunrise landscape shots and it ended up turning into a little photo session of the people behind the camera. I had an absolute blast hanging out and laughing with Amanda and Travis and it is soooooooo much fun shooting with other people! Never stop taking pictures for fun. That's my advice to all of you photographers out there. Regardless if you are a seasoned professional or someone just starting out, go out and take pictures, LOTS of pictures and it'll reinvigorate your passion for photography!

Special thanks to Amanda and Travis for taking some rockin pictures of all of us! It was truly an AMAZING morning with awesome light and fantastic friends! Can't wait until our next photo trip! :)

Dani - Senior Portraits

Last night, I made the 15 minute drive up to Wamego to visit my favorite Wamegoans, the Ewings! :) After photographing their 25th wedding anniversary, their daughter's senior portraits, their newly adopted kittens, their family portraits and their daughters' portraits, I am now known as the Ewing family's personal photographer :) And so I figured it would be just a matter of time before I headed out to Wamego again and I was right (which doesn't happen very often, all married men know what I'm talking about)! 

The Ewings are probably some of the most generous and genuine people I have ever met. Currently, they are hosting an international exchange student from Brazil, Dani and they wanted to make sure that she took some professional senior portraits for her American high school graduation! International exchange students absolutely amaze me. I can hardly speak and write in English and for these students to come to the US and attend American schools is just beyond me. Dani is a super cute high school senior who just loves to laugh and giggle. Throughout our session, she couldn't help herself. Not sure if she was laughing at me or with me (doesn't really matter), we all had a fantastic time walking around City Park! Her favorite movie is The Nightmare before Christmas and so her only request was to get a few shots with her True Love hoodie. The rest was up to me :)

Thanks again Dani for being so flexible and willing to let me experiment a bit! Hope you like your pictures!!! You can view all of the pictures from Dani's session here. Enjoy! :)

Awesome news coming soon!!!

Hey all! I have a super exciting post coming up that reiterates why I love photography! Can't wait to make the announcement and show you what I am all about! Possibly one of my best ideas yet! (Yes, I do love exclaimation points.) Here's a teaser to hold you off :)

dispatches from here

One of my best friends, Anobel, is taking pictures, amazing pictures. Why is that important? Well, I'll let him explain his goal: "to better understand the healthcare issues faced by Assyrian and Palestinian refugees living in Jordan and Syria." Since early February, he has been traveling all across both countries visiting health clinics and refugee camps to document the struggles and persistence of these displaced people. He will spend the next few weeks traveling around the area and work on editing and critiquing his project before heading back to the States. With the help of his new found friend and fellow documentarian (yes, my own word), Adam, Anobel's project is truly coming together with some magnificent and heart stopping results. After seeing some of the initial drafts of the project, I have no doubt that the story he portrays will greatly effect anyone who experiences it.

For more information about his project, you can follow his blog here:

www.anobelodisho.com/blog

To view some of his amazing photography work, go here:

www.anobelodisho.com

You can view Adam's information and follow his travels here:

www.adamteale.com

Originally, I was planning on visiting Ano, but then we found out we are moving to Brooklyn, but someday, Ano and I will voyage on a photography documentary excursion together and I am chomping at the bit! :)

Here are a few of the stories being told from his journey. Check out his blog to read more and follow his "dispatches from here". Photos shown with permission. All rights reserved ~ Anobel Odisho Photography. 

Personal Project: K-State's Anderson Hall

Continuing with my Kansas Project... one of the most iconic buildings at K-State is Anderson Hall and so I spent some time trying to really convey the location and the aura of the building. What better way to do that than to utilize some nighttime drama? Love to hear what you all think about these! Feel free to leave a comment below or shoot me an email! Thanks so much!

Personal Project: Kansas Weather

Last night, a huge storm rolled through Kansas and pretty much all of the Midwest and I could not pass up the opportunity to add to my Kansas Project and try to take some epic storm pictures! My buddy Travis and I headed out with our cameras to see what we could do and granted, neither of us are well versed in landscape photography so it was an awesome opportunity to practice :) A couple of things I learned: 1) always, always use a tripod for this type of work (doh!) and 2) No trespassing signs are just there for decoration, don't let them limit you from getting the shot you want (within reason of course)!

We were totally lucky last night. Found a spot where we never got wet and watched the storm blow right by us on the way to Manhattan! Travis said it was the most beautiful sky he's ever seen and it was hard to disagree. The billowing clouds were incredibly dramatic and surreal and they totally made me feel small and insignificant: a truly humbling experience. Reports said that we were out in 60-80 mph winds and we could hear the winds violently and unabashingly howling in the storm above us. Now, I wish I had more experience so that I could better portray the power and majesty of last night's storm. Here are my feeble attempts of documenting God's creation. Enjoy :)

Personal Project: Kansas Sunsets

Knowing that my time is now limited in Kansas, I really want to take as many shots of the openness and the beauty of the Midwest as possible before heading out East (and then back home West).  With Winter starting to transition into Spring, I am super excited about taking as many pictures as possible to truly remember the amazing time that I have spent here in Kansas. I can't believe I have neglected to do so for the past 3 years, but better late than never, right???

If you have any suggestions of where to take pictures, I would be extremely grateful!

Here are a few sunset shots that I took the other evening. I can't wait to enlarge them to some awesome panoramic sizes to hang in our house (whenever we settle down)! :)

Aspiring Photographer Workshop II ~ Senior Portraits

A few teasers from yesterday's awesome ASW II! Special thanks to Essie and Amber for truly rockin it out! Thanks all for coming! More photos and a complete write-up to follow shortly...

the fabulous Essie...

probably my favorite shot of the day :)

photographers working their magic on Essie

the sweetness of Amber...

getting ready for some action shots!

and then some second curtain flash biz-ness!

Manhattan Christian College Men's Baseball 03.13.09

Lately, I've been working quite a bit with Manhattan Christian College and I have absolutely loved all of the opportunities and access that they've presented me! I played competitive baseball for ten years so it was awesome to shoot a game because I knew what to expect and when and I could better anticipate some of the action on the field. One of the things that I learned is that shooting sports is super difficult! Many props to all sports photographers and I am excited because I have so much to learn! :)

On a chilly day, the MCC Crusaders faced off against the OCC Ambassadors and competed extremely well in spite of the bite in the air! Although the Ambassadors made a late game run, the Crusaders prevailed for the victory! Congrats MCC!!!

Feel free to view the rest of the pictures from the game at http://labrisaphotography.smugmug.com/ !!!