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It’s that time of year that I gather up the wife and children and force them pose for a picture we can use as our Christmas Card.  Remember – if you don’t do it then Santa won’t come!

So it’s normally an exercise in organized chaos , we just decided to make the shot organized chaos.  Here are a couple of outtakes from the event.  I’ll post the finished card later when start to mail them out.

I’d also like to point out that this is in our living room. Not some fancy studio space. People often wonder when I say that I’m on site photographer what can be achieved. Well, stuff just like this…it just takes a well thought out plan.

Joey Lawrence weighs in on the Canon vs Nikon debate…

So I tossed a question up at LoC on Facebook (why aren’t you a fan?) asking about who the photographers that follow me me follow.  Got a couple of interesting links out of that and then had the question turned around on me.  So…who do I follow?

The short answer is about a million different people and blogs.  Sit me in front of Flickr at 7AM and it’s quite possible you still find me there at midnight.  That said, it’s not because I’ve been in awe of every image there, it’s because, while Flickr is a great source of good photography, it’s also a greater source for bad photograhy – overdone Photoshop, bad textures, trendy actions.  Like anything, you have to pick and choose.

A few of the folks I follow over at Flickr -

Photoplasia – Jim is a friend of mine and fantastic photographer.  His work is always clean and bold.

Aaron Van Dike – Aaron is a local guy that is really starting to make a name for himself.  His work involved a little lot more PS that I would ever do, but it does it great.  It’s like that perfect bowl of porridge.

Jekkika – just fantastic portraits.  Great compositions and colors

Wizwow- Don Giannatti also has a blog someplace.  I don’t follow that for some reason, but Don take pretty girls to great locations and lets you in on the how and why he made a photo that way he did.

Andrea- Her work is just plain good.  It’s very natural looking.  Andi and I met because of Flickr and work together a fair bit.

And there are just so many others.   I have about 60 contacts on there.  I’m sure that’s hardly any compared to some people there, but I think all 60 of these folks are compentent photographers.

Then there this the handful of pro photographers that almost everybody follows because they are hip and trendy right now.  Guys like Zach Arias, Joe McNally, Chase Jarvis.  I don’t follow them so much for their photography, but rather what they have to say about their photography and photography in general.  They give a lot of information about how they work, why they work that way, what they see the industry doing.  Don’t get me wrong, these guys take fantastic photos but it’s great to see the process that goes into making those images come to life.

Then there is David Hobby.  The man behind Strobist.  David talks about light like nobody else.  Sure the focus in using strobes, but the lesson to learn is how to manage light because at the end of the day every single photograph taken – good or bad – needs light.   There is also a Strobist group and several spin-offs over at Flickr – there might even be one for your city or state.

Finally there are a bunch of other blogs from portrait and wedding photographers that I just stumbled upon somehow and really enjoyed.

It’s not often I get to hang out with a camera and surround myself with women, but that’s just what I got to do yesterday during a photowalk through Downtown Willoughby.

Cobi and Kristen joined Andi and I on a little adventure to just get out and take pictures.

We walked from City Hall to the Cemetery, then down to the river and all along the main strip.

We had a great day for November in Ohio and great time just walking and shooting for the fun of it.

More photos from the walk can be see over HERE at Left of Center Photography at Facebook.

A while back I did a post about photographing kids being kids and nothing proves that point more than these three shots.   This is Olivia, Austin and their cousin Ellie.  I shot the three of them together last fall and I must not have really frightened the children too much because their parents called me back to shoot them again this year.

I have to say we got really lucky with the day.  It was 70F last weekend – in November! – in Ohio!  That sort of thing never happens.   We took advantage of the weather to do quite a few shots outside and these three were easily some of my favorites from the session!

O-H!

Once again the LoC studio turned into a haunted house on Halloween day!

That’s yours truly as the disgruntled gargoyle/Vikings fan.

Autumn could be my favorite time of year.  The colors of fall, the cooler temperatures, the fun activities like hayrides, apple picking and, of course, Halloween.

This year we brough home around 175 lbs of pumpkins to carve. All told, it’s 11 pumpkins. Four were used for this bonfire creation. The kids and I each have two more to carve. I guess our house takes pride in having the coolest pumpkins on the street.

I also like this time of year because Halloween is about the only time I can get the boy to pose for a picture without bribing him. Just getting to be “scary” is enough. He doesn’t stand still for many, but he wants to make sure he’s included!

He just thought it was so cool that his teeth matched his shirt.

And the little witch? She’s always ready to have her picture taken. I’m surprised this didn’t involved costume changes. There is still time, though, since Halloween is a day away!

My Dad would have been 72 yesterday.   He’s buried on the other side of town and I don’t get there much to visit his grave.  Not that doing that sort of thing is all my style anyhow.  I wanted something to have around to remember his by and I decided to get his favorite fishing lure put on my body as that reminder.

In 1970 Dad had a kidney transplant. He had been born with only one and when it failed his mother donated one of hers to him. I was born two years later.

Growing up, that scar on his side was something I always noticed as child.

Because of that I picked my left side, right where that scar was at to place my new ink.

I chose a Rapala because it was his, and now my, favorite lure to pull from a tackle box when it’s time to catch bass.  That was something he and I spent hours of summer nights doing for as long as I can remember.  I made sure to pass the tradition on and both my kids caught their first fish with black and white Rapalas.

It took CJ from Alligator Ink about an hour to do the job and it turned out great.

I did learn that it’s pretty had to photograph yourself getting inked in this spot.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

So there were a fair number of reponses over in Facebook-land to question of interest in walks and/or classes.

If you responded to that simple question, I’m asking you to take a minute to fill out this survey.  I’d like to get an idea of what everybody is really expecting and what level everybody might be at so that whatever I plan is done so that everybody can have a good time.

Survey

Thanks!