Glamour with Collette {New Braunfels photographer}

So I had another solo glamour shoot the other week, this time with Collette, a part-time model from San Marcos. She wanted some diversity for her portfolio, and expressed an interest in an aquatic setting, so the San Marcos River was an obvious destination for us.

We met at Stokes Park early in the morning 1) to avoid late-afternoon crowds and 2) to avoid the blistering afternoon heat. Mission accomplished on both of those counts. Collette was a real trooper, taking one of the team to get fully immersed in the crystal clear waters of the San Marcos River. I only got in up to my knees, but I can assure you that the water was freakin' cold!

I confess not every shot is thoughtfully planned out in advance. This one here, for instance. With the starlight diffraction spikes? Total serendipity. I was shooting Collette, trying for some general backlighting, and the filtered sunlight coming through the trees was simply dazzling reflecting off the flowing water. So Collette waited patiently as I scrambled to change lenses and attach an old-school star filter. The result? Sparkly special effects that are accomplished completely in-camera. Sure, anyone can add whistles and bells using Photoshop these days, but to me there's something a bit more substantial in accomplishing these things in a traditional manner.

We ended up spending more than two hours at the river--going way longer than we'd initially planned. We were having that much fun, and getting such good results. Collette even managed to work in an outfit change. A few fishermen set up shop downstream and watched us with amusement. A jogger or two passing by with their dogs gave us little notice. The kayakers navigating the shallow waters, however, were quite vocal in their approval of our efforts. All in all, it was a productive way to spend the morning.

Lisa On Location Photography

Jesse works the camera {New Braunfels Glamour Photographer}

If you're not already sitting as you read this, I suggest you find a chair. What I am about to tell you may come as a shock: I don't only shoot landscapes and macro. As hard as it may be to accept, I do indeed shoot real, live people on occasion. With all the weddings Lisa has been booking that call for a second shooter, I'd be pretty useless to her if I couldn't photograph people. I've no desire for her to put me out on the curb!

Last week I had a photo session in Austin with Jesse. She's a part-time model who loves creating different personas in front of the camera, but wanted to add some diversity to her portfolio. We met on location near Town Lake, and despite the sweltering heat, Jesse really gave it her all. The lighting was just about as close to perfect as you can get, and you can see from the rich, juicy colors that just pop in her shots.

I also got to play with Lisa's new 85mm 1.8 lens for the first time. I have to say, I am in love. I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of using any lens that focused so quickly or so accurately, time after time. It's extremely sharp, the colors it conveys are saturated and the background blur it creates is smooth and creamy. And as a double bonus, it functions perfectly on my infrared-converted camera, with no hot spots or shifting focus!

Jesse said she wanted something different, but she never expected me to photograph her in infrared. Have I mentioned I'm in love with the effect this type of photography has on people portraiture? Skin become smooth and flawless, the eyes get darker and foliage is ghostly white. The end result can range from stark to ghostly to ethereal, depending on how the image is handled afterwards. The image above is one of high contrast with an urban edge, while the image below is dreamy, straight out of faerie land. It's a whole heck of a lot of fun when the subject first sees themselves in such an unusual light, but that's usually all it takes for them to become fans of infrared glamour photography. That's what Lisa On Location is all about--always pushing the boundaries to bring our clients more!

Lisa On Location Photography

Picture this {New Braunfels Photographer}

Howdy folks! It's Jayme here. Since Lisa's away this weekend at the big ImagingUSA photography conference put on by Professional Photographers of America, I thought I'd take the opportunity to share with you some of the fun things we get to do here that aren't directly wedding or portrait related.

Occasionally, Lisa and myself get inquiries from aspiring models desiring edgy, creative and attractive photos to add to their portfolio. These glamour photography sessions are always fun, because as a photographer, we're allowed to experiment in interesting ways. A while back, I worked with a male model who needed some new shots to freshen up his portfolio. After a number of traditional head shots and poses, inspiration suddenly struck me. "Lay down on the grass," I said, "and hold your hand up toward me like this." A little dubious, he went along with my odd request. To be completely honest, I wasn't entirely sure what I had in mind would work, but nothing ventured nothing gained, right? Here's the final result:



There's a reason Lisa and I don't do this type of photo composite often--it's incredibly time consuming. I used half a dozen different image to piece this together, building each of the individual photo "prints" in Photoshop before layering them into the final image. I also created shadows to give the scattered images the illusion of depth, and went so far as to cut out actual size paper squares so I could try different arrangements and strike the perfect aesthetic balance. Crazy, I know.

I've since learned a variety of tricks and shortcuts that would dramatically cut down on the hours needed to recreate an image like this. But getting there is half the fun, especially if you do so without a road map!

Here's to Hard-Earned Breaks

Shawn2web
Originally uploaded by lisablaschke

I had a weekend off last weekend. That hasn't happened for months. For the first time in I don't remember when I didn't have a thing to do on a Saturday or Sunday. I got my hair done, did a little shopping, went to a party, then spent Mother's Day at Schlitterbahn -- an excellent day to go being that very few people will take their sweet mommas to a waterpark on her day. We went on all the rides over and over again and got thoroughly chilled to the bone. What fun!

Monday it was back to work, however. When I wasn't trying to make a cranky child happy, I was trying to fit in 5 hours of defensive driving online. Ugh! Remember that nasty little ticket I told you about a few weeks ago? It is behind me and I can now recite the sobering statistics about drunk driving and all the wonderful ways your car can implode on you on the interstate.

This afternoon I was able to get my fingers back into Photoshop shape with some images Jayme shot last night of an aspiring male model. I'm sharing one of our favorites of Shawn that I was able to create with some new plug-ins my darling husband bought me for Mother's Day. Some moms get cheap perfume and flowers, I get camera gear. Oh and that silly New Moon T-shirt he thought it would be so funny to see me wear -- yes, I love to look like a 38-year-old teenager -- go Team Jacob!