Cody and I have shot together before and we both really liked the results so working together again was just a matter of finding the time and figuring out what we want to shoot.

this time, it was pretty much the all Cody show. she knew the location she wanted to use and the outfit and the theme.

the location was a stairwell in a parking garage in downtown memphis.

the theme we were going for was an Alice In Wonderland type of feel, but without going too overboard with it.

and away we go.

so, when we started off, we started off with just available light. which Cody really liked and preferred.

but i did bring my  Nikon Speedlight SB-600 too, for those times i felt we needed a little more light thrown on the scene.

pulling back to show a little bit more of the scene. i love that this stairwell exists.

but after a few shots with the speedlite, we settled back on just using available light for the rest of the shoot.

really dig this one.

and really love this one too.

man, this was a hard shot to get.

i was actually laying down, on the concrete of this stairwell, hoping i wasn’t laying in hobo pee, and i was still having trouble getting low enough for the angle we wanted.

i think we finally nailed it, but it took some work.

this shot, and the one like it that started this post, were shots i really wanted to do and i like how they came out.

still available light, but now i’ve opened the door all the way.

really love that dragonfly necklace Cody wore that day.

and we’ll wrap it up with this shot, which is a pose Cody really wanted and i think it came out great.

as you can imagine, we shot much more than this but i’m trying to get better at self-editing myself so i’m just posting these.

as always, it was a blast shooting with cody and hopefully it won’t be another two years before we can shoot something else again

have a good one everybody.

see ya next post!

tom called me up a few days back and asked if i’d be free on the 27th and i said sure, what was up and, lo and behold, he had managed to arrange and set up a shoot with Martin Barre.

y’know, just the legendary guitarist of Jethro Tull and wanted to know if i’d help him out as a photo assist. and since i love taking documentary style/behind the scenes photos, Tom asked Martin if that would be cool for me to do while they shot and he said it was no problem.

hell to the yeah.

the location was inside the dance studio of Ballet Mississippi.

let’s get to it

Martin was a really cool guy.  heh, he really liked my hat.

so, tom kept the lighting set-up pretty basic.

you can see it a little better here. a softbox to camera left with additional accent lighting towards the back; camera left. a grey backdrop and a simple reflector to camera right. and that was the set up.

it was really cool, while tom was shooting and i was walking around getting some shots, martin would just be playing tunes on the guitar. everywhere now and then either tom or i would look up and go “hey, i know that one”

shooting his reflection in one of the dance studio mirrors

after him and tom decide that the suit jacket he was wearing wasn’t working.

so, i started to notice, that whenever tom snapped a photo, it would take the lights a few seconds to cycle back up to full power. so, for a few seconds, you got this cool halo silhouette going on.  so i started to time it and managed to snap this before the lights came back on.

man, tom had this lit up nice

speaking of tom, here he is. i think this is one of my fav photos i’ve taken recently.

in case you’re wondering what kind of camera that is, it’s a Mamiya RZ67.

tom and martin talking over the shoot so far.

and this would be my last shot of the day and tom finished up a shot or two later.

after that, it was time for a victory photo

many thanks to tom for inviting me along for the ride and many thanks for Martin Barre for making the time while he was in town.  cool day all around

and not to be outdone, i had tom take a pic for me on my iphone

good times

have a good one everybody

see ya next post!

giving my professional website a complete update and overhaul was one of those steps.

i even started a new photography tumblr.

and i started wondering; with me wanting to try new things with my photography, how would i approach the final edit of some past images.

so i decided to find out.

since i don’t tend to shoot weddings, whenever i do end up shooting one for a friend i tend not to post the photos, since i hate having to tell people no when they ask if i’ll shoot theirs.

but i’ve always liked these photos i shot of my friend Karyn’s wedding and i figured they would make a good experiment.  i shot these back in 2008 (wow, it’s been awhile) and i was interested how 2013-Pat would edit 2008-Pat.

so, let’s go see.

if you want to compare and contrast, here are two facebook albums with the original photos

this is still one of my favorite photos i’ve ever taken of J. and it was the first photo i took after i got to the church. it was just a simple light test. but man, i love it.

it’s laura!

it’s kerry!

it’s the flower girl, walking in the sun

it’s the bride!

bride and groom!

it’s gabe!

it’s mark!

it’s jeff!

one of my fav photos

heh, gabe is tripping me out

love this shot too

somebody’s little girl at the reception. no flash. shot at night with just the deck light to camera right as the only light source.

mark catching the garter belt. boo-yah!

and to wrap it up…

drink ‘em if ya got ‘em kerry. drink ‘em if ya got ‘em

heh, and that will wrap it up.  looking forward to shooting all new stuff in the coming year!

have a good one everybody!

see ya next post

why so long before making a new post for 2013?  well, i wanted the first post of the new year to be the announcement of my recently updated, redesigned, and overhauled professional website!

and now that time has come!

so, if you haven’t already, please check out the all new www.williampatrickbutler.net!

i have big things planned for 2013 and this is just the start!

BALLS TO THE WALL!

have a good one everybody!

see ya next post!

it means it’s time to check out the photos from the annual Esperanza Plantation Holiday Showcase!

this year was the 10th(!) anniversary! and for the 10th, just like for all previous years, they held it in the heart of Fondren, at the Pix/Capri theater!

like i’ve said for the last few years, this is clocking in at about a 100+ photo post so don’t expect a lot of commentary from me.

so sit back and enjoy photos of a rocking show!

and, as always, let’s give props to Stephen Barnett of Davaine Lighting for lighting so awesome, we need to come up with a better word than “awesome” to describe it!

so, without further ado:

The Line-Up! (in order of appearance)

- T.B. LEDFORD!

- JOHNNY BERTRAM & THE GOLDEN BICYCLES!

- EL OBO!

- BEAR COLONY!

- QUESTIONS IN DIALECT!

- THE WEEKS!

well let’s not waste any time!

first up:

T.B. LEDFORD!

Johnny B was even called on stage for a quick guest appearance during the set!

T.B. Ledford ladies and gents!

next up:

JOHNNY BERTRAM & THE GOLDEN BICYCLES!

Johnny B and the Golden Bicycles everybody!

and the crowd goes wild!

next up:

EL OBO!

El Obo ladies and gents!

next:

BEAR COLONY!

and that was Bear Colony!

oh! and here’s Chaney (the mastermind behind Esperanza) reminding us all to buy Bear Colony’s new album!

next up:

QUESTIONS IN DIALECT!

ok, there aren’t gonna be a lot of photos in this set because QiD took shit to the next level and set up a projection screen behind them, killed all the lights, and played while the crowd watched old school 3D videos behind them!

here’s Chaney getting ready to pass out all the 3D glasses!

here’s Daniel Guaqueta, drummer of QiD, looking like a bad-ass space alien passing out the glasses

damn, what a great set!

Questions in Dialect folks!

next up, the band that’s gonna close out the set and made all us photographers work harder to shoot because their fans pushed the barricades all the way to the front of the stage so we lost the photo pit. rock and roll baby!:

THE WEEKS!

this was around the time we had to start shooting from the stage because the fans had pushed all the way to the front of the stage.

it doesn’t get more rock and roll than that!

man, they loved themselves some Weeks!

and i figured i’d start to wrap things up black and white style

The Weeks!

and that will wrap up the 10th Annual Esperanza Holiday Showcase and the last post of 2012 for Scenes Around Jackson!

year after year, i look forward to shooting the Showcase and this year rocked liked all the others!

looking back, 2012 was a pretty slow photo year for Scenes Around Jackson and for myself too.  i mean, including this post, i only posted 10(!) times this year!  when i first started this blog out i was posting, at least, once a week!  part of it was it just being a slow photo year. but the other part was i just wasn’t pushing myself to shoot.

that’s gonna change for 2013.  stay tuned.

ok, i need to go help take down the christmas lights and then hop on the road for Starkville for some New Years Eve fun!

so Chaney, what time is it?!

that’s right!  ya’ll ain’t got to go home, but ya gotta get the hell outta here!

have a Happy, Safe, and Fun New Years everybody!

see ya next year!

Peach and i have been friends for a couple of years now, and we kept meaning to find the time to shoot together but, y’know, life kept happening.

around a few months back, we decided to get serious about meeting up so we made plans to do it and then her car broke down so we had to push it back and then, after she got her car fixed,  my car breaks down so I had to push it back.

finally, after a month or two (and both cars being fixed), we settled on me coming to crash with her, at her place in New Orleans, for 5 days in the second week of October so we could just hang and shoot like crazy a week before she left for San Francisco to hang and shoot with our mutual friend Finch.

and shoot like crazy we did!  we shot many different styles in many different locations, both inside and outside.

i won’t be posting everything we shot (just my personal favs) since a lot of these are destined for other sites such as GodsGirls, Zivity, and Peach’s own personal site so they get first dibs.

but i also shot some polaroids of her so i’ll post all of those since those aren’t destined for any other site.

i also shot a lot of Instagram shots of some behind the scenes stuff that i’ll post up too, for the same reason.

alrighty, some stats before we get to it!

Model/MUA/Hair: Peach

Camera(s): Pentax K100D, Polaroid 420 Land Camera, iPhone 4S

Lights: AlienBee 1600 w/a Westcott Apollo 28″ softbox and a silver field reflector as modifiers.  also used a Nikon Speedlight SB-600 when we were “running and gunning” outside.

let’s do this!

(oh, all the titles for the different shoots came from me. i’m sure Peach will think up better ones whenever we send these off)

A Southern Peach, Wrapped In Scarlet 

A Peach In Afternoon Light

A Peach In Sin City

A Peach At The Levee

A Peach Among The Graffitied Pool

A Peach At The Beach

A Peach In Bed

to start off, i figured i’d post an instagram of all that equipment i listed above the cut.

so, my first day in NOLA was just spent hanging with Peach and checking out the first shoot location, which was one of her friend’s house.  they had just moved in so it was pretty much empty except for some beds, computers, and a tv.  in fact the entire back room, where the washer/dryer would go, was just completely empty.  and the entire place got great, natural, light so it was perfect.

so that’s where we headed, the next day, for Day One.

Day One

this ended up being our busiest day.  the first 3 out of the 7 shoots that we did, we did on Day One.

a BTS instagram of Peach getting all dolled up before we start shooting our first set of the day.

one of her friends that lived there had red bedsheets that went perfectly with the silk red robe and red stockings that Peach brought with her for the shoot.  when stuff that you don’t plan works out perfectly, that equals all kinds of awesome.

i thought about setting up lights for this, but when i saw how great the sunlight from the window was falling on her i knew the only light i need was that.

this is one of Peach’s favs from this set.

and this is one of my favs.

such a simple lighting set up, but it worked oh so well.

and it really let me play with the shadows it cast too.

love how her red lips are highlighted by the sun here.

playing with light and shadow.

i figure only showing 8 photos per set is a good number.  since each set is at least 40+ photos.

here are the two polaroids i shot when we were shooting this set:

this is when we were just about to get started and Peach still had her hair down.

and here’s one i took in the middle of the shoot, when i saw how nice she looked in that light.

after we were done in here, we changed location and went to the empty room in the back of the house.

i loved loved loved the lighting in here.  it wasn’t a big room but it had that screen door that lead to the backyard and two windows to the right of it that just let in wonderful light.

and the walls of the room were white so, pretty much, it made the entire room into a big softbox.

so, i decided early on that i wanted everything we shot to have it’s own “feel”.

after seeing how this room treated the light it was getting, i knew i wanted this one to have more of a soft, lazy feel to it.  so, this is another set where i just used the natural lighting.

stepping outside to shoot some through the screen door

just love that lighting.

outside again, but this time i kept the screen door open.

it’s easy to forget that the best light can just be natural light sometimes

and this will wrap up this set.

except for a polaroid shot and an instagram shot.

after this, it was time for something completely different.

we stayed in the same room, but Peach changed outfits and i actually set up some off camera lighting.

here’s how the lighting set-up looked:

heh at the Peach pout/frown.

so yeah, this next set was shot, pretty much, in that corner of the room, lit by the AlienBee with just the silver field reflector as a light modifier.

we both wanted to do something a bit more, i guess you would call it editorial, with this set.

when i saw Peach walk out, dressed all in black, i knew as i started shooting i would be making these into black and white.

i also knew i wouldn’t it to be really stark.  that Sin City type of black and white.

i also tried to pull back so i would get her full body in the frame.  i’ve really been trying to do that with my more recent shoots.

i actually didn’t have the AlienBee turned up that high.  the white walls were just excellent light bounces.

*cues up SIN CITY soundtrack*

i took an instagram of this pose too.  look for it at the end of this set.

one of my favorite shots in this set.

i love how the black of her hair and the black of her shoes frame her here.

just a great pose and a great way to wrap up this set and Day One.

no polaroids for this set, but here’s that instagram i was talking about.

this ended up one of my most liked posts on IG

Day Two

Day Two actually started off mid-afternoon with a walk down to one of the NOLA levees, near the Ninth Ward.

this was also our first outside shoot so, we were both a bit nervous/excited about it.

this was actually a good bit off the ground but i had faith in the solid workmanship of New Orleans levee builders.

heh, so we were trying to think up shot ideas, after we got up here, and Peach was all “i think i can get past all that barb wire and we can get closer to the water” and i was all “no, that’s old, rusty barb wire! that’s a tetanus shot in the making!”

it was at that moment i realized i’d become my mom.

blocking the sun from her eyes and setting up a cool shot.

after this one, we decided to stop risking arrest for a minute (there was a major road, to camera left of us.  not close enough to really see anything but not far enough away to see nothing if that makes any sense) and we decided to head down and get some shots in an abandoned train tunnel that was right down the path.

the IG version of this shot proved really popular too

have to admit, i really dig this shot.

Peach’s favorite shot of this set was the one i put above the cut.

after the tunnel we both decided that we just weren’t done on top of the levee so damn the man we went back for more shots!

it’s ok to get arrested if it’s for ART!

and as we were wrapping up the shoot and were walking down from the levee, i saw how the shadows of the fence were falling on here and just had to unpack my camera and grab this shot.  and it ended up being my fav.

ok, before we wrap up Day Two, here are some polaroids and IG shots

i’d run out of color film after Day One so now it’s all about the black/white.

and that will do it for Day Two!

Day Three

Day Three once again started off around the early to mid-afternoon hour but we added a new cast member to our team!

Peach’s boyfriend, Jamie, came with us this time.  One, for the company and two, since me and Peach wanted to break into an abandoned pool, we figured it’d be a good idea to have a little bit more back-up then just the two of us.

so off the three of us set for the abandoned pool that was a few blocks away from their house!  and after a little bit of crawling through holes in walls, and stepping over human poop (no, really, some homeless people had set up shop and pooped in there!) we made it to the actual pool area for some shooting!

see, wasn’t it worth the trip

we start off, and shot mostly, in this corner.  One, because we both thought it looked really cool and Two, because it was the only way we could shoot were nobody could look out a window and see us from the school that was across the street.

once again, since we’re outside “running and gunning” the only camera lighting i was using (besides the sun) was my speedlite.

so, i was pretty much using my speedlite as fill and just letting the sun be my primary.

i have to give Peach credit for getting naked in here. after i didn’t even wanna touch anything LoL

y’know, this is one of the shots that has really grown on me.  i like the scale of it.

digging how the sun helps to high light her face

same corner, just went for a lower angle.

and we’ll end it with another wide “scale” shot.

so, funny story, whenever you see us going for a shot in the middle of the pool like this, we were really hustling.  they were really quick shots cause, if someone happened to look out the window of that school across the street they would have gotten an eye full.  so it was a lot of me going “ok ok, don’t uncover until i get in postion and get you in focus” and Peach going “are we ready?” while looking up at the windows and me going “ok now!” snap snap snap “got it, let’s get the hell out of here!” LoL

and now, here’s a polaroid and an instagram shot to wrap up Day Three

i really dig this shot

and that’ll do it

Day Four

Day Four was our last day of shooting and it ended up being our second busiest shoot day of the trip.

we shot at two locations; one outside and the other inside Peach’s friend’s Becca’s house.

so let’s get to it.  the first location was at this, almost secret place, beside the river.

once again, since we’re outside, i’m using my speedlite

after we got down near the river, we found this large overturned tree/log and knew we’d found our spot.

i really like that old style full piece swimsuit Peach was wearing that day.

some of my favorite photos of when i have Peach look directly into the camera.

we had a nice breeze blowing and i was loving how it made her hair look.

i’m standing on the same tree right now, to get this shot.  and there was still enough room for us to lay by camera bag and Peach’s clothes on the same tree behind me.  that’s how big and long this down tree was.

i really wanted to make sure i got a lot of the background too for this series, since it was such a great place and a beautiful day.

and this will wrap up the first part of Day Four!

oh, and here are the polaroids and instagram shots

and these will actually be the last polaroids of the shoot.  i tried to take one for the final shoot, but it was just too dark. so hope you enjoyed them!

another well received one from my IG feed and one of my personal favs too.

after this, we got all packed up and headed back to Peach and Jamie’s place to hang out and kill time till we could head over to Becca’s house later that night.

this last shoot ended up being a fav for Peach and myself.  it didn’t seem to last too long, cause we were both oh so tired after shooting for four days straight LoL, but we got some of our best shots that night i think.

plus, it was nice being back inside, not worried about cars passing by or folks walking up on us.  so we didn’t have to rush and i could actually use some off camera lighting.

anyway, let’s get to it!

i really love a lot about this. the wood paneling design on the wall, that kick ass bed, how Peach started off in all black.  just a lot i dig.

gotta admit, it was nice being able to use some off camera lighting again

after pealing out that black dress, it was time to show off her corset.

and then it was time to take it off

Peach really loves this photo and so do i.  like i’ve said before, having Peach look directly into the lens is always awesome.

love that halo effect lowering the fill light behind her added.

i really like how this one came out. it was hard to really tell, just looking at it in the back of the camera, but after i got it on the big screen, i just really dug it.

the, actual, very last shot i shot. after i saw what we had, i knew we could wrap it up.

which was a good thing since we, both, hit the wall and really couldn’t go on any further LoL.

ok, one last IG shot! plus, it shows what my set-up was for this entire shoot.

there ya go.

my fill light is to camera left and my main light source, which was my AlienBee inside my softbox, was camera right.

*whew!*

so there it is, the epic Pat and Peach Photofest 2K12

gotta say, i’m glad we finally found time to make this happen, cause i had a blast

and i hope everyone else enjoyed this very long post too

have a good one everybody!

see ya next post!

so!  last month two of my very good friends, Jaime and Jeff, decided to get (re)married!  (pretty much, they were already married. had been married for years. but the first time they just went down to the court house. this was pretty much an excuse for them to finally have a ceremony to go with it)

and since i wasn’t the official photographer (yay) i could just hang out and shoot whatever i wanted.

which, also, gave me the excuse i needed to finally put a Fuji X-Pro1 that i was borrowing through its paces

i’d been wanting to shoot with this camera for awhile and it did not disappoint (except a little in one way, which i’ll cover at the end)

anywho, let’s get to the good times!

so the wedding was held during the afternoon in good ole, small town rustic Como, MS!  (a town i didn’t even know existed until this wedding)

here’s the house it was held in!  it belongs to a friend of Jaime’s and she was kind enough to let them have the wedding there

here’s a view of the bed and breakfast the wedding party stayed the night in the night before (and where everyone got dressed for the wedding the day of)

the view from the top of the balcony  at the bed and breakfast

friends and bridesmaids getting the bride all ready

the rest of the bridal party arrives

the groom arrives with groom jr.!

the rest of the groomsmen arrives

mary and misty show us the power of friendship!

quick self-port in the bathroom mirror!

jeff getting all groomed out

groom jr (better known as Jack) is wondering when this party is gonna get started

the bride is ready to roll

misty putting on her finishing touches

hailey and tate showing us friendship!

jack’s ready to roll

cool story here. Jeff saw me getting ready to take this photo and he had T.J. hold that pose as he attached his cufflink so i could get it. teamwork!

jeff and girl pat showing us friendship!

girl pat putting on her finishing touches

Asa and Jack showing us sibling love!

smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em

(smoking is bad for you kids)

checking out each other’s shoes

putting the finishing touches on the groom’s hair

from the bed and breakfast to the house, waiting for things to start

wedding guests!

jeff’s ready!

more guests are seated

everybody looking up as Jaime makes her entrance

but first!  ms. asa as the flower girl!

awwwwwww <3

everyone’s (re)married! time for the reception!

cupcake time!

asa is ready for those cupcakes!

G and Mary show us love!  they got engaged a few weeks later! <3

awwww <3

i love this photo

misty and J show us the meaning of friendship!

girl pat is all about the House of El

J posing at the old servants quarters

heh, i love this photo too

girl pat and aaron show us friendship!

jenni and misty show us love! they got engaged a few weeks later too!  awwwwww <3

love this photo too

jon smartphoning

aaron just chillin’

adrienne looking over at something pass aaron

pure misty

pure J

one of those rare photos with me in it!

misty’s bad-ass shoes

it’s sam!

love that focus

awwwwww <3

another shot i really love

and we’ll wrap it up with friendship!  :)

man, not only was this a great time but man oh man how i loved shooting with the Fuji X-Pro1!

i hated giving it back up.  it was, really, everything i’ve been looking for in a camera.  not too big, not too small, light weight, quiet, sharp 35mm prime lens, everything!

the only flaw, like i mentioned at the top of the cut, was the autofocus.  in low light it really had to hunt to find the spot you wanted to focus on and, even when there was enough light, it was slow.  way too slow.

but!

according to the internet and sources that i trust, the 2.0 firmware update Fuji released for the XPro1 totally eliminates that flaw!  and if that’s true, then this camera is pretty close to perfect for it’s weight class.

anyway, that should do it for this post.

oh!

i’ve changed the sizes of the photos that i post on here from 600pix to 800pix wide!  i’ve been thinking about it for awhile and i’ve decided i like ‘em a little bigger.  what does everyone else think?

next post will be some select photos of the Peach shoot!

have a good one everybody!

see ya next post!

but then it occurred to me “wait, it’s been a year since the last time me and thuy have worked together! it’s time!” (since we seem to only get together to shoot once a year LoL)

so i hit her up on facebook and, since you’re reading this post it should come as no surprise, she was more than down for another shoot.  so we met up at the CUPS in Lakeland to plan out what we wanted to do this time.

since the last shoot was outside, we both wanted to shoot in an inside location this time (plus, y’know, it gets really hot during a mississippi summer and we both wanted to avoid melting)

we also wanted to try and shoot more than just one style this time.  we kinda played around with that during our first shoot but we really wanted to go for it this time.  so, after hashing some ideas out (and leaving some stuff vague so we could see where we wanted to go during the shoot) we just had to figure out a day and location.

enter my friend J.Diddy!

i’d had a photoshoot at a friend of her’s apartment a few months back, right in the heart of downtown Jackson, and just fell in love with it.  so i was really hoping i could use it again and, after a few back and forth emails with J.Diddy, discovered that he was cool with letting us shoot there!  with that locked down me and thuy set a date and got to it!

so, before we get started, some quick stats!

Model/MUA/Hair: Thuy Tran

Camera: Pentax K100D

Lights: AlienBee 1600 w/a Westcott Apollo 28″ softbox as a modifier (along with just a silver field reflector sometimes).

ok, let’s get to it!  we settled on six styles for the shoot!

Casual

Faces (inspired shoots like this kate moss one)

Red Hair

Classy Black and White

Classy Color

Business Woman 

so, we got to the apartment around 10am and for the first style we went with casual.  kinda just giving the feel of just a day spent lounging around your place. minimal make-up and just regular clothes.

after this shot, i shot a few more with a continues light on her, but i just think the ones i shot with only available light are the best so those are the ones i’m gonna be posting

i love how much light this apartment gets

after this shot, we switched locations from the hallway to the living room and thuy changed into another around the house outfit.

still all available light

after this shot we walked back to the guest bedroom (where thuy had laid out all her various outfits) to try and figure out what the next style was gonna be when i noticed how nice the light was coming in and falling on a chair by the window. so we shot a few more shots before wrapping this style up.

and this will wrap up casual!  (heh, i made a joke to thuy, while we were shooting it, that it felt like we were shooting an Apple commercial LoL)

after this we started to get set up to do the faces style.  we pretty much just needed an empty wall for the background so i just set up my AlienBee with just the silver field reflector in front of a wall in the same guest bedroom (i knew that the light from the AlienBee would make the beige wall go white) and when thuy came out of the bathroom after changing up her make-up and outfit, we were good to go.

here are some of the full sized photos.  only gonna post a few of those but then i’ll show how we put most of them together to make that kate moss style montage

and here’s how it all came together!

we both really liked how it all came out!  thuy liked it so much so me it her FB profile pic so i consider that a win!

after that, we shifted gears to get ready for the next style, which was red hair.

i kept the silver field reflector on my AlienBee as my main source of off camera light.

to be honest, i think (and i think thuy does too) this was our weakest style out of all of them sooooo, probably only gonna post one or two of these LoL

yeah, that’s about it with these.

the main problem was, we just couldn’t figure out a way to make that wig not look like a wig.  anyway, sometimes you have to punt but i have no doubt we’ll come back to this one day and figure out a way to make it work.

next up a style that we both really liked shooting; classy black and white!

the artwork hanging on the wall there is by my friend William Goodman

when i saw her walk out in that black dress, i knew i was going black and white with these.

man, thuy really pulls this look off.  the only direction i gave her (aside from the usual “turn this way, turn that way” etc) was “ok, just looks as regal and classy as you can”

boom.

for the off camera lighting, i used my Westcott Apollo softbox on my AlienBee, using it as my main light and the sun as fill.

love that softbox light

after this shot we changed location from that corner with the sweet piano and even sweeter art to the hallway.

the lighting set-up has stayed the same.  AlienBee with a softbox camera right, sun to the left.

for a little contrast and compare, i actually changed the lighting for this.  i simply didn’t have the AlienBee fire and just shot it all with available light.

back to the off camera lighting.

this was, actually, a bit of a candid moment, but when i saw her in this pose i snapped it as quick as i could.

love it.

a slight shift.  i moved her farther away from the window and more in the middle of the hallway.

my AlienBee is still camera right and the sun filled window is still to the left.

full body shot to see more of the hallway that we were in.  and i really like her pose here.

after this, another slight shift.

this time to the floor though

this hallway was a pretty good “sweet spot”

of course, it helps to have a great model to make that “sweet spot” really sing.

i love that little smirk.

after this another location move before we wrap this style up.

this time to the master bathroom, which just had kick ass lighting and a really cool wall background.

see, told ya so.  i didn’t bother bringing my AlienBee in here.  i just used the available light.

and after this location we wrapped up this style!

next up, back to the living room, but this time with off camera lighting as we change styles to from black and white to classy color.

i just can’t say enough about thuy.

hair, make-up, clothes, accessories, that was all her.  all i had to do was hold the camera and snap.

i really like this shot.

man, that living room was a pretty “sweet spot” too.

and this wraps up this style!

by the time we got to this next, and last style, we were both starting to run on empty.  all the snack foods in the world couldn’t hide the fact that we’d been shooting since 10am and now it was closing in around 2pm LoL

so there won’t be as many shots in here as most. not because we didn’t like it, just because we didn’t shoot that many.

next up, business woman

we changed locations to the study.  my light source is still the AlienBee in the softbox, but now it’s camera left.

and that will wrap this style and this entire shoot!

man, what else can i say.  i was great to be shooting again and great to be working with thuy again

she’s a freaking chameleon, man!  each style she was that style.  i hope that makes sense LoL.

anyway, here’s to hoping we don’t wait another year before getting back together.

once again, many thanks to my friend J.Diddy for helping to arrange the location.

and here are some words i’m really glad to be typing again:

have a good one everybody!

see ya next post!

in 1998 i was still living in memphis, finishing up my first semester at the Memphis College of Art and getting ready to start my second year there.

like my 1997 post, the majority of these photos have never been seen before, by anyone but me.

so let’s check out what 21 year old Pat and his friends were up to in 1998!

(man, being a poor art student and never eating a full meal meant i was pretty thin back then LoL)

that camera i’m shooting with is a Canon AE-1 Program.  it’s the camera i used all through out school and after i was done with school.  in fact, i used my “ole workhorse” up until i got my first DSLR around 2005.

this is my best friend, and roommate at the time, Rion.

heh, one thing about being the roommate of a photo major, it means you’re gonna get shot a lot LoL

this is another one of my best friends, Jaime, hanging out outside our front door (hm, i wonder what she was reading)

also, these photos aren’t gonna be in any kind of order.

it was, and continues to be, all about the comics

oh, and gaming, can’t forget gaming (this was the Montreal by Night sourcebook)

this was a shot i ended up using for a lighting assignment

another one of my best friends Marsh

let’s take a quick look around his old room!

yes, those were all his posters

his old 300 disc CD changer (he still has that)

my friend Tracy, hanging out over at our place.  she’s getting married this june!

(and yes, i did scan the negative the right way. that poster in the background is actually just reversed)

my boy Aaron, chatting on the computer at his and karyn’s old place

some of the old crew, hanging out at aaron and karyn’s old place (karyn is in the white shirt)

Jaime flipping me off

ahhh friendship!

Jaime talking to…

Davery, her boyfriend at the time.

heh, i actually remember taking these that night.  i had already gotten the two individual shots but i knew i wanted to get one with them together.  they had actually finished their convo/cigarettes and were getting ready to head back inside when i made them stand back together and pretend to still be talking while i got the shot i wanted LoL

it’s my cat, Kieu!

huh, i’ve forgotten who took this, but it’s my and one of my best friends, Nancy, hanging out at her place in Rome, Georgia

it’s Tammie!

and back to nancy, getting mad that i’m still taking pictures of her :p

this was a statue at a local church that i shot one night, while driving around, looking for stuff to help me finish up the roll of film i was on

for some reason, i let someone talk me into shooting someone’s band photos, even though i had absolutely no idea what the hell i was doing LoL

i mean, really 21 year old/first year photo major Pat?  let’s do band photos in the middle of the night with only the available light as a lighting source?! LoL

i’m shocked any of these came out

the best one of the bunch.

trust me, i’ve gotten a lot better.

it’s rion’s dog, Maya

heh, marsh and rion making up marvel rpg characters.  i have no idea why rion is making that face LoL

and now for a change of pace, here’s a shot of my family, right before we head to church, and my sister’s good friend from Japan, Yoko

from left to right; my aunt linda, my ma, my sis Jen, and Yoko

19 year old jen is too cool for school :p

jaime crashing in my bed

rion and our friend, George playing…uh, i think it was RISK

man, george was crazy as hell.  no, i mean really crazy LoL

Beville, at his old house in Jackson

rion’s girlfriend at the time, Tonya

rion on the phone

jaime on the phone

rion on the phone again

heh, whenever my friends would get tired of me shooting them, i’d just wait till they were on the phone cause that meant they couldn’t dodge me then

ahh the era before cell phones

jaime sleeping on the couch

rion sleeping on the couch

jaime and rion

heh, i have no idea who these two are or were.

really, i was at the apartment one night and rion and tonya brought them over to crash cause they were homeless and needed a place to stay for the night

heh

so they crashed on the floor and the next day they were gone.

wonder whatever happened to them

the IHOP across the street from our place

soooo many late nights were spent there

our friend Rain talking to rion.  i think rion was hitting on her right here LoL

jaime lighting up

soooo one day, one of our downstairs neighbor friends asked if i and my friend who was hanging out at the time, Christye, could babysit her daughter for a few hours while she ran a few errands.  i don’t know what’s crazier, the fact that i said yes or the fact she would trust us with her kid LoL

Christye’s puppy at the time

one of my favorite pics

rion in his room

jaime at the computer

rion walking up the steps to get to our apartment

this shot, and the next two, were rion and tonya helping me out with a mid-term photo project.

i made up an entire storyline about this couple and asked them to portray it.

and we’ll wrap up this trip through the archives with this shot.

this was a girl rion was dating, after him and tonya broke up.

this was downtown, at the memphis greyhound station when she was moving away from memphis, going…well, i’ve forgotten.

always liked this shot though.

man, i’m still amazed at how much film i went through back in those days.  hell, i can’t believe it’s been 14 years(!) since 1998 LoL

anyway, next time i have time to scan them in, [from the archives] 1999!

have a good one everybody!

see ya next post!

cody ended up naming the first theme. in fact, the first theme was really her baby all the way.  she knew what she wanted, the feel she wanted, and everything.

for this them, i took the lead.  i named it, knew the feel i wanted, etc.

in my head, she’s still the same character.  but this theme takes place when she first gets to the room and then shows what happens afterwards.

you’ll notice, as i get towards the end, that i shift from black and white to color.  i think it fit the scene and feel better.  it’s rare that i do that but i think it fit in this case

ok, let’s get to it

so, Dirt Track Date was shot in the front room of cody’s apartment in memphis.  but we shot Room 901 in her bedroom.

so, i’m not actually shooting her straight on in this one or in the next few to follow.

i knew i wanted to shoot her on her bed, but i wasn’t sure what angle i wanted for it.

so, after i set up my one off camera light source (an alien bee 1600 with a reflector/20″ gridspot as the light modifier) i started walking around the room, trying to find my shoot spot.

and then that’s when i noticed a small, round mirror, hanging on the wall opposite that of the bed.

bingo.

after turning off all the lights i really enjoyed how, since the light source was focused on cody and her area it completely fell off giving that nice solid black to the rest of the scene.

after this one i kept the light in the same place, i just moved to a new position.

me standing behind cody, on top of her bed, shooting down

me still on the bed, but i’ve worked my way over beside her

actually got this first shot i think.  which is rare, fire is tricky.

after that it was back to the reflection in the mirror for these last two shots

after this, we actually relocated to the hallway that leads to cody’s backdoor

i really love this shot.  it was also the only shot i did with only available light.  really love it.  my second favorite shot of the shoot.

it was also when i stopped converting to black/white and stayed with color.

and this is my third favorite.

put her more in the corner for this one and said to look even more pissed off.

and am i the only one that loves that old school 70′s fake wood paneling?

and this will wrap it up.

gotta tell ya, part of the reason i wanted to do this shoot is because i oh so dearly love that black fur coat cody has and wanted i really wanted to shoot her in it LoL

i’m setting up a new print shop and most of these photos from this post will be in it!  i’ll make a post letting everyone know when it’s up and ready!

have a good one everybody!

see ya next post!