To make things interesting, I picked up a couple of different fabrics in different colors at a nearby JoAnns.  When Beth Ann started moving them around her body, I quickly discovered that fabric indeed fray and shed hundreds of nearly invisible threads onto the ground… nearly invisible until the image is viewed on the computer.  Lesson learned: bring a broom.

BethAnn was amazing during the entire photoshoot, her energy and drive never wavering.  It was fun to find out about two months later, that she had been three weeks pregnant when we had the shoot.

Figuring I had nothing to lose, I sent Kelly a message asking if she would be game for an impromptu photoshoot.  As luck would have it, she had an hour break at the end of her day the next day, so we scheduled to meet at the dance studio where they were teaching.

At the appointed time the next day, I met Kelly at the dance studio and together we picked out one of her costumes for her to wear. Given our short time constraint, we headed down into the parking garage and chose a convenient brick wall and started dancing (her) and taking photos (me).   It was a great deal of fun capturing the amazing things Kelly can do, working together to figure out the best angle for a certain move and creating for the sheer joy of it.

Here are some of the photos from the shoot.

I setup in one of the practice rooms at the studio and took headshots of all the kids over the course of an hour or so.  Some kids were ready to smile, some needed a bit of encouragement and others did not want to walk away after they were done.  They were an exceedingly excellent bunch of kids, all fun to work and joke with.

After all the photos were taken, I sat with the instructors and picked out the best shot of each of the kids.  That night, I edited each of the headshots and sent them to a lab to get an 8×10 printed for each image.   On the last day of the camp two days later, the students put on a small show featuring musicals throughout history.  In the lobby, each headshot was presented next to the student’s Broadway-bio that they had written during the week.  It was in essence a very large playbill.

The reactions of the parents were priceless.  One mother stopped from across the room as soon as she saw her daughter’s headshot, with a small gasp and a hand to her mouth.  She then approached slowly for a closer look.  I was lucky to be able to witness that moment.

The performance was great and the kids were adorable.  I’m hoping for a repeat next summer and hope to be part of it.

The photos were needed within a few days and with the sun disappearing at a depressingly early hour (it was January), we set up in the dance studio’s ballet room.  We started off with the headshots while Kaila’s hair was looking its best; there was going to be much leaping coming up for the freeform poses and her hair was eventually going to be put into a bun for the ballet poses.

After the headshots, Kaila went off to change into her first costume while I changed to studio around for the full body shots.  We started off with her leaps and jumps in her lyrical costume, once again, to take advantage of her hair being down so that the movement could be captured.  To help make sure we achieved the optimal photograph, I set up my laptop to display the images as I was shooting.  This also helped keep Kaila from unnecessarily wearing out.

A quick costume change and a bun later, we were photographing ballet arabesques and pointe shoes.  I tried to inspire Kaila by doing my own rendition of some of the dance moves, but I think all I did was injure my pride (and back).

I delivered the photos a few days after the shoot. A few months later, I was pleased to hear that Kaila had been accepted into the ballet camp, not that I had any doubt that she would breeze on in.  Way to go Kaila!

When discussing how the images would look, we settled with cooler color tones and light coming in from behind, perhaps to represent contemplative and calm feelings.

I also wanted to include a shot or two with a clean, ubobstructed background where Omar could add copy text, perhaps the playlist or a short bio.

I had a great time shooting these images with Omar and it looks like there may be a second shoot to be scheduled soon for the next album.  Stay tuned for more on that front.

We parked nearby and headed to the tracks.  As we were walking, Emilie pondered the frequency of trains coming down the tracks.  We assumed it only happened about once a millennium, so we picked our way down the track making images and having a good time.

So of course, after a few minutes we heard the warning bells from the railroad crossing begin to clang.  A brief period of intense sprinting ensued as we moved all gear and accessories off the track.  Needless to say, we kept off the track for the rest of the time.

I shot knowing I wanted to convert the images to black and white later, with moody and dark shadows.  These three portraits are my favorite of the photoshoot.  Thanks Emilie for the good time.

I was attracted to this crepes stand.

I checked out the menu, the sweet side of course.

I stepped up to order.

I rang the bell.

This guy took my order.  He recommended strawberries and Nutella.

A few minutes later, this appeared before me.   It is, without a doubt, the prettiest thing I have ever seen on a paper plate… and the tastiest.

This was good for a number of reasons.  For one, I love getting to see my family.  It is something that does not happen enough.  For another, it means that good food is probably going to be present.  But most importantly, family has a hard time saying no.

You see, prior to the wedding, I had concocted the evil plan to set up a mini studio and persuade (force) each family member to spend a few minutes acting goofy in front of the camera.  All of the family was scheduled to come over to my parents house the day after wedding for dinner, so I found a space upstairs and built a portrait studio on location.

When I announced to the group that I would be coming around and stealing them away for individual portraits, I could see the fear and unease in their eyes.  Every ounce of their being seemed to scream “We weren’t told about this! If I had known…..” But, we are family; and family has a hard time saying no.

So one by one, we headed upstairs.  The next step of the plan was to have them look angry, clap their hands and scream.  While this did create some memorable family portraits, it more importantly brought their real essence out; you can’t help but be genuine when you just got done screaming at the camera.

So I took everyone’s photograph.  I had a good time doing it, and I think most everyone else did too… or at least they lied to my very convincingly.  I came away with a slew of good images and since it was impossible to choose just one image for each person, I chose six instead.  To see all of the rest of the images, click the link at the bottom of the post.

This is not however, a full set of my family.  My sister and my new brother-in-law are absent, for good reason (honeymoon).  A few cousins could not get away from work and we all missed them.  Others had to head back home early after the wedding.  Some family members have passed on and could only be present in spirit; they are sorely missed.

For all you Family reading this, thanks for being my family.  Simple as that.  Thanks.

Check out all the family portraits here.

You will be glad you did.