Andrew Hughes of Masqueman Photography - Atlanta, GA

Breakfast with the Grinch at Melia Atlanta Hotel

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 03:34:00 +0000

I have been photographing some interesting events during this holiday season. One of the more unique photo sessions happened on the top floor of the Melia Atlanta hotel. Their event room has incredible views of downtown Atlanta. Several of the patrons watched a holiday parade from this bird's eye view.

Photo by Melissa Witcher

The guest of honor was none other than the "Grinch Who Stole Christmas" fresh from his musical play at the Fabulous Fox Theater. I did not see the play, but I can tell you that the stage makeup for the green meanie looks like it took several hours and a few assistants to put on.

I might have accidentally let that slip in front of a child who did not know who was coming to breakfast. I guess I let the Cat out of the Hat. I had figured that most parents would have warned their children that they would soon be seeing a 6 foot tall green hairy monster. I am just glad that the Grinch does not hide in my bedroom closet at night because I might not be able to get to sleep.

To everyone's delight, the Grinch was a complete sweetheart. He knew which children to tease and which ones to be gentle with. I was very impressed that he could read the moods of children that quickly. Not only that, the actor was a man of 1,000 faces and could change his expression and body language in an instant. No two pictures of him were alike. This guy was good.

After visiting with every family, it was time to take portraits with the Grinch. This was the main reason that I was hired. The goal was to take photos of guests with the Grinch and print them on the spot as a memento with a a graphic overlay as seen below.

The whole process from start to finish had to be completed in about an hour before the guests left. That was pretty ambitious considering that each photo had to be combined with the graphics and printed which takes about a minute each. I shot over 40 different groupings that had to be printed so there was not much room for error. Everything had to run smoothly, and luckily it did.

To ensure success, I had set up the portrait area an hour before the event. Scouting an area and pre-staging are the most important insurances that a photographer can give himself. Surprises cost time and and unwelcome anxiety. I enlisted the help of my friends above to check everything.

At the time that I was going to take the photos, the morning sun was blasting through the windows making bright pools of intense light in the portrait area. I try avoid situations like this as much as possible when making these kinds of quick portraits. The fastest fix was to pull the curtains and add a flash to evenly light the scene from camera left. I have found that curtains are my best friends when trying to tame extreme latitudes in exposure.

The little girls pictured above had just given the Grinch a present and I think it touched his cold green heart... just like in the book. Just a few minutes before this, the Grinch was trying to get the girls to join him by stealing Christmas presents... that rascal!

Photo by Melissa Witcher

No Dr. Seuss-themed event would be complete without green eggs and ham and a huge bowlful was available on the buffet.... They were pretty good! The food at the Melia Atlanta Hotel is top notch.

A special "thank you" goes out to Melissa Witcher who helped me by taking candid photos and setting up the event. Check her photography out on her web site at www.melissawitcher.com.

I Just Photographed the REAL Santa Claus!

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 06:36:00 +0000

I was hired to photograph a Christmas party where Santa was going to make a guest appearance. Being a big kid myself, I was excited to see who was going to walk through the front door, and I was not let down. Imagine the surprise a child might have being greeted by Santa Claus himself!

We have all seen actors that get picked to play Santa in holiday commercials. Some of them kind of look like famous St. Nick, but others just look like geriatric fat guys pulled out of a local BBQ joint. Not his Santa... he was impressively authentic.

I am here to tell all those other fake Santas to step aside, because I think that I finally met the real Santa. The only thing missing was the bag of toys and the reindeer which he could name in order. I could not.

This jolly old elf was not like those sidewalk Santas in their in their stuffed, poorly fitted red suits. This Santa had style and was dressed in such a way that he felt like a timeless character from a different century.

He had lace at his wrists, heavy leather boots and a twinkle in his eye letting everyone know that he was having a grand time talking to the children and adults alike. The beard was real and spectacular.

We were all put under his magical Christmas spell and there was no doubt that the real Santa had taken time off from his hectic pre-Christmas schedule to visit us. He was so good with the children, and their eyes were wide with wonder.

Everyone at the party took turns telling Santa what was on their list. I overheard everything from Legos and video games to new cars and fancy bottles of wine. How he can keep track of all of this is anybody's guess.

I can barely remember what my wife asked me to get at the store. I hope Santa has modernized his operation with computers and a database of who is "naughty and nice".

Some of the adults at the party were very naughty trying to get Santa to have a mixed drink. Don't they know what would happen if Santa got a DUI? Christmas would have to be canceled!

I printed the portraits on location so that everyone got a 4x6 picture souvenir. The rest of the photos went online so that parents could print or download them.

The last photo is a special thanks to the standing gentleman who was the father of Alicia, the hostess. He was gracious enough to be my Santa stand-in while I set up and tried different lights. He was a class act.

I think I saw him and Santa exchanging stories of Christmas past.

See the rest of the Santa Party Gallery here.

Photographing a Miniature Christmas City by Department 56

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 02:05:00 +0000

In preparation for photographing a Christmas party, I visited my client's home to check out the location in advance. I do this in case there are logistical issues that need to be solved before the day of the event.

There was a second reason for the visit which consisted of a room of highly collectable Department 56 porcelain buildings that had been arranged as a Christmas city.

The display spans over 25 years of collecting and many of the items are no longer available. It is difficult to explain the scope of the display and how detailed each building and figurine is.

My task was to photograph the display while maintaining the candle light charm of the city. It would not do any good to set up flashes that over power the ambiance of thousands of tiny lights. Each lamp in the display tended to illuminate the immediate surrounding areas in tiny pools of light... just like in real life. The Christmas tree in the background actually snowed... I know it's hard to believe... Just go with me on this...

Not knowing exactly how I was going to photograph this was part of the fun. I had several theoretical plans and told the clients, Bob and John, that I was going to experiment. In the scene below, I used a long exposure and a flashlight to light paint buildings.

To get the full size of the collection, I created a mosaic from 5 photographs combined later in Photoshop.

Bob and John have strong ties to New York City (Bob's father was a NYC fireman) so it is fitting that my favorite photograph included the iconic Empire State Building. Rumor has it that a wedding will be happening soon for them in a hotel overlooking Times Square. Congratulations to them both.

By the time I was finished shooting the display, I felt like I had actually visited a real city by helicopter. Check out the rest of the Department 56 Christmas City Gallery.

Playing Catch Up With My Neglected Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 03:15:00 +0000

I just checked and it has been almost half a year since I have regularly posted a blog article. A lot has happened since that time. Most of it has been very good, but there have been a few tragedies too.

Mainly, I have been burning the candle at both ends keeping up with a hectic and demanding freelance schedule. At times I felt like a juggler tossing knives and flaming torches... and luckily, nothing got dropped... except this blog and maybe cleaning the house on a regular basis.

Anyway, stay tuned in the coming weeks as I try to catch up with the backlog of articles and thanks for reading.

Photoshop Aging Tricks for Portraits

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:24:00 +0000

It is not often that my clients ask that I make them look old in a portrait. In fact, I often get the opposite request to make them look thinner, younger and more like Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie.

To illustrate a concept about the aging process during a PowerPoint presentation, the presenter planned to show a photo of what he looks like today and then magically, he would change before the audience's eyes. This was done by slowly morphing one photo into the other. The effect was 25 years of age added in 5 seconds... similar to the effects that many adults feel around screaming children (ha ha).

I did not have very long to produce the "aged" photo so I had to work quick and dirty in photoshop. I thought of all the old people that I have ever met and how time changed their faces. In Bill's case, I made him bald, gave him age spots, sagged some skin, deepened the sockets of his eyes and gave him long fluffy eyebrows. I had to show restraint because I wanted to keep my client's portrait looking professional... just more advanced in age as a stylish gent.

They liked the first aged portrait so much that they asked me to make a second one. In this case I enlarged the nose and ears which actually keep growing our entire lives. I had a lot of fun with this project because it was so opposite of any retouching request that I have ever gotten. See if you can count the differences before and after.

New Banner Stands for Tradeshows by Presentech.com

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:03:00 +0000

Presentech's Tradeshow Product Offerings

As a graphic designer, I have worked with Presentech in Atlanta, Georgia for probably close to twenty years. As a service bureau, they are unmatched in the small and large format digital print services that they provide. The kind of trust that is built up by such a long relationship is not easy to find in today's "save a penny" internet world. If you have ever been let down by generic online sellers like I have, then you know how important it is to be able to talk to real people who can help with a rush project or product advice. They have always delivered which has gone a long way to build my own business.

The biggest difference between Presentech and other print related service bureaus, is that they do not wait to make improvements to their products and services. Any time I talk to them, they are expanding or improving upon the products and services they offer... the latest upgrade being in the highly competitive trade show banner stand category.

I should know because I update their web site and have the unique viewpoint of what goes on behind the scenes and also use them as a service provider. I see the products before they become available to the public. I have sold many of these banner stands to client who need something portable to catch attention at tradeshows.

Presentech's banner stands include the top of the line EXPOLINC banner stands, premium retractable banner stands, non retracting banner stands and value banner stands. I highly recommend their products and you should check out the Presentech web site if the need arises.

Atlanta Photo Workshops by Dean Stevenson Launches Web Site

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 15:14:00 +0000

I met Dean Stevenson many years ago when I was taking classes at Showcase School of Photography. He is the best photography teacher that I have ever had. I never missed the opportunity to improve my knowledge and skills with a camera when he was teaching class. Sometimes I would get on the waiting list to take his classes, but it was worth the wait. Over the years I ended up taking every class that he taught until there were no more left.

I also had the opportunity to work with him professionally assisting him in a wedding shoot. I could see his work ethic up close. No detail was overlooked and the job was a success.

For years, Dean's dream has been to open his own school of photography in his own studio space, and now that dream is a reality as Atlanta Photo Workshops opens for business. Dean has designed several photography classes based on his experience teaching literally thousands of students. He has rewritten several of his core classes to be even better than before.

Students have the choice of taking 5 week courses that involve weekly assignments, a fieldtrip and critiques. Or, they can take a intensive lecture-based class in one day. Students also have an opportunity to have personal tutoring with his one-on-one courses. Large groups and photo clubs can hire Dean for seminars.

Courses include:

I built the web site for him and am proud to give back to the teacher I owe so much too. Thanks Dean. Best of luck with your photography school. Check out the site at www.AtlantaPhotoWorkshops.com

Could an Ant Outrun a Cheetah?

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 19:55:00 +0000

Ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated by ants. I remember spending many summer days observing gigantic colonies. I do not know the name of the species that I watched, but they were maybe 1/8" of an inch and could clearly be seen with the naked eye.

I was very young and I performed questionable experiments that children do before the learn the value of life... even an ant's life. I hate to admit that I once dropped a red ant into a black ant colony to see what would happen. The results were not good for the single red ant who was quickly overwhelmed. More than a few ants were vaporized with a death beam created from a magnifying glass and the sun's concentrated rays. These days, I relocate spiders and other critters outside when I find them in our house, so at least I have evolved.

I recently found an ant colony in the midst of a mad dash from their home in a garden pot. I don't know what triggered their exodus, but they seemed to be setting speed records. The video below shows how fast the individual ants were moving, including the ones that were carrying larvae in their mandibles. All I had was my iphone so I grabbed this quick video.

This made me wonder how fast ants could run if they could be scaled up to human size, and we ignored the physics of a titanic insect? Several web sites I researched made the calculation of about 53 m.p.h. which is faster than a gazelle, but slower than a cheetah. That is something that I would not like to see in person... even if I had a giant bottle of RAID to hide behind!

Environmental Portraits and Headshots for Atlanta Law Firm

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 13:13:00 +0000

I love to work with corporate clients who need photography for web sites, advertisements and other promotional materials. I was contacted by Documentopia to provide headshots, environmental portraits and location photos for Sutton Law Group, a law firm working out of Marietta, GA.

My plan was to provide them a variety of styles of portraiture so that they could use different photos for different projects. They have a gorgeous office with old style brick and wood work. Though I think the brick pattern is ultimately too distracting, we tried a few portraits on this background. This proved that simpler portraits may be stronger.

I made head shots of Darrell Sutton and Andreea Neculae. I prefer a clean undramatic light for these kinds of portraits because the reproduce well that way in print and when reduced on web.

We also wanted to take a few styles of partner photos. I wanted to take advantage of the reflective conference table by shooting at a high angle.

Here is how I set up the lights. It is a trend in some magazines like Wired to show the lights in the portraits. I kinda like this look, but is probably for works for editorial and not promotional media.

Another example of showing the behind the scenes gear... in this case just a portable background.

This what the scene above looks like cropped in. You can see the natural light falloff on the edges.

I always keep my finger on the trigger in between the official photos because that is when people let down their guard and just be themselves. Even though they probably will not use the photo below for official lawyer business, it is my favorite shot of the day.

Sometimes less traditional headshots appeal to the client who picked this tightly cropped photo.

It was pouring outside but I was able to create a "sunlit" photo using a very large umbrella that simulated soft window light. This was intended to feel more candid than the other portraits.

The last photos were taken outside in a drizzle. I replaced the dark skies in some of the photos with blue skies, otherwise the place might have looked sinister... especially since it is adjacent to an old cemetery.

One final photo of the business sign and I was gone...

An Amazing Air Show in Virginia

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:36:00 +0000

While visiting my family in Virginia Beach, my brother and I took time out from family events to go to an air show in a place called Pungo... home of the Military Aviation Museum and the Fighter Factory.

Pungo is infamous for the witch trial of Grace Sherwood in the year of 1705. Legend has it that she was given an impossible task to prove that she was not a witch. The accusers would dunk her local river, and if she sank then she was innocent. If she swam or floated, then "obviously" she was a witch. Talk about a no-win situation. Not sure if I would fake drowning in that situation and hope that somebody would pull me out. Full details are here if you want to read the witch story.

The Military Aviation Museum is a world class facility and houses one of the largest collections of working war planes in the world. The majority of the planes in the air show were actually part of the museum. These birds do not just sit around looking pretty... they treat us to the sights and sounds of the 1940s during World War II... transporting us back to the time of our parent's earliest memories and our grandparent's finest hours when America worked together towards a common desperate victory. Could such a time ever exist in this country again? It is doubtful and I believe that the ones that won that war were possibly "our greatest generation".

Every now and then, you will see heroes from this time at the shows, and I always try to thank them. If I had ever met my own grandfather, I would thank him too for his navy service that spanned the war and beyond.

I have been to many air shows and honestly, I have started to see the same planes repeatedly, like the AT-6 Texan above. It's not that I do not appreciate all war birds, but variety is the spice of life. I would call this air show extra spicy.

This show had planes that I had never seen before in real life as working flyers like the incredible German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 seen above and below. This particular war bird was painted in Nazi Germany's battle markings. In the world of over-sensitive political correctness, I was surprised to see this. It was an amazing to see this plane diving past the crowd, and I could easily imagine American GIs hating the sight and sound of it coming in for a strafing run.

Also on the list of planes I had never seen in the flesh was the Junkers Ju 52. The design of this transport plane lasted long after the war transporting countless travelers in its civilian life.

The equivalent American C-47 troop transport was based on the design of the civilian DC-3. The air show began with paratroopers jumping in vintage parachutes which are not as controllable as modern chutes. Supposedly, one of the jumpers broke his hip the previous day. They were dropping pretty fast.

There are a lot of holes in the chute and few control surfaces to guide it. One of the jumpers had to twist madly to get the guidelines untangled. Yikes. I would not want his job.

For maximum realism, a dreaded 88mm anti-aircraft cannon simulated a flak attack. The concussion was spectacular and it probably rattled a few fillings. The scene below could have been right outside of Berlin.

There were whole units of World War II re-enactors. These guys were dedicated, even wearing woolen pants and hats in the hot sun. All uniforms seemed to be authentic down to the smallest detail like the fellow below in desert attire and a Mauser pistol that turned into a rifle.

The Allied forces were represented too with these paratroopers. Check out the grease gun.

There were plenty of weapons to look at up close like these British Enfield rifles and a German half-track machine gun tank/car. They told us that this could fire simulated and real ammunition.

This armor-plated monster made a terrifying racket as it drove around the campsite.

Probably the rarest plane there was a British Lancaster Bomber. There are only 2 of these left flying in the world today. These were the bombers that pounded German cities at night while the American B-17s and B-24s tried for precision daytime attacks.

A P-40 Flying Tiger represented early aviation technology from the start of the war. In fact, these were used in China before the U.S.A. officially entered the war.

Overhead, the long-legged German Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork) plane took reconnaissance of the area.

I used a slow shutter speed of around 1/200th of a second or slower for many of the photos taken here. The main thing that people look for in aviation photography seems to be the blur on the moving propeller. Getting a complete prop revolution to make a complete circle is the holy grail of airshow photography.

It can also lead to some interesting action photos like the panned shot above. The biggest problem with photographing fast objects with slow shutter speeds is that you will end up throwing away many blurry photos. This is a new style for me which will take more practice to perfect.

Getting a full prop rotation in your photo depends on the speed of your shutter and the speed of the propeller which changes on how much power the pilot needs. It is a good idea to try different settings to find the best combination. The P-51 Mustang below was photographed with a faster shutter or the RPMs were up.

The museum had just acquired a B-17 bomber named Chuckie for over $4,000,000.

The P-51 Mustang escorted the B-17... just like they did on the long distance bomb runs into Germany.

The British Lancaster bomber and Hawker Hurricane fighter almost repeated the exact scene.

An American AT-6 Texan salutes as British Hawker Hurricane lands.

The Russians fighters were in attendance too like this Yak-9 below... like a Soviet P-51.

And this Russian mystery airplane with an open cockpit. Looks an old race plane from the 1930s.

Local firefighters watched as this Japanese plane rolled to a smokey landing.
It had been "shot down" for the crowds by a Corsair... payback for Pearl Harbor.

It has been said that George Lucas got much of his inspiration for Star Wars from World War 2 fighting equipment. The turret below looks like an R2-D2 unit on this Grumman Avenger.

I had a model of this sea plane when I was a child. The Calypso Society used one like it in their research.

People were wearing vintage costumes too. This hot dish below may have been one of the singers who sang like the Andrews Sisters. Unfortunately, I missed the dance/concert after the air show.

It's a good thing that we won that war otherwise, we might live in a country that speaks German and paints their planes like this one. I am pretty sure the world would be a different place.

Lucky Number 777.7 at 7 m.p.h.

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Sun, 29 May 2011 13:28:00 +0000

Not the best photo from my iphone, but this is proof of my good fortune.

It must be my lucky day. This morning driving I noticed that my trip counter and speedo read all 7's. If I was a gambling man, I might be inclined to buy a lotto ticket. What the heck, the payout right now is twelve million...$12,000,000, but the odds are also a 1,000,000 to 1. Do I tempt fate?

Or maybe this is a sign of some other kind of luck like a nice pleasant Sunday spent at home with my wife and dogs with NO work on Monday. That sounds good to me too.

My First Trip to Las Vegas

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Sat, 14 May 2011 18:44:00 +0000

You know the advertising slogan... "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas". I wish I had such juicy secrets to hide, but honestly, I don't. I took my first Vegas trip with a bunch of guys that had been going for years.

Sin City? I guess we went to the wrong places because only scantily clad women that we saw were at the hotel's lame burlesque show which was so "unshocking" that one comrade fell asleep. It was a drag queen show but with actual women. I kept looking for adam's apples on the dancers just to be sure they were not playing a practical joke on us. It was "over-the-top" campy, lip-synched to bad music with terrible lyrics and probably had not been updated since 1955? We eventually walked out early while a comedian host made his bad jokes.

We spent plenty of hours walking the Vegas streets taking in the sights sounds. The sidewalks are jam-packed with gawkers and interesting people alike. The fellow on the right below looked familiar, but I could not place where I had seen him before. ha ha

The streets really get interesting at nigh when the casinos use millions of bulbs

and miles of neon to mesmerize patrons... the same way that bug zappers attract moths.

I kinda liked seeing this Disneyland for adults, and I could definitely go back.

I had better start saving now since everything I wanted to do is so expensive...

Despite the crowds of people walking around, I thought Vegas could feel lonely. One could definitely disappear into a crowd and be lost in the noise and hustle. I witnessed many grizzled gamblers blowing wads of cash at the slots and tables... $100 a pop in some cases. I hope it made them happy.

The original and biggest neon light shined from above.

I wonder if you can see Las Vegas from the Moon?

After seeing the amount of cash that visitors were going through, I have a new slogan for Vegas.

"What money you have in your pocket, stays in Vegas".

Kid's Studio Portraits While it Rains Outside

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Wed, 11 May 2011 03:40:00 +0000

Sometimes the volatile Atlanta weather does not cooperate with a scheduled portrait session. Instead of scrapping the time slot, we decided to have some fun in the studio taking photos of young Danielle and Joshua. It is fair to say that I am not an expert kid photographer... that is I do not have a set of poses that I will run a child through. Instead, I will play with the kids and see what happens.

I like to include objects in the photo that show the size of the child like this tiny suitcase.

I am not above using children as graphic elements like the striped photo below.

If the child has a favorite toy, it often makes it into the photo... like the bunny ears and Mr. Wabbit.

Both Mom and Dad are read heads so it is no surprise that Danielle has a gorgeous head of fiery locks.

This kid was working the set and liked to "Strike a Pose!"

Once little brother woke up from his nap, we grabbed a few candids.

We eventually ended up on the floor when Danielle's steam started to run out.

Mom got into the final frames to corral the kids.

Safety Poster Campaign for a Corporate Client

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Wed, 11 May 2011 00:17:00 +0000

For this year's corporate safety campaign, I was asked to photograph groups of workers in factory settings wearing safety gear. Kimberly-Clark considers safety a top priority and their "Who's Counting on You" awareness program is designed to remind workers that they should be safe for their own good, the health of their coworkers and for their families who depend on them.

Due to time and budget constraints, the previously planned on-location factory photos turned into in-studio portraits. It was not feasible to shut down part of a busy factory for up to 4 hours at a time. Time is money and that would have cost the company too much.

Plan B involved taking several photos of different poses and expressions in-studio and them compositing them into existing factory environments. The final composites would be used on large posters that will be displayed in multiple languages in factories around the world.

The workers in this photo were photographed individually and composited into the background.
This was done to give the client multiple options. The reflection on the woman's glasses was purposely
included in since it did not obscure her eye.

Technically, these seemingly simple photos had some challenges in the studio. The workers were wearing wrap-around safety glasses that reflected light from every angle. I had the models adjust the angle of their faces in small degrees to remove the harsh reflections. Half a degree could make all the difference.

The photo of the 2 men was taken as one exposure and composited into the background

The group photos had to have a great depth of field so that all parts of the models were in sharp focus. This involved working with very powerful flashes on almost full power in our small studio. The final tricky part was that the orange safety vests were made of a semi-reflective material that shifted hue with even the smallest difference in flash power. The vests produce a strong local color reflection on the skin of the models which we decided to keep for realism.

Portraits of the Mellstrom Family

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Mon, 09 May 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Kris and Wendy's family is growing quickly. At least once a year, we try to make a few portraits to keep track of what everybody looks like... especially the kids who seem to double in size every time I see them.

Wendy had picked a local park to make our portraits, but we quickly discovered that it was closed for a private event! Who would have guessed that a whole park could be closed. Luckily, we found a small green patch nearby and made some portraits quickly. When dealing with smaller children, I like to keep the session as short as possible.

Portraits in a Glass Room

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Mon, 09 May 2011 04:11:00 +0000

Taking a photograph in a room that has all glass walls can be tough to say the least. You can find yourself making strange "bank shots" with flashes hoping that the reflections don't blast back towards your camera lens.

The problem becomes even worse at night when the ambient light inside the room is higher than the cityscape outside. My answer to this problem was to take a 2 second photo to burn the cityscape into the photo, and then a short pop of flash to light up the interior.

Kris is quite a character and is always the life of the party... especially his own birthday.

Brian Collins Photos with Megan Case

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Mon, 09 May 2011 00:22:00 +0000

My photographer friend, Megan Case, got a gig to make promotional portraits of Brian Collins of the Brian Collins Band. He is a talented singer-songerwriter on the verge of hitting it big. I had been dying to try out my new Einstein flash equipment in the field and this seemed like a perfect chance to test the gear so I volunteered as her assistant.

The Einstein studio flash system can become a versatile portable light source when paired with a small lithium-ion battery pack good for 300 full power pops. The advantage is that a photographer can put way more light onto a subject in an outside environment compared to using hot shoe flashes.

We used the Einstein system outside in several locations and then headed to a local bar that Brian had secured for us. As an assistant, I do not usually shoot, but I had an idea that Megan liked and she said to try it.

I set Brian at the bar and put one flash with a large umbrella on him. The concept was to blend the flash with the ambient lights in the room which were very dull. The exposure was about 1.5 seconds so he had to remain still. I had his band mates walk backwards in some of the frames to create a cool motion blur affect seen in the photo above.

A different photo that I helped to finish was what I call "the floating musician". Real magic was used to make Brian levitate several feet off the ground.

Photo by Megan Case. Retouching by Andrew Hughes.

I love working with Megan because she has a fantastic eye for composition and is one of the nicest photographers you will ever meet. We make a good team because we can bounce ideas off of each other without egos. Our top priority is to get good photos... period. Check out her blog and prepared to be wowed.

Ice 'N Heat Ice Bag Package Design and Product Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Sun, 08 May 2011 17:51:00 +0000

We have all seen the traditional ice bag and probably used them for aches and pains. This updated version by BeWell uses modern technology to improve on an old design. This bag can handle warm or cold water and it has special temperature indicators on the bottom of the bag to let the user know when it is time to change the warm water or ice in the bag. The snowflake symbol appears when the bag is icy cold or the sun symbol appears when it is time to add more warm water. Pretty neat...no guessing involved.

For this project, I took photos of the ice bag in several different angles, using a soft light side light to accentuate the folds of the bag. I was careful to control the highlight to shadow ratio so that the photo would have detail in the shadows on the future packaging.

I designed a medium and large box for the bags based on BeWell's retail packaging style. Look for them in store near you.

My Video Is Shown on the Jay Leno Show

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Sun, 08 May 2011 04:14:00 +0000

Some things have a life of their own... like a video I shot of my trusty motorcycle being loading into a pickup truck when I sold it. It was a sad day for me since I had put over 30,000 miles on the odometer and the 1998 Honda VFR Intercepter looked practically new. I made the video for myself as a memento and at the request of my friend, Justinas, who picked up the bike. He works a large used motorcycle shop and this is one of his many duties. He is uniquely qualified for this job because it requires that the operator must drive the bike up a ramp into the bed of the truck in one smooth motion. When I say "drive" I mean that he walks beside the bike while rolling on the throttle to make the bike drive up the ramp. The operator then makes one giant step into the bed of the truck before securing the vehicle. Justinas is 6'5" so he has an advantage over short people trying to do this job.

Anyway, the video has received several thousand YouTube hits and eventually ended up on the Jay Leno Show in a segment called Internet Success & Failure. You can imagine finding videos showing the right way to do something and the wrong way. My video starts 2:28 into the segment and literally lasts 7 seconds, but you got to start some where. Thanks Jay!

Package Design and Product Photography for BeWell Products

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Sun, 08 May 2011 03:51:00 +0000

BeWell is a company that makes many of the healthcare-related products that one may find in drug stores. Some of those products include moist heat bags that are warmed in a microwave before applying to one's body. The old packaging was a cylinder of of plastic with a paper label insert. This took up too much shelf space and was too expensive.

A more efficient, compact and cheaper packaging solution was needed. Pennies saved per package can add up over a year's time and make a huge difference in the profit margin. The cyclider design was transferred to small boxes.

I hand built sample boxes for an investor meeting and took photos for future promotional materials. I tend to shoot products like this one box at a time and then assemble them into groups as needed. This gives me the same perspective on each product photo and they look better in catalogs and web sites at a consistent angle. I can also change the backgrounds easily depending on what is needed.

Email Newsletter Design

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:35:00 +0000

At Graphic Works, we often get requests from our clients to assist with their email marketing campaigns. Most of the time these campaigns are designed to go to their clients who have opted-in to their advertising programs. Other times, they they are for internal use to let employees know important breaking news.

In the case of Showa Best Glove, I got to design a header and layout for their first news blast. By building the first template, I could turn it over to my client who can fill in the blanks on subsequent editions. The sample below looks really long, but it scrolls perfectly in an email reader.

A Ghost Town...

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 06:04:00 +0000

Recently, my friend, Megan, invited me to do a little location scouting for future photo shoots. This is something that I wanted to do more of since Atlanta is a big town with lots to see. I had tried scouting last year resulting in me bottoming out the car on a sandy car trap of a road. I was able to use a boulder and loose board to free the car before the tow truck arrived. Whew...saved $100.

I hate to admit that I do not fully take advantage of this beautiful city so we set off in search of some interesting vistas. We went to 2 parks which I could not name. Magically the GPS got us there. The first was a park with a Civil War era homestead. The second was literally a ghost town with many rustic shacks. It was a fun day.

It's All About ME ME ME!

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 04:15:00 +0000

Usually, I am not one to sit around and take a bunch of photos of myself. Heck, I barely look in the mirror. I am much more used to being on the other side of the lens where it is safe. What in the world possessed me to take photos with the camera pointing in the wrong direction?

I did not have any photos of myself with shaggy hair and I knew I would probably not grow it out again any time soon. I have kept my hair short since the mid 90's and about 7 months ago, I just quit cutting it as an experiment. I was wondering how long I could hold out as the hair on the back of my neck started tickling me... and then annoying me. Windy rides in my convertible would make me look like a Japanese anime character. Old ladies would clutch their purses when I would approach, and knew I had to do something soon. I had a short window of opportunity since my wife graciously scheduled me to get a hair cut.

All the photos were taken within 2 hours of each other. I tried to make them all look different. As you can see, I don't worry about embarrassing myself... notice the bowl cut in the lower row.

I call this my punk rocker yowl!

I call this one the unicorn.

I originally did a similar project back in my B&W film days of college. Here are 2 of the series. And yes, that is technically a mullet I was sporting, but I swear that it was popular back then. I can't say the same thing about the enormous owl glasses. Somebody should have had a style intervention for me. It is interesting to see how much I have changed over the years, but so too has everyone else.

Camera Angles and Funny Faces

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 01:54:00 +0000

Just for fun I decided to see if I could make myself look different without any retouching, Photoshop filters or special lenses. I used an iphone and camera angle to alter my appearance. Of course I did scrunch up my face to exaggerate my chin... but the point is that it does not take much to change your face... for better or worse. In this case I made myself look like a salty old sailor.

Photos for the Humphreys Family

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Hughes) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 23:15:00 +0000

Lisa is mom raising to kids and running a boutique cake company in Atlanta. Needless to say, she has her hands full most of the time.

We had been trying to coordinate our schedules before all the fall leaves disappeared. Yes, I am a little late blogging about this portrait session from last year, but they got their photos within a week.

We decided to meet at a duck pond in the Buckhead section of Atlanta. I took several photos of her and the kids who were getting much taller than I remembered from past sessions. We had a grand time shot up until it was almost dark.

There were some great bridges to pose near and the fall colors were very vibrant.

This is a family with good genes in the looks department with blond hair, blue eyes and killer smiles.

No bridge was left uncrossed...

... and no tree was left unclimbed...

I will definitely remember this spot for the future.