My buddy Neil Van Niekerk is coming to Denver on August 18th to do a workshop on state-of-the-art flash photography techniques. This is an amazing opportunity and space is limited: head over to Planet Neil for more information about the workshop, dates, and how to sign up.

I did a great shoot this past April in New Jersey with Neil. It was set in the Paterson Historical Museum, and the modeling was done by Priscilla.

Part 1
Part 2

.: Nikon D700, Nikon 35mm f/2.0D @ 1/8000, f/5.0, 400ISO :.

Last weekend Ryan and I headed out on a mountain biking road trip. It had been WAY too long since my last one, I think it was the 2006 Colorado Springs trip. We decided to check out Durango, since neither of us really knows anyone who has ridden in the area. Durango was at one time the epicenter of the new sport of mountain biking, and we were sure to find some great riding there. The other attraction is that the lower climate should allow us some riding in the early season when there is still snow in the hills of the high country.

I could have taken tons of pictures. But I didn’t. I needed some decompression time ahead of the busy summer season ahead. So I took some picutres, but not too many. For the most part we ate, slept, and rode. We did 5 rides in 4 days with 2 full days of driving.

Our first ride was actually in the Denver area on the way out of town. We rode Lair of the Bear which is between Morrison and Evergreen. It was a really buff singletrack, somewhat similar to Betasso. Its only about a 10 mile out and back ride if you ride it by itself like we did. Apparently it’s easy to link up with Mt. Falcon, which we rode on the way back from the CO Springs Trip. Funny how that works. The best part of the Bear was the top section which was FAST FAST FAST with some good waterbar jumps.

.: Nikon D700, Nikon 35mm f/2.0D @ 1/320, f/14, 500ISO :.

So after a quick ride we were off to Durango via the scenic route down 285. We almost made it to Durango before dark, when we came across a nice empty campground about 40 miles east of Durango in the hills. So we set up camp and parked it for the night. Check back tomorrow for Ride 1 in Durango!

.: Nikon D700, Nikon 45mm f/2.8 PC-E @ 1/4000, f/5.0, 500ISO :.

I shot a big corporate event in Denver last month.  Near the end of the they hired a group of ex-Cirque du Soleil performers to put on their show at the Wells Fargo Theater.  It was cool.  Check out the full show and slideshow on my other blog CLICK HERE.

I’m in the middle of my first big push of weddings for this year. I shot 5 in 4 weeks plus 2 engagement portrait sessions plus a family portrait session. So I’m going to have lots of updates on my wedding blog, but not so many on this site in the near future.

I’m still working with that new tilt shift lens. Here is a recent shot where I’m using the lens ‘correctly’; aligning the focus plane with the items of interest. This photo would not be possible with a normal lens. The taps are receding away from me, and are all in focus. But the area behind the taps, the bar, is completely out of focus. This shot was taken at f2.8, 1/50, ISO1600.

And at the request of a request in the comments section, this image was taken at Delaney’s down in Denver.  I was shooting images at this month’s Integrated Alliances Socialnet event!

Covidien is a leading global healthcare products company. They were looking for a Corporate Event Photographer in the Denver area and gave me a call to provide photography coverage at a trade show event at the Denver Convention Center. They were introducing some sort of new tracheometry product. Despite my former aerospace engineering background, I didn’t pay too much attention to the technical details. There was a bounty of sushi and chicken wings to be photographed and fortunately there were leftovers when the event was over. I don’t normally concern myself with food when I’m shooting an event, but a man has his limits. Mmmmmm, sushi. :>)

One byproduct of all this crazy Colorado spring weather has been lots of cool clouds to shoot under. Last week I woke up early one morning to notice a cool, moody overcast sky. I was itching to overpower the sun with some of my Strobist gear so I tried rounding up a model at the last minute. I wasn’t successful, but I did convince my fellow photographer Bobby Turner to bust out a business suit and some pomade and head out to the country.  Later that day I ironically came across a story in The Onion about Guys With Slicked Back Hair!

By the time we started shooting the clouds were just breaking up, and gave way to beautiful puffy clouds and blue sky. I’m really happy with the wrap around lighting that I used. I think the images have a nice 3-D look to them. If you are interested in more of the details of the shoot and the technical, how-to, Strobist info, you can check out my post on the Boulder Strobist website HERE.

I’m getting more and more requests for cool, edgy, and fun business portraits. It seems a lot of professionals are tired of having their photos taken in front of boring blue studio backgrounds.  Which is of course great news for me!  I just had a great photo session in Denver yesterday for a paid client, so this type of shoot is becoming more common for me.  Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

If you read this blog then you’ve probably seen my pictures from the Integrated Alliances Holiday parties. I’ve met a lot of great contacts at these events and am continuing to be a part of their social network. I attended and photographed their January First Wednesday Networking event at Mattie’s House Of Mirrors in LoDo in Denver. It was a great event and they had tacos. Mmmmmm, tacos. Their next event that I will be attending will be in Boulder at the Purple Martini in Boulder, and is called the IA B2B Boulder to Broomfield Networking Event. In their words:

“The IA B2B Boulder-to-Broomfield event is a monthly gathering for B2B and technology professionals that like to unwind and network in a comfortable environment afterhours with interesting people that they can relate to – both in business and personally.”

So check out the IA Event Schedule and come on down and enjoy some food and beverages and get your schmooze on. I promise I won’t take any embarrassing pictures of you. Ok, well I can’t promise that. Remember last time when you had that black bean stuck in your teeth?

]]> http://www.steve-z.com/fashion-photography-poise-october-meetup-at-space-gallery-in-denver/feed/ 0 http://www.steve-z.com/fashion-shoot-in-the-rain-never-give-up/ http://www.steve-z.com/fashion-shoot-in-the-rain-never-give-up/#comments Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:33:49 +0000 stevez http://www.steve-z.com/2007/10/16/fashion-shoot-in-the-rain-never-give-up/

I had been planning a portfolio shoot with Crystal for over a week. By Saturday it was pretty clear that Sunday was going to be a washout. But Crystal has a busy schedule, and we weren’t sure when we were going to be able to shoot again. So we persevered, and despite almost running out of daylight, intrusions on our desired locations, and other setbacks, we made it happen. Lingerie photos in the 40 degree rain! Despite that it was getting dark and she has the tendency to ‘get cold easily’, we came out with some fun stuff.

And yes, I actually do think it is perfectly realistic for a woman to be walking along the railroad tracks, in an industrial area, in the rain, wearing pink lingerie and white high heeled boots, thank you very much. It happens all the time when I’m sleeping!

I haven’t been asserting my potential as a Colorado Children’s Portrait Photographer too much lately. I’ve been mostly focusing on the wedding portion of my business. The Winter Storm Watch in the mountains is a strong reminder that the long winter is on its way, and Christmas is around the corner. Now would be a great time to shoot Christmas portraits while the weather is still decent enough to shoot outside. Plus the leaves are at there best right now!

The above picture is what Maya looks like when she is the feared Tickle Monster, stalking her prey!

Ooooh!  Another victim!

I had a crazy week last week! On Monday I launched my wedding specific website, and posted my latest wedding slideshow. On Tuesday I headed down to Mile High Station for Club Entrepreneur Online Social Network National Launch Club, and the Club Entrepreneur Denver Chapter Kick Off Meeting . I almost didn’t go because I had more Denver events planned for Wednesday, but I am sure glad that I did! I brought my camera and started covering the event, mostly for some new blog content. I met up with the organizers and they are psyched to add my photography as part of their team. Steve Z Photography will now be one of the sponsors of the program, with all of the benefits and exposure offered to the big time advertisers. This could be huge!

The first event was a smashing success. 200 attendees and some big name speakers are giving the event some solid credibility. The first speaker was Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. Using his down to earth demeanor, wit, and charm, he told his story about how he founded Denver’s first ever brew pub, the Wynkoop Brewing Company, and then went on to be the Mayor. As it turns out he never really intended to be a politician; he never even ran for Student Council in High School!

The second speaker was Ingrid Vanderveldt of CNBC’s American Made show. Ingrid’s story told the tale of making a TV show pilot based on Entrepreneurship as learned from a mentor. Her modest little pilot found it’s way onto the desk of a VP at CNBC, who loved the idea. Over time, after accepting the job of hosting and producing the show, word on the street got out relating to her lack of experience.

“So, you don’t actually have any broadcasting experience?”

“No.”

“So, you don’t actually have any interviewing experience?”

“No.”

“So, you don’t really have the production capabilities?”

“No.”

“But, you are going to host CNBC’s first ever prime time syndicated show?!!”

“Uh-huh!”

The headline speaker was the renowned entrepreneurial author and speaker Michael Gerber of the E-Myth. The main thing I remember from Michael’s talk (other than his pink tie), was how he poked a jab at small business owners. Do you know what the difference between a small business owner and an entrepreneur is? The small business owner is afraid to dream big.

All and all it was a great day, and I am super excited about thinking big about the future of Steve Z Photography. I feel like I really launched it this week. Tune in tomorrow to hear more BIG NEWS and excitement from my Wednesday events! Continued below is some more info on the Club Entrepreneur Network.

Club E is an “open source” online network for small business and entrepreneurs, run by some of the nation’s top entrepreneurs, offering the largest social network for entrepreneurs and web resources like blogs, articles, podcasts, videos and entrepreneurial television shows. As a combined media outlet, on-ground network and online social network, The Club E Network will empower the entrepreneurial community in an entirely unique and fresh way. Club E will leverage its broadband channel to distribute original and user-submitted content on-demand through podcasts, mobile devices, and DVDs. Plans call for brand expansion to other distribution channels including cable TV and satellite radio.

THE PRIMARY OFFERINGS

Video Programming Short format programming online that first and foremost is entertaining, but also provides valuable information that business owners can use. Profiles of brand new and celebrity entrepreneurs, how-to type shows, reality programming and lifestyle shows all about following your passion and building companies.

Online Community With a growing need for entrepreneurs to interact with one another and leverage their collective resources to bring their businesses up to the big time, CLUB E will provide a trusted referral network for members to expand their network, learn from one another, and quickly find the resources and people they need to articulate and execute their dream and business plan.

In-person community Club E is launching physical chapters in 50+ cities over a 24-month period where members have monthly and bi-monthly meetings featuring speakers, networking events and activities that help/support current and aspiring entrepreneurs.