That’s all for Chapter 5. You can check out more photos from the trip on Mel’s blog.

Not to be outdone, I pulled out all the stops and cranked the Lightroom settings for my version, because a scary mustache deserves a scary photo..  If I don’t lose clients over this one then I don’t know what I’ll have to do.

I had a lot of fun taking pictures of my nephews. I’m still enthusiastic enough with photography that I’m always shooting when I have willing subjects. It doesn’t get any more willing than this! Look at these poses!

The playground in Frenchtown NJ is classic. It has lots of old-school playground features. You know, the kind that kids can get seriously injured on, lik merry-go-rounds and see-saws! It was like being in the 70s again!

After the playground we got smoothies near the Frenchtown Bridge which crosses over the Delaware River.

So far all my images from this trip have been in color, and fairly ‘normal’ to boot. We are going to rectify that situation for the last photo.

It has come to my attention that there are still people who read my blog despite the fact that I haven’t been updating it with cool photos of mountain bikes and cute girls very much lately.  I’ve been soooo busy with September weddings, things have gotten away from me a bit.  And it’s hard to post fun stuff when you aren’t doing fun stuff.  Not that weddings aren’t fun, but those images go on the other blog.  But, I realize that it is not an excuse for leaving such an exceptionally un-Steve-Z post at the top of the blog for so long.  I have a plan in the works to further specialize my websites, in the future the corporate stuff is going to show up elsewhere.  In the meantime, I’ve dug up some photos of Julie that I haven’t posted yet.  And even better I have more swimsuit shots of her that I took way back in January on the beach that I have been saving for a rainy day.  I’m thinking it will probably be pouring on Tuesday.

I’m sorry that experimentation and exploration pisses you off. I wish I could help you in some way. Maybe I’ll fix up an image with a TS lens, and add texture, and fine art borders. I’ll throw in some sun flare just for kicks. That should really freak you out.

That comment stimulated my creativity and that’s when the funny stuff happens . . . so I introduce . . . GOLDMEMBER!

Here is my response that I posted on the forum along with the photo:

Thanks for the inspiration! I have been moved by this thread to push the boundaries of my creativity and technical skills. I believe I have produced the finest image in my  photography career. I have been trying to determine exactly what my style, my niche, is going to be, and I think I’ve found it!

Since I believe in sharing the wealth in my newest discovered pot of GOLD, here are all the juicy details.

Technical:

Canon 5D + TS-E 45mm full tilt
f5.6 1/320 ISO50 with NDx4 filter (I cheated the synch speed which is why his foot is dark on right)
Nikon SB-26 fired with Pocket Wizards 1/64 power camera left
Sun providing flare + rim light

Creatively, I feel that the tilt shift allowed me to visually tie together the strong compositional cues in the image such as Goldmember’s face and key box, while drawing attention away from unsightly details like his enormous codpiece which could be considered boorish by some. I used a blend of Boutwell’s Grunge Rock, Grainstorm, and EZ Burn + high pass sharpening + a paisley texture to emotionally tie the viewer to the Austin Powers’ late 60′s style upon which the movie series was based. By selectively coloring his gold outfit I feel I have tastefully paid tribute to a one dimensional character. I completed the image by using my standard wedding blog sloppy border and watermark.

Overall I feel that this image is a heartwarming triumph of the human spirit.

I will remove my tongue from my cheek now.

I sure hope it makes some people laugh, because I sure crack myself up!

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!

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!

This is Tnisha and TJ, they are engaged for real, not just model-pretend engaged. They are fun to shoot with. I hope to shoot their wedding in 2009. I told them I’ll still give them the hookup on pricing, since I’ll probably be out of their price range by then. ;>) I’m kidding. Sortof. Does that count as manifesting my future?

It makes me laugh that my job is taking pictures of people making out.

. . . and here are some more of Kimberly.

Whoa. Those eyes.

I’ve had a really good time shooting with the 85mm 1.8 lens. I had to go out an buy one. I’m such a gear weenie.

My latest photos to post from the Poise fashion event are of Morgan Weaver. She is currently Miss Jefferson County!

Sunday was a big day. After the Ned Ride we headed up to Ft. Collins in search of the Poudre. The Poudre was flowing, but apparently it had dried up significantly since the week before. No one likes a dry Poudre! I thought the Poudre up there was easy, but it actually turned out to be quite a workout. I’m sore today from all the stroking and pumping involved with an adventure to which I’m not accustomed. Now I know that seeking out the Poudre is not something to be taken lightly; one needs to be prepared for the potential consequences. You might come out unscathed, or you might get scratched and bruised. You just never know. Fortunately we all had a great time on the Poudre. And the best part was we didn’t have to take turns; we all got to ride at the same time because Justin was prepared with enough inflatables for us all. He’s talking about talking Clear Creek next. I don’t know about that one, it looks intense!

I’ve decided to start doubling up on the Hunt Photos with a vertical orientation for graphic layout reasons. You can click on them for a slightly larger view. The Close photo is of a kangaroo rat at Canyonlands National Park. I already blogged about him last October. He was so tame that he would come right up to my hand looking for handouts. The other photo is of my nephew Travis last summer. I would pretty much sum up his expression as Glee! OK I don’t have too much else to say about these, so, see you tomorrow!