Fall and Senior High School Portraits

Now that school has started, and the colors are or will be changing. It’s always a busy time for high School Portraits or what we call Senior pictures. Everyone loves color, and for most photographers a busy time. Myself included.

Today I see this part of the business decreasing because possibly more photographers or parents don’t care about pictures like they used to. Whatever the reason is, I have seen a decrease.

For me, I like taking pictures that are different than anyone else. Take, for example, the above picture. This senior loved bowling and wanted that document. I agree you most likely would not hang this picture on the wall, which is why you also have traditional pictures.

One of my favorites and I have many, but one of them was when this senior wanted to know if I could make a picture of one of his favorite movies. So he showed me a picture of what he would like and the rest was having fun.

How about Sports. Yep, again something different.

Maybe it’s Music.

Whatever it is, we will do our best to document what you or your seniors love. We look forward to this year's seniors and more in the future. So to the seniors, enjoy your last year; it goes fast and memories forever.

The Tall Sails

Wow, it's been some time since I have done a blog. I have been one busy photographer. Wedding, Commercial work, and having my kids from Wisconsin have kept me a little busy. I know, no excuse.

Last week, I was in Cleveland, Ohio, to see these great Sailboats for the first time. I have always seen them on TV but never live. We were advised to arrive early because parking for this event is very hard. I showed up 2 hours before the ships were to show up and barely found a spot.

The weather was great, and you could finally see these great ships in the distance. I was going to use a tripod, but because it was a very sunny day, I could hand hold my 400mm with a 2.0 extender and keep the speed at 1500. ISO was 200. The challenge I had was not holding the lens, but all boats were blocking our view. Most of these boats felt they needed to be right on their side and follow them for 10 min. But with some patients and help with Photoshop, I could eliminate them. I waited for an opening and then took the pictures. It is defiantly a challenge and very disappointing.

It was great seeing these ships and the work they have to do to improve our look of the past. Here are a few pictures that I came up with that day. I enjoyed looking at the past. Now off to Bermuda this weekend for a week.

Fort Wayne Airshow 2022

What a day and my first airshow of the year for me. It certainly was not disappointing. This was my first time attending this show and will not be my last. Very impressed with the Pilots that participated in this show. Of course, the highlight was the Thunder Birds.

The Thunder Birds in Fort Wayne Indiana

A 10 War Hog Fort Wayne Airport

Being my first show, I had some rust in the beginning. Of course, when I say rust, I am talking about Panning with the planes. But, as the day went on, I was getting in my groove and got this shot of the P-51 Mustang. I love these oldies and am glad we have them still flying.

P-51 Mustang Fort Wayne Air Show 2022

The Sky Writing Fort Wayne Airshow 2022

Now that panning was in control; it was time to have fun and enjoy what these pilots would give me. Here are some more pictures of the 2022 Fort Wayne Airport; more will be coming. I just got back and downloaded them to my computer and grabbed a few of my favorites today.

The first one is down, and more to come. I can’t wait for the big one in Oshkosh.

Business Headshot

Today more than ever, business headshots are so important. With many more people working from home and more and more jobs opening, it is essential to have a professional headshot. This was no exception to this person that means everything to me. You got it, my wife Lisa. For the first time since I have been taking pictures, she finally let me take a picture that we would keep. Lisa wanted an updated headshot, so with that said, I set up my lights for what I like doing headshots. This time I used a 3 three light setup. In less than 5 minutes, we had what I wanted and done.

Headshot of Lisa

After the pictures were taken I had Lisa picked her favorites by using Lightroom. Next was just sharpen her eyes and hair and that would be it. But I did not stop there. I use a gray background for my headshots because I think it looks nice but also it easy to take in Photoshop and change it to any color or background of choice. That is what I did here.

Believe it or not, a happy wife with a picture that she can now use on her social media. Now on to the next Headshot.

Senior High School Pictures

Well, it's soon going to be that time of the year again. Congratulations to all of this year's graduates. We wish you well in your adventures.

High School Senior

I had so much fun with this High School Senior, for I have done pictures before in the Bryan Arts and Education Center, but never a High School Senior picture. Well, that is what we did with this shoot. We started with what she likes, and that is music. With that said, we did some formal pictures. My photography is a little different than others; I like drama and make it look natural.

We started you got it on the stage. I did not like what I saw, so I did what I liked. Make a studio anywhere. This is where I use only flash to get what I want. I get rid of all of the ambient light. This setup for me, I can do just about anywhere. Aquilina is a teenager, and like any teenager, it was time for some fun.

This time I took advantage of the art center. I did somewhat I call normal pictures, but you got it, I wanted flash again and this time using some gels to spice things up a little. We then walked around the inside of the building and found another area that I thought would work

Who would thought you could get a picture like this on bleachers. One thing working with Aquilina, she could be a natural model. She would do different things with her poses, and I would shoot what I liked. Again, I like doing natural. I will give a little coaching and then let them do it. I feel it makes the picture connect more.

Today I notice that there are fewer Senior Pictures but more photographers. With all of the photographers out there, I wanted to be different. Yes, I enjoy the outdoor pictures, and I love the natural light, but I also really enjoy the ones you don't see every day. Now that things are getting back to somewhat normal, I am looking forward to the class of 2023. If you are interested, go to www.pjzphotography.com for information.

I look forward to working with you.