Ruby's mom has got it going on...

Here's a recent portrait I took of Danielle for her book jacket photo. She's a good friend who happens to live around the corner from me. Our daughters are 2 months apart, so we have lots of play dates. When she's not chasing Ruby around, she's a professor at Wayne State with my father-in-law and just finished writing the book that this photo will appear in, At the Dark End of the Street. Oh, and I didn't know it at the time, but Ruby's future sibling is also in this photo - congrats to Danielle & Adam!

pretty frickin cool... even if you aren't a yankee's fan

I met Robert Caplin while shooting the 2006 world series (The one that the Tigers played in and lost). He was a great photographer then and has come a long way in the last 3 years. Here's his take on this year's World Series final game:

World Series Time-Lapse by Robert Caplin from Robert Caplin on Vimeo.

This is time-lapse photography, not video. He took about 12,000 images to create this effect. It's pretty sweet what you can do with cameras if you know what you are doing... keep it up Robert!

Sarah & Darren

I had the honor of photographing another "Sara and Daren" at the first wedding I ever shot, so when Sarah and Darren contacted me, I knew it was fate. I have known Sarah since elementary school and was glad we were able to reconnect. I believe this is the first wedding I've photographed where the bride was also the makeup artist (it's her profession), which made for some fun images (and great makeup). The couple was married at the Birmingham Unitarian Church (which is not in Birmingham, but in Bloomfield Hills) and they partied Armenian style at St. John's Armenian Church in Southfield.

Here are some of my favorites:



Friends and Family of Sarah and Darren can pre-register to view all the images by clicking the "shop" button in the top right corner of the slideshow. You will be notified by email when they are available to view.

Melanie & Laurence

Here are some images from Melanie & Laurence's wedding at Greenfield Village and The Dearborn Inn. I think I hit a new personal record, shooting just shy of 4000 images, but I narrowed it down to 57 for the slideshow. Let me know what you think:

2 more

from the latest Americoif hair show... really digging the semi-silhouette look...

no caption, no credits

Check out this post from the New York Times about a photography exhibit by Israeli and Palestinian photographers. It attempts to focus on the image and letting the viewer decide what they are looking at by removing the photo credits and captions. Having traveled to Israel on 4 occasions and witnessed the tension and war first hand, it great to see that photojournalists on both sides have come together to create this show. It's true that our mind may create an alternate reality or jump to conclusions about what is happening in an image before we read the caption. In some cases it is a good thing to form our own ideas about what we are looking at, but in other cases, it highlights our own prejudices or misconceptions about an issue or group. Either way, it's an interesting experiment. As you may imagine, many of the images are very graphic in nature.

mistakes...

can sometimes make for the best photos. While I always try to get the look I want with whatever light I am using, sometimes a light doesn't go off for a frame and you get a completely different look. Many people (me included) would just delete a photo where the flashes didn't go off, but in this case, one light did go off and another one didn't creating a cool sort of silhouette.

Here's what the original lighting looked like:



Here's the pleasant surprise when my main light didn't go off:





These were all shot for a new client, Americoif, which is a professional organization for hairdressers. I photograph their monthly hair shows where they bring in a nationally known stylist to show off their techniques on stage. I'm looking forward to the next show!

To see all the photos from the first show click here.

Jeanne & Dave

I was honored to photograph the wedding of Jeanne and Dave a few weeks ago. The week before the wedding I was worried (as I'm sure they were) that it was going to rain. Right up until the day of the wedding they were predicting rain for most of the day, but the day came and the rain was nowhere to be found! It was a beautiful day for a beautiful couple. They was married at the historic Mill Race Village in Northville with a luncheon reception at Five restaurant at the Inn at St. John. It was special to be a part of this wedding where the children of both the bride and groom stood up for their parents (including my good friend Mikhael)! Here's a small sample of some of my favorites:

issuu

I recently found out about a cool site for web publishing - issuu.com (say "issue"). I'm planning on using it to preview my album designs for my clients. Here's an album from Kristi and Adam's wedding that I'm working on currently:

Open publication

Moo!

If you need some new business cards (or stickers, or postcards or minicards...) check out moo.com I've used both their business cards on recycled paperstock and their mini cards. They offer a great product and everyone has responded to them positively. The best part is that you can put a different image on the back of each card! It's an easy way to take a mini portfolio around with you. If someone asks for my card I will often hand them a stack and say "pick your favorite." They quickly shuffle through 20 or 30 of my images which show a variety of my photographs. I can also customize the cards so that I give an appropriate card to the right person - I give a card with a wedding image to someone who asks me about a wedding or a card with a food or drink image to a caterer - the possibilities are endless. What I've found even more interesting is all the creative ways people have used their products.

Ok, so if you aren't sold yet, go check them out and enter the code GJ59PT to get free shipping with your order if you purchase by August 31st. If 3 of you use this code then I get a free box of cards so check it out because I'm running low!

New photos in the Wall Street Journal today of Detroit Mayor Dave Bing:
Check them out!

Holly & Ryan

Here are a few from Holly and Ryan's beautiful wedding a few weeks ago. The ceremony was at the Rochester Hills Museum - it was my first time there and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an intimate location. Even though I basically took a shower in the rain before I made it to my car after the ceremony, it was a great time. enjoy!

Jen & Jeremy

Spent some time at Cranbrook with Jen and Jeremy a few weeks ago. Looking forward to their wedding this fall. Here are a few of my faves:

Apartment therapy

My pics, my sister-in-laws place and my cousins designs... Keeping it all in the family. Check it out:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/interior-designers/before-after-lizs-apartment-by-furbish-design-090037?image_id=219241

30.. er... 10 minutes with Ford CEO, Alan Mullaly

so what do you do when you are given 30 minutes to make a portrait with a big exec?

1. bring help (thanks Ben)

2. prepare to really only have 10 minutes when they tell you you get 30. 

3. shoot the safe stuff first

4. stay calm

5. move quickly

6. hope for the best

that's pretty much how I was able to get 5 different shots of Alan Mullaly in about 10 minutes. I was told I would get 30 minutes (after the interview ran long I had about 20 minutes) and he gave me about 10 minutes. I literally shot 35 frames total and got 5 different settings. Albeit, not all of them are my best work, all things considered, I could have only done a little better if I had more time. The most important part was to come prepared, which meant having an assistant. My brother-in-law happened to have the day off class and since the budget didn't allow for a professional assistant, he would do. I had him stand in so I could find the shots i wanted and test the lights. After an hour of setting up and figuring out what I wanted to shoot, I was taken up to the big office on the top floor. I was able get one quick shot in there after the interview ended - no lights, just a quick shot - he let me snap about 5 frames before saying "ok, let's go do something else." Then off to the lobby where I was set up to do 3 more shots. The first two were the "safe" shots with the car in the background/foreground. Then he decided to get in the car with the reporter and said "hey, lets get a few in here.." I had not planned for this so I just guessed on the exposure and prayed. I got 2 out of 5 frames that worked. Then I was able to get him infront of the softbox I had set up to get a tight portrait on white. Not something that anyone asked me to get, but it may have future sales potential with the agency I was working for. It was all a whilwind. Ironically, i don't think the photos have even run yet. They were for the Guardian (UK). Alan seemed to be very genuine and down to earth - probably why he didn't love having his photo taken... All in all, a good day. Then I drove off in my Japanese car that had been egged while i was inside (just kidding).

first shot in his office - all ambient light - luckily he had big windows. Side note: that TV in the background was not a flat screen... I guess that is how Ford has avoided bankruptcy

safe shot#1 - I liked the Israeli flag behind him

safe shot #2

another tighter one - window light worked well

in the car - his idea

last shot.

pontiac...

...has seen better days - check out my photos from the Guardian here. See the full article here.

One Drink. Lit 3 ways

1

2

3

I was editing photos from a shoot for StyleLine the other day and I realized that I shot the same drink with 3 different lighting setups. The background was the same (ambient light from a panel lining the bar). Image 1 was shot with a flash high and behind from the left with the white balance on "flash" which made the background more purple. #2 was all ambient with a spotlight that was on the table lighting the drink from almost directly above - white balance "tungsten". #3 was similar to #1 but the flash was moved closer and gelled with CTO to balance the background and I set the white balance the "tungsten" to make the background blue again (which is how it looked in person). There was also a silver reflector bouncing light back on the right.

For those of you who aren't photographers, the lighting description above probably doesn't mean much, but I'm curious to find out what shot you like best. Feel free to comment.

photographer fashion

Just got one for my birthday!  Bracelets recycled from old camera lenses @ OYE Modern - check it out.

Why did it take this long?

To figure out that I can blog from my phone! Look forward to typos and
short posts.

Sent from my iPhone

lens baby

I treated myself to a new lens just for fun and have found myself using it on multiple occasions with great results. If you haven't picked up a lens baby you have to try one. it's not an effect that works well with every photo - but is very cool when used appropriately and does stuff you could never do in photoshop. I'm looking forward to using it tomorrow at a wedding!

so yeah...

i know, i know... it's been like forever since i last posted but i have a good excuse: 

for those of you who don't know - my daughter, Matilda Grace Mountain, was born on September 20th. She has her own blog if you want to find out more about her check it out. There are lots of photos there of her - she's my muse and is an amazing baby. She just started sleeping through the night (finally!) so now I have a little more energy to dedicate to this blog - look for more regular updates. My goal is at least one a week. 

Oh and since I last posted I settled on a logo with help from graphic designer Travis Buffington - here it is: 

i hope you like it cause it's too late to change it! I had new business cards made from moo.com - they are pretty sweet. I got the mini ones and the regular business cards printed on recycled paper. The cool thing is that you can put a different photo on the back of every card! 

more soon. i promise.