So this year, I really wanted to break out of my shell more and get more confortable with photographing anyone who was willing and I feel that I am way more impressed with myself than I thought. Last year, I think I only had a 2 or 3 sessions. This year, completely different. I had started off the year first with some new hardware. My Nikon D750 is just a thing of beauty in itself. so clear and crisp photos. Then I moved on to photos sessions which I am listing here
1.) Fort Lauderdale - OBS Financial's yearly client conference. had fun in the sun ;) 
2.) Taylor's senior photo session at Toledo Botanical Garden - was a blast working with her to really incorporate her interests.
3.) Amanda's indoor photo session - great time really getting some new looks and poses and helping Amanda get comfortable with modeling.
4.) Gretchen's Family photo session in Weston - had fun getting some good shots of the family for their holiday cards to go out. Once her child opened up, he was quite the photogenic little man lol.
5.) Springfield High School's class of 75 & 76 Reunion - this one was quite new to me, taking candid photos and getting photos of the group. all very nice people and was a good experience for me learning a bit more how to handle large groups. 

Upcoming--
1.) Amber and her sister for some indoor photos - This is coming up actually this weekend but hopefully these go as planned. Amber will be a new face for me so hopefully I can help her open up as I had helped Amanda. Pretty excited for these as well.
2.) Signature Bank Holiday Party - Always a blast to do as I used to work for them so its nice to see how everyone is doning. I will be setting up another photo booth for them with props. 

Definitely a full year of work and more to come. There is just so much going on between my day job, my board game club, and my photography, I have no idea how I get anything done haha. Stay tuned for more updates everyone and if I miss you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ;) 

Over the weekend I had finally finished the engagement session with my friends Ali and Steven. All I can say is that they are amazing photos. We had a blast and everything worked out as planned. Take a look over at my portraits page. They were very happy with the turn out and I'm glad I could do the work for them.

Next session coming up is my friend Amanda again. We are doing an indoors session with studio lights and hope to bring out some more artistic vibes with how we can paint the light. She has already been featured in my portraits area so I know they will turn out to be great, generally speaking. I just hope I can really make a statement with what we are going to do. So definitely keep your eyes open for new shots coming in the next few months. OH and a high school senior photo session coming up in August :) yay!!!

If anyone is looking to get some photos taken, please head to my contact page and let me know what your looking for and I'll see what I can do.

So these last few weeks have been pretty fun filled. I'm on the verge of taking one of the most breath taking sessions of my career and it has me all nervous!! Its been awhile since I actually got nervous over a session before but this one I seriously think will make or break me this year in terms of attitude. First session is working with my current employer on an all expenses paid trip to Fort Lauderdale Florida to shoot a conference. Second session is an engagement shoot at a location I have never done before but am happy to say that with the research I have done, looks to be one hell of a time. I'm already seeing the end product in the my head and they are going to turn out fantastic!!! 

Thanks to my Father for helping me, I now have the full frame camera I was looking for, Nikon D750 with a 24-120mm lens. The end quality of the photo with this camera is just simply amazing. Here is one of my test shots I took while playing with the settings. Everything is just so sharp and detailed, I can't explain how beautiful I feel these shots are now with this new camera.

Awww, isn't she a pretty model? haha, Kitty Lou definitely is not shy and knows how to strike a pose, haha. But anyway, I feel this year is going to bring a lot of good opportunities and can't wait to see what comes of them. I still have my 5 model on location shoots I need to plan out. unfortunately the weather is still not cooperating so I'll have to wait on that but the leaves are starting to come out the colors are coming into focus. See you all around!

So I'm pretty excited about some new lighting equipment I got. Should make outdoor sessions way easier. purchased 2 new speed light mounts for the tripods I have and a collapsible easier to manage softbox for the speedlight as well. Lastly I found some high recommended triggers so I should be all set to take my light anywhere with me. Here are links to all the items I purchase if anyone was looking to get something similar.  

YongNuo RF-602 2.4GHz Wireless Remote Flash Trigger w/ 2 receivers for Nikon

​Hot Shoe Umbrella Flash Mount Swivel Bracket Light Stand Holder

​24" Portable Professional Softbox for Flash Speelite Nikon SB800

​So yeah, needless to say I'm pretty happy with my recent purchases. Now the hard part, I can either stick with my currently deteriorating Nikon D90 with parts of the housing starting to fall off it which is never a good sign..... OR.... I look into purchasing this fairly new model for a good price. This thing from what I have read is well worth it and a great replacement for some of the larger bulkier full frames.... soooo yeah. hard part is trying to figure out how I can afford this. If I go through Best Buy, I have 12months no interest, but I still have to pay for a wedding..... so I think this one may have to wait unfortunately. but this is definitely the one I want to replace my current hardware...... mmmmm, someday :) 
​

SO NOW LASTLY, I just need models. I surprisingly enough found the guys I need for 2 of the 5 locations and only 1 female. I would have thought it was going to be the other way around but the guys I found are pretty handsome so I'm pleased they actually came to me for wanting to help with my portfolio. But yeah, the ladies are a different story. I have the return of Amanda which will be awesome because her smile is pretty amazing. The other lady I had in mind fell through and never got back to me. The last lady never responded at all which is surprising because lately she has been going through some changes in her life so I figured photos would have been a nice "pick me up" for her but meh.... oh well. so yeah..... we'll see what next month brings when I start getting these sessions going :)

So today I started my search for some new models. I have been thinking lately that its 2016 and I need some spice in my work. Since my last shoot went super well with Amanda, I have 5 new locations I want to try out... if I can get permission at a few of them. Definitely looking for a warehouse (old, dirty, sort of run down) to use or a big open barn feel. a few urban shots, a few wooded. hopefully my initial prospects get back to me as its actually kind of hard trying to find the right person for the right location. All are beautiful people and I really hope they feel comfortable with getting some photos done. I think it would really do them and myself some good. 

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN GETTING A FEW SHOTS DONE, PLEASE MESSAGE ME DIRECTLY. please, no children or couples. Male or Female single sessions only. Thanksssss

so we'll see.... and wait.... until then I think I'm going look for some new lighting equipment ;) 

Well its been months since I left some comments on here so I figured I would start back up again. Had some great shoots over the last few months. senior photos, children, single portraits, etc. All have been great people to work with. Today's shoot however I must say was one of my favorite ones in a long time. Being able to connect with a model in a way that we have fun together is why I love doing this for a hobby. We had a blast, lots of good laughs, very cooperative and understanding of what shots we were looking for. Can't wait to line more up with her down the road. So now on to editing and final product. If anyone would be interest in 1-on-1 sessions either outdoors or studio, let me know through the contact page.

I know I haven't kept up with communication on this so figured now would be a good time to test the new android app for weebly :) All seems to be going well on the photography front. Honestly, I have not had much time to work more on it but I do have some new work to show off when I get a chance to upload them. Over this past weekend, I was in Lexington Kentucky for the Rolex Three Day Event. Its a 4 star rated competition that uses 3 styles to test a horses ability (dressage, cross country, and arena). So I was lucky enough to spend the day there Saturday getting some awesome action shots of the jumps on cross country. Hopefully I'll have them up in the sports section by the end of the week. Besides that, I have been busy with a new house I bought and let me tell you, if you think you have no time now, try being a home owner. Other than work, the rest of my time is devoted to upkeeping my new house and keeping it livable, haha. But I was fortunate in getting a place the the previous owner took good care of the place and she kept a very beautiful flower garden in the back so pictures of my amazing magnolia tree to come. I'll post again when I have more work accomplished, so until then, everyone have a wonderful day :)

So I have been thinking that maybe it would be about time to get another camera for the soul purpose of not having to change out my lenses every time I want to get a different shot so I think I will be getting the following - Canon EOS Rebel T3i. A fellow friend and photographer has many many lenses that he doesn't use anymore because he spent $3k on his most recent one so he has spares laying around collecting dust which he has offered to loan be until I get my own. If I can just get the body and borrow one of his good 1k lenses, I think I will be set for some fast swapping of camera other than taking the take to change lenses out. we'll see I guess. kind of sucks being broke haha. here's the link to the review of it though if anyone is interested - 
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-eos-rebel-t3i/4505-6501_7-34493918.html


On the more down side, I have not had any response to possible photo shoots from Model Mayhem so I think I might have to start advertising more heavily on Facebook. I have some coworkers that I know want to get pics of their kids done so maybe I should start small. They probably would also pay but I don't think I would ask for money since I just want to do SOMETHING haha. Not sure what I'm going to do..... If I could get just one person for a few hours, my friend Andy have a dirty warehouse I want to set up in sometime too. All I need to do is give him a call, then he makes the call to his friend, then head to Toledo hopefully.... but yeah, just undecided on a lot right now.

Well, I hope to have another update here soon with some better news but as always, thank you everyone for the support. I always appreciate any help I can get. 

~Anthony~

so as I tried to think of ideas of what needs to be done to get this hobby rolling a little better and what better than to find some new faces. pretty much spent a good 4 hours skimming through profiles on ModelMayhem.com and found a few people that I sent messages to (based on activity and experience) so hopefully I will have some time lined up in the next few weeks... knowing my luck, probably will all fall through but I'll keep posting on facebook as well to see who is interested. 

As for other projects, I finally have the video done of my cousin's wedding from freaking September and am now in the works of getting the DVD menu finished. Hard part about that is getting the colors and theme to flow properly but I have faith that it will be all ok. we'll see when she looks at it and asks for her down payment back, bahahaha lol... hopefully not though..... :) 

but anyway, tis the season to be thankful for a lot of things in my life. I'm thankful for having the support I need to get me through each day, my family. They have been nothing but amazing in rough times. I'm also thankful for my muse who has given me so many ideas to push and get this hobby to take off. Her photos and ideas along with her collaboration on photo creativity has helped me develop my artistic side more and I appreciate every comment, good or bad, she provides about what I'm doing to press on. 

The creative juices are flowing and the wheels are turning but now its time to let me dreams get some work done. Sleep well everyone :)