I often tell clients that call me that it is best to think of a location for their family portraits that has significance to them to add meaning to the portrait and make it more customized to the family’s personality. In all honesty, most people can’t think of a location off the top of their heads and I offer suggestions. When this family contacted me a while back expressing their love of hockey and the Las Vegas Golden Knights and knew they wanted to be photographed at the T-Mobile Arena together, I was thrilled with their planning!

For this last portrait, I wanted to showcase an example of clothing. The entire family coordinated clothing very well with their Golden Knights theme. One son’s sweater was more of a light grey as opposed to everyone else’s darker grey. Notice how much the lighter sweater stands out against the darker background and among the darker clothes of the group. While not the worst thing ever, I got the parents’ approval to adjust the sweater’s color to match everyone else. You can now see how easier it is to see each family member without competing highlights. Also, the boy sitting on the rock, when in that position, could not pull his pant legs down any further to cover his ankles. In retouching, this was also adjusted. Scroll down!

For those of you choosing to update your family portrait soon, I’d be honored to create a long lasting portrait that you’ll be proud to display in your home for many years. Let’s customize it to your family’s personality and interests!

Maybe you love visiting your family cabin together and riding ATVs or maybe you have a love of video games together or just love being outdoors together. Whatever it is let’s make it unique and fun! Give me a call and let’s get started!

CALL NOW: (702)809-9763

www.TNGphoto.com

What About Dad

It is pretty well known that men, in general, usually care about pictures as much as they do going to the DMV. That is, of course, until they see a light painting…

Light Paintings are a one-of-a-kind art-piece. No two are alike! They are great for car collectors, exotic car owners, car lovers…ok, I think you get the point. 🙂

What’s a light painting?

A light painting is a unique and very complex photograph. Using a variety of LED lights, a number of exposures are created of a subject in a dark setting. These many exposures are then merged together to create a work of art that cannot be created with any other photographic technique. The resulting image is one of a kind and unlike anything the majority of
photographers can produce!

What can be light painted?

Just about anything can be light painted as long as it holds perfectly still. Jewelry, automobiles, aircraft, buildings, collectibles, big or small items, you name it! A light painting can accentuate the character of almost any item that has special significance to YOU.

What does it look like?

Like nothing else! See below:

This would make the best Christmas present, wouldn’t it? The sooner you call, the better because of the needed time to create a light painting.

Don’t wait! Call me at (702)809-9763.

Lately, I’ve been trying to utilize LinkedIn on a more consistent basis. A LOT of people use LinkedIn. According to Alexa.com, it is the 28th most visited website in the world. (https://www.alexa.com/topsites) Because of that fact, I’ve realized it is also the mega source of the largest volume of poor quality headshots in the world! 🙂

I understand that not everyone sees the need for a quality headshot but I think most people really just don’t have any idea what makes a good headshot.This post is all about a few comparison images to show what a BAD headshot can look like compared to a QUALITY headshot. I hope you find this helpful!

Some Things I Notice

Lets talk about studio portraits for a moment. There is nothing wrong with a well done, well thought out and skilled headshot in a studio setting. The problem I see so often is a lot of people settle for lackluster studio shots with poor lighting and posing. A studio portrait is much more than just setting up a background for the subject to stand in front of. Have a look at these poor examples:

Yes, there’s a studio background and studio lights were used but the lighting used here is not indicative of a quality photographer. This is called cross-lighting which is where you have shadows on both sides of the face caused by two lights on either side of the camera firing across both sides of the subject’s face. The result is not flattering to the majority of faces and can accentuate features that many are self conscious about. The eyes here are also not illuminated much so they feel lifeless and dull. Here’s another bad example:

This is an improvement but still not up to the standards that should be expected from a professional photographer. The light here is very flat and does little to shape and sculpt the subject’s face. Remember, a photograph needs to convey three dimensions on a screen or a print which are both two dimensional. Utilizing light properly will add clarity and realism in print and screen. Sometimes flat lighting can be used when someone’s makeup is professionally done but most of the time that isn’t the case. The flat light, because it isn’t coming from an angle, has washed out details in her skin and overexposed her chest making it brighter than her face. Also, the woman here is standing too close to the background which casts a distracting shadow onto it. Being that she is thin, it doesn’t hurt as much that her shoulders are square to the camera but the pose is boring and has no finesse, style, artistry and elegance. Everything about these two examples shows lack of skill and craftsmanship!

Something Better

Notice the relaxed but quality posing, the lighting, the eyes, the clarity, the genuine expressions, color harmony, etc. and you should be able to see that more skill and care went into creating these headshots.

The Not-So-Great Outdoors

Not all headshots for actors/performers and business professionals need to be photographed inside with a studio set up. Going outside is often a GREAT idea! However, when done incorrectly, the results are downright awful!

In this first example, the light from the sun is harsh and causing squinting and bringing out pours and imperfections in the skin. It’s not very flattering but I see a lot of amateur photographers trying to sell this kind of work.

Eventually, the photographer might wise up and turn the subject’s back to the sun. The face being more shaded and therefore darker than the sunlit background required the exposure to be brightened which washed out detail in the background, skin and overall color. This light is too contrasty to leave unmodified. The sidewalk is also reflecting on the subject’s face from underneath which is similar to holding a flashlight underneath your chin when telling scary stories at a camp-out. I call this “monster lighting” and it’s rarely used in a quality portrait.

This is getting better but is still lacking a professional touch. The color has improved and the subject’s shaded face was brightened by incorporating a fill flash on the camera. This is good to use in a pinch or just for a snapshot but for a professional portrait, this isn’t what a paying client should ever be expecting.

More Bad Examples

First of all, I hate it when I see headshots of people in front of stucco walls and dreaded garage doors. Next, I hate it when lighting is bad. Headshot photographers that lack the skills necessary to get the job done correctly will sometimes abandon the sunlight and seek shade. This isn’t a bad idea at all but notice these examples showing what I see all too often. On the left, her face is in shade and the rest of her is in the bright sun. In the middle, a fill flash was used to light the face but it didn’t fix the problem of the sunlight. The third isn’t the worst thing ever but it still needs a lot of improvement. It was good to move her back out of the sun and the light on her face is improved but still coming mostly from underneath her chin to much. Her eyes have no light in them and again, that stucco wall. I mean, come on!

Oh no! Not the garage door! No! No! Get it away from me! Noooooooooo!

Being Outside Can Look Great

Something like these is a lot more pleasing to the eye and much more flattering in terms of posing, lighting and quality. Being outside is a great option as long as the wind isn’t too hard to work with since hair can go everywhere and if the subject isn’t too squinty, even in shade. People with blue eyes tend to squint more but when the sun is at its highest, even if the background and lighting is all locked in, no one likes to see themselves squint.

The lighting is good, the expression is great, the color and density is very clear but like I mentioned before, the wind can blow hair and she is a tiny bit squinty. Other than that, this would be a great outdoor headshot portrait. When the wind and squinty eyes are manageable though, the results are fantastic!

Well, I hope you found that interesting. I would love to be your photographer for your business or self promotion so please contact me right away and tell me what you have in mind. I’m here to help!

http://www.TNGphoto.com

(702)809-9763

Whew! Time to dust off the ol’ blog! I apologize for not writing like I used to. It’s easy to get behind on blogging but hopefully I’ll commit to posting again…starting now!

My mind is resting on family portraits. The fall is coming and our Zion weekend is almost ready to be announced yet again and as the weather gets nicer and everyone is well adjusted again to school and work and being in town, family portraits won’t be far. I thought I’d share with you all a fun family session from last December. I want to show you all the kind of lengths I’ll go to make sure your family portrait is as painless and gives unforgettable results.

I met with this family about a month prior to the portrait session. It was expressed to me that it would be a large group, they were worried about everyone being cooperative and they were unsure about where they wanted the portrait taken. Like many have told me in the past, they too had a negative experience in the past when they tried for a large group portrait. They said the results weren’t professional enough, families were stressed, kids were stressed and uncooperative, the group’s arrangement just wasn’t what they were hoping for, etc. I’ve heard these things a lot!

Inside tip: Why are there so many bad family portrait experiences? There are A LOT of people in town that claim to be family portrait photographers but lack training in posing, grouping, color harmony, composition, lighting (natural light or electronic) as well as basic photography knowledge and just want a quick buck. They are cheap and the results definitely show this, sadly.

I tried to put them at ease, went over details, sent them my clothing guide, explained the process of how I work and then there was just one more detail to work out; the location. They didn’t want to be far from home and they had no idea where they wanted the portrait to be taken. They knew it had to be nice as the portrait they were replacing measured a large 30×40. Large portraits demand beauty and planning since the final image will be displayed for years.

I went driving near their home and found a spot, on the side of a relatively busy street believe it or not! I messaged the client how it looked. Here is a screenshot of a video I sent their way. The video I sent essentially said, “I found a great spot, just trust me!”

They trusted me.

On the day after Christmas, I arrived at the location and set up the necessary equipment. Everyone arrived and I set up the group. Here is how it looked straight out of the camera.

This Las Vegas family portrait still needed some artwork!

There’s definitely room for improvement here. The road behind them is distracting, the street lights are unsightly and the buildings in the distance do it no justice. My beauty dish lighting the group did a wonderful job of evenly lighting the group but I don’t think we’d want to keep the light stand in the final portrait would we?

Luckily, I anticipated all of this and knew what would need to be done before I ever snapped the shutter. Here are the final results:

Ahhhhh. That’s better, isn’t it? The overcast that day made it convenient tonally but the sky was washed out and lacked detail. I didn’t want to add any clouds that were TOO dramatic but opted to insert a few into the sky that looked natural, unassuming and kept the image looking fresh. The street was replaced with the native plants that were there and the power lines and buildings were eliminated. The light of mine was also taken away. A total of roughly 13 or so faces were swapped from other photographs to make sure everyone was happy with their expressions and the young man in the middle of the back row was lowered a little to not be distracting from everyone else. This portrait now hangs on their wall as a lovely 30×40 masonite-mounted canvas with protective coating in a gold frame.

This, and all of the families I photograph, are truly an honor for me to work on. I enjoy the challenges each one offers and the creation process is very fulfilling for me. I look forward to this season’s family portraits! Please give me a call at (702)809-9763 as soon as you can so we can plan your portrait. I’m excited to meet you!

www.TNGphoto.com

I was recently commissioned to photograph the exteriors of 16 charter schools here in Las Vegas. Below are a few of my favorites and also a few snaps of how the final images were displayed.

Academica Nevada has charter schools all over the valley and from what I’ve heard and read, parents are very happy with these schools. Academica Nevada includes:

Doral Academy

Pinecrest Academy

Somerset Academy

Mater Academy

These schools have an interesting history. They were started when a husband and wife moved here and were motivated to start these schools because of being unimpressed with the public schools their kids were attending. Instead of just moving away, they took action! How great is that!?

Photography-wise, the challenge for me was to photograph these schools in interesting ways. Many of these schools have the same architecture so it would be very easy to have all the photographs looking too similar. My goal was to showcase each school in a way in its own unique way to avoid the problem of looking too much like the others. I photographed all the schools at either sunset/sunrise or dusk/dawn and focused on great composition, interesting perspectives, auxiliary lighting if need be, etc. Here are a few of my favorites:

Doral Academy Fire Mesa Campus

Doral Academy Red Rock Campus

Pinecrest Academy Horizon Campus

Somerset Academy Sky Canyon Campus

Somerset Academy Lone Mountain Campus

The final images were to be displayed for the company’s new conference room. I installed all 16 large metal 20×24 there with room for future schools to be displayed as well. Here are a few quick snaps I took of the display with my phone:

You probably have one of these charter schools not far from your home. Check out a list of their schools here to find one near you: click here.

Reminder! Senior Portrait time is back! Make sure you contact me soon so you have your portraits before graduation! Don’t have a senior yet? Please tell your friends about me. I’d appreciate it greatly. Thank you!

www.TNGseniors.com <- Senior Site

As summer is ending, it’s almost like we walk out of the house each day, feel the air and say, “Dang. It’s still hot. Maybe tomorrow!” The heat likes to hold onto Vegas for as long as it possibly can. Despite it all, there are some who will brave the summer heat in the name of photographic art and get a family portrait made. This family, in particular, not only had to do what all families do and prepare for the portrait with proper clothing choices, no doubt convincing kids to sit for the portrait and find a free moment in their calendar but also had to do it all in the summer heat right before they headed off to a delicious barbecue dinner! I tried my best to stay interesting but there is no doubt in my mind the thoughts of Lucille’s BBQ weighed heavily on them while I made my typical banter. I think my efforts were worth it! You can’t even tell the family is eager for dinner! 🙂 A big thank you to this family for braving the late afternoon heat while hungry. Enjoy your preview!

By the way, we are going to Zion National Park again this fall! Family portraits, senior portraits, individuals, couples, doesn’t matter. Join us and have a unique experience! Info below:

Meet Taylor. Taylor married Kyle. They are super happy people and a load of fun to photograph! It being summertime, it was a nice refreshing 113 degrees outside on the day of their wedding. We pulled through though and got a ton of great images. I’m happy for you guys! Thanks for being so fun!

Here are a few random images I liked from the wedding…