• Senior photography is meant to showcase your uniqueness

    March 24, 2015

    Meet Becca. Becca is an artist who found my Las Vegas senior photography website. She said she wanted me to photograph her senior portraits because my work “looked different” and “more artistic” than other photographers she had seen. These are great compliments for me and I receive them quite often. Since Becca is an artist and from Colorado, she said she did not want a typical location for her portraits. In Colorado, the scenery there is stunning but she said she was used to seeing greenery and mountains and things like that in senior portraits taken there. Being an artist, I suggested we go down to the Las Vegas Arts Districtย ย since that would be more her style. She was thrilled with the idea and she admires graffiti artwork and spray painting so the choice was a good one. She also had her own mural we showcased in her backyard!

    It was really a lot of fun being out in the Arts District. At one point, we passed by a metal shop that had the rolling door up. I saw a worker putting together a very large metal whisk that was obviously going to be on a sign somewhere. Note: I think it’s now on a store in Boulder City.

    Enjoy and don’t forget to call me for your own customized senior portraits!

    (702)809-9763

    TNGseniors.com

     

    vegas senior photos vegas senior photos

     

  • More photography techno-babble… learn the secrets of the guru… :)

    February 26, 2014

    I thought it would be fun to go over a few images I created and describe how they were achieved on a technical level. I have done this on an older blog post so I thought I should resurrect the idea. Fellow photographers will probably understand many of the terms I use in these descriptions but for those of you who aren’t photographers, I hope you can appreciate the effort and thought process that went into each of these images.

     

    Leave a comment with your thoughts or any questions!

     

    vegas artist photo

    This is a friend of mine who is a talented artist and photographer. I asked him if I could create a portrait of him in his workspace for my own personal work of local artists and photographers. The room was not very large so I decided I would use a long lens to compress the background and showcase only a few key elements. This man is a hunter/outdoorsman so I chose a painting to place on an easel stand that had a similar tone to his skintone so it would not clash with the subject’s face. He was lit with a gridded beauty dish, reflector and a bare bulb speelite to add a highlight to his arm and nose. Another speedlite was manually zoomed into 135mm and aimed at the painting behind him.

     

    Artist and Hunter Portrait

    I decided to switch to a wide angle lens to showcase more of a story. I exchanged the painting in the background for another that still would not clash with the artist’s skin tone and I liked how the bird’s face is turned and looking at our subject. I then liked the idea of having a bird painting in the foreground as well. The wall behind him was normally bare and dull and for a wide angle portrait, I felt it necessary to occupy the space somehow. So, we took one of his hunting trophies and mounted it on the wall behind him. The lighting was the same set up for this image plus another light on a stand, raised up to ceiling height and controlled with barn doors (to make sure not to effect the lighting on the subject), aimed at the antelope to bring out more detail.

    My goal for these portraits was to showcase my friend’s passions–hunting, the outdoors and his art. I am pleased with the results.

     

    natural light photographer in las vegas

    las vegas photographer

    I consider myself quite the lighting aficionado. I am quite versed in it and extremely confident while working with it. I see a lot of other photographers being self described as ” natural light photographers ” and I cringe oftentimes when I see the work they produce. While yes, they work with natural lighting only, they lack the knowledge it takes to manipulate it for the highest quality possible. There are principles of lighting that need to be considered to flatter the subject but they throw this out the window. I don’t consider myself strictly a natural light photographer. I use the tools needed to get the job done right and if it’s natural light, great! If it’s a strobe or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5… off camera then great! Anyway, this portrait was all natural light. No electronic flashes used at all. The sun was behind her, creating a beautiful rim light around her hair and shoulders and I used my 6 ft. tall reflector to bounce and feather the light back into her face to make sure she had proper modeling to the face along with light in the eyes. I used a bush in the foreground for added feeling of depth in the portrait.

     

    vegas headshots realty busienss

    I was updating this realtor’s headshots at her home and decided an outdoors setting would be fun. This, like the previous image, was created with natural light only. The side of her home was lit by the sun which added a beautiful light to her face but I added my 6 ft. reflector give it a little extra pop.

     

    las vegas family photographer

    This family wanted something edgy and different for their home to match their style and decor. While I did create a few “safer” family photos to get a nice variety, this ended up being their favorite.ย  The low angle is definitely not traditional. The color tone is cool/blue which is a fun departure from my usual warm, vibrant and inviting colors that a lot of my work includes. The wide angle lens made the two kids in the front look gigantic in comparison to the group which is something I usually make a HUGE priority not to do in my most of my more classical family portraits.

    The lighting was 3 lights—one key light to camera right to light the group and two lights behind the group (one aimed at the family to add highlights to them and the ground behind them and another aimed somewhat angled at the ceiling to create an interesting bright light behind them. Smiling with teeth would not have fit the mood for this portrait so I asked them to be a little more intense. ๐Ÿ™‚ So much fun!

     

    I hope that was helpful! Thanks for reading!

     

    Nate

    – Your favorite Las Vegas senior photographer ๐Ÿ™‚

     

  • Outdoor Senior Photos in Las Vegas

    May 2, 2013

    I had a few really fun sessions recently. It’s senior season again and this is when my mind switches to overdrive! Seniors are challenging portraits for many reasons–each person has a unique personality to convey, different body types to flatter, and lighting in the warming desert is always a challenge, just to name a few. I was thinking the other night about how senior photos will be seen by more people than any other portrait except maybe your wedding photos. There’s a lot of pressure for seniors to look good to their friends and their classmates. No one wants to look unnatural, corny or embarrassing…luckily, and this is going to sound cocky but, I’m extremely good at making sure seniors WON’T be embarrassed. ๐Ÿ™‚ Enjoy the portraits!

    SENIORS: The time is now to get your portraits taken! Call (702)809-9763 and read more at TNGseniors.com for more info!

    prom photography las vegas

    Ok, so these aren’t really seniors but I couldn’t resist posting it! These are actually juniors who were only about an hour away from heading to their prom and they wanted some nice images created of themselves in this beautiful location. After we took some portraits by the fountain, I hopped into the bed of this young man’s truck and he drove us down the street a few blocks to this great area right in the middle of the neighborhood. I was a little nervous here and there though because sprinklers kept turning on and off in the hedges across the street from us so we made our escape plans with each other just in case the water turned on where we were. Luckily, we made it out alive and no sprinklers laid a hand on us. ๐Ÿ™‚

    lacrosse player photography las vegas

    I had a ton of fun with this lacrosse player’s senior portraits! Along with all of the nice portraits of smiles, teeth and different outfits, I always try to make sure I try something different, artistic, funky or just plain fun. In this situation, the young man brought the eyes on his helmet to my attention and told me he wanted to find a way to show it off. I was happy with the dramatic feel of this one.

    senior girl outdoor photo las vegas

    This is a more traditional portrait of this senior. I remember while I was photographing her here, I knew I wanted this to be black and white. The beautiful soft, natural light coming in from the right side of the image is very flattering and I didn’t need to even add a reflector or subtract light from her at all. It was just as flattering as light comes at the time. I loved the way the background is so bright (but still visible and distinguishable) and her clothes are dark so she really pops out at you here!

    LEAVE A COMMENT AND TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS!

    Oh, by the way, we’re on Facebook, Twitter, and now Instagram! Like us, follow us, cyber stock us, whatever! ๐Ÿ™‚

    -Nate

  • How it was done– tips from a Las Vegas professional photographer

    April 3, 2013

    “LIFE’S BETTER AT THE BEACH” PHOTO DAY WEEKEND IS IN MAY! CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE!

     

    Just for fun, I wanted to show a few images and talk a little bit about how they were made, post processing and what my thought process was in the creation of the image. I’m sure there are plenty of you out there that like to hear about these kind of specifics and some of you probably have no interest at all but just like seeing some nice portraits. Either way, it’s win-win! ๐Ÿ™‚

    PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT AND TELL ME WHETHER OR NOT YOU LIKE THESE KINDS OF POSTS SO I CAN MAKE MORE OR NOT. ENJOY!

    las vegas senior portraits

    This senior portrait was taken on the top level of the Bellagio parking lot. Whenever I’m on the strip, I am always gazing upward at the tall buildings and I thought it would be fun to convey the same feeling with the senior. I glanced around and saw nowhere for him to stand so I had him stand on top of my car as I sat on the ground. The blue shirt, blue sky and reflections made for a great color harmony.

    senior photography in las vegas

    One thing I’ve become known for is my use of lighting and shadows to make extremely life-like, colorful and vibrant images that aren’t easy to replicate. Lighting is one of my favorite aspects of photography as every situation calls for a different type of lighting to be used. For this portrait, I wanted shadowless lighting and striking eyes on a high key background. Four lights were used. Two lights were placed about 135 degrees behind her on either side, skimming across her hair to bring out the texture in her dark hair. These two lights were relatively small because smaller lights are harsher and therefore can bring out more texture in dark hair–if she was a blonde I probably would have used larger, softer lights. There was also a light shining on my white background so that it would be completely white. For her face, I set up a strobe directly above her and placed my DIY large curved reflector directly beneath her. The strobe above her reflected off of this reflector which filled in any shadows that would be under her nose, lips, etc. The reflector is curved/arched shaped because I wanted it to reflect somewhat on the sides of her face and to add a unique catchlight on the lower hemispheres of her eyes (that’s not photoshop, just good ole photography!). The results were quite nice.

    best family photography in las vegas

    When it comes to family portraits, there are many rules I follow for myself to ensure a quality image. One of them being, if I were to remove every single person from the portrait except for one, would that person look good? If I took everyone out except this other person, would that person look good? In other words, everyone in the entire image MUST look fantastic! For this image, I was able to interact with the kids in a way that got them happy, relaxed and at ease with me–parents always seem to appreciate this– and I also was able to get a beautiful view in Zion canyon. I love being able to show off the scenery and location. As a finishing touch, I had the dad here hold his daughter on his shoulders. I did this for a few reasons:

    • It kept the girl from running away and losing interest of the photos
    • It helped the composition of the group. Notice how it is daughter with son and father with daughter. Also, their faces being where they are creates a diagonal in the image. Everything is vertical in the image–bodies, mountains, the low perspective– so the diagonal creates a contrast for your eyes.
    • The sun was behind them and the dad has a shaved head. The little girl’s body blocked the sun from making his head glow.

    STILL WITH ME? PHEW! THANK GOODNESS! I LOVE THIS STUFF AND COULD TALK ABOUT IT ALL DAY (BUT I WON’T)! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!

     

    If you haven’t taken the time to LIKE our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter, just click the links and you’ll get some fun updates from me!

     

    Thanks!

     

    Nate

    TNG Photography

     

     

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