• It Tells You a Story

    December 16, 2011

    Here’s a new image that I’m particularly happy with. This isn’t your typical family portrait at all! I’m very pleased with how I was able to express both my own (goofy) personality as well as the family’s (fun) personality. I love that I’m able to express multiple sides of my personality through my portraiture. At times, I love the serene, quiet confidence of a soft expression and other times I love to show the the comical side of life through images like the one below. I believe that every good portrait should tell some sort of story.

    I grew up in a family of musicians. I was the odd one of the family, having never played an instrument or sang. Despite my lack of wanting to develop any musical ability, I’ve always had an appreciation for good music. I remember asking my brother about a the famous song by Beethoven, Fur Elise. If you don’t recall the song, here it is:

    I asked my brother, “Is Fur Elise a happy song or is it a sad song? It seems like it’s neither happy or sad.”

    My musician brother educated me by saying something to the effect, “Music is all about telling a story. Fur Elise tells a story when you hear it.”

    Even though he didn’t answer my question directly, I understood what he was saying. I can relate what he said to photography and any other type of artwork. My style is consistent with my personality, despite the mood of the image, be it colorful or black and white, soft and contemplative or joyful and exciting.

    I can see myself in each “story” and it gives me amazing fulfillment in my life. Thank you to everyone for having me create beautiful and expressive images for you and your families!

    Leave a comment and tell me what you think of it.

    Christmas is only a week away so make sure you don’t wait much longer and take advantage of our final 3 deals of 2011!

    1) Give a PHOTO CLASS

    Every family has at least one person who enjoys photography or maybe you’re getting an aspiring shutterbug their first decent camera for Christmas but know they’ll need some help using it. With all this in mind, we decided to start offering personal photographic instruction at a great price. A 2 hour class that will teach the basics of the camera, as well as composition, lighting techniques and other fun tips and tricks.

    For only $150, you get 2 full hours of instruction and we’ll even throw in a $100 TNG GIft Card for a future portrait session!

    Call us to order: (702)809-9763

    2) DOUBLE YOUR GIFT CERTIFICATE

    Spend less but give more!

    The economy has seen better days so this year we want to save you some money and maximize your gift-purchasing power! Order before December 21st and invest in a $100, $250 or $500 gift certificate and we’ll DOUBLE your gift amount! That means if you purchase a $250 gift certificate, we’ll make it $500! This gift certificate is good towards any of our photographic services in 2012 and is not valid on any pending order in 2011 and cannot be ordered for yourself.

    Call us to order: (702)809-9763

    3) TIMELESS BLACK & WHITE CHILDREN PORTRAITS

    A Gift That Lasts

    A 15 minute classic session, complimentary 5×7 gift portrait and a Facebook image to share. These black and whites are timeless and sophisticated works of art that showcase the soulful eyes of a child. This $67 gift is sure to please those with a fine taste in black and white artwork or those who just plain have everything!

    Call us to order: (702)809-9763

    Thanks for everything! The next blog post will probably have news of my son’s birth…<gulp>….any day now!  🙂

    Nate

    TNGphoto.com <- Main Las Vegas Photographer Website

    TNGseniors.com <- Las Vegas High School Senior Photos. Seniors, go here!

  • Bill Murray is funnier than you.

    December 1, 2011

    Bill Murray is funnier than you. He’s funnier than me. He’s funnier than anyone you’ve ever met. It’s late at night, my wife is in bed and I’m up watching, “Scrooged.” Is there any current comedian in movies today that will be as remembered and appreciated like Bill Murray? I can’t think of any.

    “Scrooged” isn’t the funniest movie ever but I can’t imagine it even being watchable without Bill Murray. My favorite part? When he meets the Ghost of Christmas Present and keeps getting slapped and punched by her and when he finally says, “If you… TOUCH ME AGAIN…I’ll rip your wings off!” See the video below and skip to 4:32. Enjoy!

    Earlier tonight I had the pleasure of photographing the head chef at FIREFLY KITCHEN AND BAR for their marketing. If you’ve never been, take a night and get yourself some good food. The duck rolls will have you hooked. Anyway, I can’t post any images at the moment but I will post a few of my favorites very soon. It was quite challenging tonight as it was extremely dark in the restaurant, making it hard to focus the camera and also making it harder to see what needed to be adjusted with posing and composition. It was also PACKED full of people eating their dinner which made me feel a little intrusive with all of my equipment.

    With all the people around and how busy everything was around us, I wasn’t able to communicate to the chef as well as I would have hoped.We first started inside of a private room which we needed to be out of by 6:30 and then moved onto the bar area. It was noisy and the restaurant background was fun to see but at this point I still didn’t feel like I was getting the most out of my subject. We later went into the kitchen (I’ve never worked at a restaurant before so this was all new to me) and I photographed the chef doing what he does best…cooking. This was a lot of fun to watch and be apart of. I could really see the skill and passion this man has for his work which I found admirable. When we were all done in the kitchen I asked if he’d be willing to come outside and let me take a quick portrait of him with the building in the background. He agreed but I went outside and the wind had gone from 0mph to winder-wonderland-mph in no time.

    I decided to X the outside idea in favor of a secluded area of the restaurant that for whatever reason was completely unoccupied for the night.  I sat him down at a simple little table and put my lights where I needed them. The entire mood was now entirely different from the rest of the night. The hustle of the restaurant was only a wall away but we seemed separated from everything and I could now work on building comfort with my subject. I have always felt that building comfort with a subject is essential to creating an effective portrait. For some it takes mere moments and others it takes much longer but once they are at ease with me and the camera, that’s when the best images can be created. Now being away from all the distractions, I was able to have more of a conversation with the man and learned more about him and his goals for his business. I learned that he has a wife who loves having photographs made of her kids and I got more acquainted with the chef’s sense of humor. I often catch myself enjoying my conversations with my subjects that I forget I have a job to do! I told him I better finish up his portraits and it was at this time that the night’s best images were made. The portraits were simple and didn’t show a whole lot of the environment but the expressions from my more at ease subject made them my favorites from the night.

    I’m getting into the nasty habit of now posting photos on this here photogginraphy blog! Forgive my laziness! Here are two recent portraits I made that I’m quite fond of.

    Las Vegas Family Portraits

    Las Vegas Children Portraits

    Thanks for reading!

    Nate

    TNGphoto.com

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