As summer’s refreshing 300 degree weather slowly fades away with the coming fall, I am back to blogging every week.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjjZGyYcH9E[/youtube]

As I was contemplating about what I should blog about I thought it would be fun to show off some really old images I created when I was more of a beginner photographer. I’m pretty sure I’ve done this before on an old blog but I’m far too busy to use that little search bar to the right to double check. If you don’t know my complete story by the way, head over to the main website and read all about it here.

The reader’s digest version goes like this: I was 19 when I started reading about photography, researching cameras and studying photography lingo, first camera was about $1000, wanted to do landscape photography, ate a pretzel, upgraded camera a year later after realizing how much I enjoyed my new hobby, improved, ate a pretzel again (no cheese) and then was fine tuned once discovered by “Photography by Van.”

This was my first, what I considered, good landscape photograph I ever took. This is Kolob Canyon of Zion National Park at sunset. It is about 5 images stitched into one and it’s still one of my favorites.

TNG Photography

When I was just a wee lad, with nothing to do on a Thursday night, I practiced my photography skills a few times at the free Sirens show outside of Treasure Island. Here’s one that turned out ok for my skill level at the time:

Of course as a new and budding photographer I had to point my camera at clouds, trees and boring sky whenever I could…

Are you impressed yet? Sheeeeeeeesh! I had a lot of improving to do didn’t I? 🙂 At the time, I always thought photography would be my hobby and I would go on to become a salesman by day but luckily for me, I met the right people, did the right things and enjoy my career choice more and more everyday! Opportunities present themselves, everyone. I started off photographing lifeless, boring images and now get to create portrait art with all of my clients It’s been interesting where just buying my first camera has taken me.

Well, welcome to the new blog everyone! I hope you like the new look and features. All the old articles and posts are here and I’ll probably change the overall look again soon but thank you so much for reading and stalking this Las Vegas photographer‘s blog. 🙂 See you next week!

Nate

TNGphoto.com

We have a yearly tradition of going up to Zion National Park in the fall to enjoy the beautiful scenery and colors. I don’t think I ever truly noticed just how brown and colorless Las Vegas is until I spent a week in Hawaii last year. Just before our plane touched back down I was looking out the window to an endless land of brown and grey. After being in a tropical environment, filled with greens and flowers of never ending varieties, my home for the first time looked dead and wasted.

“Why do we live here again?” I joked. After a few days my deceased home of Las Vegas was back to its vibrant self and the memories of green mountains, blue oceans and tourist filled beaches was just a beautiful memory. Still, Zion National Park is a place I always look forward to in the fall. After the summer crowds are gone, the park is much more quiet and serene and the cool air feels so clean to breathe. There is so much to see there that I don’t think I’ll ever see it all. Fall in Zion is relaxing and therapeutic (and my wife says I need therapy 🙂 ) and I’m so happy to invite a few families with me every fall for family portraits. Our annual “Portraits in the Leaves” event is scheduled for October 27th, 2012. Here is the info:

CLICK TO ENLARGE

We’re only accepting 5 families for this event so don’t wait on deciding, just call or e-mail now and you won’t be sorry. Send me an e-mail and I’ll send you my Family Portrait Planning & Clothing Guide to help you get ready for Zion. It’s going to be so much fun!

Before I go, here’s a quick little video highlighting last year’s “Portraits in the Leaves.” Enjoy!

Nate

TNGphoto.com

I recently had a very fun 6 month old session with little Emma and her parents. I met these nice people at a wedding reception I was photographing and they asked me if I photographed babies. I told them yes then asked what they had in mind and was able to tell them about my Baby’s 1st Year Plan. They loved the idea of having several portrait sessions throughout the year to be able to see how much their baby had grown in that time. The following images were a lot of fun and we had a blast at Lake Las Vegas for Emma’s 6 month session! Enjoy!

For more information about the Baby’s 1st Year Program, fill out our contact form by clicking here.

Nate

TNGphoto.com

The great thing about being a photographer is you never know what you’re next project is going to be. It’s one of the most fun aspects of this career. Every phone call that I receive is a possibility to create something unique and exciting! The following images reflect this quite well. There is a twist, however -GASP!- The twist to these images for me isn’t just the fact that they are images of a unique subject but the fact that the subject is my mentor, Master Photographer Van Frazier. Well, I call him my mentor but he might refer to me as a big pest… 🙂

Van was the original owner of the Las Vegas portrait studio, Photography by Van. While working there he taught me the finer parts of portraiture and helped lift my work out of the dark abyss that it once slithered and crawled in. I remember being a human sponge whenever we would speak together about lighting, expression, posing, composition, business, marketing, language and anything else we would invest our time in verbalizing. It was so much fun having my work torn apart and dissected over and over again so that I could improve. I have a pretty thick skin so it wasn’t hard to take the constructive criticism. I was just thrilled to have someone share their 30+ years of knowledge with me. Up until that point, I had taught myself photography through reading books and researching online and being critiqued by a few photographer on forums. My style was basically a mix of what I saw others doing and a lot (ok, too much) Photoshop work. I knew nothing about real portraiture until Van whipped me into shape. Fast forward a few years and I’ve now photographed his family, his son’s family and grandchildren, his bagpiping band ( http://www.desertskye.org/ ) and now Van by himself with his bagpipes.

When Van first told me about this session I immediately thought we should go find a a green forest with lush mountains and big skies. He quickly told me how every piper on earth does that but no piper that he knew of had ever taken any at our very own Red Rock Canyon. Van’s definitely a man who knows what he likes. 🙂 Enjoy! Leave a comment!

Van is available for all sorts of events including eagle court of honors, weddings, and more. He even teaches how to play the bagpipes!

Check out his website: http://www.bagpipingbyvan.com/

(click to enlarge)

Nate

TNGphoto.com

The end of the school year is almost here so that means last minute seniors are rolling in! Here’s a few recent portraits.

Nate

http://www.TNGphoto.com

http://www.TNGseniors.com <- SENIORS, GO HERE!

We are accepting Class of 2013 models! Click here to apply.

Here is one of our newest models!

I hope everyone is enjoying their spring break. There’s still time to take advantage of our 2 specials in April:

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I’ve been keeping busy photographing kids, Dance Etc.’s new poster for their upcoming show and the Cougar’s senior lacrosse poster. I’m really excited for this weekend though because Owen is now 3 months old so it’s time to take some new portraits of him. The last session was when he was 2 weeks old so it’ll be fun to see how much he’s changed.

Did you know TNG Photography has Baby’s 1st Year plans? Send us a message for more info.

We bought our house in the fall that was vacant for about a year. Because no one was living in it, the plants did not get watered so just about all the bushes and trees were dead when we moved in. Whenever I’ve found the time, I’ve been yanking up trees, trimming and digging and trying to plan ahead for what the end result of my yards will be. With all this work comes the dreaded cleanup so I threw as many old plants into the back of the truck as it could hold and off to the dump I went. Along the way, a big chunk of tree caught the right amount of air at the right speed and it soared backwards out of the truck and onto Boulder Highway. I pulled over, stopped and ran into the middle of the street to pick up my mess, loaded it back up with the rest of the wooden prisoners and I was back on track. I made it to the transfer station and pulled into door #2 where I was directed to drop the payload behind some garbage. I briefly wondered why they had to be so picky and moved on. I yanked everything out of the truck like Hercules on steroids. I hurled the trees into a large pile. I chucked the wood (that a woodchuck did NOT chuck) with a mighty heave and swept the back of the truck out with my trusty broom.

“–sniff– Ahh…smell that? That’s not garbage. That’s manliness in the air!”

I entered the truck like any manly man would and turned the key to the ignition.

No sound.

I turned it again.

Still no sound.

My manly manliness was now diminished to a boyish gulp.

“Now what?” I thought. “I might be here for days–weeks! I’ll have to abandon the truck and live among the garbage until help arrives and who knows when that will be?’

My despair was met with the perfect timing of a Uhaul truck entering door #2. Three men exited the box truck and I asked them if they could please jump the truck’s battery. They agreed and proceeded to empty their truck of garbage. I joined them in their work and helped unload their payload. My boyish tepidness was now once again transformed into the hulk of coagulated manliness again. I gripped and tossed rolls of carpet and dust filled my lungs as I propelled more trash and chicken wing boxes several yards from the Uhaul. When we were finished, the strangers attached the jumper cables to their truck and my truck’s engine awoke from the dust and breathed new life. I thanked them again for their help and I entered my truck again as manly as I knew how.

The green truck I helmed followed the exit signs as the blaring horns and beeping tractors sent me on my way. I knew I’d be back again someday, but next time, I would not turn off my engine.

 SCROLL DOWN FOR A PERFECT MOTHER’S DAY PRESENT!

My sister gave birth to her baby boy a few weeks ago so I of course had to create some images of the new little newborn. Here are my favorites from the session.

How Much Does Your Mother Love YOU?

Call us today: (702)809-9763

(Click to enlarge)

 

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all of you!

 

-Nate

TNGphoto.com <- Main Las Vegas Photographer Website

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

They say variety is the spice of life and lately, variety has been the name of the game. Family portraits, children’s portraits, musicians and even food items for a menu at a popular restaurant in town (I’ll tell you more about it some other time when I’m done with the entire menu). I’m having a lot of fun with each project. Thanks to everyone who is spending the time with me! Here are a few of my favorites:

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Dear Class of 2012 Las Vegas Seniors,

It’s already February and you haven’t had your senior portraits taken yet.  You’re lucky we live in the U.S. because in other countries you’d be imprisoned for life and sent to work in the mines because of your procrastination. Shame on you! It’s all good though! No worries!  I am a kind, generous and forgiving soul. There is still time to get high quality, creative and unique senior portraits before you graduate! Here’s what you need to do:

1) Go to http://www.TNGseniors.com

2) View the gallery and read the survival guide.

3) Call or text us at (702)809-9763 and let’s get your session scheduled!

Real quick, I currently have two personal projects I’m working on. I’m hoping to get around 20 different individuals for each project. Contact us if you want to be apart of this! Here are the quick details:

These projects are fun for me for a few reasons, one being that I get to push my creativity passed its comfort zones so I can continue growing and improving. Second, it just gives me something to do with my spare time. Owen was born a month ago now and honestly, it feels like one long continuous day. hahaha! I rarely see the sun anymore. 🙂 Honestly though, I like to set goals and see them through so I see these as goals that need to be accomplished.

Here are a few recent participants:

TNGphoto.com <- Main Las Vegas Photographer Website

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