Concert photography: looking for a look09.28.11

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Wynonna was getting into her first number, If the House is Rockin’, and I was standing a couple dozen feet stage right with my 70-200mm lens trained on her. During an instrumental break, she turned in my direction, and gave a little Elvis-like snarl.

I popped off a few frames and thought that was it. That’s what I was looking for.

Concert photography is so much more than just aiming a camera at the stage with the proper settings and thinking it’s cool to take pictures of someone famous. I go looking for some kind of defining moment, like Wy channeling the King, because there is some Elvis in her – she does a solid Burning Love in her set. Maybe it’s interaction between artists. Maybe it’s just a moment onstage. I look at photos of Mick Jagger and think he must be a blast to shoot.

Wy was one of two performances I shot for the paper last weekend. The other was the University of Kentucky Symphony’s world premiere performance of Thomas Pasatieri’s Symphony. There was a challenge in illustrating this because Pasatieri was not on the stage, he just came up for a curtain call. So I had to nail that moment and hopefully find something there that conveyed the emotions of the world premiere.

I wanted performance too, and accidentally relegated to shooting from the wing, I had to rely on conductor John Nardolillo for that look. Fortunately, he was pretty enraptured by the music.

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Lexington youth sports photographer – soccer twins09.18.11

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Jennifer called me with a photo request I had not received before: Her twin daughters play soccer for Lexington FC, and she wanted to get photos of them in action. She was frustrated trying to do that with her camera.

“They all just come out blurry,” she said.

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So, she asked if I’d come out and photograph her girls in a a game.

Since I haven’t really billed myself as a sports photographer, I showed her a private gallery of pics I shot at my son’s soccer games last fall and work I had done for the Bryan Station High School Cross Country team so she could evaluate whether she wanted to hire me.

There’s a reason many sports photos shot from the sidelines turn out to be underwhelming. Most cameras are not set up for sports photography, even if that have that little action symbol on the mode-selector dial. A lot of consumer-grade DSLRs also come up short as sports cameras, because to get consistently good action you need a body that will shoot quick bursts of images – think 7 frames-per-second or more – and lenses that will instantly adjust to the action.

And that’s just the gear. Then you need a shooter with experience following action and knowing how to frame and capture that image so that it has the same impact as having a front-row seat at the game. Like I said, I don’t claim to be an accomplished sports photographer – and considering that at the Herald-Leader, I work with the best sports photographers in Central Kentucky, I know what that designation means. But I was thrilled when after reviewing some of my shots, Jennifer said she wanted me to come out and shoot a game.

I was even more thrilled with the Relient K day – Sunny with a high of 75 – that Saturday at the Winchester Classic turned out to be, reminding me why I love to be outside taking pictures in the fall.

This was a bit of a different experience from photographing my kids’ teams, because in those situations, I usually shoot the whole event and send images to the coach. Here, I was focusing on two players, but Maddie and Taylor are fierce competitors, so tracking them provided many opportunities for satisfying action shots.

And that was clearly what Jennifer wanted. Most teams that my kids have been involved with brought out a portrait photographer for the team shots and kneeling-with-the-ball individual photographs. But I have never seen one bring out a photographer to cover a game or two and get the action. But I know as a parent, those are images I really like – give me the shot of my kid getting the big steal or crossing the finish line.

Jennifer felt the same way, and it turned out to be a cool gig.

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Want to book Rich Copley Photo to photograph your child or team in action, or for something else? Check out our rates and booking info, and Email me.

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Lexington Photographer: (seriously) focused on your story09.16.11

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Shortly after posting photos from a shoot this summer, I got a humbling email: “All those hours you spent really were worth it. The impact of your work, really your gift to them, will be with them their whole lives!”

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Wow. And there I was fretting things like lighting and composition. My correspondent reminded me of the bigger picture of what photographers do. After all, most people don’t have a professional photographer following them around all the time, unless you’re the President (White House photographer – coolest job ever). And these days, there are plenty of cameras on the market most people can use to get good, if not great pictures of day-to-day events. With my HTC Inspire, I’m enjoying having a phone with a good point-and-shoot camera.

When you call on a professional photographer, you’re saying “This is a big deal,” and it is my job to appreciate that and engage with the moment we are in.

Even if it’s simply a personal or family portrait, for some reason you have chosen this moment to stop and have a serious photo taken. That’s a big part of why I like being an on-location photographer, because we are creating images that put you in the context of environments that are important to you and help tell the tale of this moment in time.

And at those big events like weddings, you are certainly saying, “This rates something more than hoping to get an awesome shot out of my iPhone.”

It’s a chapter in your life you want to document, and you want someone who is seriously focused on your story.

And that little email reminded me that our slogan is more than just a slogan.

Want to book a session with Rich Copley Photo? Check out our rates and booking info, and Email me.

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Lexington senior photographer: options09.08.11

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Related: Senior Portraits – 5 reasons to take them in the fall

A friend of mine recently posted a query on Facebook that caught my eye: She had one idea for her daughter’s appearance in her senior portrait, and her daughter had another. Should she allow her senior to do her own thing or insist on a more traditional look?

My answer: do both.

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Senior pictures have progressed far beyond the days when (children of the ’80s and earlier, you will remember this) we just went in to the photographer, guys put on a faux tux and girls put on a black drape, you were shot against a blah background, and that was it for your senior portrait. That’s fine … for the yearbook. But it’s hardly a complete portrait.

Welcome to the 21st Century and a photography world that is quite different. One of the primary goals of senior portraits today is to put the young man or woman in the context of this great moment in his or her life. Coming from a journalism background and being a big magazine fan, I often think of portrait sessions like, “If we were shooting for a profile of this person somewhere like Rolling Stone or Vanity Fair, what kind of images would we want for that?”

  • Who are they?
  • What do they love?
  • Where do they love to be?
  • What kind of image do they want to present – do they have a particular sartorial style or personal flair they want to present?
  • What do mom and dad want to remember?
  • What kind of image can we produce that will take you back to this special time 10, 20, 50 years from now?

What kind of images? Plural.

Maybe some have that highly unique look, and some are more traditional. This does not have to be an either or. It can be a both. Maybe, mom and dad, your dream is that beautiful closeup of your child captured for the ages at idyllic 18. Maybe his or her idea is a portrait with that instrument they love to play or on the field where they have excelled. It could be we try something more lyrical. Last spring, I saw senior pictures some friends of mine shot with the senior riding off in her bike down a winding road, which I thought was a lovely representation the journey from child to adulthood.

There are simply so many options. I recently did a senior shoot where I think the parents, student and I each had different favorite images. We can get a lot out of a few hours of shooting.

Want to book Rich Copley Photo for your senior shoot or something else? Check out our rates and booking info, and Email me.

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Central Kentucky senior pictures: 5 reasons to take them in the fall09.05.11

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Related: Senior Portraits – Options

School has started, and for thousands of kids in the Lexington area this is it: the final go-around.

Of course, that means many rites of senior year including senior portraits. Now, like other grand senior traditions such as prom, senior skip day, and graduation, it can be easy to associate senior portraits with the springtime. But there are really good reasons not to wait. I’ve got five for you:

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1. Prom, graduation, final events, senior skip day, graduation parties and other stuff – you will have plenty to do come springtime without adding a senior portrait session to the list.

2. Fall is Central Kentucky’s prettiest season. If you want to get outdoor shots, this is the time of year to do it, when the weather gets a little crispy and the landscape gets colorful.

3. The weather is more reliable this time of year. Springtime in Kentucky is always a dicey proposition in the Bluegrass. Just ask the folks at Keeneland. It can be gorgeous. It can also be 50-degrees and rainy. But fall is fairly reliable for delivering beautiful days where you will look comfy posing for your senior portraits. (Watch. Now that I wrote that, 2011 will be the wettest fall on Record in Central Kentucky.)

4.The golden hour is at a reasonable hour. I know I am offering a bunch of outdoorsy reasons. But when you live in an area as beautiful as ours, it makes sense to make the landscape part of your portrait session. The golden hour is a photography term for the time right before sunset – and it can be right after sunrise, if you’re an early bird – when the outdoor light is just spectacular. Now, this is happening between 7 and 8 p.m., and it will move backward as September becomes October. These are very reasonable hours for getting together for some photos.

5. Senior portraits make lovely holiday gifts. Giving friends and relatives senior shots at Christmastime can add to the specialness of the senior year. Getting them shot in the next couple months will leave plenty of time to get prints, have them framed and do whatever else you want to do.

Since hanging out my shingle, seniors portraits and similar shots have been my favorite things to shoot. I would be happy to talk about taking yours at any time, but seriously, think about the fall.

Want to book Rich Copley Photo for your senior shoot or something else? Check out our rates and booking info, and Email me.

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