Marylynne wanted a shot against the brick wall on the back of the Lexington Opera House. It worked for her.

What do we do next? That’s always the next question after someone hires me.

With Zach, we used a few frames to represent his Ultimate Frisbee prowess.

So with the spring round of senior picture season in the offing — yes, it’s supposed to snow tonight, but warm weather is in sight — I wanted to give you a quick rundown of what will happen once you decide to book me.

1. We will meet. This is to settle up picky details like what price level you want. But the bigger questions will be what you want to do, what your hopes are for these photos. I am an on-location, environmental portrait photographer who likes a style Digital Photography School called portrait photojournalism. So we want to talk about what locations and what objects are most important to you to have in a shot. For seniors, for instance …

• Do you have favorite activities of your high school years you’d like to represent?
• Has your car been particularly special to you?
• Is there a place that is particularly special to you?
• Do you even have a best friend you may want in a few shots, that these images would not be complete without.

These are the kinds of things we’ll talk about.

I will try to give you an idea of what we can do and how long it should take so we make a plan to get you the pictures you want at a price that is comfortable for you.

2. We’ll set a time and location or locations for the shoot. What you want to show will have a lot to do with this. If, for instance, you have outdoor locales you want to shoot at, we’re probably going to aim for around late afternoon and sunset when the light is best. If you want a couple locations, we may strategize how to get from one to another in time or plan a split shoot if we need to. With me, you have the luxury of flexibility.

Keenland had a special meaning to Nate's mom, so we went there.

3. We shoot! If the person I am shooting is 18 or under, I do request a parent or guardian come along. In general, I have found it is good to have someone else along to keep the subject’s mood light. Smiling for the camera ain’t as easy as it looks.

We will have fun!

Remember, this is your photo shoot, your time to be a star. There aren’t a lot of times in life you can be self-indulgent and get away with it, but this is one of them.

4. You’ll get your pictures! Whether you asked for a disc or digital delivery, I will have your images ready for you within two weeks. I aim for sooner, but two weeks in my guarantee. I do request payment within two weeks of getting your photos, though never before you receive them.

5. Please tell your friends. If you are happy with how it went, I hope you will tell your friends to look me up the next time they need a photographer. (This post could be a good intro.)

Will was going for an urban cool look, like this.

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

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Recently, on my 366 Project I posted an image from a Sunday morning church service with a caption that said shooting in church, “The challenge is to capture the moment without intruding on it.”

Reading it again reminded me of how I try as often as possible to be a church mouse when shooting in a house of worship, be it for a service, a music performance or a wedding.

Now, the image that comment appeared with actually was not my mousiest moment. Trying to capture the moment where ordained members of the church lay hands on newly ordained members of the congregation, I ended up diving in front of the partition between the front of the church and the first pew to capture the emotional moment. That sort of goes against some of the rules I have developed for shooting in churches.

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Stick to back and the sides of the sanctuary. One of my criteria for putting my name out as a photographer for hire was to purchase a 70-200mm, f2.8 lens. Why? Because that glass is essential to being able to shoot from the back and sides of most church sanctuaries, thus I am far less tempted to go running up the center aisle when you’re saying, “I do.” (It’s also essential for stage photography.) Yes, there are times where you may need to go into the action to capture the best images, like as the wedding party processes down the aisle. But usually, it is best to stay out of the way.

Easy on the shutter button. This was one I have really had to learn. Shooting music and theater, I tend to ride the continuous mode because there can be a fraction of a second between a really compelling look and a goofy one on the face of a singer or actor. The same is true for speakers and musicians in church, but the clic-clic-clic-clic-click really is not a welcome sound in most parts of church services. So I tend to frame, focus, and wait for a moment. In a way, it almost feels like nature photography.

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Use quiet mode if possible. I shot a wedding last summer with a Nikon D700. Loved the image quality, loved the low light response, loved most everything about it except its clapboard of a shutter. With the announcement of the D4, I was happy to see it has quiet mode like the D300s and D7000, seeming to indicate the mode where the shutter sound is dampened is becoming standard. This is really essential in shooting things like churches and classical music.

Now here, I am talking about traditional churches and formats as well as weddings. There are, of course, contemporary worship styles that allow for more aggressive styles of photography. But, like classical music, churches are environments where you need to learn to get your shot without getting in the way.

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

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Audio Adrenaline broke up in 2007. I got back into photography seriously in 2008. So, I presumed they would not be a band I’d ever get to shoot.

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Here’s a little thing about photographers who shoot concerts: we like to shoot our favorite artists and we like to shoot legendary artists. I mentioned last March how I was shooting an Itzhak Perlman performance and I looked into my viewfinder and thought, “That’s Itzhak freaking Perlman.” I take some real satisfaction in that my best concert photography shoot was one of my favorite bands: Switchfoot, which is why there are several images from that show in my stage shots gallery.

In Christian rock, Audio Adrenaline is a bit of both an icon and a favorite. They’ve recorded several classics like Big House and Hands and Feet, songs I like and even learned to play on guitar. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, they were a dominant band in the Christian market along with acts such as Newsboys and Third Day. They were artists I would have liked to have shot. In fact, I remember covering their final show in Rupp Arena in 2007 and thinking it was a shame no one was shooting it for the paper, which planted another little seed in my desire to revive my own photography.

So the opportunity came back around last weekend. Lead singer Mark Stuart and bassist Will McGinniss – histirically the mainstays of the band – came to Lexington’s Broadway Christian Church with a group called the Know Hope Collective. It wasn’t exactly an Audio A show, though they did some Audio A songs, and for my personal satisfaction, I got to say I did shoot a semblance of one of Christian rock’s iconic bands.

Click here to read the story on this performance and see a complete photo gallery.

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A month ago, today, I started a little project. It was inspired by some other photographers I followed on Facebook who had taken on the commitment to take and post a new picture everyday for 365 days. Through their posts, I saw progress. I saw, routine pictures progress into thoughtful photographs. I saw commitment to craft. I saw something I needed to do.

Dec. 16, 2011

Since I started seriously approaching photography again four years ago, I had basically been motivated by need, be it personal, for my day job at the Herald-Leader or clients at RCPe. A few times, I went out and shot for fun, because I wanted to or needed to work on something. But in these 365 projects, I saw committment: You will pick up a camera. Every day. Whether you have something to shoot or not. And you will share it with the planet, Janet, meaning it really needs to be worthy of sharing.

Uh, yeah.

Of course, Richie C picks a leap year to do this. But I did, so this is my 366 project.

I started the deal in Virginia Beach, because that’s where I seriously got interested in photography in 1988 when I got bit by the bug working at the Film Factory and my family bought me a Canon A-1. It started with a shot of ceramic choir boys crafted by my Great Aunt Mattie, because I started this at a personal moment. ‘Nuf said.

I know some 365/’66 projects have stringent rules, like, “shoot whatever you see at 11:42 a.m.” everyday. There are only so many shots that can be taken of my desk. Seriously. My rules are simple: Take a picture every day, be it for the day job, RCPe, a personal pic or because this is a 366 assignment, so you have to shoot something. Post the picture on your Facebook page.

So that’s what I am doing. We’ll see where it goes.

Jan. 9, 2012

Jan. 4, 2012

Jan. 6, 2012

Dec. 25, 2011

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

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Last year when I started this little enterprise, I sort of wrote off the season I was in.

It’s winter, I thought. It’s cold, it’s bleak, it’s colorless. Why would anyone want to get a photo taken at this time of year?

Well, a year has passed and my attitude has changed about shooting in wintertime as well as many, many other things.

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About midway through last year, I noticed how much circumstances dictated how I created images, particularly in post processing. Why flip a photo adorned with a riot of fall leaves or beautiful, colorful bridesmaids into black and white? By a similar token, why put up with a bleak gray and beige landscape when you can make it pop … in beautiful black and white?

You really don’t have to look at this site too long to realize Rich loves him some black and white. It helps define forms, focuses on subjects and just has a cool, retro feel. Classic.

And winter is the perfect stage for black and white. The colors are already muted. We can highlight the texture of that beloved scarf or sweater. We can highlight some drama.

And what if it snows? What could be better?

So, while last year I was willing to write off winter, this year, I’d say, let’s book a black-and-white session.

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

Switchfoot, who I photographed at the 41st annual Ichthus Festival in Wilmore, Ky., posed the thought provoking question, "This is your life, are you who you want to be?" 2010 photograph for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Around midnight Saturday, I was sitting there with my my Twitter accounts open on my phone wanting to tweet “Happy New Year,” but not just “Happy New Year.” There had to be something more. A great turn of phrase was not entering my still vacationing noggin, but a theme was.

I shot this image as part of my 366 Project, a step in addressing the question, "What can I do to make myself a better photographer?"

“Happy New Year. Make it an amazing 2012.”

There was probably a cooler way to put it, but the operative words were “make it.” No, “I hope it is” or “I wish it would be.”

The theme had been occurring to me in several ways. The song that struck me driving home from vacation was Switchfoot’s This is Your Life, which asks in the chorus, “Are you who you want to be?”

NBC journalist Ann Curry had a Facebook post that said, “Today in Bodhgaya India, asked the Dalai Lama: ‘Do you have a message to the world for the new year?’ His answered: ‘Prayer alone will not make a happy life. A happy life must be built. You must act.’”

Action.

Luck is great. Blessings are accurately named. A conversation with my 97-year-old aunt last week reminded me that God is guiding our paths. But I believe in a God that also expects us to row.

So, as 2012 begins, I am thinking about what to to do make my life more of what I want it to be. That includes this little photography enterprise. So I am asking myself questions like …

~ What can I do to make myself a better photographer?

~ With a year under my belt, do I have a better vision for what I want this business to be?

~ How do I let more people know what I am doing, and what I can do for them?

~ What are things I have not done with the camera that I would like to do, that I would be good at, if I only tried?

~ What other ways can I use photography to benefit others?

These and other questions are exciting to contemplate, but at the dawn of a new year, even more exciting to act on.

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READ MORE: Amy and Dave (above) were featured in this site’s most viewed post of the year.

The first years are the hardest years,” the theme song to one of my favorite TV shows goes. OK, the first year of dipping my toe in the photo biz has not been hard. It has been an adventure, it has been an education and really, most importantly, it has been fun. Of course, I have hopes and goals for 2012, but before we go there, I wanted to look back at favorite shots of 2011 – aka, the first year.

Thanks to everyone worked with me this year, and I hope to work with many more of you in the new year – call that a goal.

Want to book Rich Copley Photo for a photo session in 2012? Check out our rates and booking info, and Email me.

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Photographers are bombarded with information about how to use Facebook to market their work, but I like it for the feedback.

The last month, a few photos I have taken got some comments I really liked.

One was from the Advent Workshop, an event I shot at Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church, and it was directed to the main subject of the photo:

“I’ve seen that face before! One of my favorite” faces Martha makes, one of her friends commented on a photo of Martha with a quizzical look on her face.

On a photo from the Campfire and Starlight benefit, one of the participants commented, “What a perfect capture to describe what a great time I had.”

I love hearing stuff like that because it tells me I met my goal of capturing a moment, an emotion, a distinctive characteristic. For all the work we as photographers put into learning how to work with light and mechanics — and that is really important — that’s what people really react to: the captured moment.

That’s kind of obvious in event photography and photojournalism, but it also applies in portraiture. The greatest success is when you get an image that makes people say, “That’s him,” or “That’s her,” or “That’s what happened.”

That’s what I’m going for.

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

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One of the things the congregation of Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church looks forward to every year is the choir’s annual Christmas presentation. This year’s event turned out to be extra special. MaxPres has played Lewis Henry Horton’s An Appalachian Nativity several times before, going back at least to 1982 and most recently in 2007. It’s a cantata music minister Clif Cason says the choir loves to sing, and this year he added an extra element – orchestrating it for a small ensemble.

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This being essentially the world premiere of a new interpretation of this piece, and being the “house photographer” for the church, I really wanted to document the event, particularly considering Clif tailored his score to specific musicians in the congregation.

So, I went to a rehearsal four days before the event intending to scout out how to unobtrusively be in the best positions to shoot the performance. When I arrived, I was flummoxed to find the entire performance was going to take place in the choir loft, due to some logistical constraints. The problem is, our choir loft has a wall that is not incredibly high, but is tall enough to shield most of the seated musicians from the congregation’s view – and my camera lenses – even from the balcony.

With all the musicians up there, there was no room to pack me up there, and it would have been obnoxious anyway for them to perform with a photographer so close, not to mention the click that would occasionally rise from the loft, even in “Quiet ” mode. A remote camera would have just yielded shots from one static position, and that wouldn’t have solved the click problem either.

The solution I arrived at was two-tiered: Go to a Saturday morning rehearsal and shoot over the wall from a step stool – an essential piece of photo gear if there ever was one – and from the sides. Then, Sunday morning, just shoot with a long lens – 300mm/f4 – from the balcony  to try to give a sense of what the morning looked like.

Was it the ideal? No, and I don’t think anyone was thrilled with the musicians hidden in the loft. But that was all the more reason to me to show some representation of who they were. And I think I caught them, working hard to create what turned out to be a special moment for our church.

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

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I got my first DSLR a few years ago on Black Friday, came home a couple days later, and one of the first things I shot was the annual Advent Workshop at Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church. The event draws kids into the fun and meaning of the advent season with projects from decorating cookies to making Advent calendars.

For years I had shot with film SLRs, and I had been using a work-issued DSLR for the better part of a year. But getting my own DSLR was an enormous thrill, and Advent Workshop was a lot of fun to shoot with all the childlike wonder, ingenuity and effort that goes into it. That’s why I always get excited when Advent Workshop rolls around. It’s a great little event to shoot, and it also takes me back to the childlike thrill of one of the milestones of my photographic life.

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