When Modern Photographers started their Best of 2008 Bridals contest, I entered a few images, and honestly didn't think that amidst all the crazy talented other members, we'd even make it out of the preliminary voting. So when 2 of our images made it to the top 50 and were then put online for anyone and everyone to vote on, we were elated. With amazingly talented submissions by people like Sean & Mel McLellan, Poser, and Fuller Edge, we were thrilled to be counted among them and didn't really think that our images had a chance. I mean, these are the photographers who I blog-stalk, who I am inspired by constantly, who I hope to one day have the privilege of meeting and getting coffee with and picking their brains. They are all amazing!

Then, it happened. I got online and saw the postings on Modern Photographers, Trash the Dress, and Don't Box Us In advertising the contest and telling people to go vote. And I saw it. One of our images sandwiched on the screen between an image by Poser and one by the McLellans. WHHHHAAAAATTTT? To try to explain the sheer magnitute of this to everyone else, we've come up with some analogies...

For an up and coming musician this would be like seeing your single on iTune's new music Tuesday between new singles by the Dave Matthews Band and Paramore.

For automotive lovers, this would be like seeing a design you created for your dream car highlighted between designs by Chip Foose and Jesse James.

For computer nerds, this would be kind of like getting a program you designed listed in Wired Magazine between ones designed by the guy who made Twitter, and the mastermind behind iFart. You with us? This was crazy!

Wondering why they chose our image for the ad I logged into the contest and noticed that we had a shocking number of votes. Enough even that when the contest closed we were counted among the top finalists and showcased on the Modern Photographers' main website. (I think it's like the equivalent of "runners up" or an "honorable mention") You can see the rest of the wedding that image was from on our website under "Josh & Lisa" in the "Wedding Style" section of our portfolio. Thank you to everyone who voted for us!

My dear friend, Heather Ahrens just got a fierce new hair cut. It's sassy, it's summery, it's hot (while being oh-so-cool), and it was begging for some documentation. When she texted me the other day to ask if I'd take a few quick promo shots for her blog I was more than happy to help her out. This was an extremely quick session. These images were from a span of about 15 minutes in front of these amazing yellow walls near our condo. I shot this one by myself since Nate was at the Apple store. (I figured I'd throw that little fact in since he likes to tell people that he takes all the good pictures.)

Here's what can happen with 10 minutes, a yellow building, and a fierce hair cut...

We could fit a few more spots into April for our Recessions Suck promotion. If you want some fun, updated portraits likes these, drop us a line and we'll talk dates!

I am very excited about this installment of "Before & After". The reasons I am excited for it are twofold (picture Chandler from "Friends" sticking his fingers up from a little hole in a big box...) First, we received a lot of feedback on our black and white images from New York, and some really good questions about how we get the look that we do. And that is exciting because we went to New York with the intention of shooting some nice Fine Art stuff. So I am excited to talk about that. Second, mastering black and white photography is something that takes a lot of work, and we are no where near masters yet, but we both really love it and we actually were talking on the plane ride to New York about how we want to go out and practice shooting with the intention of the images being black and white afterwards. So this area is one in which we are learning and growing so talking about it is exciting as it forces me to know my stuff even more!

The inspiration for this came from reading this month's Popular Photography magazine. On page 24 there is a fabulous article on black and white photography and some tips and things to practice to become better at it. We all know that Ansel Adams was practically a god of this type of imagery and he often talked about visualizing how you want a finished image to look in your mind before you even snap the shutter of your camera. That skill is even more important when you're shooting for black and white since the things that usually turn out great in color images can muddy up your shot in black and white. Have you ever been playing around in Photoshop and turned a great image from color to black and white only to feel like the image went from "POW" to "blah"? The difference between the two is all about tones, or degrees of brightness. Brightly colored flowers and green grass may evoke a joyful emotion in a colored image but may appear drab in a black and white if their tones all translate to the same shade of gray. Generally, images with high contrast and look much more striking when converted to black and white than those with lower contrast.

So, Nate and I decided that we would start practicing this different way of seeing. To look at a scene in degrees of brightness instead of colors. This is an interesting shift of thought and a fun challenge.

Here is Nate's image of a building along the Hudson River straight out of the camera...


It's a good image. The bottom is a bit distracting though so I pulled it into Adobe Lightroom and cropped the angle to cut the street and cars out and also to draw the eye up to the building and the sky. Next I brought it into Photoshop and started playing...



I primarily use actions from Totally Rad Actions so I talk about them a lot but you can create the same effects without them just using Photoshop's own tools. I used TRA's Ying/Yang to lighten the building and the staircase and to darken the area along the bottom and the building to the left. Then I used TRA's Big Blue to bring out the blue tones in the sky to create more contrast between them and the clouds so that when we converted to B&W they would stand out more. Next I sharpened the building and then ran our own warm black and white conversion on it.

And now one more time without the writing on it...


We hope to continue to learn and grow in this area. There is just something magical about black and white images. They carry no emotions from the colors they include but instead create emotion based on their essence. They are just timeless. What are some of your favorite things about black and white images?

Nate is usually the witty one. And I'm the pretty one, clearly. ;) But I dropped a few fab one-liners on this trip. The one in subject line is one of them. What can I say? The city just brings out the best in me. And I quickly fell in love with it. I love that Urban Spoon found 17 Starbucks shops within 0.3 miles of me one morning. I love that everyone wears boots. I love that people spontaneously break into song and no one cares because the city is full of performers. I love that Julia Stiles takes the subway (yes, we saw her!) I love that the drag queen host of late-night karaoke had a better manicure than I did. I love that there are bakeries- EVERYWHERE! I love that in 5 days of eating like a pig I actually LOST 2 pounds because of how much walking the city demands. I love that in 30 minutes you can get almost anywhere in Manhattan. I love the Village. I love the architecture. I love the energy. I love that you can still get coffee, dinner, drinks, toilet paper, or caramelized pecans at 3am. And I love that fashion is so free.

We loved all the suggestions that everyone sent us! They really helped us to see so much more of the city and helped to give us a sense of purpose as we explored. We fell in love with the Village and decided that if we ever move to the city we will have to live there. I think it was by far my favorite place to be. Nate loved it too but I think he likes midtown the best. He loves the bright lights, the hustle and bustle, and the energy around Times Square.

We cannot wait to go back. (Scroll to the bottom to see our video.)

If we get 20 comments on this post, we'll give you a before and after from one of these...

Our only day with sunlight, we had to capture it...




Central Park (How many birds do you see?)


Nate's favorite bird shot


My favorite bird shot


My favorite image from the trip.


Rally at NYU


My view...


Nate's view...


Nate's self portrait


An amazing jazz band in Washington Square














Law & Order filming in the Village




Our future home? ;)


Spring in the City


Walking along the Hudson River




Through the telescopes...








Our hosts/tour-guides/models ;)



And now, our very first stop-motion video, from our last morning in the city. Enjoy!


NYC with Studio222 Photography from Studio222Photography on Vimeo

MANHATTAN | NEW YORK

It was one of our goals for 2009, as artists, to do something that stretches us outside of our normal comfort zone in our photography. We really were not sure when we made that resolution, how we would go about it, but we figured that the right answer would present itself when it was time. And, as fate would have it, we only had to wait 4 months.

While we did have fun stuffing our faces with all manner of amazing food, snapping thousands of pictures, shopping for shoes and cameras and vintage boots, walking miles upon miles, and meeting amazing new people, we did have an actual photography purpose for our trip to the big city. That purpose was to push ourselves outside of our normal portraiture box into the world of head shots. What better place to learn than in New York? Our talented actor/singer/performer friends needed new head shots and we were more than happy to help them out. (We even snapped a few for ourselves while we were at it.) These two are so gorgeous that they made our job extremely simple and they really took the time to explain the crazy-intense world of "New York Head Shots" to us giving us quite an education on what the aspiring artists in the area are in need of. We had a great time and got some really beautiful images. We hope to continue to grow in this area and hopefully make the trip back up to NYC for more sessions like these.

Enjoy these samples from our sessions. I'll have more after these two pick out their favorites...

Tomorrow I'll post our personal shots from the week and a surprise that we shot the last morning in the city. Stay tuned...