PCAD Portrait and Event Photography Class

For the past 5 weeks, I've been immersed in photography for 3 hours a day, two nights a week taking the "Portrait and Event Photography" course at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in Lancaster. It's been a great experience, working with other photographers as closely as we did, and getting to know some great people. The class consisted of a lot of shooting, both in class and outside, and then critique. The critique was by far, the most valuable part of taking the class. Getting the opinions of everyone else on my images, and giving my opinions of their images reinforced what works and what doesn't, as well as gave me some great ideas for posing and locations on upcoming shoots.

It was during the final portfolio critique that I discovered the style that I've had all along. All of the images chosen for the final, and now displayed in the portfolio section of my website, have the same punchy, vibrant, fun flare to them, including the shot shown to the right, which I shot of one of the other photographers attending the class. 

Regardless of where you are in your career, taking a class such as this one, attending a workshop, or being active with local photography groups gives you a great opportunity to see what others are doing, and share what you are doing. It's through the sharing of information, locations, poses, gear reviews and all other things photographic that we all become better at our art, and achieve greater results in our final images.

Newborn!

I was lucky enough to photograph this 9 day old cutie born to a good friend of mine from work. He was great to work with, and so were his parents! I went into the shoot with a few "must grabs" in mind, but went knowing that Bhodi would dictate the direction of the shoot. Flexibility is the name of the game when shooting someone that is still getting used to the world, and we worked with that without issue. We tried a few poses, took a few breaks for feedings and then went back for a few more poses. All in all, we got what I was hoping for, and what the parents were looking for. Below are a couple of my favorites from the shoot.

Images For A Cure

2010 marks the second year for the Images for a Cure fundraiser, and the second year that Doug Hilton Photography will be a participating photographer. This is a great non-profit organization where photographers from all across the United States get together to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Having seen cancer effect the lives of loved ones, and being a cancer patient myself, I understand the need for continued research, and the funding necessary to carry out that research. By participating in this fundraiser, I am able to offer portrait sessions on select dates in November with 100% of the session fee donated to the fundraiser.

Sessions will be offered November 13, 14, 20 or 21 2010, in plenty of time to get family or kid photos taken for inclusion in holiday greetings. Holiday photo cards as well as traditional prints are available, and will be processed in time for the holidays with orders placed by Nov 26. All other portrait session types are available, prices vary. Please ask for details.

Spots are limited. If you are interesting in more information, or to book a session, please contact me by using the "Contact Me" link at the top of the website or call 717.615.2557. Sessions must be booked and the donations made by October 31 to qualify for this amazing fundraiser.

J & A Couples Session

Friends of mine contacted me a few days ago asking if I would be willing to make some photos of them as a couple as they never had formal photos taken, and have very few photos of them together. I was much abliged to do so. We met after work in Millersville at the pond (they both went to school there) and quickly got to work as there were few precious hours of daylight left.

I went into the shoot with two different photos in mind, one being a shot of them on the bridge, and another of A on J's back. We worked through three different locations around the pond and several poses in about an hours time, getting several that I and, more importantly, they are happy with.

All photos were shot in the strobist style, using a single light into a white reflective umbrella to make the subjects pop from the background.

Here is one of my favorites from the shoot as a sneak peek for them.

Stuart's Guest Board Photo

I was contacted by my upcoming Bar Mitzvah client to shoot a photo they could use for a guest board at the reception, a place for guests to sign, much like a guest book. They were looking for something quick and simple, just showing Stuart in his New York Yankees jersey; his Bar Mitzvah will carry a baseball theme.

Rather than a basic portrait in front of my backgrounds or a wall, we decided to take Stuart outside and make it a bit more of an environmental shoot. I quickly found a corner of their yard with dark green foliage. I stood Stuart about 20 feet in front of the shrubs and used my 70-200 racked out to 200 to turn the background into a swatch of color, rather than the pronounced greens that it was. The sun was high and to camera right, so I set my light up camera left to cross light and began the shoot. Within a few minutes, we had a setup that mom was happy with, so now onto the portraits.

I took several of Stuart with his glove, some with a bat, both standing and bunting, and a few of him pitching as he is a pitcher in the little leagues.

With the photos done, we headed inside to let the parents see the photos and pick the one they were going to use for the Guest Board. They were so happy with the photos that they ended up deciding on two, and will have them both at the reception for guests to sign.

With a little extra work and vision from their photographer, they got two photos that they love. I look forward to working with them at the upcoming Bar Mitzvah!