Deese Photography

This past Sunday was the big Baltimore area Model Mayhem meet and greet held at Patapsco State Park. These are generally more socializing and networking events than actual shoots, but we always manage to get some shooting in regardless.

Always a good time and usually a good chance for me to work with “one light” setups as we are constantly on the move. And to top it off, David Hobby (the creator of strobist.com) stopped by to chat and shoot. Great guy, and definitely my inspiration for using off camera flash as much as possible.

Here are a few from the day (all shot using one light):

And one of the main reasons I attend these events is that some of my awesome friends (who are also photographers) are in attendance and fun to hang out with.

Looking forward to the next event in October!

Brande received a call from a family friend who we have shot for in the past asking if we could do a shoot on short notice. As it turns out, her horse Whisper, who is 32 years old does not have a lot of time left and she wanted some portraits with her and “the old man”.

Lighting a horse is something I have not done before, and always willing to help out a friend, we were over there two days later.

Here are a couple of preview shots from our time there.

It was a bittersweet shoot, but we are certainly glad she loved the photos and has some to remember him by. And he was as great for the camera.

Recently, myself and a photographer friend held a small lighting and head shot demonstration together with one of our more reliable models Lacey.

He started off by showing the effects of a hot light shot through a large diffusion panel and how the light and shadows fell as a result. Here is a shot of mine using this setup:

Afterward, we left the diffusion panel up and I demonstrated a one light setup, using an Alien Bees AB800 in a softbox with the diffusion panel acting as a large reflector:

All in all, it was a great session. We both learned a lot, walked away with some fantastic shots, and gave Lacey more portfolio fillers. Win-win for everyone.

Just a quick shot from a recent newborn session. Finally got the “taco” pose.

Not only a couple of models who I met through Model Mayhem, but Nina and Eric are also just a gorgeous couple. Nina had spotted The Beehive in Fair Hill, Maryland and wanted to shoot there. Luckily, she found me and we met up for a quick Sunday afternoon shoot.

I couldn’t have asked for a better couple to work with. Very laid back and fun to both shoot and hang out with. Here are a couple of the shots from the day.

More from the shoot can be found here.

For the record, I love shooting at Savage Mill, Maryland. From inside the shopping area, to the nature trails, and of course the old abandoned mill buildings.

When the chance came to work with Lacey again, Savage Mill immediately popped into my mind. We met up there on a very overcast Sunday afternoon and after a little jumping, climbing, and walking through mud, a fun time was had. Oh, and we even ended up with some photos!

A few more can be found here.

Recently, we had the chance to shoot a wedding for some friends who are also well known artists in the local area. The groom, who keeps me stocked with vintage Polaroid cameras, is also a big Lego collector, so it was a Lego themed wedding (complete with Lego cake topper).

Here are a couple of candid shots I caught of them during the day. Congrats to such an awesome couple.

Today, we finally had another newborn in front of the camera and it was as fun as we remembered it to be. This cute little guy, who is six days old, has a daddy who is in the army.

This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to shoot a portrait session with Rachel in the Havre de Grace and Perryville area. I had scoped out a couple of spots and they really paid off. Much fun was had, and she was great to work with. We may be collaborating on some more sessions in the near future.

This past Sunday,  I was invited down to Baltimore to participate in a Model Mayhem meet and greet by some photographer friends of mine. Since most of my models, so far, have been newborns, infants, or children, I thought that this might be a nice change of pace.

After some initial technical difficulties with the lighting (as in it’s been a while since I used my flash off camera, so I overlooked one important detail), things went fantastic.

Thanks to Sean and Sarah Baker for having me down, and to all of the members over at Model Mayhem who attended that made me feel so welcome. (and of course thanks to the awesome models that took time to work with me)

Here are a few sample shots that I have sorted through so far: