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Andrew Hughes

Apr 18
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OCI Corporate Headshots & Group Photos

By Andrew Hughes, architecture, corporate photography, Graphic Works, group photography, headshot portraits, location photography, Masqueman Photography, portrait photography
I was recently asked to make headshot portraits for OCI, a chemical company located in Atlanta. Due to hectic client schedules, I took two portraits in our studio and 2 in their offices. They had to match existing photo styles so I took great care in replicating the light and keeping it consistant across two locations. I do this by making anal-retentive measurements of every piece of equipment. I can make the same photo years  later if more shots are needed.

While in their office I also took photos of their new conference room which looks like it would be a great place to get business done or maybe challenge your friends to XBOX 360 on their big display screen.

As a surprise, our client also asked us to also make photos of 5 groups of workers in different departments. This had not been discussed previously, but it provides a great lesson in being prepared. Like many photographers, I tend to load up my car with backup cameras, extra lights and gear for such events. It is better to have too much and be ready than tell a client that I can’t do what they ask.

Instead of picking 7 locations and 7 different setups, we chose 1 location near the front entrance that had metallic mirror tile, mixed color lighting and a brushed aluminum logo. This presented a lighting challenge since any lights that I used would bounce back into to the lens revealing themselves as annoying hotspots. Even my largest umbrella diffusers did not tame the reflections. I decided to bounce the flashes off of the hallways walls to give a soft light. Think of this as the photographic equivalent of a bank shot.

For the top brass, we went very informal which was a refreshing change from stuffy CEO power portraits.

Apr 18
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Fall Portraits of Children with a Scarecrow

By Andrew Hughes, child phtotography, Fall colors, family, Halloween, Masqueman Photography, portrait photography
My friends Josh and Michelle have one of those beautiful yards that we all wish we had. It is well manicured and during holidays, seasonal decorations come out. I have been taking photos of their children for many years now, and we had been talking about incorporating the Fall scarecrows. Look at the size of this display compared to Little Josh. He could almost get lost in it…

Josh Jr. might have thought the pumpkins were toys… he kept tossing them.
Did I mention that the family is made of 4 redheads? The perfect hair color for fall photos.

Josh would walk through fire for his wife and kids… This tough guys is a softy around the little ones.

Mom got into the act too. Josh is 1 year old here.

I know some people hate when kids make funny faces, but I like those the best.

Apr 15
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Birthday Prank for Justinas

By Andrew Hughes, birthday, Justinas Bartkevicius, Photo Retouching, photography, Prank
I could not resist teasing my friend, Justinas, who just turned the ripe old age of…. 32. For those of us past that point, the young 30’s seems like an enviable place to be. The retouched photos below are supposed to show what he looks like now and then one year from now. It’s all downhill from here brother. Happy Birthday!
Left: Age 32.  —  Right: Age 33
Apr 12
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Headshot Portrait For an Atlanta Business Man

By Andrew Hughes, Atlanta, headshot portraits, Masqueman Photography, portraits
One of my favorite kinds of photography is the corporate headshot. There are many bad mugshots used on company web sites and literature, that I am happy to try to replace them. In today’s global market, there may be work associates and clients that never meet face to face. The headshot is often the only impression that each person has of the other.

I was contacted by Daraka who had just moved to Atlanta and needed a headshot for his company’s web site. He agreed to come to the studio and we proceeded to make several styles of headshot. I like to give clients a variety of lighting styles and or clothing options.

I can use very traditional backgrounds and lighting techniques for a conservative, timeless look. Or I can use edgy lighting and compositions to give the portrait a modern look… in this case my subject preferred no smiling.

Many times, a client will use one style for business and the other for social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, match.com, Linked-In or their email avatar.

Apr 11
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Oakland Cemetery Tour in the Rain

By Ghosts, Oakland Cemetery, Oakland Tour, photography
Last year’s Oakland Cemetery Tour was a almost bust as far as photography goes. I took this photo of Jenny while there was a tiny bit of daylight left.

There was no moon at all and it it was pouring rain. I did get to test my camera condom which protected my gear from getting soaked. The gloomy photo below accurately shows the weather.

Since there was barely any light, I tried long exposures and and high ISO settings.

There was one moment of the tour that moved me. There is a statue of a great lion near the unknown Confederate dead from the Civil War. The lion watches over them like a tireless guard. It was powerful.

Not every year can be a winner. By comparison, I captured a photo of what might have been a ghost the previous year… judge for yourself by looking at the last photo here.
Apr 11
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Family Portraits on a Dreary Fall Day

By Andrew Hughes, Atlanta, family, Masqueman Photography, portrait photography

Part of being a photographer is making lemonade out of lemons which was the case when I took family portraits on a very ugly, about-to-rain, dark-and-dreary day for a wonderful gal named Christy. I had been watching the weather with hope that the sun might pop out for a brief guest appearance, but I had no such luck. I was afraid that all my photos would not have much color like the vintage style photo.

Normally, if the client is flexible, I give them the option of picking a different day if the weather is terrible. Sometimes that is not possible, especially if the portrait is to include out of town family members or rare occasions when all family members are present. I know in my own clan how precious this time can be when we are all under one roof.

In poor lighting situations like these, I bring my own sun in the form of a Paul C. Buff Parabolic Light Modifier (PLM). What the heck is that you ask? It’s a huge 5 foot umbrella for my Einstein flashes. On set I call it my moon dish because I am pretty sure that the aliens can see that thing flash from outer space. It literally looks like a gigantic silver radar dish.

The advantage of the PLM is that it can create soft but directional light over a focused area that can look a lot like natural sunlight. I use a warming gel to enhance the effect. Many people would not know that these photos were taken on a day sans sunshine.

I took one dramatic shot where I decided to keep the storm clouds in the photo to prove it was about to rain…

UPDATED: 10/20/2012
Many months later, I found out what happened with the photos… they got turned into a big poster seen below. I think that is cool.

Apr 08
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Photos for the Struve Family

By Uncategorized
The Struve family has 2 beautiful children, and I just had to photograph them. One cold winter day, I showed up at their house with with lots of different photo equipment to try.

Ava is the newest addition to the family and the rat terriers had not quite figured out what type of dog she is.

Ava was an easy subject. All I had to do is say “Smile!” and she would light up on cue. What a star!

Here is Ava with young looking Grandma…
Elijah was not as easy. Imagine a bolt of pure lighting shaped like a little boy, and you will have the perfect description of how energetic he is. Below is a rare, non-blurred photo when he was still for a millisecond. It took bribery with a cookie to get this. I erased crumbs from his chin to hide the evidence.

In other cases, the old trick of holding the child with a death grip worked…

When Elijah got wise to that, we tried to distract him with a shiny iPad.
And then a romp outside where I proceeded to have a pile of leaves
tossed into my mouth. Delicious! You can see the windup here…
After that, we played “Find the Leprechaun’s Gold”, a made up game which had
him checking every tree hole and rock for a pot of treasure. He never found it.
After all that running around, I think he took a 5 second power nap with Mom and
Sis (captured below) before he started running laps around the yard again.

The morale of the story is that it is hard to capture lightning…
Apr 08
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Cut Resistant Glove Search Engine by Showa Best Glove

By Graphic Design, Graphic Works, product photography, web site design
Last year I had the opportunity to work on a complex web design project for Showa Best Glove. They are one of the largest glove manufacturers in the world producing gloves for general purpose, disposable, chemical resistant, cut resistant and hi-tech applications.

Our task was to create a search engine for their cut resistant product line. With so many choices available to customers, it can be overwhelming to find the perfect glove for the job. The new search engine allows customers to select gloves based on different parameters and compare their favorites. The parameters include options of materials, color, cut resistance rankings, grip texture and so on.

Once a glove is chosen, they can elect to read detailed information about the glove, order a sample or download a product tech sheet. The site is meant for global use and has been translated into French and Spanish and also supplies different product options for 5 regions.

The site is driven by a massive database which alone was a herculean task to whip into shape after years of bloat and inconsistency. As simple as this site seems, it represents months of work by a small team of programmers, designers and photographers.

It is an ongoing project to update the photography on this site. We have set up a dedicated rig in the studio to make product photos of the palm and top of the glove. This allows us to shoot at a consistant angle in similar lighting for a reduced cost to the client.

We also shoot application photos of the gloves in use… This can involve setting up scenes in the studio or going to a location.

The site can be visited at www.cutrest.com 

Apr 08
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Newborn Baby Photography of Kendall

By babies, baby photography, Masqueman Photography, newborns, portrait photography
Baby Kendall is the daughter of David and Kimberly who wanted to get some photos for announcements and sharing with family and friends. Here are the ones that I liked though they may not be traditional newborn style photos. I left the bare baby butt photos out since those are kinda personal.

The photo below to me is the minimum for any portrait. What else do you need to recognize someone?

One day her daddy can show her the watch in this photo and she will not believe how small she was.

If only we could have gotten the dog to look up. They told me that she is deaf,
but that still did not stop me from whistling at her to get her to look at the camera.

This daddy is in love. When he is not playing Mr. Mom, he is flying airplanes to Afghanistan.

In case there is any doubt, this photo should prove that the stork really does bring babies.
And in the end, Kendall was tuckered out and slept like a baby…
Apr 08
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Sentimental Painting of a Friend’s Beloved Dog

By artists, Dogs, painting, push present, wacom tablet
For many people, their dogs are important members of their family. They are constant companions providing laughter, joy and sometimes the occasional cleanup on aisle 6. The messes they make of our houses is far outweighed by the unconditional love they share with us.

My friends, David and Kimberly, had just lost their black lab, Cheyenne, to cancer after a long struggle. Anyone who has lost a special pet knows how hard it is to say goodbye. This feeling of loss can linger.

Later that year, the couple became pregnant with their first child. As a thoughtful surprise, David wanted to give his wife a “push present” before the birth. He asked me to make a painting for her based on her favorite snapshot of Kimberly and her dogs from many years ago.

I would not consider myself a painter… at least not a good one. Still, I could not resist the opportunity to be part of this. It hit all the right emotional chords with me. I told him that I would give it my best shot.

Instead of painting using traditional media which had long since dried up in my art kit, I decided to paint it using digital software and a pressure sensitive stylus. Unlike a filter that is added to a photo to give painterly effects, I painted every stroke as I would have on a canvas, with the bonus feature of hitting the “UNDO” button when I made a mistake… and I made a lot of them.

The snapshot was the starting point. I decided to make the scene at a beach house and have Cheyenne looking at us instead of turning her back to us. He is looking right at us as if to say, “Don’t forget me”. David sent me another photo of Cheyenne’s face for reference.

I am told that the present was a complete surprise and brought tears of joy to Kimberly’s face. I don’t usually like making pregnant women cry, but in this case it was alright.

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