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Andrew Hughes

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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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.

Dec 28
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Breakfast with the Grinch at Melia Atlanta Hotel

By Andrew Hughes, Christmas, Event photography, Grinch, Melia Hotel
I have been photographing some interesting events during this holiday season. One of the more unique photo sessions happened on the top floor of the Melia Atlanta hotel. Their event room has incredible views of downtown Atlanta. Several of the patrons watched a holiday parade from this bird’s eye view.

Photo by Melissa Witcher

The guest of honor was none other than the “Grinch Who Stole Christmas” fresh from his musical play at the Fabulous Fox Theater. I did not see the play, but I can tell you that the stage makeup for the green meanie looks like it took several hours and a few assistants to put on.

I might have accidentally let that slip in front of a child who did not know who was coming to breakfast. I guess I let the Cat out of the Hat. I had figured that most parents would have warned their children that they would soon be seeing a 6 foot tall green hairy monster. I am just glad that the Grinch does not hide in my bedroom closet at night because I might not be able to get to sleep.
To everyone’s delight, the Grinch was a complete sweetheart. He knew which children to tease and which ones to be gentle with. I was very impressed that he could read the moods of children that quickly. Not only that, the actor was a man of 1,000 faces and could change his expression and body language in an instant. No two pictures of him were alike. This guy was good.
After visiting with every family, it was time to take portraits with the Grinch. This was the main reason that I was hired. The goal was to take photos of guests with the Grinch and print them on the spot as a memento with a a graphic overlay as seen below.

The whole process from start to finish had to be completed in about an hour before the guests left. That was pretty ambitious considering that each photo had to be combined with the graphics and printed which takes about a minute each. I shot over 40 different groupings that had to be printed so there was not much room for error. Everything had to run smoothly, and luckily it did.

To ensure success, I had set up the portrait area an hour before the event. Scouting an area and pre-staging are the most important insurances that a photographer can give himself. Surprises cost time and and unwelcome anxiety. I enlisted the help of my friends above to check everything.
At the time that I was going to take the photos, the morning sun was blasting through the windows making bright pools of intense light in the portrait area. I try avoid situations like this as much as possible when making these kinds of quick portraits. The fastest fix was to pull the curtains and add a flash to evenly light the scene from camera left. I have found that curtains are my best friends when trying to tame extreme latitudes in exposure.
The little girls pictured above had just given the Grinch a present and I think it touched his cold green heart… just like in the book. Just a few minutes before this, the Grinch was trying to get the girls to join him by stealing Christmas presents… that rascal!
Photo by Melissa Witcher

No Dr. Seuss-themed event would be complete without green eggs and ham and a huge bowlful was available on the buffet…. They were pretty good! The food at the Melia Atlanta Hotel is top notch.

A special “thank you” goes out to Melissa Witcher who helped me by taking candid photos and setting up the event. Check her photography out on her web site at www.melissawitcher.com.

Dec 25
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I Just Photographed the REAL Santa Claus!

By Andrew Hughes, Atlanta, Masqueman Photography, Santa Claus
I was hired to photograph a Christmas party where Santa was going to make a guest appearance. Being a big kid myself, I was excited to see who was going to walk through the front door, and I was not let down. Imagine the surprise a child might have being greeted by Santa Claus himself!

We have all seen actors that get picked to play Santa in holiday commercials. Some of them kind of look like famous St. Nick, but others just look like geriatric fat guys pulled out of a local BBQ joint. Not his Santa… he was impressively authentic.

I am here to tell all those other fake Santas to step aside, because I think that I finally met the real Santa. The only thing missing was the bag of toys and the reindeer which he could name in order. I could not.

This jolly old elf was not like those sidewalk Santas in their in their stuffed, poorly fitted red suits. This Santa had style and was dressed in such a way that he felt like a timeless character from a different century.

He had lace at his wrists, heavy leather boots and a twinkle in his eye letting everyone know that he was having a grand time talking to the children and adults alike. The beard was real and spectacular.

We were all put under his magical Christmas spell and there was no doubt that the real Santa had taken time off from his hectic pre-Christmas schedule to visit us. He was so good with the children, and their eyes were wide with wonder.

Everyone at the party took turns telling Santa what was on their list. I overheard everything from Legos and video games to new cars and fancy bottles of wine. How he can keep track of all of this is anybody’s guess.

I can barely remember what my wife asked me to get at the store. I hope Santa has modernized his operation with computers and a database of who is “naughty and nice”.

Some of the adults at the party were very naughty trying to get Santa to have a mixed drink. Don’t they know what would happen if Santa got a DUI? Christmas would have to be canceled!

I printed the portraits on location so that everyone got a 4×6 picture souvenir. The rest of the photos went online so that parents could print or download them.

The last photo is a special thanks to the standing gentleman who was the father of Alicia, the hostess. He was gracious enough to be my Santa stand-in while I set up and tried different lights. He was a class act.
I think I saw him and Santa exchanging stories of Christmas past.
Dec 22
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Playing Catch Up With My Neglected Blog

By Andrew Hughes, Atlanta, blog, Georgia, personal

I just checked and it has been almost half a year since I have regularly posted a blog article. A lot has happened since that time. Most of it has been very good, but there have been a few tragedies too.

Mainly, I have been burning the candle at both ends keeping up with a hectic and demanding freelance schedule. At times I felt like a juggler tossing knives and flaming torches… and luckily, nothing got dropped… except this blog and maybe cleaning the house on a regular basis.

Anyway, stay tuned in the coming weeks as I try to catch up with the backlog of articles and thanks for reading.

Feb 21
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It’s All About ME ME ME!

By Andrew Hughes, portaits, self-portrait

Usually, I am not one to sit around and take a bunch of photos of myself. Heck, I barely look in the mirror. I am much more used to being on the other side of the lens where it is safe. What in the world possessed me to take photos with the camera pointing in the wrong direction?

I did not have any photos of myself with shaggy hair and I knew I would probably not grow it out again any time soon. I have kept my hair short since the mid 90’s and about 7 months ago, I just quit cutting it as an experiment. I was wondering how long I could hold out as the hair on the back of my neck started tickling me… and then annoying me. Windy rides in my convertible would make me look like a Japanese anime character. Old ladies would clutch their purses when I would approach, and knew I had to do something soon. I had a short window of opportunity since my wife graciously scheduled me to get a hair cut.

All the photos were taken within 2 hours of each other. I tried to make them all look different. As you can see, I don’t worry about embarrassing myself… notice the bowl cut in the lower row.

I call this my punk rocker yowl!

I call this one the unicorn.

I originally did a similar project back in my B&W film days of college. Here are 2 of the series. And yes, that is technically a mullet I was sporting, but I swear that it was popular back then. I can’t say the same thing about the enormous owl glasses. Somebody should have had a style intervention for me. It is interesting to see how much I have changed over the years, but so too has everyone else.
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