Masqueman Photography Archives - Page 4 of 8 - Masqueman Creative | Graphic Design & Photography

Feb 09

Confessions of a Star Wars Geek

By Andrew Hughes Andrew Hughes, Masqueman Photography, product photography, Star Wars

Normally, shooting product photos for a client does not remind me of anything from my childhood, but in the case of Uranium Flashlights… I had to chuckle.

Back in 1977 when Star Wars originally came out, I was a young geeky kid who loved my action figures and X-Wing fighter. Unlike some of my friends who had every Star Wars toy sold (I’m looking at you Noel Natividad), I had a few precious characters… and I loved every one.

I idolized Obi Wan Kenobi from the original film even though he was only in it for what seemed 30 minutes.

I vividly remember losing my Yoda action figure to a curious mishap when I tied it to a helium balloon and launched him like Ben Franklin into an approaching storm. Of course, I had no idea that the thread I had borrowed from my Mom’s sewing drawer was not attached to the spool. At that moment the string ran out, Yoda must have been at least 400 yards high (which is the length of thread on a typical spool), and he just kept rising. For all I know, he floated right back to his home planet of Dagobah. My hope is that some other kid found this sky treasure and gave him a good home.

Along with those toys, I always had a common household flashlight. During playtime it could become so many different things like a launching Saturn V rocket, an interstellar missile, a tractor beam, Han Solo’s blaster, and yes, even a light saber (especially around a camp fire where the beam would seem to solidify in the smoke).

Uranium Heavy Duty Flashlights or rockets… you decide.

So there you go… I admit it. Star Wars is part of my childhood that just won’t disappear… but I’m not the only one. There are legions of geeks out there… and more of us than you think… perhaps, even an army.

Jan 29

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Red Headed Family Portraits at Stone Mountain

By Andrew Hughes Andrew Hughes, Atlanta, family portraits, Masqueman Photography, portrait photography, Stone Mountain Park

I am just like my mother…. I love red heads (I was even lucky enough to marry one). I am afraid when she sees these photos that she might want to adopt this whole family of four beautiful people with firery locks.

I kinda grew up with Michelle, the mom of these two who is like a sister to me.

It is so cool to see her with her own little clones…

This is big Daddy Josh and Josh Jr.

It seems like Stone Mountain, Georgia in the Fall is a great setting for family portraits.

With my trusty 70-200mm zoom lens, I can get several versions of the same photo

without even moving. Does that make me lazy or smart? You decide. Here is a wide angle.

Here is a medium angle…

And, finally… a close up. Don’t drop those kids… it’s a long way down.

Danielle is a stunning little girl… and so wonderful to be around.

How about some guy time?

Can you say cute? I love that curly hair.

Danielle reminds me of the young heroine, Merida, from the Pixar movie, Brave.

I actually had them holding hands at one point. Don’t try that with older children

unless you want to capture frowns.

At this age, I like to stack the family members to show the size differences.

The way kids grow, they will never be this small again.

Something a little more informal perhaps?

I actually work for Michelle’s father and Josh Jr. has the same glowing blue eyes of his “GranDave”.

The kids just love their Daddy who is a giant of a man compared to them.

He would literally do anything for his family.

Before the kids, it was just Josh and Michelle… high school sweethearts.

Here is a shot of Mom and the munchkins and …we’re done.

Jan 29

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Product Photography of BBQ Sauce for Atlanta Restaurant

By Andrew Hughes Andrew Hughes, Atlanta Business, Graphic Works, Masqueman Photography, product photography

Whenever I photograph retail products at Graphic Works, I try to standardize my workflow to save me time and our clients money. This may include setting up a single lighting rig that works for each similar object individually. In the case of this group photo, I shot each bottle alone and then created several versions of group photos and single product shots for print and web use.

This technique is often faster and much more versatile than shooting a group photo to begin with. This is because I can modify the spacing or composition “after the fact”. Plus, I don’t have to worry about nasty reflections of other bottles or complex lighting set-ups. Knowing this in advance can save a lot of headaches in post production.

Jan 25

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Photography of Trone Rocks for Large Chemical Company

By Andrew Hughes Andrew Hughes, Masqueman Photography, product photography

I am fascinated by the origin of products and the processes used to create them. I’m kinda nerdy that way, but this blog is not a confession. It is about creating photos of a natural raw material named Trona and also the refined product named sodium carbonate. The photos were made for OCI Chemical which is one of the world’s largest producers of this material.

Sodium Carbonate is used in countless ways including glass making, baking, casting and scores of other manufacturing processes. It looks like white sand or maybe a movie prop from the set of Scarface.

Trona rocks are interesting things to photograph since they can literally dry and flake on the spot turning their gorgeous amber hue into a less interesting chalky brown. This rock below is on the verge of flaking. What is interesting to me about this one is the reflected yellow shadow which gives the illusion of the light passing through the rock like a crystal.

I used a technique of vigorously scrubbing the scaly flakes from the sample rocks and photographing them before they became cloudy again. I might not have tried this if my client had not shown me this trick, and told me it would not damage the sample.

It was important to show the striations of amber color and not the darker “root beer” seen on the first photo… even though I think that lends some visual interest. I photographed several configurations of the rocks for the client including single hero shots. I also took photos of several together so now I can say that I have taken photos of “rock groups”.

Finally, I combined the Trona rock with the sodium carbonate end product for a beginning-to-end style photo.

Jan 19

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Family Portraits of Baby Lukas and His Parents

By Andrew Hughes Andrew Hughes, Atlanta, Fall colors, family portraits, Masqueman Photography, maternity photos, portraits

In 2012, I had the opportunity to photograph my good friends Justinas and Marie before they were going to have a baby. Looking back now, I think Marie was literally gonna pop. That maternity photo gallery can be seen in an earlier post here.

Later in 2013, I contacted them to see if they would return to the same spot where we took the previous pictures for a followup session.

My plan was to take the photos in the same location so when Lukas grew up he could see himself in a unique series of photo shoots…. “in the belly” and “in the world”. I would like to say at this time that I am not responsible if these photos lead to the “where do babies come from?” question.

Young Lukas was not even a year old and already that boy had so much charm and charisma
that he wowed me during the photo shoot. He is incredibly smart and alert for his age.

He would almost smile on command and respond to all the silly noises I was making.
Getting the attention of a child this young is not always successful.

Lukas is the perfect blend between Mom and Dad.

The kid was a dream to work with, but that is what one might expect from a
child who has a model-like mother and a photographer for a father?

In fact, if Lukas picks up at camera he will be the

third generation of photographer in the Bartkevicius family.

Dad is a giant so you gotta wonder how tall Lukas will be.

When I was packing up, I showed Lukas my camera. He knowingly
touched the shutter button, and I swear that kid winked at me. This just
proves that my photographic competition just gets younger every year.

Maybe we will keep shooting a new portrait set annually until it is time for me
to hand the camera over to him.

I think this is how Lukas drives his dad around. Just tug the ears to steer in the right direction…

Jan 16

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Family Photos on a Beautiful Fall Day

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

Ever since Ken and Anna had their first born daughter, we have been trying to get together for some family portraits. The scheduling was not helped by the fact that they lived in both Canada and the USA at different times… like migrating snow geese.

Now that daughter number two was several months old… this was getting out of control.

We needed to put a date on the calendar.

On one of the last good fall weekends, we spent some time making portraits. Ellie, who was terrified of me as a younger child came out of her shell and was hilarious.

She would go between super-adorable to silly.

Contrary to what you mom might have told you, your face will not permanently stay that way if you make a funny face.

I love Atlanta in the Fall, even more than the Spring, because it is much more colorful… and no pollen. This would have been a great day for a family picnic.

Just the girls…

Daddy’s girl…

Mom and the new gal, Juniper…

Who wouldn’t want a miniature clone of themselves?

Jan 15

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Blood, Sweat and Tears of Photography

By Andrew Hughes accident, Fall colors, family portraits, Masqueman Photography, portrait photography, portraits

The old saying about putting blood, sweat, and tears into one’s work actually came true for me during a particularly windy family photo shoot. A powerful gust of wind upended my heavy studio flash and whacked me in the back of the head like Thor’s hammer. The timing was perfect since I was bending over my camera bag changing lenses.

Even though I almost blacked out, we finished the photoshoot. My friend, Ken, had some colorful language to describe the seemingly unstoppable bleeding, but I’ll keep this PG-13. My head ended up looking like a prop form the Walking Dead.

Working alone without an assistant can have its disadvantages such as having no one to hold the stand when the wind really picks up. Even having a bag of weights on the bottom in this case probably would not have changed the outcome. That will teach me to take shortcuts and think that taking one of the legs into the soft ground would be sufficient. This post should be files under “WHAT NOT TO DO”. Lesson learned…

Jan 13

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Breast Cancer Video for Large Insurance Company

By Andrew Hughes Canon 5D Mark 2, HDSLR Video, Masqueman Photography, videography

As DLSR video becomes the norm, regular photographers like me are called upon to generate video content for clients. While there can be some cross-over in the equipment used to make videos and still photos, I found myself having 2 sets of specialized gear including cold and hot video lights, high-end audio capture gear, and even a teleprompter. Skimping on any of those items can result in a less than professional looking (and sounding) video.

I was asked by Munich Re to create an interview style video to explain the complex nature of breast cancer, how treatments have changed over time and mortality rates. This is not a typical company promo… and it is also proprietary information so I cannot share the final product.

However, I can show stills pulled from the video to show the lighting and composition. We decided to use multiple camera angles to add interest to the 30 minute video. I recorded the host, James Swinton, asking questions in a wide angle view first. Then I repeated the question set as closeup footage. This gave me the option of changing viewpoint during post-production.

Afterwards, the expert guest was given several takes to explain his complex medical data. Dr. Lund is a master of medical-speak taking high-level medical and insurance terminology and blending them seamlessly into an easy-to-understand info-dose. Complex charts and graphs were used to explain the key topics and were composited during post production.

I told Dr. Lund that I would not want to play Scrabble with him since every word would be at least 10 letters long.

Jan 12

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Portraits of an Atlanta Astrologer

By Andrew Hughes Andrew Hughes, Atlanta, head shots, headshot portraits, Masqueman Photography, portraits

Some people that I meet leave a great impression. This was the case with Maureen
who contacted me to have portraits made.

I knew right away that I liked her kind disposition and easy going personality.
Hopefully, that comes through in the photos.

Her plan was to use the photos for her astrology business, social media,
and maybe even for some online dating.

We spent our time trying different settings, backgrounds and arrangements. I try to give clients the variety they want, and as a photographer, this allows me to experiment with different techniques along the way. The next photo was made with a special doughnut-shaped ringflash which makes interesting catch lights.

The amethyst ring was a personal gift from her mother that was important to Maureen so we
included it. The matching background color ties it all together.

A scarf can be used in so many ways in a photoshoot. No woman should be without one.

My prediction came true… working with Maureen was a pleasure.

Jan 11

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Family Portraits of the Distant Cousin of Al Capone

By Andrew Hughes Fall colors, family portraits, Masqueman Photography, portraits

What does a photographer do when the rumored distant relative of Al Capone asks you to take photos of his family? You say yes sir… especially when he brings his beautiful pregnant wife, Amber, and adorable daughter, Allessandra.

We had been planning a family session for a while. Spring turned into summer and then summer into fall. If we waited much longer, it was going to get cold and ugly outside.

We met in my favorite local photo spot and proceeded to try and tire Alessandra out. This was difficult to do since she was literally running circles around us. Ah… youth… can you bottle that energy?