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Sep 27
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Family and Baby Portrait Session Moved Inside Due to Rain

By Andrew Hughes, child phtotography, family portraits, Jason Caponi, Masqueman Photography, Studio
It’s been another year and it was time to update the Caponi family photos. The kids are growing up fast so it is important to catch them before they become teenagers. Outside was rainy and gross so we moved the photoshoot inside for different styles of portraits.
Little Michael is a beautiful bouncing baby boy. Look at those huge eye and reddish-blonde hair!
Michael’s grandparents are from the Gulf Shores so the shirt is a nod to them. He is already standing, and at the current rate of growth, he will probably be running his first half-marathon next year.

Jason is a wonderful Dad, but you can see that he literally has his hands full.

Just the boys of the family pose for portrait.

Alessandra is such a beautiful little lady. Here are two similar photos. I just changed the background and modified the poses to provide more choices for the parents. 

Look at that smile with all her front teeth which is not always the case with kids her age.

Alessandra had been taking tap lessons so we wanted a photo of her outfit before she outgrows it.

Here she is showing off a very special gift that her Nonna gave her. Nona was her grandmother who absolutely adored her. I have rarely seen such a close connection between 2 people of different generations. You can read more about Nonna here.

I think she is a natural in front of the camera.

Here she is wearing her Sunday dress. I’m just crazy about this little girl.

And here she is monkeying around for the camera.

Baby Michael has so many expressions and most of them hilarious. His smile lights up the room and would melt even the most Scrooge-like grump.

Another portrait of the men of the house. I like to make comparison photos when kids are so small. Here you can see that Michael’s feet are not even as big as one of Dad’s fingers.
A revealing “behind-the-scenes” look shows that the photo shoot was a group effort. Even big sis was helping Michael find his smile. Mom was over my shoulder making all kinds of funny sounds to get the kids’ attention. Considering that shooting indoors was PLAN B, everything worked out fine.
Nov 26
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Dog Portraits in the Studio

By Boston Terrier, Dogs, Masqueman Photography, pet portraits, Studio
Animals and children are notoriously some of the hardest subjects to photograph. In other words, they do not care about my vision,  timetable, my lighting setup or where to stand.
My wife and I have been talking about some puppy photos for our 2 sibling adoptees, Zack and Zoey. We also have become keenly aware of our aging Buddy Luv who has suffered some pretty serious medical setbacks this year. We thought we had lost him at least twice so every minute with him is a gift.
Meet Zack. He is your typical alpha male troublemaker. He has bitten ears, dragged his sister down the stairs, nipped my behind when my back was turned, barked at the howling beagles down the street, and presented us with a collection of dead things. He is also very sweet when he wants to be.
I am not sure that he knows his name yet. He suffers from selective hearing loss (ha ha).
This is Buddy Luv. He was adopted about 10 years ago which makes him probably around 13-14. He picked his own name because the one the adoption agency gave him was not working. To make a long story short, I was calling my other dog my “little buddy” noticed that every time I said the word “Buddy”,  this this guy would dance in one place and get excited. So, the name stuck. 
Children like to point out his blue eye which is totally blind. I tell them it is a camera eye. He also lost all his hearing which has miraculously cured his “thunder-phobia”.
This is Zoey and she is a Daddy’s girl. She is so precious and wonderful.
I never thought that I would like having a girl dog, but she has won me over.
Pink is her favorite color… an obvious choice for a princess.
Some may think this is a picture of beauty and the beast… but they would be wrong. There are 2 beautiful dogs here. Who would not love that face.
May 11
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Kid’s Studio Portraits While it Rains Outside

By children, family, portrait photography, Studio

Sometimes the volatile Atlanta weather does not cooperate with a scheduled portrait session. Instead of scrapping the time slot, we decided to have some fun in the studio taking photos of young Danielle and Joshua. It is fair to say that I am not an expert kid photographer… that is I do not have a set of poses that I will run a child through. Instead, I will play with the kids and see what happens.

I like to include objects in the photo that show the size of the child like this tiny suitcase. 
I am not above using children as graphic elements like the striped photo below.

If the child has a favorite toy, it often makes it into the photo… like the bunny ears and Mr. Wabbit.

Both Mom and Dad are read heads so it is no surprise that Danielle has a gorgeous head of fiery locks.
This kid was working the set and liked to “Strike a Pose!”
Once little brother woke up from his nap, we grabbed a few candids.
We eventually ended up on the floor when Danielle’s steam started to run out.

Mom got into the final frames to corral the kids.
Jul 02
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Moody Portrait of Collin

By Collin, portraits, strobist, Studio

This weeks light test took place at our friend Megan’s house. She has an upcoming client shoot and we were shooting light tests. With three photographers in working together, we all able to bounce ideas and knowledge off of each other.

The last 30 minutes of the day consisted of each of us taking turns running the shoot. We each had about 10 minutes to set up a lighting scenario and shoot a portrait. This artificial pressure helps prepare for similar real situations that happen on paying photoshoots. Nothing like pressure to hone your skills. My starting photo is shown to the right.

Here is my shot of Collin where I used a 24″ portable softbox. A small silver reflector helped to fill in some of the shadows. That’s it.

From there, a slaved flash was added to the backdrop. In this case I wanted to separate the back of the head which had gone to silhouette from the background.
The background light was moved to give different looks to the background.

The last version I tried was showed more of a spotlight effect on the background.
Jun 07
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Portrait Tests with Collin VanDyck

By photography, portraits, Studio
Collin and I share an interest in all things photography so it was just a matter of time before we got together to start testing and learning different lighting techniques for portraits. This is great because both of us are technical and can work through problems that may pop up.
Our main emphasis is to use small portable flashes instead of hauling the big studio lights. We plan on pushing forward in the months to come so it will be interesting to see how things progress.
Below is the black and white version. I am working to get strong contrast in the dynamic range of each photo so that each could work as a color or monotone photo.
Dec 15
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Amanda’s Thai Kick Boxing Photos

By Amanda, kick boxing, portraits, Studio
Amanda's Thai Kick Boxing Photos
Amanda is someone that I have known for quite a while now. She is a genuinely nice person with a wicked sense of humor. She has also changed a lot since I first met her by losing over 80 lbs. Her transformation is really quite amazing, and I barely recognize old photos of her.

She has also become a serious fitness nut. One of the things that she practices is Moi Thai, aka Thai Kick Boxing. You can see some of her moves in her kick boxing gallery. I am very proud of her.

Dec 14
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Portrait Class Taught in Masqueman Studio

By Classes, photography, Studio, teaching

This weekend I gave my first ever portraiture class in my studio, a.k.a. the garage. I had 3 students show up and we covered the basics of studio lighting from hot lights to beauty lighting to corporate portrait set-ups. This portrait is of Teri, a talented architecture photographer who is branching out. It is because of her interest that the informal class became a reality. I enjoyed the experience very much.

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