Breanna

I originally had this up on my main website www.braedyphoto.com, but it wasn't really a fit for any of the galleries. I thought it was too beautiful a shot to not have up somewhere, though. This is my stepdaughter Breanna, she looks like an angel lying in bed. The lighting is all natural light coming from the window above her, which I enhanced slightly to get the golden effect.

Kevin Joseph Kelly

Kevin was my guinea pig for checking out lighting in a few different locations around my building. I actually just needed a body, but Kevin turned out to be quite the willing model! These pictures are a little atypical for Kevin's personality; those that know him probably see his wild, crazy outgoing side. Think of these as a little more introspective...

James--an actor's headshot

James was looking for a headshot that would work for both theatre and possibly on-camera work as well. He does a lot of character type roles in his stage work, so I wanted to make sure we started shooting him with his beard. Then halfway through the shoot we stopped to have him shave. Overall, I think this is the "money shot" for his headshot. Even though this is more of the traditional actor's headshot, we also shoot some 3/4 length commercial shots as well so James could submit himself for agency representation.

Ryan

Ryan stopped by for a quick test. Conditions actually were not very good--it was during the middle of the day and I was supposed to be doing work for the agency. We had only natural lighting and the flourscent lighting in my building to use, and it was very cloudy and overcast out that day. We did get a couple of nice shots, and it was nice to shoot someone who has a little bit of experience. Ryan has been a model with the Talent Group for about a year, and he's also shot some stuff in NYC as well. Here are some of the better shots from our test.

headshot tests

A big part of why I've started shooting on my own is to shoot models and actors for headshots and composites. I already work in the industry, and often find that talent may only need one or two specific shots to fill out their portfolio. In the few years that I've been doing this I've met a lot of great photographers. Unfortunately we live in a market where it's really tough to get talent to shoot a first time, let alone reshoot for testing. So I'm hoping to fill a gap, and help my business with the agency as well as growing as a photographer on the side. Here are some of the first few tests.

Scott--I twisted his arm to get him to do this, though I secretly think he was flattered I asked him to test. He interned at the agency, and wasn't really interested in modeling--which is too bad because he has a great look for this market.


Ramona--she had a really great test with another photographer but needed a modeling face shot. I chose the blue backdrop and light blue top to really make her eyes pop, and it was shot in the "extra vivid" preset on my Nikon D 40X...the way the colors are oversaturated give it an almost surreal-like quality.



Jerrell--this is a model from Cincinatti that I met with at the agency. This was taken at our initial meeting, just playing around with natural lighting in the hallway outside our loft office space. He is a very experienced model--he was very comfortable moving around in front of the camera and there's a lot of personality in this shot, even though he's not looking directly at the camera.

children's photography

My first few shoots involved torturing my children, as well as a few of their playmates. Here are some of the shots I liked best. I like working with kids because they're not afraid of opening up in front of the camera. You can really get a lot of personality from them.


Breanna--one of my favorite pics of my stepdaughter. She's really going after the ball in this shot!


Kimberly

Tyler--this was originally shot in color, then I converted it to black and white except for his bright blue eyes. I think it makes a neat effect.

Abbey--she was half hiding from the sun, half hiding from the crazy guy with the camera! :)