A few weeks ago, I had the great fortune of being able to photograph the wedding of Patrick and Robin.   With the help of Lisa and Andy to help w/ lighting and shooting, we were able to get some images that we were quite happy with.

While I’m still working post-processing all of the images, I came up with a few images in a slideshow to give a feel of their day.  Hope you enjoy it: Patrick and Robin’s Wedding Gallery

Marissa and Tina
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

Kevin and Tina graciously allowed me to invade their home on Super Bowl Sunday and destroy their basement in order to create a makeshift studio (and then watch the best Super Bowl in memory). We lit everyone up with umbrellas, softboxes and reflectors and used a couple different background.

Despite some difficulties with one my Cactus remotes (the Poverty Wizards), I think the shoot went well. Tried a couple different lighting schemes (blowing out the background and some clamshell beauty lighting on Marissa). Overall, was quite happy with how everything turned out.

Here’s a slideshow of the best shots of the day. Definitely best viewed full-screen – there is a button in the bottom right-hand side of the slideshow window.

Lisa
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

It is still cold; thankfully we can stay inside and make some pictures. I cleared out our dining room and created a temporary studio with a long piece of white felt and 3 strobes, an umbrella and a reflector. Was pretty happy w/ how everything turned out and in the process, learned a couple things. This was a trial run for some family portraits we did the next day.

Here’s a slideshow of a few of the portraits.

Lisa at the Ice Festival
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

It’s cold in Michigan right now. Crazy cold. However, several of us decided to put on some warm clothes and head to Plymouth for the annual ice carving festival there. Cameras in hand, we wandered about, shooting what we could before deciding some warmth was required. After dinner, we went back out and both Andy, Lisa, and Chris were kind enough to hold some flashes while I shot some images (thanks to you all!). Ended up being pretty happy with what we took.

Here’s a slideshow of some of the ice sculptures we photographed.

Alex is ready to start opening presents
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

It was a good Christmas in Grand Rapids. Everyone traveled to my parent’s house for a couple of days of good food, game playing and of course, a little photography. The Grand Rapids Art Museum had a exhibition of Richard Avedon, so we all packed into the car and headed downtown (highly recommended if you’re in the area).

A slideshow of the holiday festivities.

Isabella With A Christmas Ornament
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

My friends Rod and Tara invited me over to make a few images of Isabella for a Christmas card. Even though she was sick, she was quite the trooper, esp. with having a flash going over every 30 seconds. Was fun, but shooting babies is hard – they don’t sit still very long. Needed a robotic baby-tracking lightstand

Here are the best images on flickr.

Bob Krist
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

Had the good fortune to attend this 2 day seminar this past weekend which was sponsored by Nikon and Epson, as well as Outdoor Photographer and PCPhoto magazines. The traveling seminar goes all over the country; I attended in Columbus, OH. There are four speakers who conduct the tour; this particular incarnation had Bruce Dale and Bob Krist as speakers. Both Dale and Krist are well-known authors and magazine contributors, most notably National Geographic.

Between the two, there was a lot of coverage on how to approach making photos and projects, lighting, gear, travel, panoramics and a ton more. I was amazed – there was a huge crowd and by judging from conversations in the crowd, a large range of skill levels, and the talks appealed to everyone. Both speakers spent a day giving pointers and retelling some of their adventures, generating ‘oohs and ahhs’ from their images and laughter from their stories with equal measure.

There is only one more class (Raleigh, NC) for 2008, but if they continue the tour in 2009, I’d highly recommend attending both days. Instructionally, there was very little overlap (in my case, Dale covering more landscape photography while Krist focused on travel photography) and for only $20 more, was a fantastic deal. If the other two speakers come around anywhere nearby, I’ll be attending again.

As a great bonus, was a lucky winner of Bruce Dale’s out-of-print book ‘The American Southwest.’ Other than having Michigan beat OSU, not sure if you could spend a better weekend in Columbus.

Tree On Fire
Originally uploaded by Matthew Britt

I had ordered a hardcover book to show my autumn images. After what seemed like an eternity (all anticipation – the order actually shipped quite quickly), my book arrived from Apple. The images in the book turned out very well and the embossed cover is really nice. Normal Apple quality. Sadly, the dust jacket didn’t print as well as I had hoped. After a quick conversation with Apple, they took care of the problem. I’ve only had to deal with Apple about problems a few times and every time it has been handled with speed and professionalism.

I definitely made some mistakes in the layout and texting of the book, but all in all, have been very happy with it.

To see the images I chose from for the book, here is a slideshow on flickr. Highly recommend using the full-screen option.

To see the layout of the book (although the colors aren’t quite as saturated), I have an online version here. Again, full-screen mode is best.