Events in Stumptown

I have only been in downtown Portland after dark a few times, so had to squeeze this photo of the SAM station at the Pioneer Courthouse Square.
I had the opportunity to shoot some events for the Pioneer Courthouse Square. I shot the Italian Festival, Root Beer Floats, the Senior Prom, Flicks on Bricks, and a few other jobs for the group that runs the park.
Each job presented its own challenges, which was one of the reasons that I took these jobs on. Between the white umbrellas in the sun, uncooperative weather, large crowds of people, and the night shots, the events were a blast. Not just standard "walk around and shoot" type of work.

Here is one of the shots from the Ghostbusters night of Flicks on the Bricks. That job was awesome because I was able to watch a great movie while I did some of the work. I realized that seeing the movie in this venue was kind of like a hotdog at a Mariners game. The movie is great on its own, but it was that much better when watching it in downtown Portland with hundreds and hundreds of people. The party environment really made it a great experience. The park was packed with people by the time the movie started at dusk. It makes me wonder where all of these people parked.

Busy Times....

I have an appointment set in my calendar every Thursday for updating my blog, and you can only hit the snooze in Outlook so many times.
I have been a little busy lately, so I'm not beating myself up over not posting for almost a month....again. I haven't had a day off in a couple of weeks now, except for the night that my wife decided that we should go camping in our Element. It would have been fine, if it weren't for the dog and over 100 degrees temperature. I ended up sleeping (yeah, right) on the ground outside so Neo could hang with me. Between sleeping limbs (forgot my pillow and slept on my arm), rain, and falling supplies (see note about rain), I didn't sleep more than about 2-3 hours that night and had a job in town on Sunday afternoon. I'm almost done whining.... I was SO glad to be home the next night. No sleep, pack up, go home, unpack, shower, shoot a job. Okay, I'm done.
I had the opportunity to shoot the India Festival in the Pioneer Courthouse Square, and it was WAY more popular than I expected. I didn't know there was that much Indian culture in the area. The park was overflowing with people for a while. I love events there. Seems like every time I work in the square, the day is overcast, which is great for photos. The bright colors and beautiful outfits made for some easy great photos. The spirit and energy of the event was great, and it was easy to wander around and take pictures of people. What a great park. The bricks are close to a middle grey, and good for metering off of when the events have bright white tents. For the schedule of remaining events at the square, you can check out http://PCSPDX.ORG

I am not posting any pictures tonight, as Yellow Tail and the Olympics are calling. I am not usually into sports, but I do love watching the olympics. I was up really late last night, and got to catch one of my favorites in the olympics - Bicycle Supercross. Those riders just amaze me.

New Website Started

Hooray! I worked out some issues I was having with my DreamWeaver, and finally got most of my website updated. I am never happy with the site, so it's never finished. I like the new look and hope you will too. Here's a screenshot of the new home page. In case you haven't checked it out, it's at http://ballyhoophotography.com and you should go there. Drop me a line if you have any thoughts on the new look. I want a clean, simple, yet elegant look to the site. I don't like when people have music start automatically, so don't expect that.

Finally, pictures posted

Okay, so about 3 weeks ago, I mentioned the shoot downtown. I had the opportunity to shoot the Pioneer Courthouse Square Festival of Flowers and had a blast despite the overcast day.

I did take advantage of the dry day, and rode my motorcycle into town. I found parking on the street on the second block on which I looked, which was sweet! This was during June, which is one of the more unpredictable weather months here in the great Northwest. If you are going to be outside for a spell in June, bring your umbrella, and sunglasses. I didn't take photos of the tomatoes that were on sale that day, as the plants themselves aren't that pretty until they start producing fruit. I'm not a hater, but when a tomato plant is surrounded by sunflowers and wildflowers, they just don't grab me by the lens.

So, on to the pictures. Enjoy.

Holy Smoke!

I was flipping through my calendar today and realized that I haven't posted to this blog in over a month. It's been a good month - very busy - so I'm not that sad that I've been slow to post. I am trying to get better about doing a weekly blog with some interesting topics.
Last week, there were some events downtown that I was able to take some publicity shots for. I put all of them on my external drive, so I will have to get them and will post a couple of images... The Pioneer Courthouse Square had their "Urban Meadow" themed display in the park, which was what I photographed. It was a lovely layout of wildflowers and other plants (including tomatoes YUM!). The whole thing was laid out in paths and rows with a tunnel of sticks down the middle. I busted out my lensbaby 3g for some shots from the 11th floor of one of the close-by buildings. I've never used the Lensbaby for distant shots. I was thrilled by the results.

Coming soon - Pictures from the Pioneer Courthouse Square Urban Meadow.

Back to Work

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

No, I didn't turn into Jack Nicholson channeling Stephen King in The Shining. Just whining a little.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to take some portraits for a law firm downtown. What a great bunch of people! I'm not just saying that to suck up or to pad my chances of going back if one of them happens to read it. They were just a great group. From the time I said hi to the office manager, to the time that I packed up and got out of their hair I was treated very kindly. Here is one of my favorite shots from the day.

It won't make it to their website, but I love the shot. This is just one of those shots that I got for me on the day. Most of the other shots are pretty standard with a bit of personality.

Funny, I haven't posted to my blog in about 3 weeks, then I post twice today. My website has been updated a bit, and I finished doing most of the research that I needed to do. Only a 15 hour day today, but I got tons done, new business card, updated site, two blogs, plans and purchases for tomorrow's shoot, picked up some bike parts for my mountain bike. I think I have earned a nice long sleep tonight.

Working from home

Here is a little glimpse into my life. I have a job this weekend for an event at the Clackamas Town Center Macy's for Mother's Day Portraits. While I am really excited about this, I am FREAKING OUT about getting all my ducks lined up. I think I have everything ready to go, but there is always that little thing that refreshes the challenge.
I didn't feel like working in my office today, so I am editing photos and typing correspondence from my couch (recliner) and listening to music.
I was doing some research on the net, and looked over to see my dog, Neo, in his favorite position - spread eagled on the couch with his head on a pillow. I figured that I needed a picture of that. I have lots of pictures of the mutt doing his thing, but I just watched a show about some photographers, and was reminded of the Marilyn Monroe photos when I saw Neo. Obviously, Norma Jean was more beautiful and more elegant, but what can you do?
One of my favorite things about working from home (I don't drive to my Portland studio unless I need to) is that I get to hang with my pets and give Neo more attention. He's finally coming out of his slump after losing his sister, Daisy. I like to think that I am also doing my part for the environment by not driving the 20 some odd miles to the studio in my truck.
This isn't the most elegant lighting. I didn't want him to move while I set up my stands and strobes to light him with some pizazz. He's one of those dogs that if I'm up and moving around, he has to follow to see what I'm doing. Maybe I'm getting food or going outside for something. I had to sneak to my camera bag to get my camera and strobe, and was lucky that he only woke up and didn't move.