Bobbie Turner Photography
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Bobbie Turner Photography
What's a Photographer to do???
What does a Photographer do when he is in the mood to shoot but not feeling terribly creative? Sometimes with a bag full of gear I think we can't see the forest for the trees. So simplify, grab a lens and walk around the house, take a stroll in the yard or set up something simple in the studio. That's where I was a couple of times in the last several weeks. Self assignment #1 was set something up in my home office and self assignment #2 was grab a lens and go outside.
#1 Smoke with a strobe camera left and a reflector camera right.
#2 Garden sprinkler.
To see more smoke visit my website 5280fotos.com
Ritz-Carlton Beaver Creek Wedding
I had a fantastic opportunity to be a second shooter to Glen Johnson of Aperture Photographics for a wedding at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch in Beaver Creek, CO. Glen is a destination Wedding Photographer out of Eugene, OR that has published a great book essential for any aspiring Wedding Photographer. I have a copy of his book that I keep as a reference and to read through at the beginning of each wedding season. Long story short Glen booked Megan & Steven's wedding, our calendars jived and I finally got to meet and shoot with Glen at a place that I am familiar with: Beaver Creek - Bachelor Gulch - Vail. It was a great learning experience hanging out with Glen, learning from him and to be the proverbial "fly on the wall" second shooter / artistic director / assistant. I recommend to any Photographer that shoots weddings using an assistant or second shooter to take the opportunity to sit in the co-pilot seat with another successful guru like Glen.
That is just part of the story. Megan & Steven selected one of the most beautiful locations to tie the knot there is, Vail - Beaver Creek and the Ritz-Carlton / Bachelor Gulch. Steven is an accomplished photographer himself; he and Megan absolutely made the day. Wedding Photographers sometimes get to make comments about how they wish all their weddings could be like this and this was one of them. Megan & Steven are very real down to earth people that showed the least amount of stress on their big day as I've ever seen. They welcomed their guests warmly and embraced all of us contracted artisans whole heartedly. They and their families were an absolute delight to be around. Add their great attitudes and endless energy to the service provided by any Ritz-Carlton and Cuisine from Wolfgang Puck's Spago made for a little working vacation for me.
Of course Megan & Steven had experienced help to pull off such a splendid party... Heather Allen, President of Table 6 Productions. Often Brides will assume that since they are not having a large wedding they do not need a Wedding Planner and endure copious amounts of stress doing everything themselves. I'm here to tell you that this was not a large wedding, Heather had a large part in making it an enjoyable low stress affair for everyone involved. Money spent on Heather would result in money (not to mention headaches) saved. I would recommend at least a consult with her early in your wedding planning process.
To Glen: It was great to finally meet and work with you! Countless Thanks!
To Steven & Megan: Thank You for a wonderful assignment!
To Heather: It was a pleasure to see you in action and what you helped create!
Please enjoy my Second Shooter perspective...
Portrait Shoot with Ajanta
Here are a few shots from a Portrait Sitting that I've been wanting to do for a while now. Ajanta is one of my son's teachers; earlier this year I dropped him off at school and she was wearing traditional Indian dress. She looked absolutely stunning and I asked her if she would like me to take some shots of her someday. She was receptive and last week we had the opportunity to get together. My backyard is a perfect Garden Studio for Portrait Photography and I shot her against a solid green rather than flowers since her attire is so eclectic.
Ajanta was a delight to work with... please enjoy.
Bobbie
Successful Botanical Dreaming Workshop with Mark Johnson & Bobbie Turner
On May 30th Mark Johnson & I put on our first workshop together; it was a great success! We had eleven participants from all over the country here at my home & garden studio for a full day of shooting beautiful flowers & Photoshop Instruction. The enthusiasm, passion & talent were flowing all day long from all of the talented participants. Here are a few images from the attendees & I encourage you to check out their portfolio of work from the Botanical Dreaming Workshop here.
The Workshop focused on shooting flowers in creative / outside conventional thinking sort of ways & then maybe (or maybe not) applying additional outside the box kind of Photoshop VooDoo from Mark's book Botanical Dreaming. There was a pretty equal balance of Canon & Nikon shooters using a variety of lenses from Macros to Lensbabies. Most all the shots were taken of cut flowers from my good friends Dena & Carolyn at The Awesome Blossom.
Bronwyn Fargo is a Boulder resident photographer. Here she took the approach of shooting up to capture a unique view of the Gerber Daisy. Beautiful image Bronwyn!
Carole Milligan is a photographer in Steamboat Springs, CO. Here she captures a technically difficult shot using a few tricks one can pick up in Mark's book. Materials used: Black paper, Glass, Rain-X, Fine mist spray bottle and of course Flowers. Great shot Carole!
Mark Goddard flew in from California to spend the day with us. Mark is quite skilled technically and has great stuff "in the bag." Thanks for coming Mark!
Steve flew in from Maryland to spend a few days shooting and attended two Workshops here in beautiful Boulder, CO! Here Steve backlit the subject with a snoot and used a soft umbrella camera right. Steve & I had a great time shooting in the "Black" studio. Thanks for attending Steve!
Of course seeing everyone having such a good time shooting beautiful flowers all day made it hard to not want to shoot myself. So on Saturday morning I took advantage of not having completely cleaned up from the day before and snapped a few shots myself.
Here is a hybrid that I grow in my basement hydroponic greenhouse using steroids, proprietary fertilizers, food coloring and various cross germination processes. Just kidding, I pulled petals off of two different flowers and stuck them in this white Spider Mum. When Jill saw this she got onto me for killing flowers. Technically, aren't cut flowers already dead?
In camera (only with a Nikon) one can take multiple images. This is from two images of the same Yellow Spider Mum. Shot 1 taken in sharp focus on the center of the flower. Shot 2 zoomed in and forced out of focus for the soft halo affect.
Pretty straightforward. Macro shot and some Photoshop tweaking.
Kids on Trampoline
Recently I've been working with fellow Photographer Steve Z utilizing strobes. This allows us to have more flexibility and interest in our location shooting by using off camera flashes powered by batteries rather than full studio lighting and the need for electricity. Last week Steve & I had a couple of outings, one where I "modeled" and another where we had a model much prettier than I. Check out his BLOG & the Boulder Strobist BLOG. Yet another example of our minds working alike is Steve turned me onto the Strobist, a BLOG with some great tutorials and information. I came across a Do It Yourself project on how to make Beauty Dishes and emailed Steve writing that we should do this. He replied with I've already been to Home Depot and have the stuff in my garage. So last week we threw a couple together and here are the results of my first shoot using a single light source off camera DIY Beauty Dish...
A friend of mine has one of those "old fashioned" dangerous trampolines... ya know, the type that doesn't have the netting around the edge. I guess I can see how the netting can keep injuries down by preventing the total eject of a double bounced kid and the eminent dry landing but to me the new tramps are promoting Ultimate Cage Fighting; I don't know which is worse. Besides wasn't it fun when we were kids with a "dangerous" trampoline that we could use as a diving board when we drug it up next to the pool? We had a sport whereas a bunch of my hooligan buddies and I would have a few after our Hockey games then all get on the trampoline in full gear and bounce each other off and / or break the egg. Ah, the good 'ol days... I digress. Anyway we finally worked out the logistics to get the kids on the trampoline... enjoy.
Dry Colorado air + Trampoline + Long Hair. One boy is completely patient while waiting for me to take the shot, another is not so patient and is pouting.
Check The Boulder Strobist for Steve's, other's and my off camera flash work.
A New Passion & Project
Well Ms. Bradley has motivated me to pursue a new passion... Muay Thai Kickboxing. What a great workout and discipline! Like any other Martial Art it helps one to connect the Mind, Body & Soul. Through Ashley's contact with Tran's Kickboxing and Fitness facilities I was able to secure a large job with Master Tran and will be helping him with the marketing, branding, advertising etc. with my photography & graphic design. I truly love this kind of work and it is especially nice to have when it's not Wedding Season.
Here are examples of some of the first works that we've created for Trans Kickboxing & Fitness. These are 20" x 30" fine art prints that have been professionally printed, framed & mounted by Big Prints Ink in Boulder, CO. Tim, Tina & Tobin did a fantastic job for us. Thanks guys!
Ashley is one Tough Momma
Ashley is one of my dearest friends. We have much in common and we and our families are able to do many fun things together. Ashley has always been an Athlete and is a life coach and mentor to young and old alike. Currently she teaches a Physical Education program at a school in Boulder, CO and recently has implemented a discipline that she is quite passionate about, Martial Arts. She is accomplished in both Tae Kwon Do (Tae = to break with foot - Kwon = to break with hand - Do = Art of or Way of) and Muay Thai Kickboxing. A little while back she invited me to workout with her and since then I too have been hooked. Ashley trains & teaches at Tran's Martial Arts in Longmont, CO. I have since joined Tran's with my daughter in order to get the mind, body & spirit a great workout and ultimately develop an even stronger relationship with my daughter.
I will be helping Master Tran with creating new images and marketing pieces to promote and brand his fantastic facilities. I cannot speak enough to his curriculum and business model. Please check out Tran's Martial Arts if you are interested in one of the most rewarding mental and physical development programs available.
Ashley has been a great asset to my photography business and I appreciate our shared passion for the Art of Photography. A couple of weeks ago we did a pseudo impromptu photo shoot in the studio. It was a blast and we both learned some things. Ashley is one tough Momma!
Kids do the Darn'dest Things...
On one of the very few nice days in Boulder during the month of February the temperatures soared into the low 50's. I took advantage of the weather and washed my car. These two young ladies thought it to be so nice they appeared from the house wearing bathing suits and wanted to play in the water. "Are you crazy?!" The response was "No!, we just want to play in the water" So I provided a couple of umbrellas and let them have at it. I truly didn't think it was going to last long enough to get my camera. Well it did and I was able to get a few shots of some squirly girlies having some fun. It was a nice break from being inside and I'm all for letting kids be kids.
Playing in the Water...
Playing in the Water...
It's More Than Just Wedding Photography
Someone once said "If you're not growing you're dying". Well that's how I feel about my photography. As of late I've been working with a fellow photographer that I share studio space with, Steve Z. Steve & I spent an afternoon in the studio recently playing with dramatic lighting and getting some images of each other. Steve has posted a few shots that I took of him that he worked the vodoo that we do on in his Blog. We've only worked together for a short while but we've lived parallel lives consisting of Bicycle & Photography lifestyles.
