Ring Flash Photography

Ring flashes are generally used for macro photography, so you can get light on a subject shooting with the lens very close.  But many fashion and portrait photographers use them because of the awesome look you get, especially the reflection in the eyes.  When it was time to update my head shots with my awesome blue hair, I made myself a ring flash out of LED Christmas lights.  The lights were wrapped around each other in a ring and suspended on a stand around the lens of my camera.  Then I grabbed my roommates who happened to be passing by and shot them as well.  I gotta say, I'm really happy with the results.

I was Taking Selfies Before They Were a Thing

I was having my picture taken by some local press and I told myself that if I managed to get some dreaded contact lenses in my eyeballs that I would update my portraits.  So I did these.  

I used window light, a tripod, cable release, 50mm film lens open to f1.4, a stand with a sheet of paper next to me so I could see where I needed to put my face to keep it in focus and a yoga mat for a backdrop.

Katie

Max Patch

I went to shoot time lapse footage at Max Patch. It was amazing! When the weather gets warmer, I want to go back and camp there. All these pictures were shot with a fish eye lens I rented for the shoot.

Katie

Hot Air Balloon Ride

Sometimes, I really love my job. Today I went on a hot air balloon ride. Asheville Hot Air Balloons needed a commercial and when they came asking, I jumped at the chance to shoot it. If you've ever had a dream about flying, probably the closest way you can get to that sensation is in a hot air balloon. Whenever I dream about flying, the wind never factors into it. When I was skydiving, I definitely felt the wind and it was a huge rush. Riding in a hot air balloon was more like levitating. It was peaceful and incredible. I'll have a video posted soon from the commercial footage I got. What a trip!

Katie

Baby Finn

I just had the luckiest baby portrait session. The plan was for Finn to be asleep for the potrait session, but babies are unpredictable and Finn decided he didn't want to sleep when he usually does. So we just kept to cross our fingers and hoped he didn't fuss. Boy, did we luck out. He gave us a full twenty minutes of happy cuteness! The result was great awake baby photos with Finn and mom, Brie.

Katie

Estee and Ryan

I work with Estee and Ryan at WLOS. They're engaged and getting married in mid-October and I was thrilled that they asked me to shoot their wedding. We did an engagement session recently at Dave Saich's house, or rather his barn. They are such a cute couple. I'm so happy they found each other.

Katie

Photography Show at Green Sage in Asheville

My travel photography has found its way into Green Sage coffee shop in downtown Asheville. So if you’re in the area stop by and have a look. It will be up until July where it will be moved again into the Lobster Trap restaurant.

Katie

The Magic of Childhood

Being a kid is just magic. It’s a time when opening a peanut shell and finding a nut inside is like discovering a pearl in an oyster. In childhood stairs work better than slides and no matter how bruised your butt gets, going down them never gets old.

Katie

Flashes of Hope Shoot

The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) in North Carolina has been working with a non-profit orginization called Flashes of hope to go to hospitals and take potraits of kids with cancer and other life threatening illnesses. I went with Michael Mauney to one of these shoots.

The experience was draining and uplifting at the same time. They had people there to do hair and make-up for the kids and thier families. Michael and I took turns shooting, so that we had time to look at what we shot while the other was working, since most of the kids tired quickly.

One of the best smiles I got was of a little boy with his brother. The boy was grumpy and didn't want to smile or be touched by his brother. Michael asked the boy to stand off camera and makes faces at his brother, while Michael took pictures of his brother alone. This got the boy laughing and I managed to grab a shot of him mid-laugh away from the background. Of course the minute he stepped back up to stand with his brother he went serious again.

My favorite kid of the day was the one who didn't want his photo taken. He was a teenager who did motorcross and he was only there because his mom wanted a photo taken with him. I didn't shoot any pictures of him because I didn't want to subject him to any more photos than was nesicary, but I did manage to get a small smile or two out of him when I asked him about racing. This assignment was at times difficult, but above all rewarding.

Katie

Fashion Shoot with Jessica

So I have this new really cool antique sofa and I've been itching to shoot some fashion stuff with it. Since Jessica and I had a couple of hours to kill, we did a quick shoot with old cameras and a big blue dress. And then it was off to the airport for Jessica.

Soon it will be time for me to fly out as well. I have one more chronicle before I take my big flight to Australia on Friday. As usual I can only be reached via email. I will also be discontinuing service with my cell phone and I expect to go with a new cellular company when I return. So don't bother to call me on my cell after the 30th, it won't be my cell number anymore. When I'm back in May call me at home (828) 298-9878 and until then, send emails and keep me up to date with what you're doing.

Katie

Mine

This is a series entitled "Mine." The idea was inspired by characters done by Edward Gorey. The plan was to have the models murder each other in twisted ways over a lollypop. They were to act out the murders behaving like siblings fighting over a toy. I absolutely love the performances in this series. Everyone did such a fabulous job. I think we all had great fun shooting this.

Katie

Fashion Photo Shoot

Today I had a fashion photo shoot just for fun. I've come a long way from the "glamour shots" I used to do with Rebecca and Jessica when we were kids, but this shoot still held the same playful atmosphere of those days long ago. Come to think of it, those days haven't been so long ago since I still use Jessica as a model whenever she's around.

Featured in the photos is my friend Satori. She was both model and make-up artist. I met her when we were looking for a make-up artist for the short film. She wasn't able to do the movie because of her schedule, but we made plans to one day get together and do some work…play…well both I guess. I wanted some really fun dramatic fashion photos and some dark creepy portraits and Satori wanted some photos for her portfolio so we were both able to help each other out. And the location outside couldn't have been better. I got the creeps just standing outside the place. It was awesome.

Katie

Magazine (Rally to Rescue) Cover Shoot

A while back I did my first magazine cover shoot. The assignment was to shoot a man and all the cats that he'd rescued in a cattery he built here in North Carolina. The magazine is called Rally to Rescue. It's put out by Purina and it's all about animals that have been saved in one way or another and the people that rescue them. I shot for the cover and the featured article.

Cats are not the easiest animals to shoot, especially rescued cats. You can pet them and call them and wave toys at them and it's all for nothing. They will either look your way or they won't. My technique was to just keep shooting until I got something. I had hundreds of photos by the end of the shoot, but all the work paid off in the end. I had some great shots for them to use in the magazine. Attached are the pages from the article.

Katie