The Earleys

We’ve been quite busy editing away, finishing up a few of our weddings and some senior portraits. I just wanted to share some of my finished photos from Jack and Sarah’s wedding a few weekends ago and here they are. I had such a blast working with Sarah and Jack. Mostly because they’re a lot like me. Fairly laid back and always looking for a good time. This is just a sneak peek at a few of their photos. Many more to come soon.

 

I’ve been messing with a few new (to me) editing techniques. I’m only using these on certain photos as it doesn’t really stick to our photojournalistic style. Just something I’ve been liking a little here and there. Also been playing with borders and making really horizontal photos and diptychs (sp.??). Opinions?

 

A few more photos here.

 

 

Lessons scheduled

(Let this guy show you what to do and what not to do when it comes to digital photography and apparently what not to do when it comes to shaving too.)

 

While I prepare for a weekend of shooting high school football, I just wanted to update everyone that I’ve officially set a date for our very first digital photography class. Classes will begin after the first of the year, with our very first class, “Digital Photography for Beginners” on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2009. This two hour class will be designed to get you going with those brand new gifts that Santa hopefully brought you.

The only requirements for the class is a willingness to learn about digital photography. (And of course the course fee).

Don’t have a digital camera, not sure which one to buy? Come to our class. We’ll let you play around with a few different types and help you make your decision. I’m working on getting some sponsorship, so I’ll update if there is any news in that department.

Signup early and get your course fee in. Wives or husbands. Hunting for that perfect gift? Some photography lessons for that special someone is a great way to say “Happy Holiday!”

Call us or email for more info. 815-561-7131.

Gloomy night in Dekalb

This week was a doozy. Cold rain, lots of wind, too many fumbles and a quarterback with wheels ended with a gloomy night for the Hubs. The quote about “Any given Sunday” for NFL teams apparently rings true for high school players on Friday nights as well. No one should know that more than the Hubs either because of their major upset against Geneva.

I won’t go over many of the gory details of the game. I’ll just post the pictures and let you guys look. After the game, I couldn’t help but photograph the jubilation of the Barbs. In a way, I was kind of glad to see them win. Not because I ever root against the Hubs, but because I’ve never seen a group of young men want something so bad and get it.

I counted a minimum of 5 boys crying their eyes out after the game. One senior in particular cried the entire time of the celebration, went back in the locker room, changed came back out and started crying again when he met up with his friends. This was no monetary victory. The Barbs will not be going to the playoffs. In fact, I believe it was their first win of the season. But it will certainly be a night none of those senior will ever forget. That makes me feel good inside.

Now is just the waiting process to see if the Hubs still make playoffs. IHSA should have the results later today. I’ll update as soon as I know. Good luck Hubs and use this game as a learning tool.

As I was leaving the field, one of the Barbs’ mothers asked me to snap a few shots of some seniors. I had nothing better to do, so I obliged. I’ll be posting a separate gallery with those images on the Web site with the password being: barbs2009

Thanks for looking. Ciao!

Congrats Hussungs

It’s been so long it seems since we shot Libby and Chad’s wedding. In reality, it’s only been a week and a few days, but time is just flying by right now. All good things I guess. Just means I’m busy and staying out of trouble. I just wanted to throw a few frames from that wedding up. I’m going to be editing them over the next couple of days and hopefully finished by Thursday.

These were some of my favorite frames for several reasons. I just really like the intimate portrait of the two of them above. The backlighting works great, and the expression really shows the joy of Libby and Chad. I really liked the emotional shot of Chad below. I put in black and white because I felt it drew more attention to his watering eyes, but also because I didn’t like the very cool colors in the original photo.

The dancing photo was nice because I framed it with the lights. This was a little harder reception for me to shoot because the dj didn’t have the typical multi-colored lights setup. I actually liked that they didn’t. It fit their personalities a little more but it also challenged me not to rely on pretty vibrant lights swirling everywhere.

I chose the picture of Libby with her hair piece simply because I really liked the piece. Her gown was beautiful too. If I overheard right, I believe it came from a handmade store too. The ring photo was neat because I was staring at those makeup containers the entire time in the salon and it all the sudden clicked.

Lastly, I chose one of the last portraits we made with Libby and Chad. We are always trying make one last portrait before we leave. It usually helps when putting our coffee table books together. We’d never tried something like this because we’ve never shot a wedding where it was cold enough to do this, but glad we did.

Congrats to the Hussungs. We had a great time at your wedding and glad we were able to be part of your day.

A win, a loss and a great week ahead.\

Oye Vey, it’s been a long time. Lots has happened in these two weeks in Hub land. Two games to be exact. One win, one loss, but a whole lot of excitement. First, the good.

The Hubs dominated a sloppy game last week vs. Geneva, upsetting the Vikings. It was one of the sloppiest games I’ve ever seen in high school football. Glad to see the boys were able to hang on to the ball. Not so much luck for the Vikings that night. I had one of my favorite football photos from that night as well. Anytime you can get both teams in the frame, you’re half way there. The rest is waiting for the right moment like this.

This week’s game wasn’t quite so enjoyable. A few bad turnovers knocked Rochelle down early against Glenbard South and they just couldn’t get back into it. I was having a bit of trouble shooting that night too. Not sure why, just hadn’t found my groove for the game. I did get to shoot a few frames during the sophomore game, but mostly concentrated on the varsity.

Next week will be great though because I’m going to be shooting at NIU’s Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium. Should be great on lighting. I’m also working on several things this week, one of which is a surprise for the Hubs Football team at the end of the year. Luckily they’re practically already playoff eligible, so I don’t have to worry for a few more weeks. Just know you’ve got something coming boys. Good luck against Dekalb this week and we’ll see you on the field.

Unrelated to football…I’ll be updating the blog with some wedding photos, senior photos, creative designs and hopefully an update on some displays around town. Thanks for peeking.

20th Place ain’t so bad, relatively speaking

I finally got the results back from the WPJA contest that you all helped me edit. I’m happy about where I was for my very first one. I took 20th place in Kids Being Kids category. Obviously the photo above was the one I placed with.

Oddly, this was the only photo I didn’t share with any of you. Mostly because I knew it was going into the contest hands down. Which I guess should’ve been a sign to me that it was the best photo.

Some of you might think 20th place doesn’t sound too good, but you have to look at it relatively. This was open to photographer’s from around the world. I dont’ know what the odds of me placing there were, but I’ve got to think the photo was at least decent enough to be featured among the ranks of wedding photojournalists that I truly admire.

I didn’t receive anything for it. Only recognition. Spot 20 is basically an honorable mention. For now, I’ll take it.

So here’s to getting better and more continued success.

If you’d like to see the other results, here is a quick link.

Tennis Monday

As promised, here are my updates about tennis from yesterday. For my first tennis shoot of the year, I couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was really all about getting my timing down though. Tennis is kind of a tricky one where if you’re too early or late, it doesn’t look like anything is going. The photo above is one of my few successes. Trust me, there were a lot of failures.

I was trying to find ways to incorporate other players on the court, especially Honenegah High School because I rarely catch both teams in tennis action. This was just one of which I was able to. Not the greatest photo in the world, but a start. Everytime I shoot a sport I learn more and more about it, photographically speaking.

Of course, you have to have a few reaction shots. The only thing I could think of when I saw this was, “Hoooooooooo!!!!!” If you don’t know what I’m talking about you obviously didn’t watch late 80s/ early 90s WWF wrestling. To bone up on your wrestling history, click here and you’ll understand.

Last but not least I found this light-hearted moment on the court. Between matches one  of the girls got very hot. Needed the help of the other to remove part of her outfit. Quite funny watching it in person.

I think the hardest part I always deal with tennis is finding a nice clear background to shoot in. Your f2.8 will only do so much, especially when you’re not zoomed in all the way. Add to the fact that I use an 1.4 extender moving me up to f4. So backgrounds are tricky, especially in Rochelle. Cars in the background, people in the background, those messy chain-linked fences and their poles. Ugh. Guess it could be worse. McDonald’s good have their bright yellow golden arches somewhere on a giant bulletin board somewhere.

Feel free to view some more here.

No Monday blues here

Thankfully the weather has cooperated for me the past couple of days and here’s to wishing it will stay this way for the next week or so. I got the chance to shoot all weekend long and spent my afternoon shooting tennis and playing around with some lighting. This is both a blessing and a curse.

A blessing because everytime I shoot, I learn more. I also love getting out on a nice day and having the chance to be creative. What’s not to like? The fresh air? Hanging out on a football field? Photography! So what could I possibly have to complain about?

Well, everytime I shoot like this, I always find at least one new piece of equipment that I need. I’m definitely going to have to invest in three new items now.

Note: Everyone except camera nerds tune me out for a few minutes. I’ll get back to the regular stuff in a minute.

So here’s what I discovered I need want. I’m going to have to invest in a third flash. At the very least, I need another light stand/hotshoe mount and another hotshoe slave so that I can use my 540ex. I guess that’s technically the cheaper route. Then, I’m going to have to buy another Pocket Wizard to trigger it.

It just doesn’t look exactly the same without a kicker on both sides. I feel very limited even though I still like the images very much.

Next, I need to buy two strip boxes for my white lightnings as well as a large beauty dish for use with another one. I really should’ve brought those with me this afternoon, but just didn’t have the time to pack it all up. I could’ve really darkened everything had I used them.

Back from nerd land now.

Instead of sitting at home and doing nothing but editing photos from the weekend, I decided to get out and start shooting something other than football for once. Hit up a little tennis this afternoon.

After that was time for a few athletic portraits on the football field. Here’s the images from the shoot that aren’t posted here.

I hope for a chance to get a few more of these done, but that’s only if the weather holds out. Well, I’m off to a busy week, but look for some more updates throughout the week. We’ve been busy and we’re excited to share our photos. Check back soon.

Rain dampens Hubs offense, drop to 4-2

Homecomings are supposed to a time of great enjoyment. A time for old classmates to return and cheer on their school. It’s supposed to be a time of pep rallies, parades and kings and queens. Apparently nobody told the weather this weekend was Rochelle’s homecoming.

The rain and 40-degree temperatures canceled almost all the events except Thursday night’s pep rally. The rain doesn’t stop football games though.

This cold October weather is not the most exciting thing to be shooting in. I hate having to wrap myself and my cameras up and risking the chance of getting sick, but hey, gotta do what you gotta do.

Unfortunately tonight was not the Hubs night either. Sycamore’s offense was just too much for the Hubs last night. Well, to be honest, Marckie Hayes was too much for them. That kid was fast.

The Hubs also switched up their offense a little last night by putting CJ Navarro in as starting quarterback. Unfortunately with the cold weather and rain, the Hubs offense couldn’t get anything going. They had a few good pass plays, but it seemed they were never able to break the last tackle on their run attack.

Final score was 26-0. This drops the Hubs to 4-2 with a few good teams left to play. We’ll just have to wait and see how this year pans out.

Hopefully the rest of the festivities go better than the game did. I know the morning’s weather is already looking better, but I don’t know how long that will last.

Have fun and be safe tonight.

Note to athletes

Just a quick note to all our local athletes. If you’re not already on Facebook, be sure to get yourself an account and add Lifeworks Imaging to your friends list. As soon as we upload our photos from the game or event, we’ll automatically tag you with your photos and give you the password to view a ton of extra photos.

If you see someone who isn’t tagged in the photo, feel free to tag them as well.

It’s a great way to have instant access to your photos and show off your best moments of the game to your friends and family.