Archive for the ‘Portraits’ Category
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013
There’s a scene in the movie “The Birds” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963) where a group of school kids runs from the school behind this church (Saint Teresa of Avila in Bodega) as birds are descending down on them. They run down the hill and past this church to escape.
So when the bride told me she wanted a photo of her and the groom posing in front of the church while the wedding party is fending off attacking birds, I was totally into it! Used a beauty dish on a light stand to overpower the mid-afternoon sun and had a retoucher add in the birds. This was such a fun wedding to photograph. There was a “Birds” theme throughout, with even ceramic birds handmade by the bride for wedding favors!
I’ve photographed my share of weddings, but I gotta say this one was especially fun. The location was amazing (Bodega Bay) with coastal vistas and a cool small town where “The Birds” was filmed. The bride and groom have been dating for 15 years so getting a chance to be part of this day and document it with photos was truly an honor.
Congrats Tanith and Tim! You’re a great couple and your wedding was fantastic!
© 2013 Pete Springer
Birds added by Pratik Naik of Solstice Retouch
california swimwear photographer Pete Springer
Posted in Portraits, Travel | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
Just wrapped up an intense weekend of photographing fitness competitors. It was really awesome. I especially like this photo of Michelle in her dance studio. Those are the most awesome window coverings for a dance studio ever in the background!
This coming week is going to be simply amazing for me. I have so many absolutely dreamy photography assignments coming up. I am a pretty good producer (I was a local news producer for years) but even I’m amazed at the pace I’ve been setting for myself lately. This coming week amps that up a notch too! And the weather has finally turned sunny and warm so outdoors here I come.
And if you’re not sure what a producer is, it’s the person responsible for moving your project forward. Scheduling, booking, getting everyone on the same page and in the same place at the same time – that’s what a producer does. There is an amazing amount of production that goes on behind even a simple photography session. Just making sure everyone is going to show up is a pretty key production skill.
Thank you KPTV, KGW, and OPB for years of training. Production skills are nice to have when you want to get a lot done in a short amount of time.
© 2013 Pete Springer
Portland Oregon photographer
Posted in Fitness, Portraits | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 9th, 2013
Keepin’ busy lately and loving it. Here’s a headshot, portrait, portfolio image, or whatever you want to call it from today.
I first photographed Nicole on the Columbia River a couple years ago. I was so impressed I immediately arranged a test shoot with horses and Nicole and a new makeup artist I had just met. That went well and I recommended Nicole as the model for a swimwear boutique photo job I had. That went great too. And today I got to work with her again. She’s fantastic – such a naturally pretty look. No wonder she’s signed with Option these days.
And that makeup artist? I’ve gone on to work with her a whole bunch over the years. Jessica Belknap is highly recommended by me if you need a professional hair/makeup artist.
And in case you’re a lighting geek, the trick here is a scrim over her head and she’s holding a white reflector. It’s actually a mini rig similar to what SI uses for their swimwear issue. Turns out it works pretty great for headshots too.
Nicole with Option Model and Media
© 2013 Pete Springer
Portland headshot photographer Pete Springer
Posted in Headshots, Model Portfolios, Portraits | No Comments »
Sunday, April 7th, 2013
My dog was part of a photo shoot this past summer that was basically a model walking like ten dogs at once. It was really cool. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to do my own dog and model photo session.
I’ve worked with Terra a couple times and I know she has a dog so finally today we were able to coordinate a time and location. One note – we actually had THREE dogs – mine, Terra’s, and her BF’s – so it was pretty crazy. I love these two images though. Most of the rest of the photos are a bit more chaotic!
Chester (the dog) and Terra with Sports + Lifestyle Unlimited
© 2013 Pete Springer
Portland dog photographer Pete Springer
Posted in Lifestyle, Portraits | No Comments »
Saturday, October 6th, 2012
Regular readers of my blog know that I’m teaching a location photography class fall term at The Art Institute of Portland. My first class was Wednesday. I want to start the students off with a really solid foundation for shooting outdoors so decided to start with only natural light. No reflectors even – at least for the first assignment.
Never one to dish out work assignments and wait for results, I had a model meet us for the first class. I took the students outdoors, where we had early afternoon light that was a bit harsh. We walked maybe three blocks near the school. I was shooting and trying to find impromptu spots that would work well for this demo. The first homework assignment is for the students to do the same thing – shoot five natural light photos outdoors with no reflectors or strobes. We’ll be critiquing their shots in class this coming week so I figured it was only fair I share my five photos I shot for the class demo.
Remember – this was completely unscripted. I hadn’t scouted out locations, didn’t know what the weather would be like, and had no idea what I was going to shoot until I started – a little bit like a real photo shoot! The goal is to give the students a solid base of natural light shooting experience so they’re never feel nervous in that type of situation where they have to deliver results under less than ideal conditions with only minimal gear (’cause that does happen all the time!)
Model Kerry
portland photographer pete springer
Posted in Commercial, Model Portfolios, Portraits | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012
It’s perfect weather for shooting outdoors. Senior portraits outdoors tend to be much more natural than studio photos. Plus there are so many options for cool locations and backgrounds. Including pets in photos is a great way to capture lifelong memories.
Here are some photos from a recent senior session with Autumn. Here’s what her mom had to say about the photos:
“We were utterly amazed at the quality of the pictures. Aside from that, Pete is sweet, personable, and a great communicator.”
Book your senior session today while this great weather is still around!
Hair/makeup Jessica Belknap, photography assistant Thomas Lindsay
portland senior portrait photographer pete springer
Posted in Portraits | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 18th, 2012
Getting a natural smile in a photo can be a lot more difficult than you think. We all tend to pose – especially since most consumer cameras/cell phones have a shutter delay (picture doesn’t always get shot when you press the shutter- it may wait a bit) so you literally have to pose to get a good shot without being blurry when shooting with a cell phone. Posing won’t get you natural smiles.
Luckily I wasn’t shooting with a cell phone here! So I was able to capture the model looking natural – warm and inviting as one local agency likes to call it.
model Kerry
portland photographer pete springer
Posted in Lifestyle, Model Portfolios, Portraits | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 21st, 2012
Journalists are always taught to ask at the end of an interview, “Anything you’d like to add?” Nine times out of ten, the interviewee will add something valuable to the story.
I sort of tried that technique here. The model was getting ready to leave and had put her hair up. It was a look we hadn’t tried during the shoot and seemed so natural. I got her next to a window and snapped this. Sometimes that unexpected, “Anything you’d like to add?” moment is right there without realizing it. When I work with a hair/makeup artist, I try to get “before” shots. Turns out I also need to be getting “after” shots – as in just after the shoot is done – too!
Model Julia
portland photographer pete springer
Posted in Headshots, Model Portfolios, Portraits | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 25th, 2012
Sorting out the files on this shoot and ran across this photo that I really liked.
I’m finally catching up on several shoots from earlier this month. Had a couple of commercial jobs to take care of and haven’t posted any of that here. May wait for the tearsheets (screengrabs of websites these days) to show those off.
Hoping to update this blog a little more often than I have lately too. Every couple of days at least anyway.
Model Tamara with Sports + Lifestyle Unlimited
portland fitness photographer
Posted in Headshots, Portraits | No Comments »
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