2014 SafeHaven Calendar - April

We're still just getting started with the SafeHaven calendar pups. Here's your Monday fix!

These two, Angus and Piper, grace the April page.

Remember, 2014 calendars are on-sale now for $15 at the SafeHaven shelter on Hwy 34, just off I-5 and the boutique store on 2nd Ave in downtown Albany! Help a good cause and get your cute critter fix all year long.

2014 SafeHaven Calendar - March

Remember, 2014 calendars are on-sale now for $15 at the SafeHaven shelter on Hwy 34, just off I-5 and the boutique store on 2nd Ave in downtown Albany! Help a good cause and get your cute critter fix all year long.

This is the March "pack" from the calendar. From left to right: Harley and Spirit are on the bottom with Trail hovering over Spirit in the upper right.

2014 SafeHaven Calendar - February

Last year, I was asked by SafeHaven to shoot the pictures for their 2014 calendar. The months were auctioned off at the Diamonds and Dice fundraiser event. I was happy to volunteer and it was a pleasure to meet and work with so many wonderful animals and their owners. Ann Sirl, from SafeHaven, was extremely helpful and great to work with as well. We started shooting in October of last year and wrapped up in July, fitting in a shoot or so a month as we could schedule them. The calendar is now finished and should be released to the public very soon! I'll put up the details on when and where you can get one as soon as I know for sure. I'm going to start posting alternate shots (not the ones used in the calendar) from each month. I'll try to put them up on Monday's and Fridays.

This is Abby and Loki (from left to right) and they are Ms. and Mr. February:

By the way, this year's Diamonds and Dice event will be held this October 12th at the Albany Boys and Girls Club. I will not be able to attend this year due to a prior engagement but next year's calendar pages will be auctioned off there and I will be shooting the 2015 calendar too! So, if you are a winning bidder I will be coming to your house to take pictures of your pet(s). We only had dogs this year, but we'll take almost any pets. They don't have to be adopted from SafeHaven either. It's for a good cause and your pets could be famous!

UPDATE! - Calendars are on-sale now at the shelter on Hwy 34 and at the downtown SafeHaven Boutique store on 2nd Ave in Albany.

Overcast Senior Portrait

I had the pleasure of working with a very nice young lady over the weekend on her senior pictures. We shot at Monteith park and downtown Albany. We managed to avoid the rain. It was very cloudy though, which is great for diffusing light. That helps avoid harsh shadows and lights the subject more evenly. This is my favorite of the shoot. The color version is nice too, but I really like the black and white. It was shot with a very wide aperture for a nice blurred background and a reflector held just off camera to the lower right to fill in some light on her face. 

Selective Color

Last week, I did a senior portrait shoot for a young man. I had shown him the finished color shots as well as several I also picked to create black and white versions of. The client asked if I could do some of the shots with only him in color and the background in black and white. I agreed that would work well for several of the photos. I ended up doing a few of these "selective color" versions. As you can see in the shot below, having a colorful subject while everything else around him is in shades of gray really makes him pop. It can really help with a more distracting background, which wasn't the case here though.