Aquaman and me

I don't recall any career counselor ever telling me, "Here's a job you'll love. You're going to don a scuba suit with a professional golfer and wallow around in a murky public golf course pond in Wichita. Oh yeah, you'll have to make a nice portrait of him before he strangles you."

Woody Austin, left, is a top-30 PGA golfer who, unfortunately, took a dive into the water when he fell chipping out of a pond at the 2007 President's Cup. His fellow pros and the golf press have since dubbed him Aquaman. He's a good enough sport that we were able to, first, get him into the scuba suit, and, most importantly, get him in the water in public. I think having his wife there to cheer him on helped a lot.

All you need is love: Missy + James

"To photograph, one must be in love."-Joel Meyerowitz

I hope I'm remembering that quote correctly. I heard it at one of the 1st photo seminars I attended so long ago I'm not going to bother counting the years. Regardless, the spirit of the words remain stuck in my brain despite the fact that I can't remember to buy milk at the grocery store.
I like that the quote can be interpreted on many levels. "...in love", whether with one's self, life, the creative process, photography or the subject at hand, are all possibilities.
On one level, I love the fact that my clients, however they found me, have entrusted me with documenting such an once-in-a-lifetime event. Being given that responsibility fills me with just enough confidence to sow my creative oats, so to speak. Make no mistake, fear plays a role as well.
I also love when I have clients that are so obviously in love that they practically glow. Missy + James, these 2 are so damn cute and enamored of each other, I thought they might actually break out in song during our shoot.
Perhaps I could amend those words, "To be photographed, one must be in love."

Love, urban style: Amanda + Michael

I often tell my clients that to make a successful session I need several things from them: relax, have fun, get their hands on each other and forget the camera by being into the other. I call it the "Lovin', Touchin' and Squeezin' school of couples portraiture (shout out to the class of '82!). Amanda + Michael brought the love like Barry White on Saturday night for their engagement shoot.

I've blatantly overgrazed several spots around downtown Des Moines this summer in my effort to improve my portraiture. No creative person, or even me, wants to repeat themselves too often. However, there's something about ivy and ramshackle warehouse walls that I find irresistible. When that ivy is felled by the inevitable cold weather and it's impossible to work outdoors, I'll be the boy pining for spring.

Dannie + Nate

I joined these 2 lovebirds on the Iowa State University campus for some engagement photo fun quite a while back. Somehow I never managed to post my favorites here. I'm here to correct this egregious oversight and to warn everyone that, despite safeguards, it'll likely happen again regardless of however damn cute the subjects might be.

Kari + Scott

Engagement sessions are a 2-way street. My clients get some fun portraits to use for wedding stuff and I get a chance to see how they are in front of the camera. Plus, we get a chance to know each other so we're not such strangers on the wedding day.

For a while, honestly, I was in a rut with engagement shoots, always trying to wring something new out of the same locations. Lately, I've been trying to inject some new energy and the element of chance into the shoots by trying random locations and suggesting poses I might have been too reticent to try before. Sure, it's not cutting edge but I'm having more fun and the resulting images have a little more punch.

Kari + Scott, whose Aug. 18th wedding is nearly upon us, played along nicely.