So I’m a little late posting these pictures….that happens sometimes, OK a lot, with personal projects.  It was the middle of my busy wedding season, so it wasn’t the best timing for a personal photography project, but I had such a strong force of inspiration that I just could not resist.   Last July for the Biennial of the Americas that was hosted in Denver, Colorado, temporary art installations were hung around Civic Center Park.  Bright pink fabric was hung from the McNichols building along with an amazing  art installation erected by Janet Echelman outside of the Denver Art Museum. At night the netting flying over the street came alive as it was lit up with colorful lights & blew in the wind.   At the same time I happened to notice the 80’s fashion trend coming back in style with lots of bright colors & lights.  I was also particularly influenced by La Roux’s music video “Bulletproof” & Rihanna’s “Rude Boy”, which could have been made in 1988 and held in a lockbox to be released in 2010.  Whether you liked it or not, the 80’s fashion started becoming trendy again last year, and it is still playing a big influence in 2011 with lots of glitter, knee-highs, and even fanny packs making their way back in style.  So with little time to spare before Echelman’s temporary art installation came down, I found hair stylist Tiffany Trujillo and the amazing model Kat Aszareal to collaborate with me on this idea.  Also big thanks to my assistant, Kameisha Wiley, for helping out before & during the shoot.  The scale and height of these structures were so large that I  did a test shoot with Kameisha a few weeks in advance to help me determine if the idea I was envisioning was even going to be possible.  We all had a great time working on this and now I’ve got a really cool permanent documentation of these temporary art installations.  Below are some of my favorite shots from this photo shoot.  What do you think…are you glad the 80’s fashion is back?  Or did you not even notice, or just pretend to not notice?  Here’s my 1980’s influence on the 21st century….

1980's inspired art and model photo shoot in downtown Denver

Where do you get a beer drinking bride & groom, and a fight with Elvis??   ONLY in VEGAS!!

Las Vegas, NV wedding picture

Watch the drama unfold as a drunk couple stumbles to a late night Las Vegas chapel for a wedding they will never forget!
This photo story is full of fighting, romance, and laughter! – Rated PG-13

In case you were wondering…NO this was not a real wedding!  These are all pictures I took during a photo shoot that was staged by international destination wedding photographer, Anthony Vazquez for the annual WPPI convention held in Las Vegas last week.  The couple were not models, but an actual bride & groom (to-be) whom are clients of Anthony’s.  They agreed to fly down from NY for the weekend to pose for this mock photo shoot.   But they certainly proved to be great models, I’m sure all the PBR beer helped     Even Elvis, whom owns & runs the Graceland Wedding Chapel took some time out of his busy schedule (his chapel performs between 7,500 – 8,000 weddings annually!!) to get in on the show.  I was very lucky & extremely grateful to be one of the few photographers that Anthony took on his mystery photo shoot.  Anthony & his staff took the time to show us some lighting tricks & share some photography tips as we cruised around Las Vegas with cameras in tow.   Thank you to Anthony Vazquez, Graceland Wedding Chapel, Elvis, & the beautiful bride & groom for all coming together to put this on, it was a blast!!

New Orleans…the gothic city of romance & grunge is a perfect place for a Trash the Dress style photo shoot. The scene was perfect…a bride in an antique wedding dress, amongst the grime of the French Quarter, the beauty of the architecture, & oak trees lit up by old street lights. Frenchmen St., the locals’ Bourbon St….without the strip clubs & cheesy DJ’s…with extra soul and character….my favorite place to meet…and a perfect backdrop. The sunlight dropped fast, but with the amazing ISO capabilities of my Nikon D700 camera, low light and night time photography becomes a welcome challenge. Thank you Michelle for going all out on this shoot, with the antique lace veil and feather eyelashes to top it off. If you want to see more pictures from this photo shoot and other trash the dress style shoots, please go to my website and click on “Sexy & Fun Gallery.” Whether it’s the day after your wedding, your 2 year anniversary, or just a fun shoot in your mom’s 1970’s wedding dress, trash the dress photo shoots are a great way to get that dress out of the closet and shown off like it should be! And of course you don’t have to literally “trash” the dress…that’s just become the modern term for a post wedding day bridal photo shoot. With no ceremony to rush off to or formal pictures left to take, the bride becomes free to relax and do as she wishes…or dares.
Enjoy!

I recently attended Pictage’s Conference for professional photographers held in New Orleans where I was able to meet and learn from some of the country’s finest photographers. It was an amazing conference full of workshops and lots of opportunities. Below are a few of my favorite shots of a couple of models I caught in the street. I wasn’t officially a part of this workshop and at first thought I just happened to catch a couple of beautiful girls walking down the street, until I noticed following behind them was a swarm of photographers. Luckily I’m small enough to hide between a doorway and was able to quickly grab a few shots right before the workshop ended.

Below are pictures from Nathan Holritz’s shooting workshop where he taught us some tips for working during the worst time of the day – in the harsh noon sunlight! He found a couple from the conference to volunteer and since they were actually photographers themselves it really helped them to know how to pose for the camera.

Here is a shot of the hundreds of photographers cramming the main room for the closing ceremony.

Above is a shot of dozens of photographers ready to volunteer their skills for families of Katrina. I was so thankful and happy to hear that Pictage organized free family portrait sessions for local families.  Even though I was fortunate to have all my scrapbooks, yearbooks, and digital images saved from the storm, a lot of my family and friends were not so lucky. When I evacuated New Orleans for the hurricane my photo albums where the first thing I packed into my car. However, so many people forgot to take with them their photos or just assumed it was a false alarm (like so many ones before) and thought they would soon be back home.  Compared to all other material possessions, your pictures are really the only things that are not replaceable, making their value truly priceless. I can not imagine the thought of loosing all my photos, much less those that have been passed down from previous generations.  We may not have been able to replace those pictures lost in the storm, but at least we could create new memories for many very appreciating families.