AlaskaMasseyPhoto

Jaxon

2010-04-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

I did a photo shoot for Jaxon who will be competing in Miss Alaska's Outstanding Teen competition. The pictures turned out very nice and it doesn't hurt to have a beautiful subject. Good luck at the competition. ~Erik

Swanson Photo Shoot

2010-04-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

I think it was about time that I added something else to the blog beside muscle pictures. It is a family blog anyways. I did a photo shoot for the Swanson family. With 4 kids under the age of 5 there was a bit of drama, which is expected. Overall the pictures turned out really nice and a month from now the pain and heart ache will be forgotten. Darcy had her sister and family down from Anchorage so they could join in the fun also. What a bunch of beautiful kids. The parents aren't too bad to look at either... ~Erik
There are a few more pictures here.

So, I have been working out

2010-04-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't been working out that much. The pictures are of my brother-in-law, Ian. He has been competing in body building competitions. I took a few pictures of him this weekend and was pretty pleased with how they turned out. His next competition is at Soldotna High School on May 8th. Get your tickets early with a body like that, it may be standing room only. Boo Yahh! ~Erik

There are a few more shots here.

Pictures of the other side...

2010-01-13T21:29:00.000-08:00

I feel a bit obligated to post some pictures of my wife's family. It was a bit less stressful to shoot the Coburn side of the family because there are less kids in the picture. As you can see by the shot above, there isn't really a shortage of youngsters though. See if you can spot Oliver in the picture above, he is showing good team spirit. I think it only took 50 shots to get that little gem. There are a couple more pictures here and here.

Family Pictures

2010-01-12T22:10:00.000-08:00

When you have close to 1,000 people in your family it is a bit tough to get family pictures. We were able to get everyone at the Massey party rounded up for a big group shot. Thank heavens for photo shop, I chopped a few heads off and replaced them with better looking ones. The picture turned out rather nice for all the youngsters in it. Below is my brother and his lovely family. They graciously hosted the Massey crazy party. The last picture is my older sister and her family who drove all the way from Texas to Washington. I thought a few hours in the plane was bad. The farm made a nice back drop for the pictures. ~Erik

Crazy Photo shoot

2009-12-07T22:41:00.000-08:00

I did a photo shoot for a co-worker this weekend that was a bit crazy. I like to previsualize my shots and I had something great envisioned. The shot above is actually pretty close to what I wanted to get. There were just a few things I didn't expect like the hurricane force winds, the bitter arctic air and the 10 ft high snow bank around the park. It is no mystery that most portrait photographers prefer the studio. Things are a bit more predictable. I figure that everything just needs to be perfect for about 1/60th of a second. Fortunately, the family were troopers and we got a decent shot. ~Erik

Hansen photo shoot

2009-12-01T22:18:00.000-08:00

We had the Hansens over for a photo shoot the other night. We got some pictures of their kids, some of our kids. I'll post some more pictures once I get more editing done. I am pleased with how they turned out. Addi was a bit shy when she first showed up but ended up being quite the model. ~Erik
You can sneak a peak of some of the other pictures here.

Christmas Card Outakes

2009-11-15T20:34:00.000-08:00

We didn't do much this weekend but we did get our Christmas card picture taken. Here are a couple of the pictures that we didn't use. You will have to wait to see the final product. Let me know if you want a Christmas card, you won't be disappointed. ~Erik

Baby Logan

2009-11-01T22:26:00.000-08:00

I took a few pictures of the new Hansen baby, wow what a cute kid. Look at those big eyes. Baby Logi (pronounced low gee not lougie.) as we call him at our house seems to have a really good disposition. He picked up the nickname as Owen was praying one night. He asked God to bless baby Logi in his deep man voice (weird for a 2 year old to have a man voice). Needless to say, the way he said it and what he called him stuck. Baby Logi was great to take pictures of because he is so easy going. Congratulations Hansen's on the new addition. ~Erik

Ala Family

2009-10-31T17:54:00.000-07:00

My Friend Owen and his wife Camille were in town for a few days and wanted to get a quick family shot. It was fun to see their son Ryder, he is a 2 year old just like our Owen. They had a great time running around getting in trouble. Owen has a few years left in his orthopedic surgery residency. Hopefully they decide that they want to live in Alaska after they are done. Aren't they a great looking family. ~Erik

Family Photo Shoot

2009-10-11T23:02:00.000-07:00

I did a photo shoot with a co-worker for their neighbor a couple weeks ago. They were a very fun family to shoot. I had to chuckle a little because the younger boy was a bit like our Owen. He just didn't want to get his picture taken. Can't really blame him, I don't really like getting my picture taken either. We did get some really good shots though. I like capturing little gems when true personalities come out. Most of the time it is pure luck. In fact, with the last picture in the series I didn't realize I captured this tender moment until I was reviewing the pictures on my computer. You can see mom is trying to get the boys to smile. The oldest boy has his younger brother in a choke hold. The youngest boy grabbed a fistful of dad and poor dad was trying not to scream. It is tender moments that make it all worth while. ~Erik

Another Pond Photo Shoot

2009-10-05T22:46:00.000-07:00

I did another shoot for the Pond's. Lachlan is 1 yr old now. I shot him while he was still in his mothers womb, after he was born and at 6 months. In fact I also shot the Doctor that made it all possible. I messed around with some textures in the shot above. I am not sure if I like it or not. There are a couple more shots here and here. Congrats on 1 year Lachlan! ~Erik

Family Shoot

2009-09-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

The colors of the trees are spectacular right now. I made the kids get dressed up for a photo shoot. There is a great field that I drive by every day on the way to work and I thought, "hey that would be a good background for a picture." Fortunately, no one came out with a shotgun to kick us off their private property. I need to edit a few more of the pictures but they turned out pretty good. I'll post more when I get them touched up. ~Erik

Ollie Pop

2009-09-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

We did Oliver's baby blessing this week at church so he got to dress up in this snazzy outfit. The guy is stylish, seriously a bow-tie, stylish. As you can see he also got a photo shoot out of it. The kids have been calling Oliver "Ollie Pop". It is kind of cute but a bit girlie. Maybe we will go get him a tattoo to balance things out. Also, I need to clear thing up from yesterday's post, Angela did not really pee her pants. I thought it would be funny but apparently some people thought she really peed and I was mocking her on the internet. Sorry, Angela, I didn't try to be hurtful, maybe you should stop peeing your pants. ~Erik

Lexi Second Post

2009-09-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more picture from the photo shoot. This time of the year is great in Alaska because the sun sets at a normal time so I can get some nice evening shots. It was a really fun shoot. ~Erik
There are a few more here and here. The first post is here.

Lexi Senior Photo Shoot

2009-09-24T22:40:00.000-07:00

I tagged along to help with a senior photo shoot for Lexi. She is a real trooper, what you can't tell it that the temperature was close to 15 deg F with a 50 mph wind. Needless to say, she got a bit cold but pushed through the pain. Tami got some new equipment and wanted to try it out. The gear worked wonderfully, I really liked the 28" softbox she got. You can tell by the quality of light in the shots. I will post a few more pictures tomorrow. If you can't wait, you can see them here. ~Erik

Degray Photoshoot

2009-09-07T17:24:00.000-07:00

I did a photo shoot for the Degrays the other day. I will post few more when I get them edited up. We had a really good time and they are great family with lots of personality. Thanks Josh for a few behind the scene shots. ~Erik
A couple more here and here.

Brandon's Senior photo shoot.

2009-08-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more pictures from Brandon's photoshoot. The clouds were great down at the beach so we took advantage of the moody sky. As a side note this is my 300th blog post. You can see a couple more pictures here and here. Good luck with your senior year Brandon. ~Erik

Senior Photo Shoot with Lydia

2009-08-22T22:30:00.000-07:00

Did another senior photo shoot. I had a couple ideas that I wanted to try, unfortunately during the summer in Alaska it is light until late at night which makes it hard to get night shots. Right now is a great time of the year because it is starting to get dark earlier and it isn't snowing yet. Great right, anyway I got a couple night shots that turned out pretty good. I took some shots at another location and was pleased with the results. There are a few other pictures on the photo stream you can check them out here, here and here. Lydia was great to work with; it is nice when your subjects are naturally photogenic. It makes things much easier for the photographer. Good luck with your senior year Lydia. ~Erik

Senior Photoshoot

2009-08-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

I did a senior picture set for a kid that I know. It was really fun, we were able to go to one of the autoshops in the area and get some pictures in front of a nice car. Brandon had a few ideas which turned out pretty cool. He wanted to go for a greaser type look with a fast car in the background. I think they turned out really quite nice. You will probably see some other shots in the future because we have to do some more formal shots. ~Erik
P.S. Don't worry I will throw some more pictures of the new baby up on the blog.

Flower Girls

2009-08-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Part of the photo shoot from the previous post. Hauled out one of my big lights to take these shots. I just can't get enough of the colors during the summer here in Alaska. The girls aren't too excited about getting their pictures taken but they put up with me. Maybe someday they will appreciate these pictures. Until then you have to humor me by looking at the blog. ~Erik
Setup Shot

The Queen of Sass...

2009-08-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

The weather was nice so we went and did a family photo shoot with the wildflowers. Angela is a good sport with all of the photo stuff. I think it was because she was brainwashed into thinking it was normal when she was growing up. Anyways, she may seem a bit mild mannered, but she is the queen of sass. That's right, the little girls are always throwing attitude and you know where they get it from, their mother. Not only is she sassy but she is hot, really how many 20 month pregnant women look this good? I guess that is why she has so many kids, too hot for her own good. ~Erik

Bridal Photo shoot

2009-07-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

I did a photo shoot for Emily and Chris. There were lupines in bloom which are a beautiful purple. I was able to set up my strobes and get the right shots. I have to chuckle at OT in the setup shot. He's super stoked about the marriage thing. Thanks again Josh. Congrats Emily and Chris! ~Erik

Henwood Photo Shoot

2009-07-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

I did a photo shoot for the Henwood family the other day. Justin and his family were up from Colorado and they wanted some pictures with the whole clan. We had a good time and the kids were great. There are a couple more shots here. I couldn't resist getting a jump shot at the end. This is where we did the photo shoot. ~Erik

Stobist Boot Camp II

2009-06-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

David Hobby over at Strobist had posted an assignment for budding photographers. The assignment was to do a headshot of someone and in turn have them take a shot of you. I have had to work nights but it was a good chance to drag the gear out to the plant.
I had to scout out a place that looked alright. The shots below were test shots, I was shooting with my 50mm 1.8. When you kick it out of focus it has a nice effect, as you can see in the last picture. Setup was a shoot through umbrella camera right and a flash to the left and behind the subject. Josh from work was kind enough to to model for me. Also if there are any single women from the ages of 19-30 he is looking for love. He even has an airplane. ~Erik

Kenai River Canyon Trial

2009-05-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to a map of the trail. It is one of our family favorites (because it is pretty easy). The weather was nice, too windy for boating but nice for hiking. The kids were pretty excited at the beginning of the trip but by the end they were pretty sure they were on a death march. Not only a death march but a death photo shoot. You can see the setup I used below. Connected my light and umbrella to the kid backpack. At the end of the trip my umbrella fell over and broke and the base of my flash got banged up also. Too bad I don't have a dog because I probably would have kicked it. The last picture was Owen trying to flop off my shoulders and down the 75 ft canyon wall to the river. Family outings are fun. ~Erik

Monster boy

2009-03-16T21:27:00.000-07:00

A brief photo shoot before bedtime. I love that guy.

More Supercub Pictures

2009-03-08T17:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more shots from the shoot that Josh and I did this weekend. You can see some others on the photo stream.

Supercub Photoshoot

2009-03-07T10:38:00.000-08:00

Josh and I went and did a plane shoot. The plane is owned by this nice gentleman. I'll post a few more pictures when I get them from Josh. You can see some more shots on his blog. It is a great looking supercub.

Bishop's beach photoshoot

2009-02-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

I have a hard time going on a trip where I don't try and get a family shot. You know Alaska is a beautiful place and I should get some shots of it with the family. This at times can be a bit wearisome for my wife. She always puts on her game face and smiles even though inside she is ready to kill me. She does show some attitude and can generally persuade the kids to do the same as shown in the picture below. We had a great time in Homer. We went to the Pratt museum and the Alaskan Island and Ocean visitor center. Both are very nice places to visit and if you are in Homer I would recommend them. The Island and Ocean center is extremely nice because it is free also. We had a great time on our trip and can't wait for summer to start boating and exploring again. ~Erik

I like shooting birds....No, not with a gun!

2009-02-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

I am not really a wildlife photographer but I thought I would try a few shots. I found it a bit like trying to shoot my kids. The birds don't really stop, they are very hard to predict and they don't care much about getting their picture taken. I had 2 flashes set up outside and I was shooting through a window. I figured this was the best option as it was pretty cold outside, you can see the ice on the branch. If you look at the setup shot below, it was amazing that I got any clear shots as I was shooting through the dirtiest window ever. Yes, I did try and clean it. I borrowed a lens from Tami, thanks again, and it was a beast. 300mm 2.8 with a couple extension tubes for closer focusing. I used my remote trigger for the flashes, you can see more pictures here. Tell me what you think of the pictures. ~Erik

This One's For My Mother-In-Law

2009-01-29T21:40:00.000-08:00

My mother in law has this thing for firefighters. Don't really know whats its all about, but my wife mentions her mom's dirty little secret every now and again. Now these guys aren't full time fire fighters, they are part of our refinery's fire brigade. Working in an oil refinery you run the risk of things catching on fire, so you need a response team that can act quickly. They have done a wonderful job eliminating any fires at the facility.
They asked me to take pictures for them and the photos seemed to turn out pretty good. For the group shot I went a bit crazy with the lights. I threw a couple blue gelled lights in the fire engine cab and had some umbrellas and bare lights to expose the group correctly. For the shot below I used 2 strobes on the ground with red and blue gels aimed at the fire truck. Tried to get the red and blue flashing light look. It was a good shoot and we had a good time. Debbie, enjoy the pictures... ~Erik
Other pictures here and here.

4 Simple Steps to Group Photography

2009-01-27T21:59:00.000-08:00

This last wedding that I shot, Josh grabbed a few shots of me doing my thing. I figured that I would put together a little tutorial on group shots. I have it nailed down to 4 simple steps.

1. Light setup
2. Compose group
3. Tell lies/Make farting sounds/Tell stupid jokes
4. Take picture

Let's start with step 1, now if you don't use off camera lighting you still need to take this into consideration. There is plenty of information online about shooting exposure and lighting. Just make sure that your exposure is correct. If you need to know anything about lighting visit Strobist.com. You can see in the picture above that I am moving my lights around.

Step 2 Compose group. This can be a bit tricky. I generally try and balance the group to make sure that I can see everyone. Also I take into consideration where the lighting will fall, watch out for shadows and hidden people. You can see in the shot above I have a very determined looked on my face. Getting the group together is serous business. Also you need to convince the group to squeeze together. Usually there isn't enough space for everyone and also nothing throws off a group shot like big gaps in a picture. Get friendly and squish together.

Step 3 Tell lies/Make farting sounds/Tell stupid jokes. If you follow the blog you know that I generally like to engage the people I am taking pictures of. I am not above making farting sounds (works great with kids). You can see in the picture above, I am telling some story, most likely not true, but you can see the group is engaged. Maybe I was telling them one of my terrible jokes. Anyways, make them feel more comfortable.

Before I get to step 4 sometimes it is necessary to go back a step or two. Once I had the group composed I realized I needed a bit of fill light. I grabbed my lovely assistant and asked her to stand in the Statue of Liberty pose for fill flash. You may notice something in your composition that doesn't work that you need to take care of. Just make sure that you do it quickly because the group is waiting.

Step 4 Take picture. This may seem simple but it causes issues some times. First thing, take lots of pictures. You will always have someone closing their eyes, looking away, funny faces. Best way to fight this is lots of shots, statistically speaking a person can't look too weird for too many shots. In one shot they will look normal. The bigger the group the more pictures you need to take. Don't worry, digital is cheap, a few electrons can save heart ache later. You can see the Statue of Liberty in the shot above if you look closely. Good luck with your group shots. ~Erik

Canady Wedding Part 1

2009-01-25T22:28:00.000-08:00

A friend from work got married this weekend. I had the opportunity to shoot the wedding with my friend Josh, who I also work with. The images shown here were taken at the chapel. One of the problems with shooting in churches is the fact that they are generally not very well lit. One solution to this is to use flashes. I had flashes set up to bounce off the ceiling and they were optically triggered so both Josh and I could use them. The downside to the strobes is that it can be a bit distracting from the ceremony, as my wife so affectionately pointed out. Enough about the lighting.
The ceremony was very nice and I couldn't be happier for the couple. Randy has had a rough few years and it is wonderful to see him so happy with Trish. The picture of Freddy below is the most solemn I have ever seen him. At work Fred prides himself in terrorizing everyone, he doesn't discriminate, really everyone. It is great to see Randy and Fred's friendship and the support they are for each other. Congratulations to Randy and Trish, we wish the best for you. Tomorrow I will post pictures from the reception. There are quite a few more pictures on my photo stream (Click Here!).

Kali's new hair

2009-01-23T13:11:00.000-08:00

Kali was feeling a little left out and wanted her hair cut like Kaitlyn's hair (which is like mom's hair). So, now we all have the same haircut. She asked me to cut it yesterday while Kaitlyn was at school. When Kaitlyn saw her after school she was a little disappointed. She said she wanted to look different than Kali - oops! She'll have to learn to deal with it, right? Kali asked me to curl it today, so it does look different than Kaitlyn's, kind of. I thought it was super cute and Erik decided it was time for a photo shoot. Kali says she feels cute and sassy. She is so cute and especially so sassy. -Angela
More pictures here...

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

2009-01-12T22:28:00.000-08:00

Kaitlyn turned 6 today and was very excited for her birthday. She was a bit bummed out because we are in Hawaii and she wanted to bring birthday treats to her school class. Fortunately her teacher is accommodating and said she could bring in treats when she gets back. For her birthday her Grandparents took her out for breakfast before they boarded their plane for San Diego. After that she went and got a haircut that matches her mothers hair. You can see this in the picture above. Well, she also got a professional photo shoot done by yours truly. All in all she had a wonderful birthday.

A bit about Kaitlyn, she is a very passionate little woman. We use the term passionate because it sounds better then moody. She loves to have fun but she is also our drama queen. You can see in the pictures below that when she doesn't want her picture taken she has no problems expressing her feelings. Kaitlyn loves life and everything around her. Happy birthday Kaitlyn... ~Erik

Photo Shoot with the kids...

2009-01-11T23:26:00.000-08:00

Here is one shot from the photo shoot we did today. I have been bad about spending quality time with the blog the last few days. It seems to be an after thought when I am ready to go to bed. I'll post explanations when I get time. ~Erik

First full day with the IN-LAWS!

2009-01-05T22:39:00.000-08:00

Angela's parents made it in yesterday and the kids were excited. They kept talking about the presents they were going to get. Yes, the kids are spoiled and their grandparents don't help out. I told the kids that the present was that they got to spent time with grandma and grandpa. They were a bit disappointed but they did end up getting some stuff from Angela's parents. Spoiled...
We went to a few beaches today. As you can tell in the picture above, Stan and I had some good man bonding time watching the waves and talking about our feelings. You know it is OK for grown men to talk about their feelings now days. After we were done bonding we went out for a photo shoot that ended up working out for everyone. Most of the time the kids cry and are mad, but we went to a spot where there were some tide pools. The kid got to play, I got some pictures and life was good. Grandma and Grandpa even got in on the action. Grandpa took the family shot and Grandma held the flash. They even did a jumping pose at the end. Enjoy. ~Erik
More pictures here. Just click the link...

Hansen Photo Shoot

2008-12-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

I did a shoot for some family friends the Hansen's. They had family in town for the holiday and wanted to get a few shots. The have a great home for taking pictures, a beautiful Alaskan log cabin. The only problem we ran into is that Jan thought that he wanted the house to be nice and cozy so he fired up the wood stove. As you can tell by the picture above we posed the family right in front of the stove. Needless to say it got a bit warm for the shoot. What you can't see is that I had stripped to my underoo's because it was so hot. OK, maybe I made that part up, but it was hot and the thought did cross my mind. Fortunately we were able to get some shots outside where it was close to -75 F. OK, maybe I am a compulsive lier, but it was around 0 F. The shots outside were a bit quicker because no one was wearing jackets and the photographer was cold. There are quite a few more pictures here.(Click it!) The outside setup shot is here (see if you can spot the ghost of Christmas past). The photographer even got a shot of himself courtesy of Becky. Need to stop talking in 3rd person, seriously annoying. ~Erik

Reed and Annie Photo Shoot

2008-12-28T10:49:00.000-08:00

I did a mini photo shoot for my brother's family. They are here for a week or so and wanted to get a family photo. It had just snowed so the trees look very nice. The only problem was that it was really quite cold(0 F). They were adventurous and took off their jackets for a few shots. Living on the edge. Luckily the shot was taken in the front yard and they could run into the warm house. Here is the setup shot and a few more here and here. ~Erik

An ice fishing shack?

2008-12-03T20:49:00.000-08:00

A buddy of mine wanted some family pictures, I am noticing a pattern here. Yeah, I spent a good part of this last weekend taking pictures. His wife wanted some indoor pictures but he wanted something a bit more outdoorsy. What is more outdoorsy than an ice fishing tent in Alaska. With young kids I thought that they were pretty brave to take them outside for the photo shoot. You can see that the pictures turned out pretty good. I think that it was about 15 or 20 degrees outside, not really warm but they did have a heater in the tent. Here is one of the setup shots along with this one. As always there are a few extra in the photo stream. I have to say this was one of the toughest lighting setups I have done. All in all it was a good shoot. ~Erik

Dude, was that a fart?

2008-12-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

I did a photo shoot for the Law family this last weekend. Sometimes the kids can be a bit grumpy and it is hard to snap them out of it. One of my favorite tricks it to make farting sounds then blame it on the kids. You can see the picture of Trent above (in the yellow), not too happy. All it took was a little fart sound, assigning the blame to one of the kids and wallah, nothing but smiles. Don't believe me look at the shot below. The only side effect is that parents have to spend weeks undoing what it only took me minutes to do. A couple more shots here. Light setup, shoot through umbrella camera right, one strobe behind for rim light. ~Erik

Family Photo Shoot

2008-12-01T22:45:00.000-08:00

Angela has been hassling me the last few months to get a family picture. If you follow the blog you will have seen that I have done photo shoots for quite a few different people. Unfortunately that hasn't left much desire to try and rope my own kids in for a formal family shoot. I will say this, the kids did very well for not having anyone taking the pictures. You can't see it but I was triggering the camera with a remote on a 2 second timer. Not really ideal but it seemed to work. Apparently the kids have had a camera stuck in their faces enough times that they know to smile and look at the camera. Also we are not above bribing. I know we shouldn't negotiate with terrorist, but candy goes a long way. There are a few more shots here. Lighting setup was a big softbox camera right with AB 400, shoot through umbrella camera left and rim light for the middle shot right behind Owen and Kaitlyn. Sorry for the lighting info. ~Erik

Some Like to Bounce...

2008-11-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

One of the problems that I run into as a photographer is that there usually isn't enough natural light for the lenses that I have. One way to get around this is to add a flash, the problem with an on camera flash is that it can leave the subjects looking washed out. Almost like the paparazzi's just shot them. If you have a flash that has a swivel head just aim it at the ceiling or a big white wall. This will give you smoother lighting that looks much better. In these pictures I used a flash to bounce off the ceiling which made for nice even lighting. The lighting looks pretty natural which is nice. If you are shooting people you have to be careful that you don't get ugly shadows under their eyes. You can aim at a wall or you can shoot from above them looking down. The shots of Angela and Owen below where both bounced off the ceiling but I had them look up. You can see the nice catch light in their eyes. I cheated a bit because I used my off camera flash setup but it works the same as an on camera flash.

Bergholtz photo shoot

2008-11-23T10:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went and took a few pictures of a co-workers family. They usually get pictures of the girls and send them out in Christmas cards. After we were done shooting the girls I got a couple shots of Mike and Chris. The ambient lighting wasn't all that stellar but the pictures turned out pretty good. The set up is here and here. Also there are more pictures here. ~Erik

McCormick Photo Shoot

2008-11-15T11:33:00.000-08:00

I did a photo shoot for a great family, the McCormicks. They just had a little girl and wanted to some shots. We took pictures of the rest of the family also. We had a really good time and the pictures turned out nice also. Like always there are a few more on the photo stream.

Pond Baby

2008-11-01T23:24:00.000-07:00

Did a shoot with the Ponds today. I think the highlight of the shoot was when Lachlan took a whiz on Pepper. Unfortunately didn't get than one with the camera. Here are couple of my favorites from today. There are more on the flickr photo stream. ~Erik

Sunday photo shoot

2008-10-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

I have been working on some lighting techniques from Strobist. This is a single light setup and can be seen here. I used the white backer board to even out the lighting. The picture of Angela shows a bit of disdain as I made her model when she wasn't feeling to hot. She had the stomach flu in the morning and was still gracious enough to model. The colors worked out nice since Owens outfit matched the wall I was shooting against. Better to be lucky than good. Enjoy the pictures. ~Erik

Keller Family Photo Shoot...

2008-10-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple shots from the Keller's photo shoot. With 3 boys under the age of 4 they did very good. Things were getting a bit cold and I was asking the kids to keep smiling. The boys weren't having too much fun until Kali decided to start acting really weird for them. It made the boys smile, don't know what's up with Kali. She takes after her mother. Crazy. ~Erik

Monkeys

2008-09-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

Can't get enough of these lights...The sun finally came out for a bit so I had to go and shoot away. The only problem that I have is getting the kids to agree to take pictures. The fall colors have stuck around for quite a while this year. I think because we haven't had very many sunny days that would drop the temperature. I have a few shots that we took on the Kenai bluff also, that I will post later. If you can't wait I have uploaded them to my Flickr photo stream.

Pond Photo Shoot...

2008-09-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

I did a photo shoot for some of our friends. They are getting ready to have a kid and wanted some pre-kid shots. I have a few more shots and the lighting set ups that I used on my flickr photo stream. Check it out. Good luck with the kid...~Erik

Trip to Homer

2008-09-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

We left the kids with the Grandparents and went to Homer this weekend. We had a great time. I will post a few other pictures later when I have more time. This was a photo shoot that we did at Bishop's beach in Homer. There is a bit of a story, but the image is just Angela and I acting very mature. ~Erik

Sorry I am so lame...

2008-07-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

Visit my family blog. It is kept up to date. AlaskaMassey

Dr Nels Anderson photoshoot...

2008-07-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

Our family physician (Dr Nels Anderson) is running for State Senate this November. He needed some pictures for his campaign and Pepper volunteered me. I told Doc that you get what you pay for... but the photo shoot ended up being really fun. He is running on the Democratic ticket and will be running against Tom Waggoner. Doc is an intriguing fellow. He spends his spare time with the Boy Scouts, gardening, family and is a fertility expert. I am a registered Republican but I like Doc enough that I would be temped to cross party lines. Good luck with the campaign Doc. ~Erik
Visit Dr Nels Andersons website.

Camping and Photo Shoot...

2008-05-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

We went camping at the beach this weekend with some friends and had a blast! It was cold and windy, but the sun was shining and it was beautiful. The kids loved playing with their friends and all the kids played really well together, especially considering their lack of sleep the night before. The kids loved the four wheelers. Erik borrowed one from his parents along with a trailer to pull the kids behind it. They thought it was so fun! We also enjoyed some great food and fun campfires. Grandma and Grandpa even stopped by to say hi on their motorcycle. All in all, it was a great weekend. Thanks to the Swansons, Ponds and Hansens for letting us tag along.

This next set of pictures is Owen and I. Erik got an umbrella to diffuse the flash a little and was so excited that he wanted to do a photo shoot, so he talked me into getting dressed up and being his model. These are a couple of our favorites. Owen is making his new "cheese" face in the first picture. He likes to say cheese now when we take pictures. The second picture is later the same day after "his brains started squirting out of his head" (as Kaitlyn said). He hit his head on the rocking chair. After the initial shock we wanted to take pictures - he just wanted to stick his finger up his nose. Erik says after major trauma he likes to stick his finger in his happy place.

Another Homer Trip

2008-04-12T17:08:00.001-07:00

Went to Homer again to pick up the boat. The weather was clear and cold. I took a few shots of a lighthouse, not a real lighthouse but still looks kind of neat. The beach was nice also. There was some swells coming in from the inlet, made me want to surf, well kind of. Enjoy. ~Erik

Homer Trip

2008-04-05T21:49:00.001-07:00

I went down to Homer this weekend to drop off the boat for spring maintenance. Took a few shots that turned out Ok. My favorite is the first shot in the series. I worked the sky a bit and was pretty pleased with the result. There wasn't much color so it lent itself to black and white and sepia. These shot were all taken at the end of the Homer spit.

Beach and Drops

2008-04-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures a took this last week. The first droplet picture kind of looks like a bowler hat guy.

Random Sampler

2008-03-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

Well I finally got the shot. I have been trying with these droplet shots to get 2 stacked on top of each other. Irene Muller has some wonderful images in which I got the idea. Check out some of her work, very inspirational. I don't drink coffee so I used brown food coloring and milk. When I do it again, I will probably try cream to get a more distinctive white. You can see my set up, don't mind the messy kitchen. The purple mixture was my first failed attempt at making brown, but I did get a decent shot with that batch also. I figured that I took about 150 shots to get 2 that I liked. The next three are using Scott's macro lens, I took them a week or so ago.

Here are a few outtakes from the refinery shots I got a few weeks back.

I have seen a few burned out light shots on dp challenge and thought that I would try it out. The third shot shows the set up. I constructed a switch, plug-in assembly to get the shot. I will probably try it again, the only problem is that it is messy. The fourth shot in this series, well you tell me how I got it.

These shots were taken with the Scott's macro lens, you can see the light box that I constructed. Not real professional but it works.

A couple green house out takes.

Comments are welcome as always...

Greenhouse and Refinery

2008-03-16T21:46:00.001-07:00

This Saturday we had a photo guild shoot at a local greenhouse. You can see the greenhouse in the first panoramic. It is nice to see some color and flowers even though it was snowing outside. Also I was able to borrow a macro lens from Scott and Tami. Thanks again, Scott. You see that the lens takes very nice pictures. I also took a couple shots around the house. Kaitlyn is my eye model as always. The next shot was some water droplets on a cd.

I have been thinking about taking some shots at work because we have had some terrific sunrises. You can tell from the pictures that it was a nice and clear morning. I think that it was about 10 F outside and my fingers got a bit chilly. I really like my sigma 10-20 lens. Like always, please leave comments and what you like and don't like. ~Erik

New Lens

2008-03-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

Well I got a couple new lenses this week for the camera. I had a lens in mind but I talked to a guy at Ritz cameras and he persuaded me otherwise. I didn't really end up taking his advice either. I originally wanted a 18-200mm Nikon VR lens but I ended up getting the Sigma 10-20mm and the Nikon 50mm 1.8. The 50mm lens seems to work very nice. The first 3 pictures below were taken with this lens, at $110 this is a great value lens. I have been messing around with still shots and I have a lot to learn. You can see my attempt in the first picture below. The 1.8 is nice for shooting indoors, the 2nd and third pictures were taken without a flash. That third picture I was messing around in gimp for an effect that I have seen on dpchallenge. The 10-20 lens is great for landscape type shots. I am most excited about this lens as it opens up some possibilities that weren't available with my old lenses. You can see that it has a fish eye effect, the last shot in the series is using this lens adapted from a tutorial I found on dpchallenge. Kind of a different look but I kind of like it. ~Erik

Owen and Greenhouse...

2008-03-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Last but not least we get to our little monster Owen. One word to describe Owen: WAAAAAAAAAAAAA! He is a mama's boy to the extreme, and even at 13 months he wants to be held constantly or he is screaming. But, look at that cute face - I guess that makes up for it. He also is super cuddly and lovey which is different from how our girls were as babies. He is pretty somber most of the time, but he can get silly along with everyone else. He likes to growl, click his tongue, blow on his mom's tummy and laugh at his "sists" (that's sisters in Owen language). He is a sweet baby, and, hey, I'm sure he'll grow out of this phase of wanting Mom to never leave his side, right? ~Angela

This Saturday we had a photo guild shoot at a local greenhouse. You can see the greenhouse in the first panoramic. It is nice to see some color and flowers even though it was snowing outside. Also I was able to borrow a macro lens from Scott and Tami. Thanks again, Scott. You see that the lens takes very nice pictures. I also took a couple shots around the house. Kaitlyn is my eye model as always. The next shot was some water droplets on a cd.

I have been thinking about taking some shots at work because we have had some terrific sunrises. You can tell from the pictures that it was a nice and clear morning. I think that it was about 10 F outside and my fingers got a bit chilly. I really like my sigma 10-20 lens. Like always, please leave comments and what you like and don't like. ~Erik

More droplets...

2008-02-22T13:52:00.001-08:00

I have been working on refining my droplet taking technique. I got a few droplets that turned out ok. Water takes on shapes of its own. There is a pretty cool website that showcases droplet shots. Tell me which ones you like the best. I appreciate the feedback that I have been getting on my photos. Keep up the good work. I think that the 5th droplet shot looks like a person. Kinda creepy. Enjoy ~Erik

Smoke and Water

2008-02-17T20:51:00.001-08:00

I tried a few different thing with the camera this weekend. Some of them turned out better than others. I followed a tutorial on dpchallenge to get the smoke shots. I was very pleased with how they came out. The first shot shows my set up. The black shots are basically unedited shots. I inverted the colors and messed around the hue/saturation to get the colors. It was fairly easy except Angela wasn't to excited about the smell of incense in the house.

This next set of shots I was messing around with getting droplets of water in stop motion. Not real easy to get the timing. Also I needed alot more light. They are all right but it would have been nicer to have better lighting. Tell me what you think of the shots. ~Erik

Will these Hawaii Posts ever end?

2008-02-09T13:56:00.000-08:00

Well we made it home yesterday. When we left Hawaii it was 80 degrees and when we got to Alaska it was -20 F. Yes, that's right, a 100 degree difference; needless to say the family is freezing. I will probably only post about Hawaii one more time with some edited pictures. The last couple days the sun finally came out. We went to Turtle Bay beach. We aren't rich enough to stay at the hotel but we did pay the five bucks to park in the parking lot and walk to the public beach. You can see by the pictures that the water was very clear and the sun was shining. It was also nice that there weren't any thugs at this beach just a lot of rich yuppies. I find that rich yuppies are less likely to steal your camera bag.

I had talked about going on a glider ride because I had seen it on the internet. All I can say is sweeeet! They weren't busy when we went and I got into a plane right away. My pilot took me up in the aerobatic plane even though I only paid for a scenic ride. They strap you in with a parachute and 5 point harness. A small prop plane towed us up to 2000 ft and released us from the tow rope. We flew around for a bit then the pilot got a bit bored and we started doing some aerobatics. The last photo in this series was taken when we were upside down. I didn't last too long doing stunts before I started to get sick. Fortunately the pilot was accommodating and landed shortly afterwards. I would highly recommend taking a glider ride if you are in Hawaii.

Lost again? While we were flying the pilot pointed out some "Lost" spots. You can see the first shot is the same "Others Camp" that Angela was posed in front of. The second shot is the beach where they had the original wreck. I guess they had plane parts all over the beach while they were doing the shooting. The last shot is a lake that they were doing some shooting the last couple months. They build a houseboat and it should be seen in this season. Stay posted and maybe you will see it.

Final thoughts: Kaitlyn's favorite tourist spot was Matsumoto's Shaved Ice in Hale'iwa. She asked to go there everyday. Kali's favorite things were playing at the beach and watching the chickens and baby chicks at the yurts. Owen just liked crawling as fast as possible into the water and dipping his face in it. He also liked eating sand, probably the salty flavor. Angela enjoyed the yurts, for the fact that there was no TV and the kids had to entertain themselves all the time. It was fun to hear the stories and games they made up. She also liked just playing in the water with the family. I liked surfing, glider rides, PCC, our rental house, taking pictures and spending time with the family. All in all we are very pleased with our trip to Hawaii.

More Hawaii...

2008-02-04T22:45:00.001-08:00

Here are a few shots that I took that I edited. You can see that I darkened the sky to give a bit more dramatic effect. Also I tweaked the saturation a bit. Tell me what you think of the photo's. Which ones you like and the ones you don't like. ~Erik

More Hawaii Photos

2008-01-31T22:17:00.001-08:00

This post consists of mostly the scenic things we saw in Hawaii. The first 7 pictures are of the campsite we stayed at for the first 4 days of our trip. It was a bit rustic but also very nice since it was right on the beach. The weather has been a spotty. It rains, but only for a bit, then the sun comes out. The only thing that has been consistent is the wind which hasn't stopped blowing since we've been here. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Hawaii Pictures

2008-01-29T16:02:00.001-08:00

Here are a few basically unedited pictures from Hawaii. There will be a few more to come and when I get a chance, I'll clean them up. These pictures were taken around the north part of Oahu.

Harpence Photo Shoot and Hawaii

2008-01-19T17:13:00.000-08:00

So when we were in San Diego over the holidays Angela's Aunt and Uncle wanted to get some family pictures. You can see them below. I picked a few of my favorites. As you can see we had a good time taking pictures. It was a bit chilly at the beach that night but everyone did very well.

Only 8 days until our trip to Hawaii. As you can imagine we are very excited to get out of Alaska in the dead of winter. We will be on Oahu for 10 days and will hopefully be able to post some pictures while we are there.

California Pictures

2008-01-09T08:27:00.001-08:00

Well I figured that I would post a few pictures of different things we did while we were in California.
San Diego Zoo

Balboa Park

Point Loma

Coronado

Alaskan Pictures

2008-01-09T08:25:00.000-08:00

This is part 1 of some pictures I took this summer. Owen wanted pictures that were easy to find that represented the great state of Alaska. These pictures were taken around the Kenai Peninsula.

Alaskan Pictures

2008-01-08T22:24:00.001-08:00

This is post 2 of 2 showcasing Alaskan pictures taken around the Kenai Peninsula.

Campeche Photo Shoot

2007-07-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

Keith is engaged to a girl in Campeche Mexico who made dresses for Kaitlyn and Kali. With the new dresses the girls wanted to get their pictures taken. We had to feed the girls marshmallows to keep them happy. Thanks for the dresses Jennifer.

Keith with Kaitlyn and Kali
Kaitlyn Jeanne the beauty queen.

Kali and her new dress