These are a few of the ones I like.

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Cody and his dad were so easy going and helpful and went along with my ideas even though they had no idea what the end photograph might end like. I think we (the team at Lamar Studios, Cody and his dad) got some great images that they can enjoy and share for years to come.

Here are a few of my favorites.

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I used to say that being there is 90% of getting the shot when photographing landscapes but who knows exactly what percentage it is. The point is that if you aren’t there you get nothing.  If you prepare for a shoot and know what you are doing then you show up and let Mother Nature do her thing.

Of course things don’t always go as planned.  If it’s one you can count on in Arizona, it’s the weather. It’s normally clear blue skies, sunny and warm but not on this day. I knew we were getting some clouds and some kind of weather system so when I went out and could see the moon through the clouds I thought that would be a great shot.  I like photographing the moon with clouds and something on the horizon like mountains or buildings, otherwise it is just a big white ball and doesn’t mean much.

Before I got in the car with my gear to get a good spot I went in my back yard and shot a couple of frames hand held just to see what I might get. Well I got one shot and the moon disappeared so I got in the car and drove to my location and waited like a fisherman for the ‘big one’.

The moon never came out again.  I only had one shot and it wasn’t great. I was a little disappointed but photography isn’t always about getting the perfect shot but also the process. Even though I didn’t get the shot I wanted I enjoyed going out and trying. Photography is just like the rest of life. You make your plans and do everything right and it still doesn’t work out sometimes.

That’s photography, that’s life. Enjoy the process!

The Perigee Moon

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I was told that at one time that I should be on Face Book, Twitter and blog, because it is good for business. I did this but it seemed a bit forced and a lot of the blogs I was writing just seemed like I was doing it because I was supposed to.

This is where Agritopia comes into play. People live in this community for a reason. Why are they here, where did they come from. I think it would be interesting to interview the people in the neighborhood, take some photos in a more journalistic style and then blog about my encounter with them.

I’ll update you later. I hope to post my first one soon. I am eager to see what this will look like. I have my ideas but things often morph into something else.

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I see photography through different eyes now that I am a parent. It touches me in a more personal way. Even as I am thinking about all the kids we photographed in the past I imagine my girls and wonder what halloween will be like for them.

There aren’t many things better than pretending to be someone or something. And then there’s the candy thing. Who doesn’t like that?

The best part for me is I get to have all those memories of not only my kids pictures but everyone else’s too.

By the way, the chef below is mine! This year she is going to be an indian princess.

Bring your children in their costumes to LAMAR STUDIOS and we’ll photograph them on our fabulous Fall Set. For $5 you’ll recieve a 5×7 of your little ones compliments of Lamar Studios.
You can also vote for the best costume! The winner will recieve a $50 gift certificate to Joe’s Farm Grill in Agritopia. We will announce the winner on our Facebook fan page on November 10th.

-DETAILS-

• Good for one 5×7 per family. (Additional prints may be purchased)
• One grouping per family.
• Please, no scary costumes.
• Saturday Oct. 30th at 10:00am to 4:00pm. First come first serve, no appointment necessary.
• Food for the Hungry is a faith based non-profit organization. To find out more about Food for the Hungry go to http://www.fh.org/

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All 3 girls attended Valley Christian High School, and were very active in athletics, especially basketball.  The girls wore the same number on their jersey, (I think it’s the one mom wore when she was in high school}, number 31.  Since Quinn, the youngest of the three is now graduating, the school has decided to retire the jersey number 31 as a special honor to the  Robertson girls for all their hard work and contribution to VCHS’s auspicious girls athletic program over the years… Yea, they were that good! Isn’t that cool???

Anyway, we wanted to say “a big congratulations” to Alex, Lyndsay, and Quinn Robertson.  Way to go girls!  ~ Bethany

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A while ago I wrote about my nephew Josh and how great it was taking his senior pictures. Now he is at ASU in the Barrett Honors College and just won a video contest. It’s a short video, so I hope you can check it out.

This is an excerpt from the school’s web site.

“Barrett student Josh Lambert won the Eyes on Barrett student video contest with his piece, “Humanity: an Autobiography.” Lambert submitted a two-and-a-half minute video of evocative campus scenes and piano music, interspersed with clips from his own family life.

Videos were judged by a panel of Barrett students at the ASU Polytechnic campus. Each video was scored on its originality, interpretation of the theme and its overall effect. Lambert won the grand prize, a Flip camcorder. ”

I love the whole transition from high school to college and the journey it takes people on.

Jon

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A strange thing happened while I was walking around looking for interesting shots of workers doing what they do. I started to get a vision of what the school is going to be like. I can see students driving into the parking lot, walking down the halls, playing sports in the gym and of course learning all they will learn in the classrooms.

When I picture the future of the students who will be attending GCHS I am a little jealous. My wife went to Phoenix Christian High School and I’ve always been impressed with her ongoing friendships with her classmates. I went to the big public high school in southern California and really struggled and felt sort of lost in the crowd. My jealousy is really more along the line of “ I’m so excited for the incoming kids.” They have so much to look forward to.

As I imagine all that will go on here, it’s not the bricks and mortar but the relationships with their friends, teachers, parents and the Lord that will take them forward in life. Most of the students will have no idea how much sacrifice went into providing a place for them to grow into men and women. Some teens may understand it now but most will get it later in life.

I see great things happening here.

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So, last year I get a call from Deborah, a self-proclaimed, “picture person” (which means someone who’s passionate about her family photos… this is a good thing). She let me know that she had worked with the same family photographer, whom she dearly loved, in New York since they had started their family 4 years ago.   Since moving to Gilbert she was now in search of a new photo studio they could feel as comfortable with as their beloved family photographer  “back home.”  Yea, it was a little intimidating at first.  We wanted to be the new beloved family photographer, I knew she would be a great client, but those were big shoes to fill.  Anyway, she booked an appointment for her son Antonio and for their family portraits including their 2 Standard Poodles.

Thankfully, it was a great fit. They loved us and we loved them. They are a beautiful family and were so relaxed in front of the camera we soon forgot about trying to impress them and just had fun.   Their super cute 3 year old and 2 beautiful dogs kept us laughing and sweating as we chased them around trying to corral everyone into family photos. Here are a few samples from the shoot.

This year we went on location to their new home in Scottsdale, and did the photo shoot in their front courtyard. Their home is a lovely Santa Barbara style ranch home that was a perfect background for the wall prints we had planned for their interiors.  As expected, more laughing and chasing in sued only Antonio was now 4 and Rada , one of the poodles, was no longer a puppy. I especially loved the photos of Rada, and Antonio.  It was the classic “A boy and his dog” moment.   During the shoot, I looked over at Deborah and she was absolutely beaming and I knew we were giving the “picture person” exactly what she wanted, and I was reminded of how much I love what we do. We get to be part of a family’s history.  We get to grab a few moments of their lives and capture it in a way that they will linger over and enjoy for years and years.

These are a few of the photographs from the shoot. While we ended up making several large wall portraits, this 36 x 36 panel was fun for all and captures this special time in their lives.

Family Wall Portrait

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We had the exciting privilege of photographing the groundbreaking ceremony for  Seton Catholic Preparatory High School’s new building.  It will be a three-story, 55,000 sq. ft. classroom building and will be built to the west of the chapel. The new building will provide a new fine arts level, a black box theater with seating for 400 and 16 additional classrooms.  When completed they will be able to increase enrollment to 700 students and eventually house 1,000 students.

Lamar Studios has been the official photography studio for Seton for over ten years. I’m always impressed at the quality of the Seton students that come through our studio. We photograph them for their school pictures as timid and awkward freshmen  and then  one day they come walking into the studio for  their senior portraits confident and ready to conquer the world. We really get a kick out of  watching them grow up.  Everyone at the studio has been made to feel like they are part of the Seton family.

This project has been years in the making and it’s finally happening.  We are so thrilled for the Seton families and faculty members and can’t wait to see the finished result.

Click here to see more photos of the groundbreaking .

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