Electric Photographers

Posted by Aaron - 23/04/10 at 01:04:09 pm

This is what happened:

Friends got together with lights and cameras. Tried things out. Tried to learn stuff. Watched the sunset while we kept trying things out. Threw flour at each other. All of our lighting equipment buzzed under the power lines and it felt dangerous. Thanks to Bryan, Ashley, Ryan & his dog for being gracious and weird.

You are now required to visit the Flour shots.

A Pancake Studios post will follow with live motion on-the-scene breaking news video footage.

More Black & White Film

Posted by Aaron - 28/03/10 at 10:03:45 pm

I know, I know. This is my business photography blog. Why am I posting personal film photos?

Answer: Because I like them and photos make me excited and I spend a lot of time making them and so you can see what inspires me and what I’m working on. So there.

New recent engagement sessions and weddings are coming soon anyways.

My kids:

Near Page, AZ:

> > > See MORE pictures of More Black & White Film…

Love on Film

Posted by Aaron - 03/02/10 at 01:02:21 pm

Recently I’ve been admiring the differences between film and digital images. I’ll never be one to take a hard line stance on one or the other because they are special in their own way. Kind of like beer verses wine. Or Marvel verses DC. Or computers verses typewriters…ok, not like that. But they are unique.

A few things I love about film:
1. I pee my pants with excitement every time I drive to pick up a roll of film.
2. After reviewing the images, I have a strong desire to do better next time. I do this with digital but it’s way more instantaneous and sometimes I forget what I want to adjust.
3. Film has a soft quality that is beautiful.
4. Film is VERY forgiving. (Thanks Film, you are so kind! My digital camera would have called me names and then made me spend an hour in Photoshop correcting that, but you just gave me a hug.)
5. No post processing on film. This is a HUGE benefit. It is what it is. The color is right (or interesting at least).

I recently purchased a Nikon FE camera which can use most of my lenses, so while on our engagement shoot weekend, I captured these with Fuji Provia 400, hope you enjoy! And thanks to Larissa & Craig, Yoon & Dan, and Ellen & John for letting me snap a few extra with that strange film machine.

I love how the film blew out in direct sunlight and made this more abstract image:

A few extra from the weekend:

Attention all Apples and Androids

Posted by Aaron - 19/01/10 at 11:01:21 am

Due to Aaron Courter Photography’s magnificent grasp on social media and smartphones and twitters and internets and web site blogs and old compuserve accounts, he has made it possible to view the Aaron Courter Photography blog in a format specially designed for the iPhone and Android platforms.

So if you’ve got your iPhone or Android phone turned on, and you aren’t busy playing the Lightsaber game, bookmark and follow me at blog.aaroncphotography.com. It will change your life for the better*.

*Especially if combined with delicious beverages and/or foods like Voodoo Donuts.

Our Family Portrait

Posted by Aaron - 09/12/09 at 12:12:30 am

So this year, I tried a couple different things for our christmas family portrait. I liked some more sunflare/outdoor shots but I wanted to try something close-up and warm. For those of you wondering how I did it, I lit up my family with a flash through an umbrella to their right on low power and then a backlight under the Christmas tree. And then the kids went back to playin’….

Here it is, hope you enjoy.

A Slight Facelift

Posted by Aaron - 06/12/09 at 10:12:45 pm

Oh, you know… nothing big. A little snip here, a tuck there. I just combined my blog with my website so I don’t send important people like you in two different directions. And plus, I’ll be able to do a lot cool things. And I’ll look better, which is very important to me. As you can see.

So come to my website. Visit often. Admire my new skin.

Friday, GearHead Edition

Posted by Aaron - 20/11/09 at 11:11:00 am

Because I get endless questions about the gear I use (I don’t but I really wanted to start off this post sounding important), I thought I’d take this time where I am packing for a wedding in San Francisco and share some of my favorite pieces of equipment that will surely be poking the person seated in 12F in the eye very soon.

Bag:
*Lowepro Flipside 400 AW. I love it so much. It’s good for nature shooting (has a pull-out rain cover) and it’s not bad for weddings either since I carry lighting stuff too. Twirls around my hip when I need to access the inside and feel what it’s like to be pregnant.

In the Bag:
*Nikon D700 (I love you D700! You know I do! Mwah!)+ Grip
*Nikon D90 + grip (awesome backup/2nd camera)
*Lenses
-Nikon 24-70mm 2.8
-Nikon 50mm 1.8
-Tokina 100mm 2.8 macro
-Tokina 11-16 2.8 ultra-wide
*Flashes
-2 Nikon SB600s with diffusers
-1 Nikon SB26
-Set of 3 CyberSync wireless triggers (essential and awesome!)
-Justin Clamp (SO extremely handy)
-Manfrotto light stand, collapsible
-umbrella, collapsible white shoot-through with black cover
-Honl Grids, 1/4″ and 1/8″. I LOVE these so much. Great control of light
-1 billion SD and CF cards
-3 stop ND filter (nice for getting motion on a bright day and trick shots)
-homemade bounce card with velcro, 12″ high, spreads light and again helps with control

New item that won’t fit in the bag
*Bogen Monopod. Because I want a steady shot and don’t want to sedate myself to get it.

What’s great is that it all fits in my Lowepro bag. If I need to shoot with it on my back, I can without too much work.

So advice? First, learn to work with what you have. Second, get a flash or two and practice with them all you can. Also, when you swing your bag around, don’t hurt people.

That is all. Off to San Francisco!
-Aaron

Depth of Field

Posted by Aaron - 30/07/09 at 09:07:00 pm

So I finally, finally, FINALLY shot the roll of TriX 400 black & white film that I had. And I am impressed with the results, not because they are amazing photographs, but because I didn’t ruin any of them.

I will continue to shoot film for fun. Color film and more black & white is purchased and ready to jump into the camera. Wish me luck!

Perspective Control

Posted by Aaron - 03/07/09 at 08:07:00 pm

For me, there is nothing like the beach. I connect to the sound of the waves, the power of the tide, and the smell of cold salty air in a way that I cannot ever explain.

Rent me a special, tilt-shift lens for a day, and maybe I can shed a little light on how much I love the Oregon coast.

This lens can shift the “focus plane” around pretty much any direction and can give the feeling of tininess or depth more than regular camera lenses are capable of. I love it almost as much as the beach itself.

Please visit www.aaroncphotography.com/tiltshiftbeach for many more of my photographs from this trip.

Thanks for visiting my blog! Shortly I hope to give this blog a much needed boost, maybe infusing it with a shot of Dr. Pepper.
-Aaron

Little Portland

Posted by Aaron - 31/05/09 at 08:05:00 am

I rented a tilt-shift lens this weekend. This is a weird lens which basically changes the plane of focus by moving lots of fun knobs and sliders on the lens itself. I can (and will) spend all day shooting with this lens. It’s so incredible fun.

The tilt-shift lens is also famous for making things like miniature so I am bent on capturing mini-Portland.

Enjoy yesterday’s shots at www.aaroncphotography.com/tiltshift.

look for it