Green Bay Wisconsin Commercial and Editorial Photographer

St Norbert College Graduation • Higher Education Photographer

Friday, May 18, 2012

This past weekend I covered a graduation ceremony for one of my higher education photography clients at St Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. Beautiful day for photography, bright blue skies, we didn’t have hurricane force winds like last year, happy students and families and colorful mortar boards. I would say 2012 was the year of the decorated mortar board at SNC. In past years a handful of students would decorate their mortar boards, but this year it was tough to make a picture without a decorated mortar board in it. I’m still trying to figure out what some of them mean.

As I was editing out my favorite photos for the blog I reflected back on to the graduations I covered back in my daily newspaper days. As a photojournalist you never want to influence a photography. You never want the subject to act to the camera. When covering an event like this for a university I think it’s okay if the subjects act to the camera. Not that you need the subjects to act to you because you can just hang back and wait for the subjects to act to the other cameras from their families and friends. My two favorite shots, the two with the stiff airborne guys, came from just hanging back and seeing these special moments happen.

Thanks for taking a look!

Mike

Always Be Prepared For That Unexpected Photography To Happen In Front Of You.

Friday, May 11, 2012

I always try to be prepared for the unexpected that happens in front of me. I think that comes from my newspaper photography days when I always traveled with a camera loaded with film and set for the proper outside exposure within easy reach of the drivers seat. As I transitioned into commercial and advertising I slacked on having that camera as easily accessible, but one can still be found not far from me. Funny, the amount of anxiety dreams about missing a shot because I couldn’t unlock my car trunk to get to my cameras, not being able to load my camera with film or some other equipment disaster has significantly declined. I still keep myself at the ready for that unexpected shot and that’s why you can usually find two cameras slung around my neck when I’m shooting. One with a Canon 16-35 mm F2.8 wide angle zoom lens and one with a Canon 70-200 F2.8 telephoto zoom lens. That way if I’m shooting with the wide lens and I see a great opportunity for a long lens shot I’m not fumbling around and switching lenses.

Yesterday while working on a project for a client along the shores of the Fox River in De Pere, Wisconsin just after sunrise I came around the corner of a building and saw a great picture. I saw this member of the St. Norbert Crew Club heading out. The sun had just risen and a warm beam of light was coming across the water while the rest of the river was still in a cool blue light with the blue sky reflecting in the water. Even a a little fog was still hanging just aver the water towards shore. I picked up my long lens camera and was able to get off two quick frames in a mater of a couple of seconds before the boat was out of the warm light and into the cool blue light and my shot was gone. Luckily I was ready and reacted quickly and got the shot. I wish I was this luck every time.

Thanks for looking!

Mike

Healthcare Photography • How To Create The Perfect Group Photo Of Six Doctors.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

I love shooting environmental portraits whether they’re part of a manufacturing photography project, a business portrait assignment or a medical photography shoot. But with today’s busy world, if you’re shooting a group of people it can be almost impossible to coordinate everyone’s schedule. A way around this scheduling nightmare is to shoot everyone separately and then combine them in post production. Here is an example of a group shot of six doctors that we photographed on a white seamless background on location at the hospital; the ad agency combined them to create this piece. I think the result looks very nice and allowed us to get the best from everyone. What I mean by that is when you take a group shot you may have a shot that you love except for that one person who looks better in another photo. Or maybe you wish someone had another prop in their hands or was doing something different with their arms.

The key to make these group shots look their best is to have consistent lighting from person to person, shoot with the same length of lens and shoot from the same height. I shoot these types of photos on a white background, but you need to keep in mind when doing this that you may need to separate a white lab coat from the background in post production. If that’s the case, I’ll let the light fall off a little on the background so it goes to a light gray, just enough to separate it from the white lab coat. I’ll also have each subject do a selection of photos facing left, right and straight ahead so we have options for doing the group shot. We will also create multiple options with different props, hand and arm positions and different levels of smiles from a mild grin to a full toothy smile. The key is to create as many options as possible and to do it as quickly and as effectively as possible. We usually have each subject in front of the camera for 15 or 20 minutes and if the budget and time allows, we will get them in a makeup chair for a few minutes before they step foot on the seamless background.

Thanks for taking a look!

Mike

Photos of the Quadracci Pavillion designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Monday, April 16, 2012

I found myself with an hour between a couple of editorial photography and commercial photography meetings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin last Friday so I took a trek over to the Milwaukee Art Museum. I spent my time photographing the Quadracci Pavillion designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The space is always a fun place to vist and you can always come away with some interesting photos.

Thanks for looking!

Mike

Experiencing Door County, Wisconsin Through the Eyes Of Three International Students.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Growing up in Northeastern Wisconsin, Door County has been a place I have visited many times. As a child, my parents took my brother and me there for day trips. I have many fond memories of floating around Eagle Harbor on a paddle boat, my brother and I peddling as fast as we could, and picnicking at the quarry across from Potawatomi Park with bologna sandwiches. During my college years, I often returned to Door County to hang out with friends at White Fish Bay Sand Dunes and sail the waters of Door County as my interest in sailing grew. My first journalism internship was for the newspaper in Sturgeon Bay. After college, I moved out of Wisconsin for 10 years, but each summer I came back and got a least one good weekend of sailing in, not to mention the smoked chubs or fish boils that followed. I always enjoyed hauling my South Dakota friends back during this time so they could get to know the beauty of Door County as well. Since moving back to Green Bay in the mid 1990s, I’ve been to Door County for a number of editorial photography photos shoots or commercial photography projects, as well as spending time with my brother who had a summer residence in Fish Creek. Just a few years ago in the early days of dating my wife, I enjoyed showing her all the cool spots and hidden gems I knew of. She grew up just a few hours south of Door County, but had never really spent time there. With all these opportunities, I may have taken the beauty of Door County for granted.

This past week I was able to see the beauty of Door County through fresh eyes that appreciated it’s beauty more than anyone I’ve ever taken there. Three international students accompanied me for a day of adventure. Shakeel is from Pakistan and Ravi and Shahadutt are from India. These two countries are mostly land locked and the water access that we have and take for granted is something they found amazing.

Our first stop was the canal lighthouse station in Sturgeon Bay. Walking out on the pier to the headlight was very cool for them; the amount of pictures they took of one another was evidence of that. They wanted to walk down the sand beach to the north of the pier, but I had an even better spot in mind for their first beach adventure. Next stop…White Fish Bay Sand Dunes State Park. Almost immediately, the shoes came off, the pants were rolled up, and three men became boys as they ran to the edge of the water. Now keep in mind, this is mid March and that water is far from warm, but who was I to stop them? The two from India jumped around in the water with such great joy and pure excitement they didn’t care about getting their jeans soaking wet. Maybe I encouraged this a tad by chanting, “Further, Further, Further”. Shakeel held back from going into the water because I think he knew how cold it would be. The beach was mostly empty during our visit, but the few other beach goers who observed this scene must have not known what to think of this group and their pure excitement to jump into Lake Michigan when the next pair of bare feet in the water is probably months away. They probably also wondered what the game was that they set up with a few pieces of drift wood and a couple of rocks. It was the biggest sport in their countries, Cricket.

After our visit to the dunes, I took them over to Cave Point County Park. It didn’t take long for them to work their way down the rock ledges to the lake. I don’t take many pictures of me or my wife Judy in front of things when we go on vacation, but these guys couldn’t get enough self-portraits in the areas we visited. They wanted to make sure the people back home knew the sights and unique experiences they had in their travels. My favorite photo of the day is the boys hanging out on a big rock jutting out into Lake Michigan.

After a stop at the Cana Island Lighthouse and one last stop in Peninsula State Park and making the mandatory trek up the tower, it was back to Green Bay. I wish I could have taken them there on a day when Door County was at it’s best: the forests in their summer glory, the beaches full of sunbathers and the marinas packed with shiny boats. But it didn’t matter to them.

On the way back, Ravi said his trip to the United States was complete. He had always wanted walk down a beach, but had never gotten the chance. His next goal is to some day go out on the water in a boat, another first for him. I asked the other two if they had ever been on the water in a boat; they hadn’t. I have a pretty good idea of what our next field trip will be before they have to leave in May.

The genuine thanks and appreciation the three of them showed me for their day in Door County made me wonder why I didn’t take them up there earlier. Experiencing Door County through their eyes was a great way for me to spend the day.

Below are some of my favorite photos from the day. Thanks for looking.

Mike