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The Airshow; something I look forward to each year in late June. But this year brought a new twist. I had contacted the organizers to try to get additional access this year and they offered me a media pass. Delightful. But, what does it mean?

It meant I needed to submit some personal information to the government to confirm I was a decent person and they would, in return, allow me to utilize the scissor lift and access cool places. That much I gathered from my conversation with Col. Reil. Details were slim.

In fact it was not until Thursday the 24th that I received confirmation that I was on the list and I could pick my media pass up the next day at noon. This messed up my schedule a bit on Friday but not a big deal. I could still probably make a shoot in the afternoon without difficulty.

There are times to play smart and times to admit you're dumb. This was one of the latter. I would earn no respect by pretending to know my way around the media pool at the airshow, from the Guard or the photogs. My ego was the only potential casualty and as I have very little self esteem, what's to lose? (ok, I'm kidding). It always bothered me when people pretend to know what they're up to. I've found that 50:50 people are willing to help you out when you're out of your comfort zone. I wanted to pull from the years of experience around me.

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This "Headshot," which sounds more like a boxing phrase than a beauty concept, was done for Mariann. She works next door to our office and whenever I am in photo mode and I see her I mention we should do some photos. It just happened to all line up last week. Her family wants pics, her linked in / Facebook could be updated, etc etc...

Mariann was nervous about having her photograph taken (I think there is always a push-pull). People want nice photos of themselves but they standing in front of a camera you think the worst. I certainly understand, I am like that too. That's why candid photography is such a tease. It can have the best expressions and emotions and the worst image quality at the same time (how many people use a point and shoot or even just a cell phone now). So, we started off easy and just moved from idea to idea. Small changes give everyone a break and breathes new life into a fairly static position.

This lighting isn't necessarily typical headshot lighting. This is more mimicking window lighting. The only downside to working on a headshot is that the same lighting setup doesn't translate directly to a full body shot (below). But, it didn't really matter as we were just having a bit of fun at that point.

The black and white images are conversions from a color digital file. I'm not usually a fan of digital B&W (something about film looks richer) but this conversion looks fairly decent on screen. It's all about the idea and simplicity when it comes to B&W I suppose. Gotta love that dress color though.

So, either I drive slow or Mike zips around. Both are possible. I was trying to keep up at Fort Wetherill in Jamestown as we set about to do our engagement shoot. Liana and Mike were looking sharp (beautiful, lovely, pic a word). This was take 2 on the shoot due to weather. We had to cancel our first date and even this day was iffy. But, a cloudy day is a photographer's delight - less shadows more drama in the sky.

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They were like mountain goats on the rocks. I was more than a little nervous as they climbed around - but this is what's it's all about; showing people doing what they enjoy. Mike and Liana are outdoorsy people and this was their playground.

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Awesome times.

Note: blog Jpegs are lower resolution and don't represent the final images.