068/365 - Rick Wasn't Kidding... [For August 5th, 2010]

Rick was kind enough to bring me along (more accurately, he invited me, and I brought him along. =P) on his TOMS indie & senior portrait day in Seattle! Going in, I knew I was up for a challenge, because my style is completely different from his. (As you can see from his 365 photo from today compared to mine!) I'd love to do portraiture for a living, so that, too, was a challenge, because my best work is with one or two people, with short depth of field (DOF), or throwing the background out of focus. More on this later. It was also going to be interesting to see him in his element, directing and taking the shots he was after.

We met up with his friends from camp, Calley and Kevin, when we got off the ferry, and Calley drove us the rest of the way, to Pike Place Market. Let me just say... Rick wasn't kidding.

He had warned me prior to our departure that there may... will be awkward moments. I was like no big deal. I have some pretty awkward friends at times. =P It'll be fine... Well, I quickly discovered that nothing could have prepared me for what was to come. Haha! O_O It was all hilarious, but most definitely awkward! We had a great time, though! They're (Calley and Kevin, and Rick) cool cats, fo' sho'! =) We didn't do too much in Pike Place, besides photos, but we did see a street performer who hoola-hoop'ed (with two hoops), played a guitar, and then balanced another guitar on his chin, simultaneously! And another performer who pulled out some crazy card tricks on Kevin and Calley!! [In honor of you, Rick, I'll switch their names. =P] We were watching (or thought we were watching...) all the cards, and BAM! Crazy!

Back to photos! Seeing Rick doing work was certainly interesting. I don't do senior photos, so seeing how a "proper" senior photo was set up was a good experience. Unfortunately, I was with Rick during his biggest off-day for senior photos... Calley then stepped in to aid with posing and location. That was cool to see because she brought a different perspective, being a model! Quick tangent - I snapped a few photos of her early in the day and thought to myself, "She knows how to pose real well on the fly... Very photogenic!"... And then said she was a model. Oh, no wonder! =P Haha.

As far as what I was able to shoot today, I did some portraits of Calley, some TOMS "advertisement"-style shots, and a bunch of candid portraits of the three of them. I would have liked to slow down and take more portraits, but I learned a lot about keeping everyone in focus (because I had a group, all at different distances), rather then tightening it up and keeping one of them in focus. I also got experience in location and flash. Speaking of which, I was so glad I had brought my flash! Sure, I ruined a few shots because I accidentally left it on, but to be able to keep my ISO low, knock out some shadows, etc... =) Ironically, I didn't use flash for this shot. Haha. I should've, but I'm still learning about flash exposure, especially in strong daylight.

Pike Place is such a beautiful location. It's photographed a lot, but clearly there are ways and areas in it to get some sweet looks. =)

It was good meeting Calley and Kevin, just hanging out with them and Rick, taking photos! =D