A few weeks ago I had a shoot with Artist Sarah Lawrence and mentioned Lee. Lee is not only a music biz guy, but he’s a talented musician as well, so we put together a quick shoot last night and had some fun dodging the crazy storm that blew through Atlanta.
Archive for August, 2009
Lee Gamble – Promo Session
Thursday, August 27th, 2009Lindsey & Jonas :: Getting Married!
Thursday, August 27th, 2009I met Lindsey and Jonas in Destin last year at a wedding I was shooting. Lindsey was the coordinator for the day, and Jonas was doing the video. They were super cool, but as usual you never know if you’ll see people again. A few months later they contacted me to let me know that they were engaged and wanted me to shoot their wedding! FTW. I couldn’t be more excited about their Ashville wedding in October. Fall leaves and bagpipes? Yes please.
Lindsey and Jonas are both in the ad business here in Atlanta, as producers, so they took their skillz and brought ‘em to their e-session last week. Locations, stylists, wardrobe changes…etc. It was probably the most fun I’ve had shooting in a while. Hopefully the images communicate the fun we had.
The Family
Friday, August 21st, 2009I’m so blessed to be on this ride called life with Kristine and my two beautiful boys. The last few weeks, I’ve been playing more with the video feature on my Nikon D90. It’s become a new frontier of creativity for me and one that I want to explore more. Aside from some of the limitations of the video features (some from the camera, and some from limited knowledge of the user 
, it’s allowed me to produce some fun, raw and real videos that showcase my family and the normal, candid moments that I cherish the most with them.
I couldn’t be more thankful for the days from May 1st until today. I’ve seen so much of God through my family and my special summer with them. Who knows where He will lead us, but I know that He’ll lead us somewhere together…and that’s all that matters.
The Hunton Family from Stephen Hunton on Vimeo.
Inspiration
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
Today’s one of those days where I don’t have a shoot, but have plenty of unchecked boxes in the to-do box. I’m driving around like crazy delivering, meeting, sitting, etc etc. (I found this old image and thought it applied perfectly)…
It’s easy to sit down and just get caught in the minutia, lose focus and wonder what the heck I’m doing. Admin stuff just isn’t fun. It’s confusing because I’m always questioning if I’m taking the right next steps in building this business. I want to be out shooting, trying new things, getting better with my camera, but I have so much non-camera-using things to do to keep it all moving…And thus, I’m trying to get re-inspired today.
Who inspires you? Why? What artists, photographers, musicians, people make your creative juices start flowing? I need some ammo to bring me back into focus.
New York Wedding
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Probably one of the coolest things I’ve been able to shoot this year, was our recent wedding in upstate New York. The groom had been following my work via my Flickr account of, of all places, and sent me an email wondering if I’d travel up to New York City and to their wedding location in Big Indian, NY…OF COURSE I WOULD! Kristine (my wife) has recently started assisting me at weddings, so it would make for a great weekend away together, getting to play around in the city on Friday and driving up to the country on Saturday.
The wedding was amazing. Location, beautiful. Couple, beautiful. Guests, beautiful…what more could we have asked for!? Other than an extra day afterwards, of course, to explore Woodstock and the other beautiful towns near the wedding site.
It was such a great weekend, traveling with my best friend and capturing some amazing images. I just hope that 2010 brings us some more out-of-town weddings. Hawaii anyone? Gimme a call? The Caribbean you say??? surely I’m there… Texas? Absolutely. Right here in Atlanta? Bring it!
Hunton 4 Fun Weekend – Eli Bouncy Video
Monday, August 10th, 2009After making a video of Adler, I of course had to get some of Eli’s favorite moves. Right now he LOVES ‘the bouncy’ and he’s obviously working on his athletic skillz in the later part of the video.
I had such a blast with these guys…can’t wait to do more videos with the D90!
Bounce from Stephen Hunton on Vimeo.
Lottie and her 6 month old picture party
Monday, August 10th, 2009The Claytons have been some of our best friends for most of our time in Atlanta, so I’m always soooo excited to be asked to come and take pictures of their family. Lottie, their youngest, is 6 months old (a couple weeks older than our youngest, Eli) and she’s just so freaking cute. Kids can be the toughest subject to photograph, but Lottie just wouldn’t stop smiling at the camera…she’s a natural!
A couple of my favorites from the day.
Thoughts on gear : Vol. 3 (flashes & triggers)
Monday, August 10th, 2009This is a pretty new world for me, so I don’t have a ton of information on why my set up is good vs. bad…but I do know how it’s changed my game and why I like it this way. I’m no expert on gear (and not trying to sound like one), but wanted to share how I’ve gotten my set up to a better place without spending a TON of money right off the bat.
In my bag I carry 3 Nikon flashes:
2 – SB24s
1 – SB600
Triggers:
1 – AlienBees CyberSynch Transmitter
2 – AlienBees CyberSynch Receivers
1 – hot shoe/PC adapter (for the SB600 if I need it)
So…why this set up? Cheap, Portable, and Powerful. I feel like I’m getting a lot of power out of my SB24s, sure they’re not the 2009 model that Nikon’s selling, but they’ve got plenty of punch and since I’m shooting on Manual ALL THE TIME, I don’t have a need for all the fancy bling that an SB900 or SB800 provides. I guess if I had money pouring out of my hiney I’d buy whatever I want, but I’m really happy with the SB24 and recommend it to anyone that can find ‘em used.
The CyberSynch triggers are amazing. I know…”what about PocketWizards? They’re the industry standard…” well…first off because of $$$. Second, because of another photog buddy (Jay Eads) recommendation. He introduced me to these triggers and I was able to get the trigger and 2 recievers (with chords/etc) shipped to my house in under 5 days, for just over the cost of ONE POCKET WIZARD! Now, I know I might be conceding on a few minor advantages of the PWs, but honestly, these things are amazing. I’ve never had an issue with them, they’re just as durable as the PWs (though they’re actually MUCH smaller) and did I mention that I got the whole set up for a few bucks more than 1 PW? For a guy starting a business with no $$$ to spare, this was a critical move and one I’d make again today.
The SB600 was my first flash. I bought it a few years ago and was having fun playing with the slave mode and working on my off-camera flash images, but it doesn’t seem to be as powerful and the infared slave mode is extremely frustrating when shooting from any distance at all (especially if you’re using an umbrella or modifier of some kind). I kept it, just in case I show up on location and my CyberSynchs decide to stop working, break, etc.
Beyond cheap and powerful though, this set up has been nice because everything, other than a lightstand or two, fits right in my bag. I don’t have a 40lb battery to lug around (YET) and like the ability to drop my bag and have everything up, plugged in, and firing in seconds.
Next Steps:
For me, I do think I need a light rig of some sort to combat bright sunlight and other instances where “Captain…..I need more….power!!!”. Like my camera bags…I’m just spending time trying to research what I feel I need, as well as what I can afford. If I was a betting man, I think I’d put my money on the AlienBees lights, but we’ll see where I net out.
What do you use? What works for you, and what hasn’t in the past?