November « 2008 « COASTLINE STUDIOS REFLECTIONS

Archive for November, 2008

Cornerstone’s Production of “The Diary of Anne Frank”

November 17th, 2008 by John under Photoshoots

For many years now I have been photographing (and videotaping) the plays, musicals and drama productions of Cornerstone University… but I’ve never blogged about it until now. : )

I really enjoy these photoshootsbecause its a mixture of photojournalism, geat lighting, unique sets & costumes and best of all, natural dramatic poses without having to give any direction from behind the camera. Although, it wasn’t always something I enjoyed…

See about a year ago, I used to have to stay after a performance and reenact every scene to get pictures of the production. We would literally walk backwards from the last scene to the opening scene, and go through any number of poses which always seemed to last until well past 12am. To make a long story short, that changed and now I arrive and photograph the dress rehearsal as it happens. I’ve found this not only results in more realistic pictures (actual ”in the moment” acting) but it also gets all of us home a lot earlier! : )

Any way this Fall’s production is “The Diary of Anne Frank” and is definitely worth the price of admission. It ran this past weekend, and runs again this upcoming weekend. Click here for all the details. And without further delay… some favs from this production, Starting with “Anne” herself.

This play was full of dramatic moments

This is one of my favorites!

I didn’t take the time to edit out all the microphones… but I still like this picture.

A classic dramatic pose

I like to look for portraits in the areas of the stage where the action isn’t happening. Thats one thing I like about plays over movies… everyone is acting all the time, even if they aren’t in the spotlight at the moment.

A “happy moment” when the radio announces the invasion of Europe from the Allies… some hope for this Jewish family in hiding.

Another portrait I like.

Gotta love the lighting in this intense moment near the end of the play.

So thats it! Go check out the play! (Or contact me for a copy of the DVD) : )

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Taylor

November 12th, 2008 by John under Seniors

My love for photographing seniors continues to grow. Yesterday I spent the afternoon with Taylor for a studio session and she seriously rocked the camera. Here are some of my favs from the shoot.

Great job Taylor! Thanks for sharing your smile with me and my camera!

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The Wedding of the Year

November 8th, 2008 by John under Videography

Many of you have been asking me “how did last weekend’s big wedding go?” and I’ve been promising you I’d blog about it soon… so after a crazy week I’m finally getting around to it. : )

All I can say is WOW. Wow simply describes everything perfectly. The Couple, the millions of stunning details, the Rehearsal Dinner, the Dress, the Flowers, the Band, the Lighting, the Planning and of course the privilege to capture it all on video… WOW. But before I get into the details of my experience, I thought I’d share a quick and very short video of some of the rehearsal dinner. As many of you may have read from Jen’s Blog, we are keeping the identity of the couple private and are only posting detail shots and clips online. So this video is just a small taste of the entire weekend.

I’m sorry that it is so short, but short is sweet… and its always better to leave the viewer wanting more when it comes to video. : ) Hopefully this little teaser does the trick. (Technical Note: all this footage was shot on my new Nikon D90 DSLR camera)

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It’s actually pretty rare to see video this soon after a wedding as it usually takes months to organize and edit together… but with the Nikon D90 I was able to throw a few clips together for this post without to much trouble.

In the end we shot nearly 25 hours of video in 1.5 days, and if you count all the side projects and videos surrounding this weekend that number jumps well above 30 hours of video. Needless to say editing is going to take some time, but will be well worth it in the end.

For me this wedding was fun long before the day began. When you have 5 cameras to coordinate, the pre-production (planning) phase takes a giant leap over the what is required for a traditional wedding. Yes that’s right 5 (five) cameras. I actually had 6 cameras, but only 5 operators. Even when shooting 2 or 3 cameras it can be terribly difficult to stay out of each others shots, let alone blend into the backgound and avoid being a distraction. So for me, planning every last shot and how things would be covered was half the fun. With individual shot lists and schedules for each crew person, and a new 4 person wireless communication system, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the day to put it all in motion.

That is one of the things I love most about videography… the team concept. I think it comes from my film making experience and education. Movies simply can not exist without a group of people each performing their individual part, and each role is equally important. The Director needs actors, who need lights on them, which need to be recorded by a camera crew… accompanied by a sound crew… and the list goes on and on.

The “team” for this event (pictured below from top left to right) consisted of Brandon Damon, John Balyo, Adam Kring, Myself and Jon Ackerman. (This photo taken by Ryan Prins shooting for Jen Kroll Photography)

I have to give a shout out to Jenn from Modern Day Floral for doing an “out of this world” job on both the rehearsal and the wedding. And of course to Jodi from In Any Event for making this masterpiece flow so smoothly and with so much splendor and magnificance. Kudos to everyone who was involved and a special thank you to the bride and groom for allowing me to share your incredible day with you! The video will be worth the wait… trust me. : )

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The Rhodes Family

November 3rd, 2008 by John under Photoshoots

After a crazy week last week, I’m catching up on some recent shoots and events… and so this week I will be trying to catch up the blog as well. : )

I was blessed to spend some time with some college friends of mine who where in town not long ago … and we took some family pictures in the studio together. Here are a few favorites!