Deep Creek Model Shoot

Two weekends ago I gathered with 9 other iStock photographers in McHenry, Maryland at a fantastic lakefront home on Deep Creek Lake. We were joined by an incredible group of models - many with theater backgrounds - perfect for a stock shoot.

We started out the first night shooting a local conference center. We had the opportunity to shoot some shots in a conference room, at the hotel check-in counter, and out in the hotel lobby. Here are a few images from the resort:

The first full day was a shoot at the rental house on the lake.  We split into multiple groups and moved throughout the house and out by the lake.  It was an exhausting day but very rewarding.  I can't say enough about how great our models were.  I focused on relationship challenges - a theme that has worked well for me in the past.  Having some experienced actors and actresses as models really made this a lot of fun.  Here are some shots from the house:

Our final day was at Deep Creek Lake State Park.  We rotated among three tent sites.  Unfortunately I had to leave half way through to get back to Richmond in time to finish up some work but it was certainly fun while it lasted.

While I may not have taken any super sellers on this trip, it was certainly worth attending.  As I often find at iStock gatherings, the opportunity to hang out with and learn from other iStockers was priceless.  Thanks to all of the iStockers and models who attended!

Nashville, TN

I headed out Saturday for Nashville, TN for a conference for work (no, not a photography conference, this was a media finance conference for my real job).  The conference didn't officially begin until first thing Sunday morning so I had all day Saturday to explore Nashville.

You never would have guessed that they just endured such a tragic flood.  The city was clean and crowded, live music coming from each of the honky tonk bars on Broadway.  Everyone was upbeat and friendly.  While I am not personally a country music fan, I found the city to be quite wonderful. 

My research had shown that the best place for cityscapes was from Shelby Street Bridge - an absolutely beautiful pedestrian only bridge - which crosses the Cumberland River and leads from downtown Nashville to LP Field - home of the Tennessee Titans.  My scouting efforts showed the same.

As most of your know, I like to show up an hour early for my nightime cityscapes (skyline) - gives me plenty of time to set up and pick just the right spot.  This didn't work out quite as planned this go round.  I set out from my hotel for the bridge but found the sidewalks of downtown Nashville to be absolutely packed.  Turns out there was a James Taylor concert right next to the hotel.  I bobbed and weaved my way through the crowd (walking in the street quite often) and managed to miss a turn and wander all over downtown.

I finally arrived at my spot breathing hard and frustrated - only to find that I had based my calculations of what time to arrive on Eastern Standard Time - Nashville is on Central Standard Time!  I was there an hour and a half before twilight.  Way to go genius!

Being there early did have one perk.  I was able to meet a guy named Tanner.  Tanner was there with a bouquet of flowers.  Come to find out, his girlfriend was in Nashville visiting some friends.  He had flown into town and lined up with the friends that they bring her up to the bridge.  He planned to surprise her and propose!

As I was waiting for the perfect light, he was waiting for his future bride.  Twilight came on time - she did not.  I was growing more and more nervous for the guy.  He seemed like such a great guy and it would have ruined the night if she didn't show up or if she said no.  I was envisioning having to tackle him before he could jump off the bridge or something along those lines.

But she did eventually show.  When she saw him she was more excited than anyone I have seen in my entire life.  The answer was definitely yes.  That made the evening great regardless of my cityscape success.  Tanner - if you read this - congratulations!

But on to the cityscape.  Nashville cityscapes tend to look a little funny.  If you shoot from down by the river, you end up having to aim your camera up to a point that the buildings all slant to the middle of the picture.  The Cumberland River just isn't very wide and the buildings are quite tall.  The only way to get a straight on shot is to shoot from the bridge. 

But shooting from the bridge puts crosses a huge slant from the left hand side of the picture down to the right.  This leaves a lot of sky on the right.  The advantage in a night shot is this gives you a lot more of the deep blue that comes at twilight.  Overall, the Nashville cityscape isn't absolutely fantastic but it is quite cool.

Tampa, FL

I had the privilege of meeting with fellow iStocker, Joe (CJMGrafx) this evening.  We ate dinner at Bennigans - yep, there is still a Bennigans in Tampa!  I had a Monte Cristo in honor of my brother Dave (well, it was really because the Monte Cristo is just plain AWESOME, but we'll pretend it was solely out of love and respect for my brother).

After that it was off to my favorite Tampa Cityscape location (believe it or not, I do share my favorite locations with select people).  My goal was to try to nail a night cityscape panorama by taking multiple shots, post processing identically, and then trying to stitch the images together.  I don't have time tonight to go through this process (it is going to take a LONG time) but I did want to give a sneak peak of how Tampa looked this evening.  This really is one of my favorite cities to shoot - it is beautiful!