Photofusion: BOB DAVIS

What a fun workshop!  Sponsored by Calumet photography store and Canon, Bob Davis presented photofusion!  

[some of Canon's goodies ;) ]

A brand new upcoming photo/video splicing technique, basically mixing video with still images using the new Canon 5D Mark II, an amazing camera by the way.  

Bob Davis, an amazing photographer and friend, held a very informative workshop and in true Bob fashion, made it a lot of fun by holding a mock wedding right there in Calumet's event studio where we got to try using the Mark II video capabilities and editing techniques.  

Now be warned this camera and photofusion techniques are not for the light-hearted and easily stressed... it is a pretty difficult technique to try and capture video as well as stills by a single person.  Definitely recommended that if you're going to shoot video, focus on video and have a second shooter be in charge of stills.  But as much of a production that this technique is, it is also a lot of fun, and the end product is really cool! ;)  

I mean come on look at this rig set up!  It's the photographers' transformer, "Optical Prime!" wah wah.  Check out our home-made wedding where (yours truly) got to play the groom!  Haha I met my bride that day, found out her name, and married her, what an experience! ;)  Enjoy my pretend wedding and photofusion ;)

http://www.stevenrynephotography.com

info.stevenryne@gmail.com

630.696.7496

"Shoot with Passion": JOE BUISSINK

"I will do what my passion is!" - Joe Buissink

Awesome indeed!  I feel like that's not even a big enough word to describe how much I learned and was captivated by this man and his photographic knowledge and artistry.  The night started out with an introduction by David Wittig and Pictage CEO Jim collins.  

To be honest, before this I had never heard of Joe, my initial thoughts for going were, "Sweet!  I get a chance to network and hey the more you can learn, the better."  What I was not expecting was to learn so much.  A celebrity wedding photographer, Joe has been shooting for 15 years and still shoots all his weddings in film and only uses digital when necessary.  This is a man who knows his craft!  Starting from humble beginnings, Joe is now one of the most sought after photographers for weddings with clients including, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, etc... has been featured in countless magazines, travels the globe and has even shot Steven Spielberg's birthday!  And has been adopted into becoming their personal friends and photographer!  WOW!

But you know it wasn't just his business accomplishments that through me back, but the images that he is capable of capturing was what really took my breath away.  I have never felt such a stir of emotions from looking at an image before, and man can this guy tell a story...

Kenny and Kimmy, thanks for your input guys, pleasure meeting you both and I hope I'll get to shoot or even just hang out with you guys someday :)  That's another reason why I love these things, is not only do I get to learn SO much, but I get to meet some great individuals and network with more people that share my passion!

I apologize for the vagueness of this blog, but there really is no way to describe how amazing of an experience it was to meet him.  In every image he showed us I completely forgot about everyone else in the room and felt as if I was there with him, when he captured that perfect moment.  His photographic work, business savvy and relationships that he builds with his clients are only somethings I hope to be able to achieve someday in my business and as I grow.

This definitely was the most amazing photo journey I've ever been on, and I didn't even have to leave my seat!  Thank you Joe for teaching me how to become a better photographer and how to embrace, seek, and develop my talents, how to be in the moment, but shoot between them.  :)

http://www.stevenrynephotography.com

info.stevenryne@gmail.com

630.696.7496

SEO WITH A CUP OF JOE:

The thing about coffee shops is you never know what kind of experience your going to get once you enter the doors and hear that little bell chime in.  I think that's why everyone plans to meet up there?  Dollop, huh?  Aside from trying to get that ridiculously annoying Daisy commercial jingle for sour cream or whatever it was out of my head; I was getting anxious, to finally get into the city and to be meeting other photographers!  I walked into the coffee shop, and my eyes were delightfully greeted by the eclectic blend of urban artistry that the buildings decor had... but most of all I was stoked to see smiling faces with their camera bags flung over their shoulders, I thought "oh yeah, this is the right place."

On September 9th I had the opportunity to go have coffee with some of the nicest photographers in the Chicago land area whose talents range all over from, weddings and babies to nature, and even a guy who just moved from L.A. two weeks ago!  "Ny, what's up man!?!" ;)  We were all getting together to learn and share with the very talented and knowledgeable Lawrence Chan, who is beginning his Tofurious tour on SEO across the country. 

Surprise visit by Bob Davis, amazing photographer and co-creator with his wife Dawn of "The Love Story Workshops"  Which I hope to attend someday ;)  Not going to lie, I was a little star struck... I'm such a goober ;)

I tell ya this was such a great experience, to have the opportunity of meeting some great people and hope to build some strong, professional relationships here.  Thanks again Lawrence for throwing this together and providing us with some great tips on expanding our businesses, and thanks to everyone of you great photographers for attending and making this such an enjoyable experience!  I can't wait to hang out and work with you all again in the future!

The Chicago coffee club ;)  Happy Shooting everybody!

http://www.stevenrynephotography.com

Contact: info.stevenryne@gmail.com / 630.696.7496

PORTRAIT: Natalie

In 2007 I was a gymnastics coach for my awesome girls at Hinsdale South high school and one day during practice, a voice called out from behind me, "Chalupa!?!"  I turned around and was delightfully surprised to see this shining smiley faced girl.  "Natalie!?!"  I said with shock.  It was one of the gymnasts whom I helped coach a number of years back at Illinois Gymnastics Institute.  She was now attending Hinsdale South and a part of the diving team but has many friends in the gymnastics program.  We chatted and caught up on some old times.  After season was over bitter sweetly I had the opportunity to move to Hawaii for the year of 2008, but Natalie and I became facebook friends and kept in touch.  One day I get a wall post from her asking for me to do her senior pictures whenever it is I get back to Chicago.  I told her that it might not be for a while?  She cheerfully explained, "That's okay, I want you to do my pictures so I can wait..."  This almost broke my heart.  God has truly blessed me with some wonderful individuals and supporters in my life.  

Fast forward and finally August 2009 comes around and I am finally back in Chicago.  Not even a week has passed and to my delightful reminder, on my calendar, is Natalie's photo shoot!!!  So after numerous re-scheduling and deliberation of locations, we finally found a beautiful spot and did our shoot.  Oh and did I mention it was 4 hours before she was getting ready to get on a train to visit some friends then off to college?  But you know even though we had a time crunch the pictures came out wonderful and I had a super awesome time hanging out with Natalie, her mom, and Lily her cute little chiwawa.  Her smile can match the sun, so Natalie these are for you and I hope you love them!?!  "Thank you for being such a smiley person, a big supporter of my photography, and it has been so much fun seeing you grow into an accomplished young woman from our gymnastics days.  I'm so proud of you and good luck with College in Miami!" 

One of my favorites, such a beauty shot ;)

Lily wants to be in the picture! 

Love these close up beauty shots, check out more in the slideshow at the bottom...

This is the cutest mother/ daughter pair... I love this shot (above) looking into the future with the love they have for each other.

Even the bugs wanted to get in on the shot ;)

CLICK the middle of the box, there is a really light "play" button to view the slideshow :)

Thanks all for viewing my blog!  Stay tuned, cause an amazing fashion shoot is on the way!  God bless! :)

WEDDING: Remle & Andy

Have you ever experienced something so beautiful you couldn't help but feel that someone giving your heart a little hug?  Just enough to make you warm up on the inside?  A touching movie, a thank you card, or a special memory preserved in a picture?  That is what I felt after meeting Remle & Andy, hearing their story of their lives together, and getting the opportunity to be apart of their wedding day.  That was just the icing on the cake, haha small wedding joke.  What an absolutely beautiful wedding, so full of love it made it super easy to capture those moments.  

Every time I looked through the camera it was another shot, after shot, after shot.  So here is just a little bit of Remle & Andy's wedding day, I was so blessed to be a part of... I hope my images will bless you and display the hearts these two have for each other.  For Remle & Andy, I hope that in the future you can look through these pictures and may God give your hearts a little hug.  Enjoy...

The idea of a circular wedding ceremony was so personal to them.

Sometimes beauty is found in simplicity.

Remle performed a traditional hula down the isle to her soon to be husband.

The joining of sand from the east coast where Andy is from and Hawaii where Remle is from, representing their unity.

Showered with flower pedals!  Beautiful!

Sharing their first "alone" moment together!

ALL FOR A RAZOR...

You know that feeling you get as a kid on Christmas morning?  Racing down the stairs to see all the colorful wrapping paper engulfing gifts upon gifts stacked up underneath the Christmas tree.  It's the best feeling in the world, right?  The interesting thing is that as we get older that excitement tends to gradually decrease to a more subtle, sophisticated... "It's Christmas!" sort of expression.  Yesterday, I had a wonderfully relaxing evening, after my work out at the gym, I made it home to be pleasantly greeted by a friend of mine whom I  haven't seen in entirely to long of time.  Her, my sister, and myself went to Andy's ice cream, which was fantastic!  On the way home for some reason the topic of toiletries came up and how I needed to go to a store to buy a new razor, because my fascial hair was becoming strangely similar to one of the 12 apostles, hmmm.  Then all of a sudden my friend replies, "oh why don't you come over to my house we have boxes of razors."  Of course my reaction was, "ptsh okay why not?"  So we ended up driving over to her house and she took us up to a spare room and all of a sudden, it was Christmas morning all over again!  There were boxes full of men's and women's razors, and toothpaste.  The closet was over flowing with shampoos and skin care products, conditioner and body washes!  It was amazing, almost every toiletry item a man or woman can think of.  So we spent the next 30-45 minutes just rummaging through all the different brands and filling our grocery bags.  My only thought was, "Take that walgreens!  I'll never have to buy another razor again!"  I'm not going to lie I've never felt so stripped of my masculinity before as we all were laughing smelling all the different shampoos and hair products.  It was definitely a memorable experience, that I don't think I will ever forget.  Christmas comes twice this year  ;)