When the Andersons called me from Colorado, they knew they wanted something a little bit different, and a little bit fun. they were coming down to Albuquerque, New Mexico for a family reuinion and wanted to capture the beautiful scenery but didn’t want the “same ole, same ole”.

So when it came time to talk about wardrobe, the first recommendation I made was, “So… I ‘m going to suggest you all NOT wear jeans and white button down shirts. You’re individuals! Celebrate your individuality and be spontaneous, celebrate your lives in color.” At first, my suggestion was met with silence on the other end of the telephone line, and then a quiet “that’s exactly what we were planning on wearing,” followed by a reluctant acceptance. Sure it’s true, I’ve endorsed and even recommended that families don the standard blue-jeans-white-shirt apparel that has become so prevalent these days with environmental portrait photography.

After the Andersons and I started our session at Elena Gallegos Park up in the NE Heights and they saw a few of the early previews in camera, mom turned to me and said, “You know, you’re right, I’m glad we went with the colors”. Without the stiff starch of the shirts and the near military uniformity of the group, I noticed that the family actually seemed more relaxed and able to enjoy themselves than perhaps they may have been had they been precisely matching. The girls were silly and playful and even dad and granddad were able to let down their hair or rather… brush back their hair, as evidenced in the photos…

As we wrapped up the photo shoot and started walking down the trail, we encountered another professional photographer walking in the other direction with a large family in tow, outfitted in dark blue jeans and black button down shirts, marching in a single file procession, almost painstakingly. Mom turned to me and mouthed a silent thank you.
You’re welcome Anderson family, you’re all, quite welcome – I had a great time!!

(click on thumbnail to view larger photo)

Rachel and Chris decided to get their engagement photos done not only in downtown Albuquerque (New Mexico), but over at the Rio Grande Bosque as well. We headed out about an hour before sunset and grabbed as many photos as possible. We had time for a few clothing changes and had a great time, walking around the city. I can’t wait until the end of August, I can already tell that their wedding day will be a great time had by all.

If you read any articles related to photography, all of the experts will tell you to avoid shooting during the noon hours, because of harsh sunlight. You can get around this by taking large strobes and “overpowering” the sun with them, or you can work with the sunlight and create some interesting shadows. We set out to do interesting shadows and I, only armed with a single flash wanted to see what kind of results I could yield. I think these turned out pretty darned good, although these don’t really fall within what I would call my typical style.

A couple of points about Alisia.

- We have a great working relationship. I can call her up any time and say, “hey, let’s go shoot” and she’ll be there. She’s very diverse, talented and knows how to work a camera. It helps that she thinks I’m funny, so it is easy to get her smiling and laughing through photos.
- I’ve decided that if I do any more work with Alisia (we have something scheduled for tomorrow), I’m going to create a special category for her on my blog.
- She’s really open minded. I wont ask her to do anything too outlandish or out of the ordinary, but she’s full of ideas and experience.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I’ve also discovered that I have some mixed feelings about some of the more popular Photoshop Actions that are so widely used around the web. I do like simple, clean images with clear and natural color (or simple black & white). Some color shifting can be fun, but there is a fine line between a little creativity and outlandish surreality.