Dave Daniel Photography

I had the fun opportunity for a collaborative shoot with newbie model Clairese at Muncie’s Minnestrista Center. It was an incredibly hot 90+ degree July afternoon, but the camera, strobes and people just kept on working perfectly. I always enjoy to shoot with models, as they are there to work and get results for the project, and Clairese was a tireless photo subject.

Later on in the afternoon, we took a quick run over to McCulloch park in Muncie, which boasts White River and some very old train bridges that made excellent backdrops for a large number of images. On this hot afternoon, the coolish waters were very refreshing. I’ll have a post with more of the location’s images later on.

I’m looking forward to the opportunity to shoot her again. Meanwhile, enjoy a small sampling of images from the shoot:

Thanks, Clairese

Surprises are nice. On a recent photo shoot with Muncie model Clairese, Hilary tagged along to learn more about the modeling, posing, and photography end of the process. It kept me busy in flipping shoots between subjects, but I hope you’ll agree the result was worth it.

Thanks, Hilary!

I’ve known Taylor for quite awhile, as she is the adopted parent of one of our Congo African Grey parrots. Among her other pet family members is her horse Arieat. Taylor has been riding for many years and now has Arieat as her own. The two are amazing to watch as they both have this giddy excitement once the riding gear comes out.

Taylor graciously obliged my request to shoot the two of them, and we coupled that with her need for a nice senior portrait set. After spending a couple of hours with them, I’ve found a new desire to shoot animals again. It’s extremely challenging as they have their own idea of what to do, along with being prodded by the errant fly biting their legs. But as you can see, the effort is well worth the effort:

Nothing is more fun than capturing pictures at a high school senior open house party, especially when the hot summer took a break, giving us a wonderful 80 degree day. Gracia asked me to take pictures of everyone at the party to put into a scrap book of the event. With a mix of portrait pics and candids, the day finished up with over 400 pictures to choose from. Here’s a very small sampling:

How can anyone not adore the beauty and innocence of a newborn baby? Katelyn was just home from the hospital, and we were honored to capture a few moments with her as she settled into her new environment.

Congratulations to Katelyn and her family!

I had the opportunity to do an enjoyable photo shoot with the Trimpe family this past weekend with some wonderful results. Originally intended as an outdoor shoot in wooded area, we had to move into a nearby business lobby due to Indiana’s great springtime rain. The lobby had a number of areas that made for some interesting photo settings.

Everyone was exceptionally fun to shoot with and ready with great attitudes. Enjoy the photos – click on any one of the following to go to a full gallery of images from the shoot.

Being a photo star is hard work

Here’s a recent set of shots of local Indianapolis model Yva at the new IUPUI Campus Center. I never know quite what to expect when I schedule a model shoot, especially when it’s scheduled on location, outside the controls of the studio.

• Will the model show?
• Will we connect to create exceptional images?
• What kind of light will we have?
• Will the weather cooperate?
• Can we take advantage of what the location has to offer?
• Will local security leave us alone?

Now, taking good shots is not technically that challenging, but it really helps when the model can deliver positive energy that is easy to capture. Yva certainly delivered.

Now, what about the items in our list, above?

Yes, the model showed – right on time, ready to work. After a brief sit-down to discuss our goals and what the shoot looked like, we moved to the first location. We shot the entire set in a new building on campus, and I had noticed a number of potential shot locations. The first was in a student lounge area flanked by a granite wall and water feature on one end, and a wall of windows on the other. A few warm-up shots, light tests, white balance benchmarks, and the shot count filled up rapidly.

The lighting was not what either of us had hoped for. This building is known for the light on a sunny day, but we had clouds and snow. Since we had to rely on artificial lighting, and I didn’t have permission for full-size studio strobes and boxes, I had to resort to my trusty speedlights and smaller, portable light boxes. The results were mostly predictable, with a little harshness to the lighting, even with indirect bounce light.

Yva delivered on creating a wide variety of quality poses and was an absolute joy to work with. She quickly adapted her poses to fit naturally with the location – they “worked” together. Looking at the image above demonstrates how well we were able to take advantage of the site. I hope you’ll agree with me that the afternoon shoot was a total success. Your critique is always welcomed.