I’ve noticed a trend. People really like my staggered setup, multiple light group/team photos and it seems I’ve been asked to shoot them quite a bit lately, which is ok by me because they are fun to do. When Milwaukie’s coach called me up wanting to take a cool photo for the team, I said no problem. being a former Mustang myself, I always jump at the chance to shoot photos for my Alma Mater. Plus, they are literally 8 blocks from my studio, so the commute is good. :). When talking about setting aup a shoot time he mentioned they get done with practice at 7pm, which was perfect since sunset was 8pm. I thought it would be cool to shoot the photo away from the high school field and just a few blocks from the school (and my office) is a boat ramp/tiny little beach area along the Willamette River. I thought it would be perfect and it was. Again i used 4 Alien Bee lights and a couple of speedlights, using my now patented “gaff tape the crap out of the strobe and put it on the person’s back” method of getting light where I need it in the group. Here are a couple frames of the setup (that’s my stud intern Nick checking to make sure everything is firing):

I also video taped the whole shoot, Nick told me all the cool photographers video tape themselves and post it online and I want to be cool, so, once I figure out how to edit the video and such I’ll post it. Once again the Vagabond proved to be a true workhorse, firing all the lights without any problem. This time, I hard wired 3 of the lights together and fired three lights on one wizard, to free up pocket wizards for the speedlights. I need more pocket wizards!

After the team photo was done I pulled one of the seniors aside, he had booked with me to shoot his portraits next week, to make a cool photo of him for that. I basically used the same setup as the team photo, just had him stand close to the light I would use as a key and then by happy accident I got some nice fill from the other lights in the setup and it turned out nice. I’m happy.

I shot a group photo of a local law firm that will end up in Forbes Magazine. I didn’t want to take a boring group photo, so I was able to talk them into meeting me down at the Eastbank Esplanade to shoot against the city instead of in their office on SE Burnside. I wasn’t sure it was going to work out, when I talked with them a couple of days ago it didn’t sound like it was going to work, but when I arrived at the office today and was looking (unsuccessfully) for a place to shoot there, they said they were all for going to the river, so that was a huge relief for me. I setup 5 lights and my Alien Bee Vagabond was put to the test for sure. It worked like a champ, firing all the lights, most on full power, with no problem. Sure the recycle time was like 4 or 5 seconds, but when your on a boardwalk next to the river with no power in sight, you take what you can get.

These two areas are within 50 feet of each other, so I was able to get two pretty different looks in about 20-30 minutes, including moving all the gear and setting up in a new place. My intern Nick was the man, carrying two lights and a cart full of cases and getting everything set back up very quickly. Not quite sure which image I like better yet. What do you think?

Took a few photos of my baby boy this morning, this one is my favorite. I think he saying, “Hey chubby, if you take one more photo of me I’m gonna knock you out!”

It’s that time of year again, I’m shooting 5-6 seniors a week right now. That combined with 2 weddings a week in August and I’m staying super busy. Here are a couple from today that I really like. Click on the image to see a larger version.

You can now view my site easliy and quickly using your iPhone. Just point your browser to http://iphone.craigmitchelldyer.com. Get Directions to the studio, find me using google maps and view my portfolios on the go. Check it out. If you want to get your site in iPhone format, visit www.smallfolio.com.

Jenn and finally got rid of our crappy tmobile service and made the jump to the iPhone(s). What was I waiting for!!!! These things are awesome. I just downloaded the wordpress app and I’m testing it out on this post, from the phone, sweet!

More to come.

My little brother his first week in Iraq. Baghdad weather forecast for today: high of 114 low of 91. Hope your A/C works bro.

Last week my little brother calls and says, “Hey bro, going to Vegas next week.” So of course I clear my schedule and book a flight! Jenn and I met him and his girlfriend down there Tuesday and came back Wednesday, but not before visiting my favorite place to eat…….the Rum Jungle at Mandalay Bay. The place is a hopping night club with go-go dancers swinging from the ceiling on a trapeze after 11pm at night, waaaaay too cool for me, but before 11 its a restaurant and it is so good. Go there. Order the Fire Pit. It’s basically one of everything brought to you on a sword one by one, sample by sample, then you decide what you like and they bring you more until you can no longer eat. It’s pretty much awesome. Tiffany Brown met up with us for dinner and when all the girls got up to go to the bathroom together (why do they do that anyway?) I stole her 5D and did my best Tom Boyd impression while shooting this photo of the bar. I’m impressed with the 5D for sure, this is a 1600iso file shot at a 20th of a second (click the photo for a larger version). The Rum Jungle has something like 200 different types of Rum. We found a sweet deal at the Hard Rock for $89 and after dinner went back to the hotel and hit the blackjack tables, where Jenn and I quickly cleaned house and took the casino for $700! Then on Wednesday we rented a poolside cabana (the Hard Rock has the coolest pool in Vegas) and played some more Blackjack, only this time at the in pool Blackjack tables, so fun. Kevin leaves for Iraq on Saturday so it was good to hang out and party with him before he leaves. See you in 8 months Kev, stay safe!

Rough day….outside in the mountains on an herb farm with great scenery. I love this job. I can’t decide which of the flower shots I like better….let me know what you think.

A Bumble Bee takes flight from an Echinacea flower at Trout Lake Farms in Trout Lake, Wa on July 21, 2008.

Robin Loznak always makes great images of wildlife, I can never be as good, but while shooting at Trout Lake Farms near Mt. Adams today, I saw this bumble bee taking off and thought of all his cool images. Click on the image for a larger view.

More from Colorado, I want to go back.

Was doing a shoot the other day and looked up in the sky and thought this was halfway interesting. I mostly shot it for Jordyn, who loves the moon and airplanes.

The people over at PocketWizard liked my Beavers ring light photos and mentioned me on their blog yesterday (here). I thought that was pretty cool.

A few photos I like from a shoot in Old Town today.

I had a shoot in the studio yesterday so my sister took the kids to the bowling alley that I share a parking lot with. Jordyn loves bowling…well….she loves bowling on the Wii, averages a 190-200 on Wii Bowling, but gets very frustrated with real bowling sometimes. She doesn’t get why she can’t get a strike every roll. It’s kinda funny. Anyway, Milwaukie Bowl has this contraption that helps the little kids line up the shot and get some speed on the ball. She loved it and had a much better time, bowled a 70.

A couple of openings here at Mitchelldyer Photography World Headquarters:

Summer Intern:
I am now accepting applications for my summer internship program. It is unpaid, with the exception being I will pay $50 for short weddings (6 hours or less) and $75 for longer ones. The intern will learn a great deal about editorial photography, wedding photography, portraits, sports, deadlines, business, lighting, etc. I cover a very wide variety of things.

From my intern Kara last summer: “This experience has been invaluable…..I have gained so much from these past few months through watching you work and working with you….I learned a lot about lighting and I am glad you took the time to show me the work from the shoots and talk me through the why and how you got a certain look to the photograph…..even the boring day to day business work was helpful to see the way you handle clients, marketing, the many small aspects of the business that never occurred to me….”

To apply, simply email me a cover letter stating why you would like to work with me this summer, what you hope to learn, the kinds of photography you are most interested in, etc. Also if you have a link to your work it would be good to include that as well. I will be meeting with people in May. It requires about 10-20 hours a week and I am very flexible with your schedule, and the shoot schedule varies a great deal as well. Usually, its runs June-September but the dates are flexible depending on your schedule.

The ideal candidate is a college student with a strong desire to learn about many different areas of photography, most notably, wedding’s and editorial portraits. The student does not need to be a photography student per se, but it is helpful if you know the difference between f1.2 and f22.

Sales Person:
I am also looking for an energetic sales person in the studio. This would be a part-time position, pay depends on experience +commission. Duties include meeting with studio clients showing sessions on a projection screen, completing orders and selling studio products. Probably 10-15 hours a week depending on your availability and schedule. Opportunity for more hours as studio manager/producer for the right person. No photography experience needed. To apply please e-mail resume and cover letter.

Yesterday I shot the St. Baldricks event downtown. The event is a fundraiser for children’s cancer research. A great cause and a fun event. Here are a few frames I shot for the organization.

They packed the Barracuda club downtown and 300 or so people shaved their heads.

I shot this event last year as well, and shot a photo of this same kid shaving his sisters head.

I also setup the ring light photo booth which was pretty popular.

Tonight was Timber Jim’s last game. He has been the mascot for the Timbers since the 70’s. An amazing person and an icon in the city as far as soccer fans are concerned. I decided to try my hand at a little multimedia, gathering audio and shooting stills and then piecing it all together before leaving the park. Let me know what you think. I’m new to making audio slideshow’s and I have a lot to work on. This took about an hour or hour and half to mix the audio (which I am horrible at) and make the show.

I was assigned by a football magazine to go and shoot a spread of a cheerleader on the University of Oregon Campus yesterday. I had no idea what I was going to shoot until I got there, I was hoping for some sun and it was a great day in Eugene. Warm, slight wind, great light. So we just walked around the campus until I saw something that looked good for a photo. Here are a few of my favs.

I also learned that Comcast is shooting a reality TV show about the Oregon cheerleaders. They had tryouts yesterday (and the rest of the week) and had a film crew in tow. I guess it will be out this summer. Look for it.

I had never really walked around the actual UO campus much besides the sports venues, it’s a really nice campus, lots of cool old buildings mixed with new buildings, made for some great backdrops.

As I was shooting this photo with 3 lights, I noticed how good the modeling lights looked on her, so, I turned off the pocket wizard, opened up to f1.2 and just shot her under the modeling lights, which looks so much better than the strobed photo. Sometimes less is more.