Austin Family Portrait Photography with kids
Austin Family Portrait Photography with kids
Photographing an Austin Family Portrait with kids is very rewarding but comes with built in challenges. Managing a nice conversation with the clients while setting up a 12 foot backdrop and a 72 inch umbrella on a 300 WS Vision 4 strobe is not easy. Especially when there are 3 kids under the age of 7 wanting to play with the camera gear. But I let them play with it as long as it is secure because it makes them invested in the 2 minutes that we are going to be shooting.
I let the kids trigger the wireless light from the camera so they can watch it pop. That’s big fun for them. But my biggest tick in the bag is being sure my wife is there to help. While I am behind the camera pulling the trigger, she has Bert and Ernie puppets behind my back popping up over my shoulder to provide just one single flash of a smile. That’s all I need. Samantha is the queen of managing kids and parents and her always profusely sweating photographer husband Johnny.
Austin Family portrait with 3 kids
Architectural photography for new Student Housing in San Marcos
Architectural photography for new Student Housing in San Marcos
I was asked to provide some professional architectural photography for new Student Housing in San Marcos. The student apartments is called The Lyndon. It services Texas State University. One of the feature amenities is an amazing pool with a jumbotron TV system that really rocks. I love the portrait of LBJ in the entry of the great room. My client was Berkadia out of Philadelphia, and the current management of the property is by Asset Campus Housing out of Houston.
Aerial drone Pool Exterior and Jumbotron at The Lyndon Architectural photography in San Marcos by Johnny Stevens
The Lyndon Architectural photography in San Marcos by Johnny Stevens
Architectural photography for RollFab
Architectural photography for RollFab
I was recently asked to do some Architectural photography for RollFab in Austin. They are based in Phoenix. RollFab makes metal panels that look like wood. They offer a full line of the highest quality metal roofing systems, siding and metal wall panels for architectural, commercial, industrial, and residential projects of every kind. Architects, contractors and installers appreciate the quality service from their professional staff. They are ready to answer any question, and help devise custom solutions to individual project needs. This project is located at the Village at the Triangle in Austin. It is pretty cool stuff so I thought it would be nice to toss in a few drone shots of the building too because actually getting up an additional 15 feet higher was very helpful in showing the vertical side panels of the RollFab product on the building.
Architectural photography in Austin for RollFab
RollFab products installed at Village at Triangle architectural photography Austin
Aerial Drone Architectural Photography
Aerial Drone Architectural Photography
I was asked by an architect named Humphreys & Partners Architects who have offices in the US, Vietnam, China and Uruguay, to photograph some twilight aerial drone architectural photographs of a property in Austin, called ThinkEast Austin. Student Housing photography is my main forte so this apartment complex was a familiar project. As a professional architectural photographer in Austin I have learned that the drone is my best friend. Just to be elevated 10 to 15 feet to photograph a structure can make all the difference. The rain had just ended and I launched the DJI Mavic Pro in pretty heavy wind. Getting a fast enough shutter speed with the lowest possible ISO is always the challenge when shooting in the dark. You cannot shoot from a drone with a shutter speed higher than 1/30 especially if it is windy. My ISO was pumped up to 1000 but it worked out well after I did my adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw. The lighting on the building was not very attractive so I had to create my own light in Photoshop. I had to push and pull the shadows, highlights and white quite a bit to get a nice looking final image. Here is the before and after.
Aerial architectural photo with Mavic Pro Austin AFTER editing
ThinkEast Drone architectural photo before editing
Family Portrait in Zilker Botanical Gardens
I was recently asked to help with a family portrait in Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin. I was a anxious as there were 11 members of the family and 4 of those were kids under the age of 5. Fortunately I had my wife Samantha available to entertain kids and goof around behind the camera to get them to smile. But it worked out. In Photoshop, I had to replace only 5 heads in the group with other shots. I was really happy with the background textures in the Botanical Gardens!
This is what the client wrote on Google reviews:
I was looking for a photographer for a family photo and found Johnny online. I didn’t think that most of the other sites with wedding photos would be really relevant to what I was looking for. I liked Johnny’s portfolio of family pictures. I also figured that since he had heavy commercial experience, he would be a pro. I figured correctly. He did a great job on an extended family of 11 in an outdoor setting. He was also great to work with, very easy-going and flexible. His wife also helped out at the shoot, coaxing cooperation from 4 grandkids under 5. I thought I might have to resort to serious bribery but didn’t have to. Finally, his prices were very reasonable. I really appreciate his efforts and the results and would highly recommend him to anyone.
Family portrait in Zilker Botanical Gardens in the jurrasic area
Testing the Crop loss with Canon TS-E 17mm lens on Canon Mark iii versus on the Sony A7R with Matabones V adapter
Testing the Crop loss on with Canon TS-E 17mm lens on Canon Mark iii
and on the Sony A7R
The Canon 5D Mark iii with TS-E 17 mm tilt shift lens professional photographer austin
My buddy Marc Swendner and I got the idea of testing the focal Canon TS-E 17mm tilt shift lens on both my Canon Mark iii and with his new Sony A7R with the Metabones V adapter ring. Both of us shoot architectural photography and since he bought the new Sony A7R he wanted to see if the new Sony camera would support the TS-E 17 mm tilt shift lens that we both depend on for our work. This 17 mm tilt shift lens is absolutely the cats meow because it is dead on sharp and it allows us to control the perspective of our interior and exterior photographs. Our hopes were that the Sony AR7 could deliver the same focal width with the adapter ring on it. Here are the results. The adapter ring on the Sony does crop the image significantly. It renders the TS-E 17 mm lens to be equivalent to about a 26 mm lens after the crop effect.
Austin photographers Johnny Stevens and Marc Swendner testing the TS-E tilt shift 17 mm lens with the Canon and the Sony
The Sony AR7 with adapter ring
Image from the Canon 5 D Mark 3 with 17mm tilt shift lens Johnny Stevens photography
Image from the Sony AR7 with Metabones V adapter ring on the 17mm tilt shift lens Marc Swendner photography
Painting installation for Laurel Daniel
Painting installation for Laurel Daniel
I recently drove to Houston to shoot a painting installation for Laurel Daniel who was commissioned by Methodist Hospital to paint three large canvases to be installed in their corridors of the new North Tower. Here is a little about Laurel:
The Paintings:
“Roses in Hermann Park” (mother and son, red roses)
“Bayou Bend Pathway”
(Man and woman, pink azaleas)
“Tunnel of Trees”
(Father and son, tree tunnel)
All are scenes of Houston.
All are oil on canvas. all are 56″ x 120″ (Essentially 5′ x 10′)
Laurel Daniel installation of “Bayou Bend Pathway” at Memorial Hospital Houston corridor shot photographed by Johnny Stevens Austin architectural photographer
Laurel Daniel installation of “Tunnel of Trees” at Memorial Hospital Houston corridor shot photographed by Johnny Stevens Austin architectural photographer
Laurel Daniel installation of “Tunnel of Trees” at Memorial Hospital Houston corridor shot photographed by Johnny Stevens Austin architectural photographer
Laurel Daniel installation of “Tunnel of Trees” at Memorial Hospital Houston close shot photographed by Johnny Stevens Austin architectural photographer
Laurel Daniel installation of “Tunnel of Trees” at Memorial Hospital Houston elevation shot photographed by Johnny Stevens Austin architectural photographer
Laurel Daniel installation of “Bayou Bend Pathway” at Memorial Hospital Houston close up photographed by Johnny Stevens Austin architectural photographer
Laurel Daniel installation of “Bayou Bend Pathway” at Memorial Hospital Houston elevation shot photographed by Johnny Stevens Austin architectural photographer
Laurel Daniel installation of “Roses in Hermann Park” corridor shot at Memorial Hospital Houston photographed by Johnny Stevens Austin architectural photographer
Laurel Daniel installation of “Roses in Hermann Park” at Memorial Hospital Houston photographed by Johnny Stevens Austin architectural photographer
Laurel Daniel installation of “Roses in Hermann Park” elevation shot at Memorial Hospital Houston photographed by Johnny Stevens Austin architectural photographer
Rust Rapture Collection
Rust Rapture Collection
I am starting to post some of my Rust Rapture Collection which is culled from 8 years of shooting Rat Rods (Old vintage hot rods whose exteriors have been left to the demise of mother nature…) “TENACITY” is one of my first and favorites. It is a 1938 Buick drivers door panel and door hinge. I have found several facebook groups who are interested in this same kind of work. They are RUST Avant*Garde, Rust Art and Rusted Art. This one is hanging on the kitchen wall of my brother in law and sister in Winston-Salem.
Fine art photograph TENACITY – 1938 Buick rat rod Drivers Door Hinge
Fun Family Portrait with 3 kids
Fun family portrait with 3 kids
This was a fun family portrait with 3 kids. But first you have to let the children play. This playground was exceptional for entertainment and it offered several nice scenes for a family portrait. This first one is my favorite because the kids were the focal point and the starts of the shot. That always make shooting kids easier – when it is about them! This portrait was lit with my 2 Vision4 strobes and my Canon Mark III camera.
Shelton Family family portrait Austin at playground
Shelton Family family portrait Austin at playground
Arm-R-Lite photoshoot
Arm-R-Lite door installation at new Starbucks interior
Arm-R-Lite door installation at new Starbucks
Arm-R-Lite photoshoot
I was just recently asked by a company in Minnesota that manufactures rock solid commercial doors.
Arm-R-Lite is a leading manufacturer of commercial overhead sectional doors and commercial roll-up doors. Each one of our commercial garage doors is built to withstand the daily rigors of the most demanding installations. Arm-R-Lite doors have been installed on firehouses, artist studios, corporate buildings, restaurants , car washes, car care centers, gas stations, dealerships, museums, marinas, private homes, and countless unique applications.
This commercial photo shoot was different because for several of the shots I used my new Neewer Vision 4 battery powered strobe lights and had to shoot into the glass with them. I could avoid the glare by carefully considering the angle that I directed the lights.
The location of the door installation was the new Starbucks at Barton Springs and Lamar.
