GTB Studio Session

Couple weeks ago George from Groove Time Band gave me a call wanting to schedule some studio time for the band. This past Tuesday they all piled in my tiny little place!

Here are two of my favorites!





These guys are always a blast to work with - was good to see everyone relaxing for a change!!!

-Rick O

Brody's 1st Birthday

I had the distinct pleasure this past Sunday to document Brody's very first birthday party! It was a blast, there were so many adorable 1, 2 and 3 year old's running around I couldn't stop shooting!

The rain held out this past Sunday, at least between the hours of 1-3, which was a great thing considering the party was outside!

Here are a couple of my favorites from Brody's Birthday Bash starting with a cute little moment between Mother & Son!



This little guy is just so adorable!



A little balloon action with Brody hanging on!



This totally adorable girl has to have a serious crush on Brody, she followed him everywhere all day!



Next few shots are just some great portrait-like shots of the cutest little kids - I selected them for the blog because they look so messy and just totally cute!





I think in this next shot she is a little upset because Brody wasn't around, you can see the disappointment in her face... :(



And look at the way she looks at him in this next image, incredible!



Brody it was great seeing you as well as your Mom and Dad again!

-Rick O

Little M at Gulf Beach

On Saturday morning I did a little session with Madelaine and her daughter Meilani at Gulf Beach! She had more energy than a nuclear power plant and I think finally after running up and down the pier she tired out for a short time and I was able to get a few shots in :)

Here are a couple of my favorites!



Totally cute here doing her own thing - I think she was camera shy!



I liked this in color too, but really am digging it in B&W, the wind blowing through her hair and she seems to be in her own little world.



I really like Mom's hand in this with Meilani just holding onto her finger!



-Rick O

R. Patryce Bryant - I'll Trust

Last Saturday I had the very unexpected (last minute) opportunity to cover Miss Bryant's CD release party. She literally called me Friday and I happened to have a cancellation, so I was there on Sat.

I wanted to spend a good 15-20 minutes prior to her sound check to get some decent portrait shots outside, but I was only able to squeeze 7 or so minutes of her time! What a 7 minutes it was too!!! Bam Bam Bam - felt like Emeril there for a bit!

I was absolutely blown away by her voice and her lungs, I mean the sound check gave me goosebumps even if it was the same 8 bars over and over, but, she is obviously a perfectionist and when she went on later that evening - she nailed it as did the band.

Patryce I wish you all the luck with your new CD and stay grounded as you are and I think all of your hard work and devotion will definitely pay off...

This image was one of the first I took that evening, I just saw that reserved row sign and had to do something with it!



Here are some of the images from our 7-minute-shoot-out! This image just shows how peaceful this wonderfully talented woman is.. I didn't know her personality all that well at this point, so was being on my best professional behavior!



I saw this fence, and had to use it as a prop, in several images actually. The look on her face here had me confused at first (she's giving me that "what in the world is wrong with this guy look")



But that look only lasted a minute when she made some silly comment and cracked herself up!



Of course, without a doubt I needed to shoot her through the fence as well!



Patryce it was a pleasure working with you!!!

-Rick O

Jared James

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to do a session with Jared. He needed some photos for his new website launch which will be happening soon.

The session was mostly a chroma key session - the most ugliest lime green background humanly available. Those who remember the 70's well, I am sure you had a shag carpet that closely resembled the color, just to give you an idea!

He was a regular super-star and I think after the session and reviewing the photos he realized he has a better side :)

Here are a couple from the session.







It was great working with you Jared... Look forward to your upcoming website launch!

-Rick O

The Art Teacher!

Yesterday I had the privilege to shoot Ms. Lynn at her home in Newtown! She wanted a few head shots with a back-drop - but you know me, I try to get away from that as much as possible, and I must say I really liked the results of some of the less studio-like shots.

Lynn was telling me all about her Pentax SLR and she had some incredible B&W photos hanging through-out her home - she is an awesome photographer - guess it goes hand in hand with her being an art teacher!

She had three wonderful Siamese cats too!

Here are a couple of my favorites!







This next shot reminds me of some of my teachers expressions when I was in school - that serious look where you don't know if you're in trouble or if you just did something really impressive!!!



-Rick O

Miss Kate!

Had a little session on Sunday with this wonderful young lady Kate! She was saying that she got a Wii for Christmas and her arms were a little sore from playing tennis, but she was a trooper!

This one image showed Katie's complete personality so I had to go with this one for the blog!



-Rick O

In Front of the Camera (Scary!)

Okay so I was getting ready for a session this afternoon and needed a body - so I had to use my own, gosh this is why I am behind the camera, lucky for me I have some good glass and nothing broke.

Anyways I was going for some dramatic lighting and I was really pleased with the results...





I make for such a terrible subject! LMAO

For the super five star over the top studio setup for these two shots - check out this mess! The chair is purposely on its side (patio furniture came in handy) for creating the blue streaks on the backdrop.



-Rick O

A Little Newborn Elf!

Okay, its Friday night, snow started pounding down here around 11:30 this morning and lucky for me I was home by noon :) Christmas is just 6 days away and I'm sure everyone has been running around like mad getting all of that last minute shopping done!!!

On Sunday, I was once again sequestered by Kristin & Travis to get a little Christmas cheer photo session going. This was the third time I have been there this year - that is so awesome! If anyone reading this has been to Monroe, NY - you definitely know there are some serious outlets up there, and Kris & Trav kinda live, like, right there - I happened to make a wrong turn this time and ended up feeling like a mouse in a maze - people were absolutely crazy in that parking lot!!!

It was a great time as always, and here are a few of my favs... Starting with Tiny Travis who had the whole Santa / Elf hat thing going on!



Mom, Dad and the little one - check out them cheeks!





I really feel bad for certain animals sometimes - the things their owners do to them just blows my mind!!! LOL - Ya gotta love Kris' sense of humor!



Poor Jack - he is smiling here but he wasn't smiling a bit later - poor little fella got so sick - poor Oriental rug too!



Lil Trav is just so chunky - look at those arms - :)



I really loved this shot of Mom and Dad!



This has to be one of my favorites... Niccoh (sp) and Sparky just hanging out on the stairs!



I had a great time guys - I hope you and your entire family have a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic new year...

-Rick O

They went to Jared!

Jared James that is! Okay that was probably a little lame, but definitely dorkish enough for me!

On Monday evening I had the opportunity to shoot Jared, Ronnette, Grayson again and this little guy Noah has been around for just a couple of weeks. It was an exciting evening for everyone - I mean how could it not be with Grayson who is just around 2 and is just packed with energy! He helped me press the shutter for a couple of pictures of just Mom and Dad.

While I was getting my lighting set up little Grayson came over to the camera and put his face right up to the lens (a bit to close to focus) so I just laid on my back and took this first shot!



Their little pooch was such a super star, when I started taking the family portrait he just went up next to mom and sat there the entire time, I could not believe it! He/She was so cute I had to grab a shot.



Near the end of the evening while I was packing up, Grayson seemed to be losing energy fast, so he just kept plopping himself down.



These next two shots are just great, truly show the bond between Daddy (Jared) and baby Noah.



The expression in Jared's eyes says it all.



A cute one of Mom having a moment with Noah or thinking please don't keep me up tonight!!



Who would have thought of all the things in the world that would keep a little two year old busy as could be would be a cup full of ice! For those of you with a two year old, ya may wanna try this, it worked like magic...



At one point while Mom was feeding, Jared and Grayson got into a little tickling match, I was there just in time!



Finally a little close up shot of baby Noah!!!



It was a truly great time guys, you have been blessed with two beautiful Angels...

-Rick O

Triple D's in the Falling Snow!

Okay, the title! Trying to increase my web presence - that ought to do it, but I actually had the pleasure of doing a lil Christmas session with Dan, Diane and Dana!! Alas the three D's!

Diane had seen some of the images from Kerry & Joe's e-shoot and they thought it would be a great setting for some photos of their little angel Dana, who by the way is nicknamed Bugsy!!

So this past Sunday I traveled to Southford Falls in Southbury, it had just snowed the night before, I had two pair of socks on, a t-shirt, a mock turtle neck, another shirt and finally a sweatshirt :) My toes were still cold!!! It was a great session, the snow was falling down and every once in a while a big gush of wind would knock a chunk of snow on us, Miss Bugsy is learning quickly, she wanted her Dad to go first (smart little one)

Here are some of my favs from Sunday... Here Miss Bugsy was hanging on to this huge snow ball she made - you could see from the look in her eyes she was wanting to toss that thing at Daddy!



She was very cooperative during the session - I couldn't believe how much she has grown since last year when Dad wanted to surprise mom for Christmas with some photos of their daughter.





This next shot I was totally lovin - just the way her head was tilted, the expression on her face, it was great!





I asked her to look up a little and over - she went to the extreme but it was perfect it really detailed her eyes and lashes and can't forget about them charming snowman earrings!



It was fun guys - it was nice finally meeting you Diane!

-Rick O