Dramatic Model Portraits // Chicago // Mark Brouwer

My series in dramatic portraiture continues with Mark Brouwer - a model from Chicago with comedy and acting skills. So imagine this session: photography, laughter, fun conversation, and music - life is really good when these elements come together. Mark was fun to work with - he kept things lively, and I appreciate that. I am typically the one making sure everyone is laughing at my photo shoots. So having Mark contribute to the liveliness that day was really fun.

I wanted to create some dark images with Mark. I asked if he could bring clothing that would work well with the "dark" themed photo shoot, which led to a conversation about what I meant by "dark". He mentioned that he had a dark green trench coat. Perfect. The trench coat ended up looking great on screen. I also wanted the lighting to be more harsh than with my previous dramatic shoots. I made sure to stay away from softboxes and only used gridspots and bare-bulbs on my strobes.

You can check out photos from previous model photo shoots: Camille Kurowski, Debra Lopez, and Ankita Baxti.

Here are a few of my favorite images from our photo shoot with Mark. The final composite images will be on a new blog post soon:

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Behind The Scenes

My many thanks to Mark for his professionalism and humor! I hope you have an amazing career in modeling and acting. You rock dude! And a super thank you to my amazing wife, Christina, for being so supportive, for doing a great job on Mark's hair, and for rocking out the Flip Mino HD. Thanks babe!

The Set-Up

Nikon D700 - Shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens

Alien Bee 400ws (5 strobes)

Medium Softbox (2)

22" Beauty Dish

Pocket Wizard (2)

13" MacBook

Sofortbild - For shooting tethered to my MacBook. It's free for Nikon shooters!

Lightroom 2 - For exposure and color adjustments

Photoshop CS4 - For all major retouching and background removal

Rock On! info [at] ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way:

Dramatic Model Portraits // Chicago // Ankita Baxi

My series in dramatic portraiture continues with Ankita Baxi. I was very excited about working with Ankita. She has done a lot of modeling photo shoots here in the States and in India. Her energy and enthusiasm was very encouraging and made for some pretty cool photos. Ankita's communication skills also added to the great experience - she was very prompt and concise in answering all of my questions and even throwing in a few of her own. I love that. She is a pro and it was a lot of fun working with her. You can see photos from the previous photo shoots with Camille here and with Debra here.

Here are a few of my favorite images from our photo shoot with Ankita. The final composite images will be on a new blog post soon:

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Behind The Scenes

My many thanks to Ankita! I hope you have an amazing and long career in this industry. Have a great time in Los Angeles. You rock! I also want to thank Gary Middendorf for his assistance, video skills, and ideas. And of course a super thank you to my wife, Christina, for being so supportive and for doing a great job on Ankita's hair. Thanks guys!

The Set-Up

Nikon D700 - Shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens

Alien Bee 400ws (5 strobes)

Medium Softbox (2)

22" Beauty Dish

Pocket Wizard (2)

Lightroom 2 - For exposure and color adjustments

Photoshop CS4 - For all major retouching and background removal

13" MacBook

Sofortbild - For shooting tethered to my MacBook. It's free for Nikon shooters!

Rock On! info [at] ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: Talking about the shoot in advance with Ankita was HUGE. I felt like Ankita and I were on the same page before she showed up at my home-studio. That was great because I was able to communicate better and express some ideas a lot clearer.

Divine Expressions Ministry // North Park Event Photography

I love the work of Joe McNally, specifically his work with professional dancers. I love how he captures the dancers' grace, elegance, and expressions. Dancers poses a control over their body that most of us just don't have any idea about, self totally included. I was honored to photograph Divine Expression Ministries graduation ceremony a few weeks back at the beautiful North Park College. I was very excited to work with DEM for many reasons, one being that I would be able to capture their dancers in action. I was also very encouraged by the type of organization DEM is and I appreciate what they are about. It was great being able to walk around and capture the tension and nervousness that comes with such an important event. All went very well and ended up being a lot of fun being there and meeting so many great people. The band they had performing that night was AMAZING!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the DEM graduation at North Park College:

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My many thanks to Wendy Matthews, DEM's HR & Admin extraordinaire. I hope to work with you all again!

The Set-Up

Nikon D700 - Shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens

Nikon 50mm f/1.4

Nikon SB-800 without dome diffuser

Tokina 12-24mm f/4

Rock On! info[at]ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: Be ready for challenging shooting situations. Get your exposures down before the performances begin and get a good feel for the room you are about to shoot in. Knowing the best ISO, shutter speed, and f/stop combo before the action starts is huge.

Dramatic Portraits // Chicago // Debra Lopez

So my series in dramatic portraits continues with Debra Lopez, a very talented model and actress from Madison, Wisconsin. Working with Debra (and her husband - pics coming soon) was great for many reasons: she is a very talented and professional model, she was very enthusiastic about this shoot (which pumped me up), and she had a great sense of wardrobe and looks that made photographing her a lot of fun. We ended up capturing some really fun and amazing frames during our 2 hours photo shoot. I love these kind of shoots because we get so many ideas going that it is hard to stop shooting. My wife set out some snacks and drinks, which we ended up maxing out! Pedro (Deb's husband), Gary, and I even chatted a bit about football and Peyton Manning. Photography, beautiful models, food, and sports - does life get any better than that? The answer is NO.

Hey, you can check out a very funny short film called "Spin Cycle" Debra starred in here. Her character is so mean :)

Here are a few of my favorite images from our photo shoot. The final composite images will be on a new blog post soon:

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Behind The Scenes

My many thanks to Debra! You and Pedro made this shoot a blast, and I appreciate your willingness to travel into Chicago. You rock! I also want to thank Gary Middendorf for his assistance and ideas. It is always so cool working with a fellow photographer. And of course a super thank you to my wife, Christina, for being so supportive and for doing a great job on Deb's hair. Thanks guys!

The Set-Up

Nikon D700 - Shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens

Alien Bee 400ws (5 strobes)

Medium Softbox (2)

22" Beauty Dish

Pocket Wizard (2)

Lightroom 2 - For exposure and color adjustments

Photoshop CS4 - For all major retouching and background removal

13" MacBook

Sofortbild - For shooting tethered to my MacBook. It's free for Nikon shooters!

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: Talking with Debra about her wardrobe was key. Not having the right wardrobe would have made this shoot boring and flat. It's all about communication.

My Little Ballerina! Chicago Toddler Portraits

My daughter is a part of every photo shoot that I do. She is a) either entertainment for the models, b) a testing "assistant" while I adjust my lights, or c) just a innocent bystander while I shoot. Whatever she is, I am glad that she is there to watch me work. These portraits came after my model was done with her Dramatic Portraits. Jocelyn came in with her tutu ready to be photographed, and I am not to shy away from a portrait session opportunity. Plus, I love photographing children, especially when it is my kid.

Here are a few of my favorites from Jocelyn's impromptu portrait session:

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Set-Up

Nikon D90 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Alien Bee 400 strobe with 22" Beauty Dish

Pocket Wizards (2)

White seamless for backdrop

Adobe Lightroom 2 for editing

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: Be ready for impromptu shoots. I was getting ready to pack up my gear when Jocelyn came in dancing and wanting to be photographed. I was tired and ready to stop, but I could not pass up taking a few frames of what I knew would be a memorable portrait session with my daughter.

Dramatic Portraits // Headshots // Camille Kurowski

I was really excited about Camille's photo shoot. She is a very professional, beautiful, and enthusiastic model and I am very grateful to have worked with her. She came in ready to deliver a great performance and that she did. It is always such a treat to work with others that are just as passionate about this art form as I am. This photo shoot was going to be a bit different than what I am used to. First: it is the first shoot in a series (yes, more photos coming very soon) of dramatic portraits and model headshots. I have never done a series like this before, so this was new ground for me. Second: it was going to involve a lot of post-production (Photoshop) work, of which I am used to. The end result of this shoot is to create a composite image with a completely new background and a more dramatic feel. I will be posting the final images soon.

This headshot/portrait session was intended to be more artistic in nature and so all of the pieces had to work well together: a great model, a specific type of lighting set-up, great hair and make-up, energy, and me not messing it up :)

It was great having my amazing hairstylist wife there and my talented brother-in-law (a very talented sports photographer) there to assist.

Here are a few images from our shoot. The final composite images will be on a new blog post soon:

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Behind The Scenes

My many thanks to Camille! You made this shoot so much fun. I also want to thank Gary Middendorf for his assistance and ideas. And a super thank you to my wife, Christina, for being so supportive and for doing a great job on Camille's hair. Thanks guys!

The Set-Up

Nikon D700 - Shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens

Tokina 14-24mm f/4 lens

Alien Bee 400ws (5 strobes)

Medium Softbox (2)

22" Beauty Dish

Pocket Wizard (2)

Lightroom 2 - For exposure and color adjustments

Photoshop CS4 - For all major retouching and background removal

13" MacBook

Sofortbild - For shooting tethered to my MacBook. It's free for Nikon shooters!

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: It was great sketching out pose ideas and lighting ideas before the shoot. I was also able to do some test shots before Camille ever came over.

Chicago Help-Portrait - Spreading Some Love With Portraits

The Help-Portrait experience was truly amazing. I am so grateful to Jeremy Cowart and his crew for having an idea about giving and making it happen. Because of the them a great community of photographers banded together to bring smiles to people that otherwise might not have smiled the day they were photographed. I am not posting images of the families that we served on Sunday (12.20.09), as that is not the reason to participate in Help-Portrait. We all helped out to give back and not to promote our work. But I do want to show off all of the other photographers, make-up artist, and hair stylists that helped out. They were all amazing and brought their unique talents to the Help-Portrait photo shoot. What an amazing group of people!

Help Portrait Chicago from Delack Media on Vimeo.

I want to thank everyone that made this day so memorable and special:

Hinojosa Photography - Veronica, you made so much happen that it is hard to imagine this event going so smoothly without you. I am so glad that Milo and your kiddos were there to help. They were amazing!

Jaclyn Simpson - Jaclyn, your awesome Lightroom editing and printing skills were impressive. Thanks for being so giving and such a joy to work with.

EB Creative Photography - Elisa, your studio set-up and knowledge was so rocking. The images you, Jaclyn, and Veronica made were so cool. It was awesome working together. And many thanks to your clients for their donations. Thanks!

Todd James Photography - Todd, my many thanks for making sure that the photos were edited and printed properly. It was a joy working with you. I hope we work together again soon!

Delack Media Group - Nathan, your video skills are impressive to say the least. You were so cool to be around and to work with. Thanks for the final video and the frames!!!

Emotia - Ray, thanks for your support and for your video skills. I look forward to seeing what you shot that day. Having you around was such an encouragement.

Starlight Makeup - Lillian, you were the star of the show in my humble opinion. You were the sole makeup artist and you made EVERYONE look so beautiful. So truly ROCK!

Tanya, Mona, Angela and Sam: you were all so great and made everyones hair look amazing. I was so surprised/impressed to see you all giving actual haircuts! Such great hearts. Angela and Sam, Please pass along my "thanks" to the Paul Mitchell School.

Set-Up

Nikon D700 and Canon 5D MK II - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8

White Seamless Paper (2)

Alien Bee Strobes with Medium Softboxes

Pocket Wizards (4)

Adobe Lightroom 2 for editing and Printing

Epson Photo Stylus 1400

Flip Mino HD for video

iMovie for editing and exporting for web

Little Village Boys & Girls Club 2801 S. Ridgeway Chicago, IL. 60623

Paul Mitchell the School Chicago 1225 South Halsted Street Chicago, IL 60607-5025 (312) 733-9285

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: It really is better to give than to receive. I plan on giving more this year than ever before.

Sam the Handsome! Huntley Baby Portraits

I love baby Sam for many reasons. One is that he is just so darn cute (his head makes a perfect circle)! Another reason is that he was such a pleasure to photograph (I love baby photos). He also has this very cool and calming attitude about him that makes him even more lovable. But the main reason I love him is that he is my nephew, my youngest baby nephew. I love photographing my family, even if it means traveling to Huntley, Orland Park, or Merrionette Park. I do my best and make sure that my nieces and nephews are photographed because they will never look the same. They grow up so darn fast. Here are a few of my favorite Sam portraits:

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Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Tokina 12-24mm f/4.0

Nikon SB-800 fitted with an umbrella for background

Alien Bee strobe with medium softbox

Pocket Wizards (2)

White sheet for backdrop

Adobe Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS3 for editing

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: Always be careful when shooting babies. I always have the parent sit right next to the child as I photograph them. The final image you see is a composite of 2 images. The one with the baby originally had the mother right next to him. Then I photographed the background without the baby and then combined them in Photoshop.

Chicago Polar Bear Club - 2010 Polar Bear Swim Photos

So what the heck is a wedding and family portrait photographer doing shooting the Chicago Polar Bear Swim of 2010? The only answer I can think of is that I am both a lover of photography and a little bit crazy. This polar swim is becoming a yearly ritual for me. It all started last year when I went down to North Ave Beach on March of 2009. I was not sure why I was there. It was cold. I was without friends. I had no coffee. All I had was my camera and a crazy idea that I would get some cool photos of a few brave and shivering people. I ended up having a blast and vowed to return this year.

This time I was warm and ready with some coffee and a few of my photog friends. I was also there cheering on my best friend David Fowlie. What a brave and cold soul. I had a blast and cannot wait to do it again in March. You can get more info about the Chicago Polar Plunge here. You can check out some of Gary Middendorf's (my brother-in-law) photos here.

Here are a handful of my favorite shots from the 2010 Polar Swim. Please remember, it was 19 degrees outside:

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Chicago Polar Club Swim 2010 from Otto Rascon on Vimeo.

Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

A lot of layers!!!

Adobe Lightroom 2 for editing

Flip Mino HD for video

iMovie for editing and exporting for web

North Avenue Beach 1000 North Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL 60611 (312) 742-5121

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: It would have been nice to have had my 400mm lens today. I then could have captured more facial expressions. Lesson learned: bring my lenses!!!

Happy Holidays From The Rascon Family

Happy holidays guys! I know we are all getting ready to celebrate with friends and family, so thanks for stopping by my blog. What are some things you are all doing for the holidays?

I am look forward to a few things like hanging out with my family and watching some movies. I am just about done with my Family DVD slide-show I do every year. So I am pretty darn excited about finishing that and giving it to my family on Christmas. I also just got a Play Station 3, so there will be some HD viewing this holiday season at my house.

I hope that you all have a fun time and make some amazing memories over the next week. Peace and see you soon!

Here are a few outtakes from the shoot:

Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 (I love this lens)

Alien Bee strobe with medium softbox

Pocket Wizards (2)

White sweep with 2 lights pointed to it

Adobe Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS3 for editing

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: I am a big fan of holiday music. I especially like KT Tunstall's Christmas CD. Check it out!

Family Portrait Fun - The Espinoza Family

I LOVE it when families make the time to take portraits. I guess I feel that way because my family never made the time to do so. I cannot look back at a time when my family was together and when my siblings and I were younger. That's kind of a bummer. As a parent I now understand how it can be difficult, and even frustrating, to make the time and get everyone ready to go out and take family pictures. But family portraits are important to our lives, they are an important part in our histories. Think about this: never again will this couple (whose photos you are about to see) look the same, nor will their children. Their likeness have been captured in time. They can look at these photos later in their lives and reminisce about how young everyone was and how beautiful they all looked. That is pretty cool and almost magical.

Here are a few of my favorites from this session:

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My HUGE thanks to the Espinoza family for coming in all the way from Rogers Park. They looked great and were so much fun to spend time with. Their little ones are SO cute! You guys rock!

Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 (I love this lens)

Alien Bee strobe with medium softbox

Pocket Wizards (2)

White sweep with 2 lights pointed to it

Adobe Lightroom 2 for editing

A lot of energy to keep up with the 2 kiddos :)

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: Make sure that only one parent is communicating with the kids during the session, or even just your assistant. Having both parents talk and make noises can be too much, both for the kids and for the photographer :)

Hattie the Cuttie - Chicago Baby Portraits

I was really pumped for this baby portrait session. You see, my wife and I are great friends with Hattie's parents. I have photographed their little Henry before. We were so excited to hear the news when they told us they were pregnant! My wife and I were both like "No way! Congrats! I hope you guys have a girl!" Well, I wanted them to have a baby girl. They already had a boy, so a girl would bring balance to their family :)

Here are a few of my favorite portraits of the new born shoot:

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Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Nikon 50mm f/1.4

Alien Bee strobe with medium softbox

Pocket Wizards (2)

White sweep with natural light

Adobe Lightroom 2 for editing

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: The power of the strobe was beginning to make little Hattie fidget, so I decided to only use the modeling lamp of the strobe to get a handful of images. I switched to my 50mm f/1.4 lens and went to town :)

Belden Stratford Family Portraits - The Adelman Family

I photographed a very fun event earlier this year for NIPRA. I was so excited to help out NIPRA and to meet Alpana Sing, who was the hostess for the event. I was eager to meet new people as well, all while sipping on some really yummy wine mind you. I met the Adelman family through a friend of theirs that attended the NIPRA event. Marc contacted me about photographing his parents 50th Anniversary and the rest is history. The Adelman family decided on taking the family portraits at the beautiful Belden Stratford because that is where the parents were married 50 years ago! That is awesome. I had a fantastic time meeting and photographing The Adelman family. They had so much warmth and laughter that it made my day seeing them all interact. Here are a few photos of that family portrait session:

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My many thanks to the Adelman family for inviting me into their lives and allowing me to capture such an important day in their families history. Thank you!

The Belden Stratford 2300 Lincoln Park West Chicago, Illinois 60614 773-281-2900

Mon Ami Gabi 2300 N. Lincoln Park West Chicago, IL 60614 773.348.8886

Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Tokina 12-24mm f/4.0

Alien Bee strobes (2)

Pocket Wizards (2)

42" Alien Bee PLM

Alien Bee Vagabond - portable power

Adobe Lightroom 2 for editing

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: The new Alien Bee PLM is really a great modifier. I am looking to pick up the larger 86 inch PLM for studio work. That is A LOT of light :)

Cute Sibling Portraits - Chicago Family Portraits

Jennifer and Vanessa were high school friends. I photographed Vanessa's wedding earlier this year. Jennifer saw Vanessa's wedding photos and really liked them. So she emailed me wanting some family photos and set up a family portrait session. I love how these connections are made. Okay, that was a really quick intro on how I came to meet Jennifer and her family. They are a really warm and loving family from Downers Grove with two amazingly beautiful children. The little girl and her baby brother both made my job pretty easy as they smiled and allowed me to take their portraits. Having a 2 year old has helped so much in preparing for kid portraits. You have to be quick and ready for anything that they throw your way.

I really love photographing families out in different outdoor environments. But there is something very special about going into the families home and photographing them in their home environment. Here are a handful of my favorite photos from this family shoot:

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My many thanks to Jennifer and her family for having me photograph them. It is such a privilege to meet new families and for them to allow me into their lives. I hope to see them again soon.

Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Nikon 50mm f/1.4

Alien Bee strobe with medium softbox

Pocket Wizards (2)

36" silver reflector for natural light portraits

Adobe Lightroom 2 for editing

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: Have a plan A, B, and C when photographing young children. You just never know which plan will work best.

Hi-Key Little Beauty - Chicago Child Portraits

Is there anything more cute and amazing than seeing a baby smile? I don't think there is. I became really interested in baby portraits the second I knew my wife and I were going to have our daughter. Since then I have had the privilege to have taken so many of my families, friends, and clients baby photos. I have traveled to Wicker Park, Downers Grove, Orland Park, and other places and into peoples houses and lives. So my many thanks to you all! Here are a handful of images from one of my latest baby portrait sessions. This cute little baby girl is probably one of the best babies I have photographed in recent memory. I don't recall her crying at all, or even fusing. We wanted to do her first year pictures and some Christmas pictures, but that might have been too aggressive of a plan. We ended up breaking up the portrait session into 2 sessions. Her parents were so cool about doing so and brought her over the following week. It was a bit of a challenge to select the images to post just because she had such a great smile most of the time.

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Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Alien Bee strobes - 2 on the background and 1 on my model. Note: the background was about 10 feet away from my model. Any closer and the light reflecting from the white seamless would enter the lens and create some contrast issues.

Pocket Wizards (2)

White Seamless background

Small white table for baby to sit on. Her father was just behind her.

Adobe Lightroom 2 for editing

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

By The Way: Shooting hi-key images is so much tougher than you think!

Garfield Park Conservatory Family Portraits - Hamilton Family

The Hamilton's are a great family and I always look forward to photographing them. Pam is a fellow artist/graphic designers and she gets the importance of family portraits. I love being around them and seeing them all interact. Their children are so mature and well behaved that I forget that they are as young as they are. Shooting at the Garfield Park Conservatory was Pam's idea. I totally dug that idea and we went with it. The Conservatory is a pretty amazing place to visit and to work in. There are so many background possibilities that one has to stop and really focus because there is so much there to choose from. I am sooooo glad that the weather was as beautiful as it was because we were then able to go outside for a majority of the shoot. There is a lily pond, a small bridge, an area of vintage looking stuff, and other really cool things. The Garfield Park Conservatory has become one of my favorite places in the city. Check them out!

Here are a handful of my favorite shots. I am really happy with what we got that day. But what's even more important to me is that they loved the photos too! Thank you Hamilton family, you guys rock!

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Set-Up

Nikon D700 - shooting in RAW

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8

Tokina 12-24mm f/4.0

Nikon SB-800

Pocket Wizards (2)

42" umbrella

Adobe Lightroom 2 for editing

Garfield Park Conservatory 300 N. Central Park Ave. Chicago, IL 60624-1996

Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

Calling All Doctors - Chicago Professional Portraits

[gallery size="large" order="DESC" columns="1"] I have to start out by thanking my friend Stacey for referring Dr. Chunduri to me. I have worked with Stacey before on her products and have photographed her little son as well.

Dr. Chunduri and his partners just opened up a practice in the loop and needed some portraits for printed and web materials. Dr. Chunduri and I went back and forth a few times and set up the shoot.

Preparation I knew that I would not have a lot of time with the doctors, so I packed pretty lightly, and I used less gear than I had expected. I had 3 Nikon strobes, but just ended up using one on a light stand with a 42" umbrella. The space we had to work with was pretty small, so the smaller setup was perfect. My many thanks to Dr. Chunduri, Dr. Engel, and Dr. Spirtovic.

The Set-Up

• Nikon D700
• Nikon SB-800
• Nikon f/2.8 80-200mm and Tokina f/4.0 12-24mm lenses
• Pocket Wizards
• 42" umbrella with removable outter cover
• One standard light stand
• A quick wit to think on my feet!

Thanks guys & see you later! - Contact Me | Portfolio

The "Anti-Vanilla" Shoot // West Loop Photography

So what on earth does "Anti-Vanilla" mean? Well, I am glad you asked :) I met with Brittany (the model) a few weeks back and I was asking her a handful of questions about our upcoming shoot. This is customary as I want to make sure that my shoot doesn't stink and I miss the mark on what my client wants.

So Brittany shows me her comp card and says that she wants to do something "different," something a bit more "edgy" than she is used to. I take a look at her card and say "these images are very nice and Vanilla." So we brain storm a bit more about a theme and the phrase "Anti-Vanilla" comes out of my mouth. We both liked it and off we went.

Here are a few images from our shoot. I love this industrial area in the West Loop. It had the perfect look and feel of what Brittany wanted. I had a really great time with Brittany. She is a very professional young lady and came to the shoot with ideas and energy. I also want to thank Oscar, my art-school homeboy, and assistant for the day. It was pretty rad working together with him. [gallery size="large" columns="1" orderby="title"]

This last image was pure gangsta' fun. I am glad that Brittany and Oscar were willing to pose with me.

Lightroom Preset Download I created a preset for this last image. I thought this image would be perfect for a thug/edgy/desaturated look. Give it a try and let me know how you used this preset. Download the "Anti-Vanilla" preset for Lightroom

The Set-Up

Nikon D700

Nikon Sb-800 used in slave mode

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens

Tokina 14-24mm f/4 lens (I love this lens)

Alien Bee 400 powered by The Vagabond II

Medium Softbox

Pocket Wizard (2)

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Chicago Trash The Dress Photography Shootout

I had a great time yesterday at the first ever Chicago Trash the Dress shootout. My many thanks to Melissa Diep for setting it up and making it happen. I was able to meet a lot of very amazing photographers and catch up with a few old friends. My many thanks also go out to the three talented models for being such good sports. Having 15 photographers pointing lenses and shouting out commands is not an easy task! Here are a few of my favorites. I was hoping for some major trashing of the dresses (i.e. mud, rips in the dresses, etc.), but I was more than happy with what we were able to capture. So my idea going into this shoot was to use a mixture of available light and strobe light. I also wanted to play around with composition and different points of view. I would love to hear your thoughts about these images so feel free to drop me a line. Thanks guys and Rock On! [gallery size="large" columns="1"] Thanks guys & see you later! - Contact Me | Wedding Portfolio | Little Ones Portfolio | Older Ones Portfolio

Jason's 2nd Year Portraits

The last time I saw Jason was about 6 months prior to our shoot. Now if you have a kid, or are close to one, you know how incredibly and ridiculously fast they grow. So this was my reaction to seeing him on the day of the shoot: "WHOA, YOU ARE SOOOO BIG!" I hope I didn't freak him out, or his parents. But here he was with his cool flowing hair and a lot taller than I remembered him. Gone was also his little baby face that I was used to. You can tell by the photos that it took a while for him to warm up to me. But I had him by the end, just look at that smile on the last photo!!! I love it.

Prepping For The Shoot I wanted to give the parents a different look for Jason's 2nd year portraits. You see, up to this point I had only photographed Jason in the studio. But now that he was running around and climbing stuff I figured shooting outdoors might be a lot of fun. His parents liked the idea, so we went with it. I had with me my strobes and light modifiers, but quickly realized that I wanted to shoot with natural light. Having strobes would have slowed things down way too much and would have felt cumbersome. So I just followed him (ran around) along with a lens. You have to be quick with 2 year olds, my daughter reminds me of this fact on a daily basis!

The Set-Up - Nikon D700 - Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens - Lightroom for processing and exporting of RAW files Thanks guys & see you later! - Contact Me | Wedding Portfolio | Little Ones Portfolio | Older Ones Portfolio