The Soon-to-be Zink's & Sophie's 2nd Shoot

It's been quite a long time since I have blogged.Spring time is finally here but for some reason we cannot get a couple days of sunshine without it being followed by torrential downpour and flooding.So I've been keeping it low key for awhile and still managed to come up with some new images here and there.

Anyway, it has been almost a month since these two photoshoots were shot and I have finally got some time to write about them. Fortunately I was lucky enough to squeeze these two shoots within a weekend and hammer out the pictures fairly quickly. I had another nervous issue before the shoot with Renee & Kevin for some reason, even though I knew there was nothing to worry about. My mind likes to play tricks on me by making me think I'm not good enough for scenario's such as this one.For example,it was blindingly bright that day.The sun was at it's highest with an overcast,and about 90% of the ground was covered in snow.Not an ideal shooting scenario incase you were wondering....I was thinking I'd be lucky to get 2 images without anyone squinting as if they'd just walked out of a cave into direct sunlight.(Although someone did do a great job of not showing it!)

BUT,like anyone else in less than ideal conditions,I adapted, and made the best of it.

Actually Kevin & Renee were so easy to work with so it wasn't just ALL me lol.I really don't think it could have gone any better than it did.They're personalities compliment each other in a way that made me become a better photographer.I'll sum it up in my two favorite words...Easy and Enjoyable.

Before heading to Park Ridge to Renee & Kevin I traveled a little ways across town to meet up with Kristina and her daughter Sophie.What can be said that I haven't already said about this little girl? For starters she had be cracking up throughout the duration of the shoot.I can't believe how smart and energetic this little girl is! It was another easy job to do and I really do think that the images came out better this time around then they did before.So far Kristina has sent all of my images of her daughter to 7 agencies and has gotten a call back from 4 of them!Way to go Sophie!Looking forward to seeing her on TV in the next couple of years.

Shout out to my cheerleader :-)

Valentine's Day,Hike, and Paterson...

What a busy month it has been. Jennifers shoot for her Valentine's day present to her boyfriend went very well. Her sister came along and my brother (who has been friends with Jennifer since highschool), came up to assist and provide some...input, I guess you could call it. In all seriousness, it was very productive and it gave me some new techniques to practice during my photoshoots in the future.Not to mention I have a great testimonial to publish on my website from her!

A week later we got hit up here in Northern New Jersey with a snow storm.I was able to make it to work but had to leave early because of the snow.I got home and felt inspired,so I embarked on a hike up to a place I haven't been to since I was 12. A place about a mile from my house called Horseshoe lake.I had a great time being by myself for a bit and with the snow coming down the way it was it looked like i was in a sort of winter wonderland.When I had finally located the lake I hadn't realized how far out onto the lake I had walked!I did manage to get a few interesting images from the hike wich you can see on my website.

Also this past weekend my girlfriend and I headed to Paterson,NJ to take a look at a few of thier landmarks up close.Considering I was born in Paterson and I have never been to these locations I was pretty excited to see what I could get from them.The first location we headed to was Lambert's Castle.I remember seeing this landmark in the distance when I was a kid heading to where my father worked, wich was literally 2 minutes up the road.Walking to the castle we were actually greeted by a small production crew filming a sort of comedy wich was actually pretty funny! Made our way up a hill only to find that part of the grounds were fenced off. Still had a great time there and it was great to see the NYC skyline in the distance.The second location we headed to was Paterson falls.Captured some interesting waterfall photos here.Feel free to check those out too in the landscape section of the website!

Business Cards

Finally got around to designing my set of official business cards! Had a friend of mine design a rough draft for me and point me to a great printer (www.overnightprints.com).Then I took the ideas from there. Overall I'm pleased with the result and the quality of the card is amazing.Although I had to pull out 3 or 4 duds where the ink ran too dark,4 out of 500 isn't too bad at all. I'll be handing these babies out to anyone who's willing to take them and spread my word.So far the first few recipients have been immediate family members.

I'll be shooting at a friends birthday party this weekend(weather permitting), then soon after I've scheduled a shoot for for a Valentine's Day present,so look for those updates coming up.

Shoot with Sophie!

Let me start off by saying that I have never shot a toddler for a portrait before.That being said...WOW! What a task!
I've always remembered the famous saying in show business, that you should "Never work with children or animals". Just because they're unpredictable. As a photographer photographing a child,in my opinion,this saying could not be farther from the truth.I had learned that to get what I wanted from Sophie,I just needed to let her do her own thing for the most part(with a little push from her mom).She was very smart and capable of understanding direction.I was making myself nervous by thinking about it too much before the shoot. As soon as I walked in the door and saw how adorable this little girl was,I knew it was in the bag and we were going to get some shots to be proud of. The shutter kept going and everything was feeling great...of course until spongebob squarepants came on.Distractions and a childs restlessness do not mix,lesson learned.

Overall we came out with great images.Sophie was the cutest and funniest little girl I've ever met,her makeup and hair were perfect[thanks to her mother],and my girlfriend,Chrissy, did an amazing job handling my requests and being a wonderful assistant.

Wow,writing about yourself is NOT easy...

Especially when you don't write so well to begin with.
The Bio tab on my website has been sitting there for several weeks now,pointing to a page where a ridiculous black and white picture of me was taken.Next to it has been an empty space,like a black hole if you will,sucking in my pointless attempts and writings of anything that lets people know who I am and what I do(or want to do in this case).
So what better way to deal with it then to just delete the tab altogether and set up a blog!! I'm thinking its a great way to let people know who I am and what I want to do[and can do!] by just typing and being myself.
To be honest I would have never imagined myself..."blogging",but apparently it is a great tool to market myself, and to let people know what I've been up to.I think of this as another way of social networking.Someone might ask, "But Mario, couldn't you just post a status update on facebook or something?" Yeah I could, but theres a whole lot of wierdo stalkers out there who could possibly facebook creep me,and im not down with that.

So anyway, I will definitely try to keep this updated with anything photo/website related.Even if no one actually reads this,at least I'll be happy in knowing that I'm stepping up my skills in writing.

+1 Skill Point