About Me
My job as your photographer is to do more than just put a face to the name. I bring experience, professionalism, confidence, and a relaxed persona that produces photographs that instill a sense of trust and confidence in a potential client or customer. When you don’t do that, you will fail to get everything you can out of a brochure, website, or press release. The picture is critical.
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but you rarely hear about the reactions to a poor quality photograph. Professional photography when presenting yourself or company to the public is a necessity.
A Veteran Owned Business
Poll
Loading ...We accept most major credit cards, cash, and checks.
Category Archives: Places
Phoenix in the rain
I finally get a chance to do a shoot in Phoenix. Phoenix = sunshine and moderate winter daytime temperatures right? Not for me – three straight days of rain and 20-45 mph wind.
I had two TF models lined up – one canceled – good call – it was nasty out.
The second day Lindsey and I manged to get some shooting done between rain showers on South mountain. What a sport she was. we worked inside a covered gazebo then walked up the backside of the mountain to get to the ‘hole in the rock’.
Lindsey is a beautiful young truck driving Army reservist who goes on active duty next month with hopes of becoming a helicopter pilot flying Blackhawks.
See more of Lindsey (LC Pace)
-- Weather When Posted --
- Temperature: 59°F;
- Humidity: 59%;
- Heat Index: 59°F;
- Wind Chill: 59°F;
- Pressure: 29.61 in.;
Also posted in People
Tagged Army Reservist, Backside, beautiful, black, camera, Days Of Rain, eyes, face, Flickr, Gaze, Gazebo, girl, Hawk, Helicopter Pilot, Hole In The Rock, Hoot, Lc, Light, lighting, Lot, man, model, Models, Moderate Winter, Nasty, one, Pace, Phoenix, Phoenix Phoenix, Photo, Photo Shoot, Photography, Photos, Places, portrait, Rain Showers, Rig, Rkd, RKD Photography, rkdauph, shoot, Straight Days, strobist, sun, Sunshine, Target, Umbrella, Walk, Winter Daytime Temperatures
Leave a comment
King Street Metro Station – Alexandria, VA
While in VA on business for 2 days I decided to walk over to the metro station one evening. Boring stuff, but I was bored.
I had always hesitated taking photographs of strangers on the street. I’m not sure what I expected by way of reaction from people but the truth is no one really seemed to notice. People would watch me take pictures of others, but when they thought I might take their photograph, they ignored me.
People are funny.
-- Weather When Posted --
- Temperature: 63°F;
- Humidity: 29%;
- Heat Index: 63°F;
- Wind Chill: 62°F;
- Pressure: 30.06 in.;
Also posted in My Photo; My Comment.
Tagged Alex, business, Flickr, Fun, Heir, King Street Metro, King Street Metro Station, one, People, Photo, Photograph, Photographer, Photographers, Photographs, Photos, Rig, Rkd, rkdauph, Stranger, street, Stuff, Tree, Truth, Walk
2 Comments
Lincoln Memorial
On a recent trip to Washington, DC, see Hassled by the Washington, DC Park Rangers for taking photos, I did the tourist thing early Saturday morning before heading back to Texas. I went out at 7am to avoid the heat and the crowds.
I walked from the Washington Monument, past the World War II Memorial headed for the Lincoln Memorial along the Reflecting Pool. There were a few joggers, a few Ron Paul supporters (interesting group of characters) and city workers. As I approached the Lincoln Memorial a small group of tourists were already starting to mill around. I noticed this black city worker mopping the steps, back and forth, back and forth and I knew right away I wanted to include him in the photograph.
When I got to the bottom of the steps the group of visitors were all over the steps and inside the memorial. The worker patiently continued his work, waiting when the people blocked his path.
Standing there with my Nikon D300, waiting for the moment I wanted to capture I was approached by, wait for it — a Canon shooter. He was carrying two cameras (a Rebel XT and a 5D). We had a brief discussion about the light and our shared hobby. Nice fella; other than the Canon part.
Just as we were parting ways I got this photograph. It’s the best of the three I took of this man maintaining the monument’s appearance. The fact that it is a black man working for the Federal Government at the Lincoln Memorial somehow struck a cord with me. I mean no offense to the man doing an honest job, the fact Lincoln’s eyes appear to be watching him, makes, to me anyway, this photograph sort of special.
-- Weather When Posted --
- Temperature: 93°F;
- Humidity: 44%;
- Heat Index: 97°F;
- Wind Chill: 93°F;
- Pressure: 30 in.;
Also posted in My Photo; My Comment.
Tagged 5d, Amp, Appearance, art, black, Black Man, Blog, camera, Canon, Crowds, d300, eyes, Fella, Flickr, hassled, Head, hobby, home, Honest Job, Hoot, Job, Jobs, Joggers, Light, lighting, Lincoln Memorial, man, Memorial, Memories, Monument, Monuments, new, nikon, nikon d300, Oment, one, Park Ranger, Park Rangers, Parting Ways, People, Photo, Photograph, Photographer, Photographers, Photographs, Photos, pro, Rebel Xt, Reflecting Pool, Reflection, Rig, Rkd, rkdauph, Ron Paul, Saturday Morning, shoot, Shooter, Small Group, Stan, stand, standing, Taking Photos, Target, Texas, Things, Walk, Washington Monument, World War Ii, World War Ii Memorial
Leave a comment
Hassled by the Washington, DC Park Rangers for taking photos
I’ve spent the last three days here in Washington, DC on business. Meetings with the 
FAA, HHS and the WAAS office. Long times between meetings and I’ve been done pretty early in the day. So, I placed a casting call on ModelMayhem to see if I could pass the time doing what I like to do, take pictures. 5 or 6 TFCD models responded and I set up sessions with two of them. As my luck would have it – both at the same time. That wasn’t a problem for me (read assistant) or them though so we met at my hotel and headed for the National Mall to shoot. The plan was to use the monuments as the background. Sounded way cool.
We chose the new WW II monument because it had a nice water fountain. We got there around 7pm, good light, not huge crowds. As one model was getting her ticket from the Park Police (wrong way on a One Way street) the other model (Emily) and I set off to set up and shoot along the granite outside wall of the monument. I 
used 2 SB800s, at first to fill then to light her. Nikon CLS is so cool. So far so good. I get about a dozen shots off when the other model, Danielle walked up. She dismissed the ticket as part of life in DC and we starting posing her along the same wall Emily had used. About 10 minutes later I hear:
Sir – Sir:
Click to continue reading “Hassled by the Washington, DC Park Rangers for taking photos”
-- Weather When Posted --
- Temperature: 93°F;
- Humidity: 44%;
- Heat Index: 97°F;
- Wind Chill: 93°F;
- Pressure: 30 in.;
Also posted in Rant
Tagged art, background, Backgrounds, Blog, business, Business Meetings, Casting Call, Cat, Chap, CLS, Crowds, d300, Dozen Shots, Emily, Faa, face, FDR, Flickr, Fun, girl, girls, Granite, hassled, Head, Heir, Hhs, hobby, Hoot, Hotel, Huge Crowds, Light, lighting, Long Time, Memorial, Memories, model, Modeling, Modelmayhem, Models, Monument, Monuments, National Mall, new, nikon, office, one, Outsider, Park Police, Park Ranger, Park Rangers, Passing The Time, People, Photo, Photo Shoot, Photograph, Photographer, Photographers, Photographs, Photos, Places, Pose, pretty, pro, professional, Professional Photographers, Reply, Rig, Rkd, Sb, Sb8, SB800, Sessions, shoot, shot, Stan, street, Taking Photos, Target, Teenagers, Things, Tree, ttl, Walk, Water Fountain, Wrong Way, WW II, Ww Ii Monument, Youtube
5 Comments
Nikon D700 High ISO Test
A test of my D700 on the hotel deck: downtown Minneapolis. Camera set to Aperture priority mode, Auto WB, Auto ISO, AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 IF-D at f1.4. The photograph to the right is ISO 11200.
See additional photographs and the “More Properties” information on D700 high ISO Flickr set for additional details.
No post processing in Photoshop CS3 other than to resize for here. All noise reduction software applied at default setting.
See gallery below to see the effect of Noise Ninja, Neat Image and Topaz Denoise.
I did not speak to the result intentionally, each should reach his own conclusion.
larrygerbrandt on Flickr had a good idea on post noise reduction sharpening so I gave it a shot.
Added: Topaz Denoise then Nik Sharpener Pro 2.0 applied to the image.
Noise reduction applied to whole photograph added to the Flickr set here.
- 100%-crop and noise reduction test
-- Weather When Posted --
- Temperature: 64°F;
- Humidity: 77%;
- Heat Index: 64°F;
- Wind Chill: 63°F;
- Pressure: 29.87 in.;
Also posted in Lighting tests
Tagged 100%-Crop, Additional Details, AF Nikkor 85mm F/1.4 IF-D, Aperture, Aperture Priority, Auto ISO, Auto WB, Blog, camera, Conclusion, Cs3, D700, Deck, Downtown, Downtown Minneapolis, F1, F1.4, Flickr, High ISO, Hotel, Image, Images, Iso, ISO 11200, Minneapolis, Modes, Neat Image, Nikkor, Nikkor 85mm, nikon, Nikon D700, Noise Ninja, Noise Reduction, Noise Reduction Software, Noise Reduction Test, Photo, Photograph, Photographer, Photographers, Photographs, Photos, Photoshop, Photoshop CS3, Post Processing, pro, Rig, Rkd, rkdauph, shot, Target, Test, Topaz, Topaz Denoise
4 Comments
Sunrise on the Mississippi
I’m in Minneapolis, Minnesota on business for a few days. The fall colors are wonderful. I wanted to get out of my hotel room and try some landscape photography. Not my normal venue.
Where to go? How to get there? I was lucky enough to meet up with a local photographer, David Goldberg, who was not only willing to show me around but get up at 5am to do it!
It was a beautiful morning, crisp, clear and just a bit of fog hanging over the river and the couple of 10,000 Minnesota lakes I saw. We must of walked 3-4 miles through the woods and shorelines. The morning dew was thick and added a sparkling highlight to most everything.
Thanks David.
-- Weather When Posted --
- Temperature: 70°F;
- Humidity: 49%;
- Heat Index: 77°F;
- Wind Chill: 70°F;
- Pressure: 30.25 in.;
Also posted in My Photo; My Comment.
Tagged 5am, 5d, beautiful, Beautiful Morning, business, color, Colors, Couple, Dav, David Goldberg, Fall Colors, Few Days, Flickr, Fog, Gold, Highlight, Hotel, Hotel Room, Landscape Photography, Light, Lucky, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Minnesota Lakes, Morning Dew, Photo, Photograph, Photographer, Photographers, Photographs, Photography, Photos, Rig, Rkd, rkdauph, Shorelines, sun, Sunrise On The Mississippi, Venue, Walk
Leave a comment
Revere, Ma
I went on a two day business trip to Cambridge, MA in March but did not have time to play much with my Nikon D-300. My airline flight was canceled back to DFW due to storms so I got a free night in Revere.
The area around the airport is interesting, the people showed little interest in me – while I was looking their way – but watched me like a hawk otherwise. After about 45 minutes and having 3 small groups of teenagers tell me what a nice camera
I had, I decided to head back to the room.
Also posted in My Photo; My Comment.
Tagged Airline Flight, business, Business Trip, camera, church, Flickr, Hawk, Head, Heir, Light, Night, nikon, People, Photo, Photos, Rig, Rkd, rkdauph, Small Group, Small Groups, Storms, Teenagers, ttl, Ups
Leave a comment
West Germany in the early 1970s
I was stationed at Dolan Barracks in Schwäbisch Hall, West Germany with the US Army. This is where my interest in photography began.
Photos scanned from self developed prints made during the time they were taken. Pentex Spotmatic and Spotmatic F.
Thank you Herr Ritter.
August 2008:
One thing about this WordPress blogging software; it logs the search terms people used to find my blog. I have been amazed by the number of searches for Dolan Barracks and/or Schwäbisch Hall. There have been a lot of us.
So, if you were stationed there; how about leaving a comment with the dates and unit?
Added: John Hill was kind enough to send along a few of his photographs from his time at Schwab Hall; thanks John.
The construction of an air force base by the Germans at Hessental was started in 1934. During the war it was garrisoned with bomber and night fighter squadrons. Dolan Barracks at Schwäbisch Hall was closed by the US Army on 30 September 1993.
If you were stationed at Dolan Barracks and would like to contribute please contact me.
-- Weather When Posted --
- Temperature: 67°F;
- Humidity: 70%;
- Heat Index: 66°F;
- Wind Chill: 67°F;
- Pressure: 29.82 in.;
Also posted in My Photo; My Comment.
Tagged 1970s, 70s, Air Force Base, art, Blog, Bomber, Contact, Developer, Dolan Barracks, Duri, Fighter Squadrons, Flickr, Germans, germany, Hessental, Iso, Lot, man, Night, Night Fighter Squadron, one, People, Photo, Photograph, Photographer, Photographers, Photographs, Photography, Photos, Prints, Rig, Ritter, Rkd, rkdauph, Schwab, Schwäbisch Hall, Search Terms, Searchs, Spotmatic, Thanks John, Things, Us Army, west germany, Wordpress
4 Comments
Follow Me
Shooting tethered in the studio
Although I have had the equipment to do it I have only recently started to shoot tethered while working the the studio, I like it.
My equipment/software list:
So here is the basic setup: Simple and useful.
Tethered setup overview
The above image is from a catalog shoot I did for Jane Burch, see “The Transformation” article.
Tethered shooting allows me to view the images in real time on a 13 inch calibrated monitor, allows me to zoom into the images to check focus and detail.
I rarely show the monitor to the model, unless I need to show them something specific – good or bad. I do, however, encourage the client, in this case the MUA, to review and comment as the photographs are taken to ensure they are getting what they want and need.
Client reviewing images as shot
I don’t know if it’s the same with Canon equipment but Nikon software places the images onto the computer’s hard-drive not the CF card. I do not edit, much, on the laptop so I have the download directory on an external hard-drive for easy transfer to my desktop editing machine.
A final image
While this setup isn’t exactly ‘high end’ it works well for my needs.
A specials thanks to Tom Thompson for the behind the scenes shots.
-- Weather When Posted --