My portraits portfolio.

zoomer

Recently updated, most of my recent work is in here now. Almost all of these are with available light and either the 85 1.4 or the 70-200 2.8. Nikon D3/D4.
Mostly models from Boise, with a few dancers in the mix. Yeah it is a lot of pictures....
http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com/Portrait-galleries/Model-Pictures-and-Portraits#!/

kdotaylor

"Page not found"
?

AlTheKiller

I got page not found as well but clicked the home button and went through the photos from that point. Very nice! I like them a lot

zoomer

Ok fixed the link....thanks althekiller!

Hackbone

Really nice body of work!!!

M38A1

If I could come away with ONE shot like your entire gallery has I'd be a happy camper. Spent some time in the other galleries as well and that's a really nice body of work you have created.

divamum

Sick. SIIIICCCKKKKK.

Zoomer, really, no words - this is just an extraordinary portfolio. Please tell me you're making some money out of this again????????????????????

zoomer

Thanks so much to everyone that had a look and commented. Very appreciated.

It helps that I have been adding to it for 8 years....

Diva thanks so much.
I used to get paid for it....now it is just a hobby. Recently I was chosen to be the staff photographer for the local ballet company which has really been a lot of fun...and of course giving me more visibility and access to the dance community, so that works .

I have though about starting up again but as a second job it puts me in another tax bracket and I pay 50% of it to the government....which really:pissed so not going to do that, especially with all the hours of work it takes.

divamum

That's fantastic you've made the ballet shooting official - YEAH!! Now, get to work making that coffee-table book/calendar to sell front of house before performances. Let patrons know that a %aage of profits will go back into the company so they feel like they're "supporting the arts" and it's win-win for everybody. DO IT!!!

Btw, a friend of mine is directing at Boise Opera the next couple of weeks - maybe you should approach them about shooting for them too and get yourself thoroughly invested into the arts scene? She's sung there before (took a job I had to turn down a couple of years ago, in fact - that one still stings, as I really wanted to do the gig!!), but has been invited back to direct their current production of Gianni Schicchi. I'll put you in touch with her, if you like - she's good folks (and the company is doing good work, I believe).

Qarik

mmmMMMMM..good stuff. I really enjoy your work

zoomer

Thanks Qarik, appreciate you having a look and your comment.

Diva, Not really looking to expand the stage photography...for me shooting the ballet company is a means to an end...that being to get my name out there more with the dancers and to get to know them so I can do more shoots of the style for my Art Project. They are a rather cliquey bunch... but good people once you are in .

Daver

Stunning work. Great jaw dropping shots!

D3Sshooter

Good work….

Agnieszka

SO cool! Love the diversity!!!

Qarik

agnieszka wrote: »

so cool! Love the diversity!!!

angie sighting!:d

Agnieszka

Qarik wrote: »

angie sighting!:d

I like keeping you guys on your toes, haha hope everybody on here is well I should post a few photos finally too, it's been for foreeeever, yikes! )

Agnieszka

Btw, zoomer! I'll be in your back of the woods next summer! We need to have a coffee, it's about time you spill some shooting secrets ))

zoomer

Agnieszka wrote: »

Btw, zoomer! I'll be in your back of the woods next summer! We need to have a coffee, it's about time you spill some shooting secrets ))

yes definitely, would love to meet you if you get to Boise

Bilsen

OMG !!!

There isn't an image in the whole 17 pages that isn't AWESOME.

zoomer

Thanks Bilsen....I have been very lucky with the people who have stepped in front of my camera being very photogenic .

Agnieszka

zoomer wrote: »

yes definitely, would love to meet you if you get to Boise

Deal! I'll let you know when my friends (who are getting married next year) will pick a date and check in with you

GRod

Just came across your work. Congrats on your images. Great use of the natural light and composition. Very very cool!

jonh68

I like the variety of looks. You don't seem to be beholding to one specific look, but let the setting and subject dictate the style somewhat.

Glort

Any twit can fluke a few good shots and slap them up on a page to create an impressive portfolio. Saying so usually gets peoples noses out of joint and is why I very rarely comment ( or even look at) threads like this.

Just as true is the fact VERY few people can post pics of such consistent quality and skill incorporating such a wide range of looks and styles as the OP has presented here. I have seen many shooters that do the same thing over and over. They put the light here and the model there or use the same poses endlessly and do it all by numbers. Your shots however have great variety in style, lighting and posing all still within the look you are consistently achieving.

I very much like the presentation of the shots as well. The post is done very tastefully and complements the pictures rather than being glaringly obvious. It is also easy to see the pics are all captured as high quality images straight off without being touched that would stand on their own merit. Makes a refreshing change from so much that is a load of crap that has 3 hours spent on each image trying to massage it into something respectable.

I have to say this is some of the best work Of it's type I have seen in a long time. Every shot I looked at had mood and feeling and drew you in to the pic. Again, that's a big difference to a lot of what I see in this type of work. So much is clearly " Go stand there and do something" type pics which are merely a recording of what was in front of the camera rather than excellent photographs like these.
Having done this work a long time I also know and appreciate the difficulty in shooting these clients. Most are like deer in the headlights when ou point a camera at them. They may be pretty but very few can project any mood or feeling and the way you have elicited it in every one of these pics impresses the guts out of me. Some of these clients you want to go beat with a stick just to get some expression out of them but you make them all look like it just fell out of them naturally.

That's talent right there mate aside from the excellent technical and other artistic qualities these pics all hold.

Seeing these pics brought back a fair bit of lament on my part. I used to do a lot of this type of work and really loved the creativity in it as well as being able to massage my own ego by producing pics that the girls were blown away with and gave them a lot of confidence and self esteem many were lacking. Unfortunately the potential models where I am are far too flaky and unreliable to base a business on. I have heard and tried all the ideas and solutions but it's like flogging a dead horse around here.
Now I just do a few shoots a year with people I happen to come across or are referred and I enjoy doing them but getting it to a viable business these days is more than I can manage.

That said, If I had a folio of pics like this, Things would be so much easier.

Well done Zoomer. Your Photographs are truly brilliant and a huge credit to your skills and talent. You should be and deserve to be very proud of your work as it is definitely amongst some of the best I have seen and I like it a hell of a lot more than many of the noted " gurus" i have see doing this work.

I wish you every success with this you richly deserve.

alaios

Very good work. I was wondering if one should try to reduce the number of the photos though (this is more a marketing policy though).
Where did you learn photoshop for that portraiture work?
Alex

zoomer

Thanks everyone who had a look and commented, very appreciated.
Alex,
Processing starts with taking a good image that won't need a lot of work later...then Lightroom and final touch up in Elements. I have no training....just learned it as I went along. The majority of these shots have just a few minutes in processing, if I take a shot that will need a lot of work....I typically just delete it.

Glort,
Thank you so much for that comprehensive comment. I can tell you took the time to actually "see" the images. For that I thank you.
As you know, working with models can be quite a mixed bag..."you never know what you'll get". One of the reasons I have switched mainly to dancers, they are consistently amazing to work with.
Appreciate your insight as to the quality of the work...coming from someone like yourself that has been doing this for awhile and seen a lot, that really means a lot to me.
Agree so many people these days have one look and most of them use some type of one click action.....
Anyway thanks again...and continued success to you.
MikeR

Glort

The majority of these shots have just a few minutes in processing, if I take a shot that will need a lot of work....I typically just delete it.

You must have shot film in the "Old days" When all this re working of images wasn't available. Sure, You did some cropping and a bit of a dodge and burn occasionally but none of the re creation people think is a given these days.

No wonder you work is such High quality.

As you know, working with models can be quite a mixed bag..."you never know what you'll get". One of the reasons I have switched mainly to dancers, they are consistently amazing to work with.

[/QUOTE]Very True.

I have come across some stunning girls who were just hopeless at modelling and then you get others that seem very shy and you think " What the hell am I going to be able to get today?" and they just stun and amaze you with their expressions, movements and ability to project a feeling and wow factor.

It always makes me laugh when I get a dancer or a girl who is into acting. You can pick them in about 30 seconds flat just by their body awareness and positioning. When I ask what sort of dancing they do, they are always amazed and say how did you know?
Well it's not hard to tell when you have been doing this as long as I have!

The other thing that makes me laugh is when you tell the girls who are naturals how good they are, they are always the most modest and disbelieving of what you say and often suggest you are " Just being Nice".

I shot a girl a while back that told my wife I was trying to make her feel good but she didn't really think what I said was true. My wife said oh, he means it, he doesn't say anything he doesn't mean, I can easily tell if he doesn't like someone. The client asked " How, what does he say?" My wife replied " Very very little. he's very quiet and doesn't say much at all. "

I later asked if that was true and got a funny look and asked " Don't you realise?"

Umm, no, can't say I had!