A good photo shoot is when people laugh real laughs. Sunday was hot and we decided to walk this road to get to a nice setting and it took a little while to get everyone going and having fun. Alaina wasn't too sure about any of it--the photographer, the heat, the place, having her picture taken etc..., but once she settled down, she was great. If you look through our portrait section on our site you'll see a few more of the pictures of Alaina and her brother Matthew from Sunday's shoot. As I was toning these today I realized how nice it is when you capture those moments in between and the moments that are bursting out as well. This picture has both, Alaina is in between expressions and thoughts and Matthew is full of a hearty laugh. And its a nice little country setting to boot! SayerMotter Photograph by Richard Sayer
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Sunday I photographed Max Berkstresser for his senior portrait. We chose to meet at the football field at MASH to shoot some pictures mid-field. The sun was pretty harsh and it was difficult to not squint(both photographer and subject). These didn't work out great which was ok, Max and his Mom were thinking they didn't necessarily want his portraits done there. So we went over to the little park next to the field and began taking some shots on the bridge and under some trees and finally at the graffiti in the spill-over of the rat lake dam. Max had a few change of shirts and we finished up on the very hot morning with his suit and tie. These I liked against the graffiti. Whether or not these become his senior portraits, he at least has something a little different to choose from the traditional look of a senior picture. I'm hoping to always find a little different look for a senior picture to offer as an alternative--obviously some will work better than others, but they are fun to try and all that is lost is a little time if it doesn't pan out. The best thing is now Max and his family have at least one more choice to consider. SayerMotter Photographs by Richard Sayer
We're still running our senior picture special, you don't need to have the pictures taken before the 31st to get the deal, just contact us and we'll book a time that works best for you. "I love her like she's my own," says Michelle Beatty of her little niece. Michelle is due to deliver her first child in September and wanted to include little Sophie in some of the photos. I liked this one because both girls were sorta kinda doing their own thing. Photo By: Harmony Motter
This is from my Sunday morning shoot with Michelle Beatty. She is 7.5 months pregnant with her first child. I have seen and photographed many pregnant bellies. What I like about this photo is the feminine butterfly tattoo on her side. Photo By: Harmony Motter
I'm declaring it now--let it be this sorta day! Smiles from SayerMotter Photography, The Meadville Tribune and a tractor fender from the gas and steam engine show! Meadville Tribune photograph by Richard Sayer
Struggling to find a photograph today at the annual Gas and Steam Engine show. Every year we cover this show and often we try to help out the folks by doing the story early to let people know what is going on there during the weekend long event. The problem with doing a story early is that the event really hasn't kicked into gear yet. So I struggled to find something to really wrap my excitement around. Then came Wilbert Green putting along in his circa 1960-65 Case 155 lawn tractor. I took about two dozen shots of Wilbert as he sat and chatted with our reporter Pete Chiodo and another dozen or so when he rode up and then away from us. Virtually anyone of those shots could've been today's featured picture for the subject alone. This nice man loves tractors and has been around them pretty heavily since the late 60's when he went to his first tractor show. The Jamestown man is a lifetime member of the Gas and Steam Engine Society. I liked this picture for the stories it doesn't tell, but perhaps leads us to 'know' about the man and the event. There is a lot of history in those eyes, but his hat is fairly new. Meeting people like this is a great part of doing what I do. Meadville Tribune photograph by Richard Sayer
It hasn't been the strangest 24 hour span I've ever had, but it is in the top 20 for sure. I've had more than 10 assignments in the last 24 hours ranging from illustrations to tragedies. I took some portraits, covered a play rehearsal, watched a detective look into a hole in the road to see what was down there, saw the worst wreck I've probably ever seen and covered little league baseball and softball. The full gamut of life. The pictures above are a sampling of what I took since yesterday evening.The ups and downs of what we do can sometimes leave us numb to what we see. We don't suffer the tragedy quite as hard, we don't experience the joy quite as high, and sometimes we miss how cool the subtle things are until we sit back and look at our take, what we photographed and witnessed. Its pretty important stuff really. And the mundane stuff is sometimes the most important thing we do. I enjoyed watching a detective get down on his knees in the street to investigate a hole---it sort of capped off the night tonight in an absurd way that made me think about the accident I had to photograph late last night in which a person lost their life and how these two events happen in the life we live--all around us. Taking notice of them hopefully helps us be better people. I think thats why I love working for a newspaper--to take notice and help out by doing my job so that others can also have the abilty to take notice too. Even if it is just a 10 year old playing baseball or a musician playing in the pit at a theater or a little girl holding onto her carnival prize. Meadville Tribune photographs by Richard Sayer
My little sister had a bad day yesterday. This is for her and all that she has! I Love you! Your big sister, Harmony
I take a lot of bad photos. I try things that if they work, are good photos, but when they don't they are not. I like to use slow shutter-speeds a lot to try to keep one element in focus while letting other elements blur. One way to do this id to focus on someone still while life around them moves. Another way is to focus on someone moving and try to move with them at the same rate. The latter is much more difficult and my success rate at this is pretty low. I've had a few that have worked out and this one tonight I thought worked nicely showing the movement of the actors on stage during rehearsal for 'one bad apple' at the Meadville Community Theatre. I like to photograph theater because the lighting is usually directional and often times you can make a nice picture just utilizing the lightings dramatic affect on the action and composition. Thats what I concentrated mostly on tonight, but ended up liking this simple panned shot of some of the action in the opening sequence of the play the best. Meadville Tribune photograph by Richard Sayer.
Some ideas work better than others --for sure. When I photographed Dusting, Cori and Jovi two weeks ago I missed a chance to take a fun photograph of their feet. Dustin's feet were quite lined with sandal tan lines and Jovi and Cori had painted their nails earlier. I didn't see the picture until I was editing their family portraits. When I dropped off some proofs to them I asked to take the picture. Dustin's tan didn't seen quite as deep and the lighting I just didn't quite get right(I thought I did at the time!) and for Jovi this was play time with daddy who had just gotten home from work. Even though I didn't really get the picture I think this could've been, I still liked it as a spin off to the family portrait--I see this sort of picture as a conversation piece--one of those fun pictures that is hung in a hallway or next to a cabinet that a dinner guest might stumble upon while sipping a glass of wine and get curious enough to ask about it. Then the stories about mommy and Jovi spending a fun hour painting each other's nails comes up, and how Dustin's job at the marina gives him his perpetual sandal tanned toes and how this funny little photographer thought this would make a neat family portrait. SayerMotter photograph by Richard Sayer
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