…on the phone…

…in the clothes hamper…

…in my shoes… (all ways to get him to stay in one spot for more than a milli-second!)

…tantrum time, but milk should make it OK.

Photograph your kids! … Or better yet, hire a professional to do it for you!

I’ve seen first hand over the last (almost) two years how fast a little one can change. It’s crazy really. I’ll take a photograph of him one week, then another the next, and there’s a clear difference between the two. He’ll look older in the new image, for sure. And for that reason, I make it a point to try and photograph him all the time, as much as possible. Whether it be on the iPhone, my Digital SLR, or my Fuji x100 point and shoot camera, just making sure I take pictures of him on a regular basis is the key.

I don’t always set up a backdrop like the images above, as a matter of fact, most times I photograph him we’re just playing out in the yard kicking a ball around. But every once in a while, I’ll take the time to schlep all my gear upstairs and set up a nice clean background like this for a simpler shot.

I’m trying to decide now which one to send off to my canvas company to be made into a beautiful wall portrait. Because what good are the pictures if not printed out for everyone to enjoy?

Take pictures of your kids and your family – then PRINT those pictures of your kids and your family, and hang them on the wall. If you think you’ll never get around to taking and printing those type of pictures, call me or another professional photographer to do it for you. I’d be more than happy to help!

I was able to photograph a great event last week at a brand new restaurant in Providence called The American. The party was thrown by the website, Yelp.com – they’re an restaurant and local business review site – for their Elite Members. Yelp Elites are folks that contribute a TON to the site. In return for chatting up local places online, they have these fun parties thrown for them! Not a bad deal, if you ask me!

The American Restaurant has only been open about 6 weeks, but already I can tell that it’s going to be a great local destination for fantastic food and tasty drinks. The owner, Jerry, and the rest of his staff took care of the party-goers (and the help, as well!) by making sure their drinks were never empty and their plates were never bare. Food was coming out of the kitchen faster than it could be consumed – and good food, too – scallops wrapped in bacon, stuffed mushrooms, oysters rockefeller, and my favorite, barbecued pork ‘wings’. I’m already planning a return trip to try some more menu items!

It was truly a great night – those Yelpers (Yelps?) really know how to have a good time! Thanks for having me out – I look forward to working with you all again!

Most of my clients opt to schedule their engagement session for the spring, summer, or fall – but not Kerry & Matt! They waited until the first big snowfall of the year to hold their session. We met at Goddard park which seems to be a fantastic spot to photograph in and around during any season. We explored the snowy woods area, found some picturesque pine trees that were still hanging onto their white snow accents, and finished at a perfect New England stone wall. Kerry and Matt, being the Patriots fans that they are, changed into jerseys and finished the session by making snow angels in the snow while wearing their team’s colors. I’m so excited for their September wedding! Thanks guys for braving the cold & snow!

{Warwick,RI} – January 24, 2012 – WeddingWire is excited to announce Brad Smith Photography has been selected to receive the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2012 for Photography!

The esteemed annual awards program recognizes the top local wedding vendors from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism within the wedding industry. While many industry awards are selected by the organization, Brad Smith Photography was selected based on its stellar reviews from past newlywed clients.

Brad Smith Photography is recognized as part of the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire local vendor community, comprised of over 200,000 wedding professionals throughout the United States and Canada. The Bride’s Choice Award recognizes the best local wedding vendors across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on their overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is thrilled to honor the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “Since the launch of the Bride’s Choice Awards™ program four years ago, thousands of outstanding wedding professionals have been recognized by the bridal community for their supreme service and dedication to the wedding industry. It is with great pleasure that we congratulate Brad Smith Photography for their continued professionalism and commitment to enriching the wedding planning experience for engaged couples.”

We are happy to announce that Brad Smith Photography is one of the very best Photographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire. Thanks to their positive feedback we were able to receive the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards for 2012.

I had the opportunity to hang out with my friend and fellow photographer, Seth Jacobson for a bit the other day at a brand new Club Fête in the Olneyville section of Providence. We were there to take some images of Katherine, a talented musician who happens to be opening up for Pat McGee in a few weeks. (If you know me, you know I’ve been a fan of Pat McGee for a very long time. I might have to get out and check out that show!)

This was part of Seth’s RI Portrait Project that he’s been working on over the last several months. We were given full access to the club, which was expertly decorated and very interesting visually, throughout. These are a few images that I took during my time there. The above image was taken with my brand new 43″ Octabox (with the Elinchrom Quadra light inside) up and overhead and the image below was taken with the same Octabox and Quadra off to the left, with a small strip light behind and to the right.

Below: Just a cool detail shot of one of the wall decorations at Club Fête.

I photographed a past bride back in December and we finished with a couple of shots in more of a studio setting. I wanted to share quickly how I made it work.

The studio was actually in her living room. What’s nice about a seamless backdrop is it removes all the clutter from a background and allows the viewer to focus just on the subject of the image. I used a dark grey background color. (“Thunder Grey”, as a matter of fact) It’s really the opposite of what I’m usually looking for in a photograph. I generally look to bring the environment into my images when I’m shooting, but in this case I think the simplicity really lets the subject stand out that much more.

The lighting was simple, as you can see below. I used my Elinchrom Quadra through a very large (60″) shoot-through umbrella. I like the directional light that it gives off – and the way that it creates highlight and shadow on the subject. The umbrella is just one tool I could have used, but I chose it for the quality of light it gives off. A soft box would have focused the light more on the subject, and the background would have been darker. The flash head with nothing over it (referred to as bare-bulb) would have created very hard, harsh areas of light and shadow on the subject, which would take away from the look that I was heading towards.

It’s really the simplest of lighting setups, but a very effective one for studio work. I had my subject stand where she was directly lit by the light, but far enough away from the background so that the light would fall off a bit before hitting the seamless. That lets the background get a bit darker rather than looking like it’s lit as the subject is lit.

The image above was taken at ISO 200, f/8, and 1/160 of a second.

I attended Mystic Seminars last weekend. This is the third year now I’ve made the drive down to Mystic, CT in January to see some amazing photographers speak on a variety of subjects ranging from lighting and posing to business and customer service. While the event is chock full of speakers, vendors, inspiration, and networking with local photographers, there isn’t any actual photography involved. So for the third time, myself and a couple of other photographers organized a little shoot. We met up with Niky and shot around a bit down at UCONN’s Avery Point campus. These are some of the shots from the time we spent photographing. It’s nice to get out and photograph for the sake of photographing every once in a while.

^Canon 5d Mark II
I love this camera. It’s the perfect camera for me as a wedding photographer because it’s got great low-light performance and the full frame sensor that helps create the beautiful separation between the subject and the background that helps define my style. I don’t ever use the video function of this camera, but it’s fantastic from what I understand, and film-makers from all over the world are using this camera to create some very impressive short films.

^Canon 7d
My ever-trusty backup camera. I use this camera quite a bit with the Canon 10-22mm lens attached as well as the Canon 70-200mm to get that extra reach I need during a wedding ceremony. Because the 7d has a crop sensor, it allows my longer lenses to get even closer to the action.

^Canon 10-22mm f/3.5
Mostly used for sweeping church shots, tight dressing areas, and reception crowd shots. It’s very wide. It lives on my 7d.

^Canon 50mm f/1.2
Probably my most used lens. It’s locked onto my camera 85% of the time. The 50mm lens (any version) is a great normal-view lens and is one that I’d recommend to anyone starting to build their lens kit. (check out the 50mm 1.8) It’s got great depth-of-field, and really isolates the subject of the image. Prime lenses contribute heavily to my style of photography, and this lens is the best of the primes as far as I’m concerned. I could shoot an entire wedding or engagement session with this lens if I had to. I love it that much!

^Canon 24mm  f/1.4 II
A newer lens to my lineup, this lens is very wide, but also very sharp. This lens is wonderful to use to get dancing shots – it allows me to get in real close and really get a good feel for the action and emotion. It’s also a great lens for a reception venue or church set up shot – a nice wide shot of the way the room looks before people fill in.

^Canon 35mm f/1.4
This lens quickly became a favorite of mine! It’s probably my second most used lens, and it really shines during the entire wedding day, from getting ready through the reception.  I also use it heavily for engagement sessions and portraits where I want to bring the environment into the image with the subjects. It’s great for seeing the bigger picture. It’s tack sharp and focuses lightning fast. I love it!

^Canon 85mm f/1.8
Probably my least used lens at weddings, but I can’t bear to get rid of it because it really is a beautiful piece of glass. It’s better suited to senior portraits or corporate head shots because it really allows the face to be the star of the image. It’s got fantastic contrast and color for such an inexpensive lens.

^Canon 24-70mm f/2.8
This lens is very sharp for a zoom lens. I use it predominantly during the reception, because things can change so quickly with regard to where people are within the frame. I will also usually have this lens on when the bride and groom turn and walk down the aisle after they are married because it allows me to get in tight, then take a nice, sweeping shot of them exiting the church or ceremony venue.

^Canon 70-200mm f/2.8
I normally use this lens during the wedding ceremony only. It’s got a great reach on it, and stays nice and sharp at a distance. I will also sometimes put this lens on my camera at the beginning of engagement sessions to photograph the couple without being right in their faces. Later in the session I’ll get closer with another lens to make it a little more intimate.

Canon 580ex II Flash
Not much to say about this piece of gear, just that it performs as advertised, consistently ever time.

^Vivitar 285hv (2)
These ridiculously cheap flashes once were the backbone of my off-camera lighting kit. They’re reliable and packable, but made rather cheaply. They allow me to add another dimension to reception lighting or a little punch of light during the couples portraits when needed. They can be hidden in the smallest of places. It’s nice to have these tools in my bag.

^Elinchrom Quadra Ranger
The most powerful light in my kit, the Quadra bridges the gap between small speedlights and studio strobes. It insures that I can light just about any situation I could find myself in over the course of a wedding day or other assignment, and it’s still small enough to pack in my bag. It’s completely battery powered like the speedlights, but is rated over 4 times as powerful as my Canon 580 exII. It makes it easy to kill the ambient light in just about any situation, including some of the brightest portions of the day.

^Pocketwizard (5)
The under-appreciated tool. These guys are more expensive than their off-brand counterparts, but they always work. Always. If a flash isn’t firing, it’s the cord or the flash(or me!), never these guys. The pocketwizards connect my camera to the flashes placed around the reception hall, or to light the subject during portraits, and they provide the necessary link to firing those flashes. They also allow me to hide a camera (and fire it remotely from my other camera) where a person would be distracting, say, behind the priest during a ceremony.

^ LitePanels Micro LED Video Light
This tiny light allows me to throw a little splash of light into a scene in a “what you see is what you get” kind of way. A lot of times I’ll approach the bride and groom later in the evening after dinner has started to see if they’d be up for taking a few more images outside. Most times I’ll bring just this light or maybe this light and a small speed light to light the scene.

No photographer’s gear bag would be complete without all the little extras that come along with doing what we do. Gaffers tape, random connectors, batteries, business cards, iPad camera connector kit, flashlight, ball bungees, A-clamps, color gel kits (for changing the white balance of a flash), and so on. It’s all in the name of being prepared for anything that this job can throw at you.

What IS my bag?
My current main bag is a Think Tank Airport International rolling bag which gets me in and out of most spots I’ll find myself working. Occasionally I’ll pull out my old LowePro MiniTrekker backpack for a smaller kit that’s far more portable. For engagement sessions and other times where I only need one camera body and a couple of lenses, (with cards and extra batteries) I’ll open my Think Tank Retrospective Lens Changer 3 for a shoulder bag that is super portable and comfortable for long walking trips.

If you have any questions on any of the gear I carry with me – please leave a comment below!

Kara, of Kara & Nick who were married a few years ago in Narragansett, are expecting their first child early next year! It’s always great when clients come back and allow me to document the changes happening in their families! We took some images out in a great piece of open space near her home, then finished with some studio shots inside to switch things up a bit. Thanks again, Kara, for inviting me back to document yet another stage in your family’s life!

This will be the only time throughout the year that prices will be discounted across the board like this. It’s a great opportunity to order the prints, canvas gallery wraps, metal prints, or bamboo mounted prints that you may have been putting off ordering! This offer is valid for all clients, past & present; even future! (You may pre-order prints even before your wedding or portrait session for use later)

For example:
8×10 prints are now $17.50 (reg. $25.00)
11×14 prints are now $21.00 (reg. $30.00)
11×14 METAL prints $63.00 (reg.$90.00)
11×14 BAMBOO mounted prints $ 98.00 (reg. $140.00)
16×20 canvas gallery wraps are now $175.00 (reg. $250.00)
(Email me for full price list)

Prices are valid only through direct ordering via email, not through the website. If you’d like to take advantage of this offer, please email info@smithbrad.com to place your order. The 30% off Black Friday Sale prices are in effect November 24, 25, and 26 only. 30% off prices are valid only on 8×10″ prints and larger. Rhode Island 7% sales tax + shipping and handling apply. $50 minimum order.

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