{ Image Blog by Marc Orbito }
With graduation season coming around, I wanted to post a sample Marc-Orbito-style session to give people a better idea of what you get with one of my senior packages. Sure, I'll do the headshots, but I really enjoy doing more environmental style portraits that captures one's personality and interests. What better way to do that than than to photograph a person doing what they love?
With this cowgirl portrait shoot, I decided not to shy away from the midday sun and challenge it head on. It wasn't easy and the results are a bit different than I'm used to. Overall, it was still a lot of fun. Not only did we have to deal with the heat and humidity, but the sunlight glaring down on us above required a different lighting setup at almost every position change. Definitely a learning experience!
I like to travel light and use a minimal amount of gear. Having too much gear, I feel, adds another layer between myself and my model, which I think, takes away from the rapport and commonality that usually results in better photos. Or perhaps I still lack the experience.
Our model, Passionae, was also the makeup artist and stylist here. She did a great job! And Thanks to her friend Tanisha for helping out as well!
Words and images open hearts. For this engagement shoot, I wanted to tell a little bit of a story. I decided to to use the fact that Donnie and Brenda are currently in a long-distance relationship as a narrative element here. Donnie, still a student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa spends weeks or months apart from Brenda who's has already started her career in Travel Industry Management on the Big Island where she is from. Recently engaged, they miss each other dearly and yearn for time in which they can share and be together again. (I've witnessed first-hand their googly banter on Facebook! Awww, so cute!) He bears himself in a letter, which he mails with some photographs of sentiment. As Brenda reads the letter (for the 100th time) on the beach one day, he surprises her with a visit, and for a moment, they are one again!
I've always thought of the fisheye lens as a gimmick lens. But the more I've shot with it, the more I've learned to appreciate its quirky fruitions. Thus, I decided to make it part of the court, nicknaming it the "jester" lens. Yesterday my new toy took center stage, and the family and I headed up to the north shore to enjoy what was left of the holiday weekend.
Here are the results:
I thought that Haleiwa's old plantation-style buildings, in their exalted green and red facades, would make for a more eminent backdrop. On top of that, the rainbow colored shave ice (which still tastes better at Waiola Shave Ice in town) would be a good way to test the color saturation on the thing.
Oh, and it was a fun experience for everyone too. Win-win! :)
Kicking off couples month), Nalani, Hoku and I headed down to the Windward side of Oahu for a shoot in the country. Things didn't turn out exactly as I had pre-conceptualized, but we did well enough, considering the circumstances. Photography is a game of variables, and luck and you do the best you can with the cards dealt. I'm not going to go into detail as to what happened... I get another chance next time!
We spent the majority of Tuesday visiting locations around the island and shooting. I'm not going to post any except a few from our stop at Makapu'u at the base of the lighthouse trail. There, we shot some portraits in the harsh light of the midday sun. (EXIF data shows there were shot about about 1:13pm HST)
Side note: don't let anyone tell you that you shouldn't photograph at that time. We shot these in complete natural light without reflectors or fill lights of any kind. The sun's sweet spot still exists, although it is much harder to find.
These photos are VERY close to RAW. I tweaked the photos' exposure a tiny bit and adjusting the cropping, but for the most part, these are au naturel, in probably more ways that one! :)
It rained hard last month. What does that do for an outdoor photographer who shoots on location all the time? It changes the terrain. Literally. When Mimi commissioned me to do a portrait session, she not only wanted to shoot in the sun's light, but also "where there is tall grass." Perfect. The land just happens to be really lush and green right now, thanks to the aforementioned weather front that visited us. I've shot at this location many times before, but it's usually rocky and filled with weeds, brush and thorns there. With this session, we ran with what Mother Nature, as I did in the last one and will be doing later this week in the next. Maybe I should call this the "long grass" series? Hmm. Anyway, enjoy!
Howdy! My name is Marc Orbito. I'm a general photographer in the state of Hawaii who enjoys photographing people!
I'm also a father, husband, Apple geekboy, writer, Disney junkie, Miami Heat basketball fan and washed-out cinephile.
I invite you to look around. Hopefully you'll like what you see and and maybe even hire me!
Contact me for rates at marc @ orbito.net
