Speaking Engagement at Photo Northeast 2014

I will be returning to the Photo Northeast convention in Woodcliff Lake, NJ as a speaker again in 2014.  I was asked to present my program "Sports Portraits With an Edge" on how I create unique and dynamic sports portraits.

I have gotten quite a following among both photographers and high school athletes for the interesting images I create, while trying to make these 17 year old kids look like professional athletes.

Link to Speaker Page

I last spoke at Photo Northeast in 2011 when I presented my very popular "Big Budget Results with Low Budget Equipment".

Greer - Thomas Aquinas HS Senior Portraits, Class of 2014

After Greer's session, I was starting to think that the studio was specializing in those high school boys that wanted nothing to do with senior portraits.  He wasn't too thrilled with the idea of having his picture taken, and I thought it would take a miracle to get him to smile.  As most of the athletes that come through the studio have done, we were able to get some really interesting and unique photos of him in his uniforms.

Jenn - Fairport HS Senior Portraits, Class of 2014

Jenn is the other half of the Crater twins, a lacrosse-playing brother and sister from Fairport.  During her consultation she described herself as funny, easy-going, and athletic, and I found her to be exactly that.  Her mother described her as being shy and quiet, so I wanted to show that with the following photo of her in the spotlight on the studio floor. Jenn is a goalie on the girls' lacrosse team, so we had to make sure we took the time to include that in her session.

Ryan - Fairport HS Senior Portraits, Class of 2014

Ryan was one of those boys that didn't have much interest in having his senior portraits taken, and was mostly here because his mother wanted him to.  After his initial consultation where we talked about what we would do during his session, he was actually looking forward to it.  During his session, he was very relaxed and gave me some of the most comfortable smiles of anyone I've seen this year.

Sarah - Fairport HS Senior Portraits - Class of 2014

All I knew of Sarah before she walked into the studio was that she played 2^nd base on Fairport’s varsity softball team.  We had that in common, as I played 2^nd base for many years.  By the time her session was done, we had more in common, as we both loved her photos.

David - Fairport HS Senior Portraits - Class of 2014

David is one of the studio's ambassadors from Fairport High School for the Class of 2014 and plays on the varsity soccer and baseball teams.  He was photographed in early April, at the beginning of the baseball season, so we decided to concentrate on that for the sports portion of this session and save the soccer photos until we could get outside during the summer months.

There must have been some real magic in the sweet, left-handed swing I captured in the lead photo, because David was in the position to win the Section V baseball title in the bottom of the last inning, and stroked a clean single to drive in the winning run from third base, setting off a riotous celebration. Ever the non-selfish player, he deflected all the praise and instead was happy that the team won it for a great class of outgoing seniors, including three that came through the studio last year for senior portraits.  Further prof that kids that come to Luke Photography for senior portraits go on to do big things.

...yeah, like "I" had anything to do with that....

Corteney - Fairport HS - Senior Portraits

I love photographing the contrast of warm and cool colors together, as shown here by the warm reddish orange of Corteney's dress and the cool blue of the worn denim jacket, then the warn rusty tones of the hand-painted background.  Corteney was the first to be photographed against this background, and it looks like it was made just for her. 

Lighting a Gymnasium for Sports

Nikon speedlight, battery and wireless sync

When HS seniors that are athletes come through the studio for their senior portraits, I like to support the teams they play for.  During this time of the year, I am fairly active with winter sports.  Because a large majority of the HS seniors that came through the studio this year were athletes, I find myself out many nights or weekend mornings at boys' and girls' basketball games, hockey games and wrestling matches.

Even thought modern SLR cameras work extremely well in low-light conditions, I am not thrilled with the quality of light that most high school gymnasiums provide, so I like to supplement the existing light with my one.  This does two things: 1) help stop the action; and B). helps to add definition to the athletes, depending on where the lights are placed.