Manual Focus

Misha, Ben, Joey, & eric

Back into action!

After a brief hiatus so that I could graduate from graduate school, I was back on the shutter today with some beautiful folks on a BEAUTIFUL day.  See them, love them.  Watch them turn into stars...

Misha (i as in fish not i as in si) was a crazy trooper today.  We began at 7am!  Craziness.  She's also allergic to water.  Or something.  no... Gluten.  That's it.  Gluten.  So my fabulous makeup artist Julia had to use all gluten free products [not the easiest stuff to find]  and she looked great!  Other cool things to know about Misha in addition to her awesome allergy, she has two kids.  Girls.  Get psyched for the teenage years. She works at the nature and science museum doing all sorts of cool reenactment things.  Most importantly, though, is her sweet allergy.  That means she can only eat things like bugs.




So Ben works at the DCPA.  He's actually one of the managers for the box office, so he gets free tickets to every show there.  Don't go bothering him for Little Mermaid tickets though.  He doesn't get free ones for that.  And trust me, if he did, you'd have to get through me first.  um... i mean...  Well... So Ben's wife is a banker - but don't ask her for Little Mermaid tickets either.  So i thought that instead of letting Ben shoot in the cool comforts of the Bonfils Lobby, I'd throw him outside to the parking lot in the scorching sun and shoot there.  He was a mega champ, and his shots look awesome.

Q. Where did the meteorologist stop for a drink on the way home from a long day in the studio?
A. The nearest ISOBAR

Joey is a girl.  She made a point of telling me that in our corresponding e-mails.  Joey is also dating this stud of a meteorologist. Joey is also a world renown hair model.  Joey is also the name of a baby kangaroo.  That's a cool fact you should know.  Anyways, this Joey knows all about Boob Clouds [i forget what they're really called - she just said that they look like boobs] as well as what that stuff is called that happens in between rain and sleet - or was it hail... i dunno.  Anyways, definitely invite her to your parties.

Then there was eric.  eric has most recently been seen in... hey, wait a minute.  That's me... what the... 

In Between shoots today, Julia decided to take it upon herself to have a little photo shoot of her own.  From start to finish she set up all the lighting and did all the retouching.  No so bad, eh?  I should be careful.  I may start loosing business...

seek the joy!

:e:

Master Laurits

You'll have noticed that i haven't posted in a while... that is because [drum roll]

As of Saturday evening at 10pm i have a Master of Fine Arts degree.  That's right folks, i just completed three grueling years of graduate school and am alive to tell the tale. Over 10 hours a day, 6 days a week with the same 7 people was quite an experience, let me tell you!

I have a week left of the two shows i am doing in rep - the Elephant Man and Working - A Musical.  Then i have a week of showcase rehearsal, then i fly out to NYC to take over the world.  Actually, i'm not gonna take over the world, just take pictures of it. 

Just wanted to share that with you all.  The next couple weeks will be a little hairy, but bear with me.  I'll post as frequently as i can.

Here are some of the Elephant Man poster options that they didn't use (i like them better than the ones they chose, but I just shoot... they decide)

seek the joy!

:e:

eric laurits M.F.A.

DAY OFF!

Today was the first day off i've had since New Year's Day!  It was awesome.  What i'm about to share with you, though, is what i did yesterday afternoon.

Since i didn't need to be anywhere today i decided (along with ELPA [eric laurits picture academy] student Julia Snider) to take a photo field trip.  It has been so long since i''ve had a chance to get out and shoot for myself - without having any client to shoot for.  I highly recommend it.  We started off in downtown Denver and headed out through the barrios and up towards the Highlands.  We saw some incredible things... it was a beautiful day and there were so many striking colors and textures to try and keep an eye on, it was almost completely overwhelming!  enjoy these ::

 

yesterday i spent my free time doing what i do for a living.  if you can do this you are a truly lucky individual. i feel like so many people in this world cannot WAIT to stop working.  They work to live.  I am so lucky that my "job" affords me such happiness.  I live to work.  I hope you all may find that passion and joy that i find in my everyday.  It will be a wonderful life.

be joyful.  seek the joy of being alive.

:e:

Dan, Curtiss, and Jono

hello to friends far and wide.  this week's post features three boys from the Mile High City.

Dan - went to the National Theatre Conservatory (Just like ME!)  He graduated in like '46 or something and i don't graduate till... wait for it... NEXT SATURDAY!  Anyways, dan is a totally sweet guy who teaches Drama to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders.  Good stuff.  He starts off with the Greeks.  You know, 'cause those are happy plays.  He has also earned the nickname Mr. Oatmeal.  Don't ask.

Curtiss has two s's in his name.  and that's just awesome.  He also knows how to build houses out of hay.  No, seriously.  He and his dad build straw bale homes - super eco friendly and GREEN!  They are quite amazing.  I don't have a link to post, but i can assure these are no "first little pig" houses.  Good for you.  Good for the planet.  Hell yeah.  Curtiss is also a major stud.  He said so himself.

   

Jono (sounds like oh-no) ALSO teaches in the denver/metro area.  He teaches little kids.  Probably drama.  Not like "oh my god why didn't he ask me to the prom" drama, but like "to be or not to be" drama.  You know, the good kind. He also spent all of Easter in bed. He is really excited because he is "ethnic." That means, you don't look like me. It was pretty awesome.

seek the joy!

:e:

ps - feel free to leave a little hello in the comments section.  I love hearing from you all.

Bludomain Contests

Hello to everyone

Do you know about Bludomain?  If not, you should.  They specialize in designing and hosting websites for photographers of all sorts.  They offer an incredible value.  If you can't afford to get a ridiculously decked out website personally custom designed for you (Bludomain does this too!) then start here with one of their kickin' templates.

One other cool thing about them is that they're always having really fun and crazy contests.  Often they are run by Kailee - the super sweet blogger-in-chief for the Colorado based company.   You can catch up on their blog here.

Anyways... i got an honorable mention in one of their most recent contests - the pigtails and Lollipops contest.  Julia and i thought it would be funny to stick her in pigtails and stick some of our leftover Easter ham on a chopstick and call it a lollipop.  You know, PIG-tail. Well, that's where the story ends... and we won an iPod shuffle!  Yay.  Below is the image. 

here is another one for one of their contests.  The rules were take a bw photo of someone holding a sign saying what they do for a living.  Again it's of Julia.  We didn't win, but i LOVE the image and it'll be going up on my website.

seek the joy!

:e:      

The Wedding Party!

Check it :: The Wedding Party is here!

Here's a brand new site set for launch June 25th.  I am officially one of the founding members.  Everybody knows about sites like The Knot and The Wedding Channel.com but as those sites grow and grow, they tend to get more convoluted with ads for this and ads for that which makes it harder for brides to find what they really want.  The Wedding Party is gonna be really sweet as it is uber user friendly and it is vendor based, focusing on what brides are looking for most when they begin the planning process. 

Are you a future Bride?  BOOKMARK this site.  I assure you it will be one of the best things you can do to cut down on the stress of planning your event.

Are you a photographer? Get in now, on the ground floor.  No one likes advertising and this is a great way to cut back your effort but maximize your outreach.

seek the joy!

:e:

Easter Snow

well well well

sometimes i feel like i don't pause enough to really reflect on what an awesome job i have.  it's hard to call it a job, really.  it feels like i get paid to hang out with really cool people all the time.  so i happen to take photos during our hang out... today i had four shoots and though the folks were all incredibly diverse, everyone was soooooooo cool...

check it ::

Susan is about to dig into Dawn in Lobby Hero in Golden, CO. Did you know her dad invented concrete molds or something? That's kinda awesome.

                  

Kelly has worked all over the DCPA including designing the lighting in the Sewell Ballroom, and building our sets in the Scene Shop.  Talented lady... she's currently working on Gypsy, and selling cool lighting gear.

                                    

David works for the Denver Center Theatre Academy bringing all sorts of good stuff to young kids all around Colorado. It's good stuff. Some cool things about David :: he knows way too much about Peekaboo Street, his old headshots have decorated the windshields of every car in an Arizonian town, and he had quite an interesting Semester at Sea (ask him about it sometime).  You see a little Harrison Ford in this picture?   

Meridith has worked with Second City and survived to tell the tale.  That is a feat in itself.  She's currently finishing up her MFA at Neropa in Boulder.  Experimental theatre.  Good Stuff. During her shoot there was even a special apperence by celebrated composer, Gary Grundei.  That picture of them is them doing there best tortured artist pose.  Looks more like they're doing their we both look really hot pose...

seek the joy!

:e:

Post number ONE!

welcome to the new Blog!!!!!!!  I was getting tired with the lack of functionality in Blogger.  Not that I don't love it, cause i do, I just outgrew it.  That's all.  Anyways, enjoy!!!

you can still access the old blog here