"Street Shoot" with Amber Rose

Amber is new the modeling scene. I was actually surprised when she first contacted me, because she lives in Northwest Pennsylvania, and has a bit of travel to get to the Pittsburgh area. Turns out she has friends in the area, so it isn't much of a problem for her to be here.

For this shoot I decided to try something different and tried a "Street shoot". The idea is to travel light (just a camera for me, just one outfit for the model) and work in a business district, posing with whatever is handy. It is quite a bit different from the "regular" shoots that I do, with a bag full of camera gear, flashes on stands, and other photo paraphernalia. Amber and I met in Squirrel Hill, along the Forbes Avenue business district. We went down one block, crossed the street, and came back the other side, with only a couple of minor detours (an alley, and a short distance on another street). I was amazed at the variety of settings we were able to find in just that short distance.

Amber was great to work with. It didn't faze her that we were working in public and people were watching. She took direction well and did everything I asked of her.

I'll be definitely planning more "street shoots" (and photos with Amber...) in the future.

Mikkey

Michal Renee (who prefers to be called Mikkey) contacted me on Model Mayhem, looking to add some shots to her portfolio. She's actually taking a short break from college to pursue her modeling dream. So we scheduled a session this past Thursday down at Cedar Creek Park, in Rostraver.

Micky is amazing in front of the camera. She has an extensive dance background, and it shows in her posing. She doesn't have a bad angle, and each pose is unique and effortless. When you combine that with a professional attitude, creativity, and fashion sense, she truly is a joy to work with.

This was the first of a series of shoots I scheduled to take advantage of a stretch of great weather we're having. It's a little bit crazy, I suppose, having 5 shootings over an 8 day stretch, but given this may be our last nice stretch of weather until April (ugh!), I definitely want to take advantage of it.

Let the fun begin!

2011 Tour du District

Saturday I photographed the 2011 "Tour du District" bicycle ride, sponsored by the Woodland Hills Foundation. I live in the Woodland Hills School District, so this was a great way for me to give back to my community (as well as getting my name out there). This is the second year for the bike ride, with is intended as a fundraiser for the foundation.

Unfortunately the weather really conspired against this year's event. In addition to the threat of rain, this year's riders had to contend with unseasonably cold temperatures (45 degrees when we left the house), which really put a crimp in attendance. Skies were so dark that I decided to use a flash in order to freeze motion. I was glad that I wasn't riding, and could go into the school building to warm up.

Photos from the event can be found here:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/tour_du_district_2011

All Fall 2011 Dynamo Soccer are Online!

This past weekend was the makeup weekend for the Dynamo Soccer Fall 2011 Recreational League. Other than a few random drops, the rain held off and I managed to get all of the teams photographed. All told, I shot over 3800 photos over this Fall. That's about 500 more shots than I did in the Spring.

All of the photos are online, sorted by team. The Fall photos can be found here:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/dynamo_soccer_fall_2011

There is a 15% "Early Bird" discount for all orders placed by October 1 (that's this Saturday), so you still have a couple of days to order and save!

Dynamo Soccer Fall 2011 Photo Day

This past weekend was Photo Day for the Dynamo Soccer Fall 2011 Recreational League. I was at Schenley Park both days to photograph all 68 teams. As usual, the weather played a factor. Both days had a chance of rain and thunderstorms. Saturday we had sunshine and warmer temperatures until 4 pm, when the skies suddenly opened up (even though the sun was still shining) for about 30 minutes, killing my chances of getting any photos of the teams scheduled for 4 pm games. And all that rain on Saturday meant that the grass fields were a mess on Sunday. All told, I shot almost 2500 photos over the two days.

The makeup weekend is scheduled for the weekend of September 24 and 25, when I'll be at the field to photograph anyone who missed the first weekend.

I've started posting the photos online. Currently I have all of the photos from the Saturday games up, and I'm working on the Sunday games now. The new gallery can be found here:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/dynamo_soccer_fall_2011

There is a 15% "Early Bird" discount for all orders placed by October 1, so order now and save!

By the way, a bit of explanation for the above photo is in order. Sometimes the players want to ham it up for the group photo. Since I usually shoot several group shots, I will tell them that if they give me two "normal" group shots, they can have some fun with the third shot. So the U10G California Blue girl's team decided they wanted to be "Drama Queens". The result is just plain fun!

"Last Chance Sale" for Dynamo Soccer Spring 2011 Photos

Mark your calendars. Photo Day for the Recreational League Fall 2011 season is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of September 10 and 11. I'll be at Schenley Park both days for both team/individual photos, and also for in-game photos. The makeup weekend is scheduled for the weekend of September 24 and 25, when I'll be at the field to photograph anyone who missed the first weekend.

Since I'll soon be posting new photos, I need to make room by taking down the current Spring 2011 photos. This is your last opportunity to purchase photos from the Spring 2011 season. As an added incentive, I've added an automatic 10% discount on all soccer photo orders placed from now through September 10.

The link to the Dynamo Soccer Spring 2011 gallery is:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/dynamo_soccer_spring_2011

Michael and Valerie

August 20th I got a chance to photograph Michael and Valerie's wedding out in Westmoreland County. This was my first "Second Generation" wedding, in that I had photographed Valerie's parent's wedding over 20 years ago. I had also photographed Valerie's aunt's wedding around the same time. It was interesting to see everyone again, and a reminder as to just how long I've been doing this...

The bridal party was a wild bunch and all the guests really enjoyed themselves. But we still had time for a simple, elegant portrait before entering the reception.