It is Time for those Senior Photos!

Sadie is the first of the 2012 High School Seniors to find their way in front of my camera.  She will have a total of three shoots in the coming weeks.  Sadie is a senior at Winlock High School.

Our first shoot was completed in a beautiful wheat field outside of Winlock.  It was very hot on the evening of our shoot.  This made for a great contrast in Sadie's rather uptown style and agricultural traditions of the area.

Next we moved into a grove of trees to take advantage of the cool shade and the resulting light.

Next we went back out into the hard light and heat to take advantage of another agricultural prop. 

As a practice, we typically like to compile up to three shoots for a senior.  This allows them to show and dress for a different part of their personality.  GAP Photo will create images for seniors anywhere in Western in Central Washington.  Help us put pins in our map for all of the different schools we will cover between August and June!

Music a Treat for the Ears and the Eyes

Some of you have probably been thinking that business has not been very good of late.  While it could always be better, I have been busy with many gigs that resulted in less than showy image collections.  There was a family reunion, a golf tournament, and a guided mountain climb with a group from Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Just hours after summiting Coldwater Peak neat Mount St. Helens, I was a guest photographer for The Backfire Band who was opening for country singer Travis Tritt at the Napavine Amphitheater.  They were a pleasure to listen to as well as photograph.

This was not my first shoot with the boys of the Backfire, but it was difficult to beat the lighting of a Western Washington late July evening.

Napavine Takes a Turn at Creating Royality

Introducing the 2010 Princess Napawinah

2010 Princess Napawinah April Macomber.

The story will appear here on Tuesday, after it appears in the Town Crier Newspaper

2009 Princess Napawinah Samantha Rhodes places the crown on the head of April Macomber who will succeed her in 2010.

2010 Princess April Macomber (left) sings and harmonizes with her sister, 2006 Princess Napawinah Danika Macomber.

2009 Princess Napawinah Samantha Rhodes served the community well by representing Napavine at eight other community celebrations.

Delia McNelly was Princess Napawinah in 1955.

There are a total of 56 photos available at GAP Photo in the events section!  Thanks for coming by and enjoying our community!

Business Shoots Available from GAP Photo

Do you need photos of your small business?  Much like Blazzen's shoot to give him quality photos for his friends and new associates to see, a new business needs to have high quality photos on line too.

Locally, The new Back Alley Bar began to market itself on Facebook.  They used photos from a 5MP camera to show the first images of the infant business.

I quickly offered to take photos with my equipment using an F1.4 50MM lens I purchased to photograph a wedding in very dark conditions.

This is a service that I can offer to small businesses who want their basic images to flourish for as little as $25.  If your business would like a photo shoot of the interior, products or an event, please feel free to contact GAP Photo.  We love to create art that moves your business forward.

For other services and examples of our photography, please see the GAP Photo Galleries.

Quick Social Media Photos

How many of you wish you could have high quality photos for your social media presence?  I believe it is more important than ever that quality photographs be used in places where perspective employers may sneak a peak at you. 

To be honest, (and yes, I have high expectations) I get so tired of photos taken with camera phones or worse, an image created while looking into a mirror.  All of you need to come with a personal photographer.

And yes, there are the decent photos and I say to myself...I could have really made that special with my equipment.

So when Blazzen (he was new to Facebook) asked me if I had any photos of him, I told him that I would create some when he came back to our area.  Let's face it, we want our true personality to show (no suit and tie for Blazzen) to appeal to a number of different audiences on social media.  It was a five minute shoot and resulted at least 15 very high quality photos for Blazzen to use for a while on social media sites.

In the local area, I will do this for the price of a few groceries ($10.00) If you are in Olympia, Longview or someplace farther away that cost will stay the same if you can catch me while I am in your area on another shoot. Better yet, get three of your friends together and let's make a party of it!  Otherwise, outside of the local area, this shoot is $25.00. If you would like some social media photos, please contact me and we will talk about time and the depth of your shoot!

Call or email for a social media photo shoot!  I can be your personal photographer!

For a look at other portraits and people photos visit GAP Photo.

The Faces of the Game

The District IV Fastpitch Championships in Centralia was lacking in competetive drama for many of the games I was able to cover.  Of those, only the championship contest held much in the way of competetive fire; There were two teams holding the other back, searching for the moment, the break or luck that would put them over the top. 

As a sports photographer, I thrive on capturing the "action shot", that play that makes a game, a season or perhaps a career.  What we sometimes forget is that we are creating images of human beings full of life and emotion.  Their own personal victories may be less common than the big plays.  The release of emotion and expression is less predictable to capture than the backhand-stab of a hot-shot grounder to short.

Sometimes, an objective observer has to remind himself exactly what he is trying to create.

The full collections of several fastpitch games are now available at GAP Photo.  You can find the second Toledo/Castle Rock game, Pe Ell/Napavine and the 1A Championship game between Onalaska and Montesano.

Toutle Lake, Napavine Fastpitch Collection Available

The sun came out yesterday and so did the Napavine and Toutle Lake fastpitch teams. The Lady Tigers used the sun a little more to their advantage with a 5-2, 11-8 doubleheader sweep of Toutle Lake. One of the things I love about still photography is that no matter what the score, a solo image captures just the effort and emotiom.  To view the photos of this game, drop by GAP Photo.