June 2006 Archives
You may not know this unless you have been reading my blog, but my studio space is only a few months old now. My wife and I sold our house and used part of the equity to build out the space. So much was riding on the sale of our house that we made sure to have a real estate attorney with us at the closing. She was invaluable.
Last week out attorney called us up and asked if I would be interested in doing a commercial shot of a product she sells. It turns out that she has a line of coffee that is about to hit the shelves of Fiesta here in Houston very soon.
In the front room of the studio there is a black glass conference table. I got some burlap to use as something to frame the coffee bags and poured some beans all around the bags and burlap. I was actually pleased with the results, so I thought I would share the image. I shot this last week.
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Aric C. Hoek
The Master of Shadows
Houston Wedding Photographer
I am very happy to announce that this June has been my biggest month to date with 8 weddings in one month! Solaris is growing, and I will be looking for some part time help very soon. This is the main reason that I have not had time to enter anything into my blog in some time, but I have some time now and I am eager to share some experiences. I would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the few of you that have actually contacted me to ask when the next entry will be. Input like that helps to keep me motivated to write.
Now, onto the reason for this blog. Fourteen is the number of months ago that one of my clients retained my services to photograph her wedding this month. What a complement it was to have someone book my services so far in advance! During those 14 months, I have photographed their engagement portraits in Paris, Bridal Portraits in Versailles, and a second session of bridal portraits at Rice University! WOW! I wanted to share those images with you as well as a few shots from her wedding.
Aric C. Hoek
The Master of Shadows
Houston Wedding Photographer
Book Solaris Studios today.
First, here are her bridal portraits in Versailles.
Here are two of my favorites from their engagement shoot in Paris last July.
Here are some from her second bridal session at Rice University.
And finally a few from her fabulous wedding at Ashton Gardens
Well, I lost a full day of work yesterday…. because it was my birthday! Toni, my wife, took me out shopping and I was not allowed within 5 feet of a computer or camera all day. I could deal with the computer part, but not the camera. Turns out my phone has a camera in it so I documented some of the day. We started the day off with a small bit of shopping at The Galleria, where I was treated to a new watch, cologne, and lunch.
After lunch we went straight home and did something I haven't done in a long long time. I took a nap! And I can tell you it was a small slice of heaven. We woke up late for dinner ass we forgot to set our alarm. Rushing the babies to the sitter, we were off to meet up with one of my best friends of over 12 years.
Dinner at P.F. Changs was great, the company was great, and it was a good end to the day.
I spent all day Friday shooting in the studio, and it felt great! I really only try to schedule one shoot in the morning, and one shoot in the afternoon. Before I opened my doors and began shooting for myself, I had years and years of experience working with other photographers and studios in one way or another. Most of those studios would book their appointments back to back so they could pack in as many sessions as possible in a day.
For me though, that does not allow any time to think outside of the box. As an artist and a photographer, I feel that I do myself a great dis-service if I do not allow myself the opportunity to try new things. Things would become very boring really fast if I never gave myself time to try out new ideas.
When I try new things, I like to try them in an actual session. I allow my clients to become part of the creative process. Of course I make sure that I have captured some fantastic work first before I start playing, as I do not want to waste anyone’s time. However, there are no guarantees that when I am exploring new visions that they will be pleasing to look at. But at the very least, we all have a good time trying.
Yesterday, I had a bridal session that definitely drinks my brand of cool-aide, which always makes me feel more comfortable trying new things. From day one this particular customer has had nothing but excitement for my services. So yesterday, I gave it my all!
I wanted to try going way outside the box. But what does that even mean? To me, at any one give time, it means trying to create an image that shows my particular style of doing things, but in a very different way. Normally I will use shadows to draw a viewer’s attention to a particular point in the image, which is normally the clients face. The face would always be the brightest thing in the image. This time I was going to do the exact opposite. The point of interest would be the darkest thing in the image, specifically the subjects eyes.
After about 30 minutes of trial and error, I think we came up with something that is really fantastic. I liked it so much I added it to my site this morning.. I also wanted to share a much more traditional shot that was taken before we started experimenting. Can you see how I have used the shadows in each image to draw attention to a specific spot?
Aric C. Hoek
The Master of Shadows
Houston Wedding Photographer
Book Solaris Studios today.
“No shop talk” was what I was told when I got to the bar for a bit of after hours socialization after my wedding this weekend. I really needed to get out, and it was nice to be out with other quality photographers. Saturday night, I finished photographing my reception at The River Oaks Garden Club around 11:15. The studio was only two blocks away, so I was able to put my equipment up and secure my images before heading out for the night. Here is one of the images…
At any rate, I met up with K&C as well as David Jones. David has been a good friend of mine for many years now. In fact, he actually photographed my wedding, which also happened to be at The River Oaks Garden Club.
The "no shp talk" turned out to be a soft rule. None of us could help it.
Aric C. Hoek
The Master of Shadows
Houston Wedding Photographer
Book Solaris Studios today.
These images were taken Friday at The Sacred Heart in Galveston. Turns out a family member was an usher at this wedding, and I didn't learn about it until I was at the wedding!
Aric C. Hoek
The Master of Shadows
Houston Wedding Photographer
Book Solaris Studios today.
This is my third time shooting at The Courtyard on St. James Place, and each time I go I find new things to shoot there.
Aric C. Hoek
The Master of Shadows
Houston Wedding Photographer
Contact Solaris Studios and book your wedding photographer today.
