I had the chance to help Mrs. Jones preserve the memory of a much respected achievement on her academic ladder. She received her Masters Degree in Business and did it while working, being a wife and a mom. My hat goes off to her for this achievement.
 
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Vacation Bible School (VBS) brings back many memories from my childhood. It was one of the most anticipated weeks out of my summer and it made me look forward to going to church.  Just like yesterday I can remember making arts and crafts, learning about Jesus, playing with all of my friends and topping it off with good dinner for 5 days straight.     My church just had it’s vacation bible school and it was a blast to capture with my Sony A700 camera.  Â
 
The misconception is that VBS  is for children only. That is far from the truth. VBS is for people of all ages from babys to the elderly.
 
Below are just a few moments (of many) that were captured during the later part of the week.
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I had the chance to video the Youth Explosion Service at North East Baptist Church. There was a young man that shared some Gospel Poetry. He had a strong message supported by a good delivery. I invite you to take a few moments and look at the video below.
On Saturday, May 31, 2008, I was hired by Duke University’s Bon Appetit company to capture the dinner for the “Duke Children’s Classic 35th Anniversary” dinner. When I received the call earlier in the week I thought that this would be similar to other events. However, this event was in a class of it’s own. It turned out to be one of the most visually interesting and technically challenging shoots that I’ve encountered in a while.
After walking through the doors of the Brian Center I was given a quick brief that my task was to capture three floors full of food, decorations and people. As I surveyed my surroundings I felt like a deer stuck in headlights because it was that visually mesmerizing.
There were spot lights of various hues painting dazzling color on the walls, the food, the ceilings and everything in between. For the ears there was upbeat music playing to assist in creating a festive mood. Many of the workers were moving around in a frenzy getting ready for the crowd to arrive. There were 6 or 7 distinct themes masterfully blended to create a diverse environment for the guests.
(Photos captured with a Sony Alpha-700 DSLR Camera coupled with a Carl Zeiss 24-70/2.8 lens.)
(Photo collage designed by Ivan)
As I realized the magnitude of the task at hand I decided that I’d eat this elephant one piece at a time.
1. Capture the important details from the first , second and third floors.
2. Back track and capture the larger atmosphere and surroundings.
3. Start capturing “some” of the people and minor details.
Here are a few photographs but in order to experience the complete atmosphere you will either have to watch the slideshow or visit the full gallery. Both are located at the end of this blog entry.
Ice sculptures with ocean blue hues being used as cleverly designed platforms for chilled shrimp.
Oriental fare arranged by masterful chefs and food artists.
Sophisticated bars waiting to provide a variety of beverages to thirsty guests.
Succulent beef with “fixins” served up in a South Western Style.
Cozy coves that were perfect for intimate conversation.
Artistic desserts designed to be visually stimulating and pleasing to the pallette.
I encourage you to take a few moments and view the slideshow to experience all of the photographs. You will find an eclectic assortment of music to accompany a visual feast.
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I had the privilege of capturing a few photographs of Minister Robinson. She requested a few head shots. During the entire shoot she was very easy to work with and she arrived on the set with makeup and clothing ready to go. Her mom accompanied her and was the final authority on which pictures were kept and which had to be deleted. Â
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I had the chance to work with Alicia in a collaborative effort to help expand both of our portfolios. She enjoys modeling and is a junior at North Carolina Central University majoring in finance. It took us probably over a month to eventually settle on a good day for the shoot. At times things came up on my end and I had to cancel and at other times something came up on her end. Eventually, we were able to confirm that Saturday would work out just fine. The location that we chose was Duke Gardens because it has several diverse places and you can find a spot without a lot of people messing up the shot. With that being said, we did have some nosey onlookers watching the shoot for a few minutes.
During the shoot there were several surprises. At one point she was in the middle of striking a pose and the next thing I know she made a shrieking sound and then jumped down off the bench. Well it turns out that she really doesn’t like bugs and there was a daddy long legs crawling towards her. I put down the camera, caught the daddy long legs and threw it through the bamboo window. She looked at me and said ewwwwwwww I can’t believe you just touched that! Well yah know, I gotta get my shot even if that means ditching the bugs in a quick manner. We laughed, she got her nerves back and once I made sure that there were no more bugs then we continued with the shoot.
You can’t tell from the picture below but the shot is from the other side of the wall with the bamboo window. Before we went to that side Alica looked at me and said. Didn’t you just throw the spider onto that side of the hut? I reassured her that the daddy long legs was long gone and on top of that I pulled off two of it’s legs by accident when trying to catch it. Everything was setup for the shot below and then we had another surpise. There was an crawling towards her hand and it was about to get into the picture. I attempted to gently brush it from the wall and ended up squashing it by accident. We both looked at each other, then looked back at the crushed ant and lost a few more moments by getting laughs out of our system but at the same time we felt sorry for the ant because it was not my intent to kill it. We then went back to the task at hand which was to make some nice captures.
By the time the shoot was over we were both amazed at how fast the time had flown by. Beside the spiders, ants and bugs we had a successful shoot. Before leaving the area we scouted out some potential spots to use for next time.
One thing that surprised me was Alicia’s willingness to help me break down my camera gear. She took down and disassembled the soft box, broke down the light stand, packed them up neatly so that I could get to another obligation that was about 35 minutes out. I’m looking forward to working with her again in the future.
I had the opportunity to meet an energetic young couple that wanted to have memories captured. Their request was to have formal pictures taken as well as fun and playful ones. Carlton is a preacher and was called into the ministry at the tender age of 17. He and Kendra love the Lord and have a zest for life. This was one of the most fun photo shoots as of late. The both of them arrived with the right attitude and were very helpful in helping to fine tune the pictures.
(An in between fun shot capturing the laughter)
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My cousin Dr. Maria Small, M.D. presented information on Breast Cancer and the Sister’s Network support group. Unfortunately, I could not attend to tape her presentation but my Aunt Mary was kind enough to capture this video. You can view the video by clicking on the image below.
Today AJ and Shelby celebrated their major accomplishment of graduating from North Carolina Central University. They hosted a party and had me to come out and take group photos of various people in attendance as well as print and sell them on location. For the pictures, only a single octobox was used to keep the light simple and flexible.
Below are just a few photos which contain pictures of
1) AJ and Shelby with their mom Evangelist Sheila.
2) AJ with his sweet heart
3)Shelby with her big sister.
If you would like to host an event and have group pictures captured and printed on location then contact me through www.ivanwatkins.com
On April 19, 2008 Lynda and Lee Knox celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. This was a joyous gathering full of family, friends and special memories. A lot of us get excited when we see a couple getting married but for me seeing a couple celebrate 25 years is even more exciting. It becomes even more special when you see the two of them still in love and looking forward to 25 more years. It was an honor to have the opportunity to capture these memories and I thank them for trusting me with this once in a lifetime celebration. Below you will find a short video clip from their DVD and a few photographs. Â
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CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ENTIRE GALLERY
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