Willow's Pond Photography

Customer Feedback!

2012-01-18T13:23:00.000-08:00

In today's installment of shameless self promotion, I would like to point out that I have some of the most awesome clients on the planet, and below is why. I received this letter in the mail from Nick and Angela after them having only seeing their sneak peek! How awesome is that?

Lucas,

Please excuse the informality of this letter, but Angela and I wanted to take the time to thank you for all you've done to date to help our wedding day go smoothly. One would think a photographer would be in the center of all the action at all times and in the way. Rather, you have a unique skill for being everywhere at once, but never be intrusive. You handle everything in a friendly, professional manner and still manage to be on the same level as us, as a friend would be. Your ideas were terrific and you were also open to suggestion and critique, which is also a very good quality. Lastly, even though we have really only seen 10 or so photos in your sneak-peek, your work is astounding! Everything looks so great and of such high-quality. We are very excited to dig in to all the photos! You did what we consider to be a job that was above and beyond what we expected.

In short, of all the transactions and people we dealt with, you were by far the most enjoyable to work with!

When we signed up with Mohican Gardens back in January, they gave us a list of suggested vendors. We plan to write Mohican Gardens and urge them to add you to that list in hopes it will bring you more business because you deserve it.

With many thanks,

Nick and Angela

If you would like to see more of their sneak peek, you can check it out here on the Facebook page. You may also get to see even more when I highlight their wedding on the new wedding page that's coming soon. You read that right, a site dedicated to weddings is coming!

Make it Count

2011-09-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago I was out in my back yard with my family trying out a new camera when my neighbor came over and asked if I could take just a couple quick pictures of her daughter and her friends. I of course said "no problem," looking for any excuse to exercise the new toy. I don't believe that she even had a working camera, and it was her daughter's 16th birthday party, so I took a few minutes and got some nice shots of the girls and her and her daughter. At the time, I was thinking that if I showed them some good pictures, that these girls would remember me when it came time for senior portraits. A couple weeks ago I saw them on their front porch having a pretty good size yard sale. They have yard sales occasionally, so I paid it no mind. Then without me even noticing, the house went quiet. Talking with another neighbor yesterday, I found out that she has been moved into a nursing home fighting a life threatening disease, and her daughter has had to move in with family a state away. Suddenly those quick shots in the back yard take on new meaning.

Paradigm Shift vs The Stick in the Mud

2011-09-12T22:21:00.000-07:00

Every photographer is dealing with it, whether they know it or not. Be it changes in hardware or changes in the way we have to operate, paradigm shift is everywhere. My dad always says, "Nothing changes but change, and that ain't gonna change." How true. For me, at least for this late night introspection, it's my gear and how I use it. Sony seems to have been a little late to the game in introducing video to their DSLR line, but for good reason. They, like Minolta before them, seem to take their time to make sure they do the job right. Sony has adorned their new breed of cameras with the moniker "SLT," or "Single Lens Translucent-Mirror," which is a HUGE paradigm shift for the whole camera industry. You see, when a photographer takes a picture and the camera makes that big KUH-THUNK, it's because something big is happening in the camera. The SLR/DSLR camera is unique in that when you look through the viewfinder, you are actually looking out of the lens of the camera, by way of a big mirror and fancy optics. When I press my shutter release, my camera has to quickly move that big mirror out of the way so that the camera can see what I am, and catch the picture. With these new SLT cameras, the mirror doesn't move! Now that does all kinds of fancy things for Sony users, like giving us the fastest auto focus in our class, and lets our cameras auto focus while doing video (a novel idea, I know). So what's the problem? Well, I can't look through my lens anymore, instead I'm looking at an LCD screen. So why is that bad? It's not, having an electronic view finder gives me all kinds of information to help me do my job more effectively. So why am I complaining then? Because I don't like them. Sure, I get faster auto focus, and a display that can tell me just about anything I want to know, but the idea that I'm looking at a screen just takes some of the magic out of it. I feel yet another step disconnected from the "good 'ole days" of film. Now don't get me wrong, I would NEVER trade digital for film when it comes to a wedding ceremony, but will I upgrade to the new hardware? Of course. Will I like it? The jury's still out. At some point, though, it seems like we should stop throwing electrons at every little problem and leave some for experience, magic, and adventure.

I almost forgot I had a blog!

2011-08-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

I got so wrapped up in this Facebook thing that I've neglected my blog for over a year! Man, that's insane. And pretty stinkin embarrassing. I've moved my sneak peeks to Facebook, but I've decided I'll be poking in here from time to time sharing everything from photos to total randomness. Enjoy!

Little Miss Kendra

2010-06-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots from Kendra's 3 year shoot. She had a blast running around downtown!

June Wedding

2010-06-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my favorites from a wedding I was the second shooter at a couple weeks ago. I have a few more weddings to second shoot coming up soon before 2 of my own in December before I start officially booking 2011 weddings.

Mr. M

2010-06-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

A local college student working on his portfolio. Maybe one day we'll see him in a Calvin Klein ad!

More coming soon, check back!

Miss F's Senior Session

2010-06-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is another senior session. More coming soon!

Mr. B's Senior Session

2010-06-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

So I'm getting back around to this whole blog thing, I know I have totally ignored it for too long. I'm going to be catching up on some older sessions, and to start off here is Mr. B! Look for some more updates very soon. Lots more stuff coming!

Pam & Brian's Wedding Sneak Peek

2010-05-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Pam and Brian! Here is a sneak peek of your special day!

Yet another senior

2009-11-08T15:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a senior session I just finished up. I have 1 more senior session that I'll have up in a few days, and another maternity session after that. Thanks for looking!

More Seniors!

2009-11-07T18:32:00.000-08:00

Here's a set of best friends who decided to have their sessions at the same time. The outdoor shots were done at Silvercreek Metro Park.

I'll have a couple more senior sessions up here shortly, so check back!

Jesse's Senior Shoot

2009-09-25T22:07:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots from Holly's brother's senior shoot. This is the first senior shoot of the 2010 season.

Look forward to the upcoming fall season! We have lots of locations scouted out for fall foliage in October.

Old Friends

2009-09-21T12:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots I did of some old friends of mine. We met back up on an online forum, of all places, and found out that we live rather close, still! It's always a good time with old friends.

Printroom Update

2009-09-03T17:20:00.001-07:00

I just updated several of my printroom galleries. Check out the latest shots!
willowspondphotography.printroom.com/

Web Site Lauched!

2009-08-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, WillowsPondPhotography.com has been launched! Check it out, let me know what you think!
willowspondphotography.com

20 Week Maternity

2009-08-15T19:14:00.001-07:00

See! I told you I'd have more soon...

Here are some shots from our first maternity set. As things progress, we'll be going through several different styles of maternity sessions, and we decided to start off with the low key.

Finally, an update! More coming soon...

2009-08-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since I have updated the blog here. While I may be neglecting my blog, I am not neglecting my camera, so rest assured, I'll have some more stuff up soon. For today, I have a family shoot that was done in July.

The Girls

2009-06-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went out to the Gap to look for some dresses to use for a beach shoot when we go to Florida for the Space Shuttle launch this fall. Along with the dresses we found at the Gap, we picked up some adorable hats at The Children's Place that were perfect for the scene. (And Holly wants me to tell everyone, they were only 99 cents...) Today we decided to try them on and do a quick session just to see how they looked, and here are the results! The first 2 poses, we couldn't agree on a style. I like harder looks, and Holly prefers the softer look. What do you think? Remember, you can click on the pictures to get a larger view.

2009 Indianapolis Airshow

2009-06-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

Airshows are going to be a thing for us this year, so it's time we get started! Here are some shots I took at the 2009 Indianapolis Airshow. The fam and I made it there a day early for their "Media Day," so we were able to get some shots while there were less people around and while the aerobatic teams were practicing, as well as their normal routines on Saturday. I've still got more pictures to edit, and this certainly isn't all of the ones I have done. I will have some of these available for purchase on my Printroom Gallery soon.

A Mother's Day Gift

2009-05-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

This is a shoot with Holly's Aunt's second cousin. She wanted pictures of Jayden to give as a gift to his mommy on Mother's Day. Overall they turned out really well and everyone is happy with them. The first shot is actually one of the last shots taken, and Jayden threatened Luke with an "I'm gonna kick your butt!" (Hence the attitude on his face) It is by far our favourite shot of the day. We had lots of people around to keep him entertained, so he wasn't even close to being a struggle like Lillian is!

Some Recent Nature Shots

2009-05-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

I haven't done much lately on the order of studio stuff, but I have been out a lot taking some nature pictures and working with my new lenses. I am sure you haven't been following the little "Our Gear" box to the right here, but if you have, you'll notice it's been getting smaller and smaller. I have been in the mode of selling off some of my mediocre gear to fund a smaller number of much better lenses. I am down to 2 lenses in my primary kit, the Carl Zeiss 16-80 and the Sony 70-300 G. Both are amazing lenses, and I have been nothing but happy with them.

Below are some nature shots I have taken recently. The first 2 were taken in my back yard with my 16-80. The duck shots were taken at a fishing pond just down the road using the 70-300. Ring-Billed Gull was taken at a marina in Cleveland on the trip home from buying the 70-300. The turtle is a Midland Painted Turtle living in the Killbuck marsh. It had a few friends hanging around, but this one was the only one brave enough to let me get somewhat close to it. It was also taken with the 70-300. The Canada Goose was taken at The Wilderness Center in Wilmot Ohio. I was amazed at how close he let me get to him. The geese there aren't typically outgoing, and this one was certainly on guard, but he let me get 20 feet away from him before I felt I was pushing it. That picture was also taken with the 70-300. The last 2 were taken in West Virginia, using one of the lenses I am going to be selling. The flower in the next-to-last shot is only about 3/4" across. I had to get as close as I could focus to make that shot work.

The Impossible Child

2009-05-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple shots of my daughter Lilly for her 2nd birthday invitations. Now Lilly, for anyone who does not know, is a tomboy running at 120% full throttle all day long. She absolutely cannot be bothered by trivial things such as getting dressed or brushing her hair, much less a photo shoot. She is easily the 2nd most difficult subject I have tried to shoot, right behind a bumble bee in flight on a cloudy day. The first shot here is the only one I got of her with her hat and dress on, and I got it before I was finished positioning the flash heads. The second shot I ended up having to slouch down in a bag chair and let her come to me. I let her stand on my feet and I'd bounce her up and down some, then snap a shot, bounce and snap, repeat... For how difficult she can be, I thought they turned out fairly well.

Izzie and Zach

2009-03-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

A good friend came over with his kids a few weeks ago for some updated shots to put on the walls. It was nice to work with some kids old enough to listen, unlike ours! They were a lot of fun, and constantly laughed and giggled. Overall, we think they turned out very well.

Yeah, it's the moon again... But Better!

2009-03-04T12:59:00.000-08:00

The weather finally broke last night long enough for me to get a good shot of the moon using my new 1.4x teleconverter and my 500mm Reflex. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised! Teleconverters usually fog detail just a little, but in this case, I got a lot more detail out of the surface of the moon. You can see an incredible number of craters, and they are pretty well defined! I tried my new Minolta 100-400 APO out also, but it didn't compare to the 500 reflex for this kind of work. Hopefully, I'll be able to get up to my parent's house sometime soon to use the T-Mount adapter my father bought me for his Meade 10" telescope. Remember, you can always click on the pictures to see a larger version!

Kendra's Piggytails

2009-02-26T09:40:00.000-08:00

Kendra's mommy tried a new hairstyle on her today, and absolutely loved the piggytails. Kendra wouldn't cooperate to get pictures this morning before coming to our house, so we took some pictures for her mommy to have. The only thing we had that would get her to smile was our cat. Of course, the cat was scared to death of Kendra. I'm sure we would have had better luck with her mom here. I guess we need to invest in some squeaky toys. Nevertheless, we liked the way these turned out.

Alexis and Her Big "A"

2009-02-25T09:05:00.000-08:00

We had one more photo shoot in mind to try out on Lexi for her birthday shoots. We found these large 24" letters at Pat Catan's, and bought her an "A" to pose with. She always refers to the letter "A" as "That's my A!", so she was really excited to play with it. She is so easy to take pictures of, and smiles all of the time. We are not looking forward to Lillian's photo shoots coming up for her birthday in May. We cannot get her to stay in one place for any amount of time. Those should be interesting. For now, enjoy yet another session of Lexi!

Lexi at 3--Invitation Shoot

2009-02-15T15:06:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Alexis we took earlier today for her birthday invitations. She loved holding her number, and showing it to daddy's camera. The collage at the end is what we put on the front of the invitation. We placed our order with snapfish.com, so we will have to scan the full invitation once we receive them later this week.

The Moon, again

2009-02-13T10:38:00.001-08:00

Here's a shot of the moon I got just a couple nights before full. I'm not a big fan of pictures of a full moon because you lose a lot of the detail around the fringe. This here is probably the clearest picture I have ever been able to get of the moon through my 500mm Reflex. I have a Tamron 1.4x teleconverter that is supposed to be here today, so I'm anxious to get out this evening if it's clear and see what I can get with it.

An Amish Sunset

2009-02-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

Last week we "chased a sunset". We've been scoping out locations for different sunset opportunities, and came upon this Amish farm. The barn and windmill were perfect subjects to shoot, and the field had the traditional piles of hay, not the round bails you see most of the time. The last picture was taken looking over a field close to our land on Fund Road. The wooden fence posts and bails in the distance looked like the perfect place to pull over. We hope to expand our sunset portfolio as the weather gets better here in Ohio.

Lexi at 3

2009-02-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

Here is our oldest daughter Alexis. She will be 3 in March, so we are starting her 3 year pictures to send out with invitations. This first shoot is her with a flight jacket on, for her Papa Cowgar, since he is a pilot. We are working on a few props for her other shoots, but hopefully we can get them done later this week.

Baby Claire's Newborn Shoot

2009-02-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of our favourites from our newborn shoot with our newest niece, Claire. She was a little grumpy at first, but after she fell asleep, it was easy getting lots of shots of her. Look forward to watching her grow, as she will be one of our guinea pigs for photography.

Prints for Sale!

2009-01-30T11:20:00.000-08:00

We've finally set up a gallery to sell some of our pictures. We've added the link on the side of the blog, as well as in this post. You can also scroll through our previous blog posts. Pictures for sale will now have a "buy a print" tag below them. Thank you to everyone supporting us!

willowspondphotography.printroom.com

Check back soon for Claire's newborn photo shoot, and Lexi's 3 year photo shoot.

Meet Baby Claire--Hospital Shoot

2009-01-10T11:00:00.000-08:00

Here is the newest member of our extended family. This is our new niece Claire Marie, and she came 16 days late, just one day shy of an induction. She was born Monday, January 5th, 2009 at 10:36AM. She weighted 8 lbs. 1.1 oz. and was 21 inches long. Everyone is fine and at home now. We came into the room about 1 1/2 hours after she was born, and got a chance to take tons of photos. Here are a few of our favourites.

Our Christmas 2008

2009-01-01T19:15:00.000-08:00

We decided 2 weeks before Christmas to get some shots of the family to put on a Christmas card to send out. Getting the girls to cooperate together is next to impossible, so we did seperate shots for them, and then did our shot after they went to bed. We had about 5 shots of each of the girls to pick from, a few shots of us, some quick editing, and then sent them off to snapfish.com with some express shipping to get them here in time to send out. Next year, hopefully we won't procrastinate as much!

Still Life--Roses

2009-01-01T18:39:00.000-08:00

Here are a few shots taken in December of some roses. They were purchased for a special day, so we decided Luke should try out some still-life photography while we had something in the house. We are still waiting on the new baby to arrive, so our newborn shoot may not happen for another month yet.

A New Haircut

2008-12-03T11:38:00.000-08:00

Here are a few shots of Kaden after his new haircut. Apparently he didn't sit still, so they ended up buzzing his hair. Keith and Angel wanted some pictures of his new look, and we got pictures of them as well. The hats and the train kept him entertained long enough to get a few shots of him before he was done. Look forward to some still life shots with the lighting set up we have!

Family Photo Shoot Part 2: The family of course!

2008-11-17T10:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some single shots of the girls and a family shot from last Monday's get together with Luke's brother and family. We had a ton of shots to choose from, and these are our favourites. We are hoping to do another shoot tomorrow for friends of ours, so hopefully that works out well and we can post those later in the week. We are actively working on building a portfolio, and then we will start searching for clients. Stay tuned!!

Family Photo Shoot Part 1: Maternity

2008-11-14T08:16:00.000-08:00

Luke's brother and his family came over at the beginning of the week for a family photo shoot. They are expecting their fourth child later next month, so we did some maternity photographs as well. Now we just need that baby out, so we can do some newborn shots!! The rest of the family photos will be up later, we still have some editing to do. Enjoy!

New Gear!

2008-11-13T17:50:00.000-08:00

So, I'm excited! I've been wanting to get a better camera for awhile now, but I've been hesitant to sink the money into any of the new Sony stuff since they bought out Minolta's camera business. I was relieved to hear that after the buyout, they pledged to keep up the backwards compatibility with all of the Maxxum series hardware, but I still wasn't impressed with the alpha series, until now. They released the alpha 700 some time ago, but I was never in the position to buy one, UNTIL NOW!!! I picked up my new a700 this afternoon in Columbus, and have been messing with it ever since. All I have to say is; AWESOME! Now I just need a photo shoot to really run it through the paces. I just finished one a few days ago of my brother's family, but those are with the 5D. Look for some shots in the next few days.

NightSchool

2008-11-03T14:16:00.000-08:00

In early summer, Luke took some photos of his sister's band NightSchool. This picture is used on their webpage, and was recently featured in their advertisement in the magazine Today's Bride: The Akron Edition. Luke is now a published photographer!!

http://www.nightschoolonline.com/

The Nightime Sky

2008-11-03T14:00:00.000-08:00

The first picture was taken Halloween night as the sun was setting. The sky had a gorgeous fall colour, and the moon was paired with Venus that night. The second shot was taken earlier in the month with Luke's new 500mm lense. It's like a miniature telescope!!

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Babysitting Photo Shoot

2008-10-28T12:23:00.000-07:00

Meet Kendra, a little girl I babysit on occasion for a best friend of mine. We still have the studio lights set up in the dining room, so we took the opportunity to take a couple pictures of someone who wasn't family for once. She loves peek-a-boo and the bright flashes. Now we are contemplating looking for more backgrounds, so hopefully we will get more test shots soon with some new looks.

New Lighting Test Shots

2008-10-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some test shots with the new lighting kit we just purchased. We played around with the backgrounds and lighting positions. Our dog Athena posed for us, and we also put our girls in their Halloween costumes for a few shots. We are looking forward to using the lighting kit a lot more, especially since it's getting cold and dreary here in Ohio now.

Charles Mill Dam and a Leaf Pile

2008-10-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

The first picture is from Charles Mill Dam on our way home from Malabar Farms last weekend. When we got home, we raked a pile of leaves and let the girls have some fun. The last two pictures I actually took. It's rare for me to get good photos :) We've played with the new lighting kit last night and today, so look forward to some test shots with the new lights!

Malabar Farms Visit 2

2008-10-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, October 19th, we took another trip down to Malabar Farms to take a look at the fall colours. We met up with Luke's brother Jeremy and his family. It seems the peak for fall foliage was already over, but the girls had a good time meeting up with their cousins. We still have more pictures from the day to edit and post, as we had a busy day once we left from the farms, so look forward to those soon. We are also anticipating a new lighting kit to arrive tomorrow, although Luke will be out of town on business for a couple of days, so it will be a few extra days before we can start playing with that. In the meantime, enjoy the shots thus far!

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Brandywine Falls

2008-10-19T19:18:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple shots of Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We drove up after Walsh Farms to check out the fall scenary. The last shot is of our girls sitting on the rock ledge on the way down to the falls. We had an exciting Sunday this weekend, so check back soon for more pictures of some fall fun!

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Walsh Farms

2008-10-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots from last Sunday at Walsh Farms. We met up with friends and their son Kaden. They picked out pumpkins and ran through the straw-bale maze. The weather was amazing for being October. Everyone had a blast!

Backyard Fun

2008-10-13T17:01:00.001-07:00

Here are a few shots taken in the backyard over the weekend. Notice our future photographer. Alexis loves mommy's little camera. We also had some fun at Walsh Farms and Brandywine Falls on Sunday. Look forward to those pictures in the coming days.

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Cleveland International Airshow 2008

2008-10-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

These were taken at Burke Lakefront Airport during the airshow on Labor Day weekend. We actually submitted them on CafePress to make a calendar out of them. Believe it or not, someone actually purchased a calendar! (and it wasn't family or friends) Maybe we should make calendars an option when we set up the website. Next year we will be better prepared for the airshow, Luke just got a 500mm lens as an early birthday present. Enjoy the photos!

cafepress.com/hackmanstudios/

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Zoo 2008

2008-10-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a compilation of zoo photos taken this year at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Rainforest and Akron Zoo. These will be available to purchase as prints once we get our website up and running. We will let you know when that happens!

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Malabar Farms

2008-10-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

We took a Sunday trip last weekend to Malabar Farms to scope out scenary for some fall photographs. We came across a flower patch, so of course Luke took some shots. The last is a picture of a small fire we had at the house after returning. We are hoping to add fall pictures as soon as the leaves decide to start changing a little more.

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Wedding from June

2008-09-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

These are a few pictures from a friend's wedding in June. This was the second wedding Luke has shot, but the first where he was the only photographer present, and the first wedding located in a church. Overall, everything went off without problems, and everyone is pleased with the ending results.

Mini Vacation in West Virginia

2008-09-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots taken on a September weekend in West Virginia. We focused on nature photography, but have a few thrown in of the family, some with a vintage overtone on them. We hope that in the near future we can offer prints and other products featuring our nature photography. We will let you know when that is available and where to find them.

Me Blogging?

2008-09-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

I never thought I'd see the day that I had a blog, but here it is! I never know what to write in these things, so I'll keep this one brief. Keep checking back. As we get this thing off the ground, we'll be adding a lot of cool stuff here.