To start, I am not even close to being an expert on either one of these softwares – I know friends who can make stuff look crazy good in Lightroom and crazy good in Capture One, and I know people (including myself) who can make stuff look crazy terrible in Lightroom and crazy terrible in Capture One

All that to say, after playing around with Capture One the past month in their trial run and making the jump to purchasing it today, I can honestly say that I’ll be hard pressed to process in Lightroom much longer.

Tones, contrast, color – everything just looks SO much better coming out of Capture One – it’s like it knows what the image was supposed to look like originally and doesn’t distort it too much. I feel like you can only go so far in Lightroom before you just start losing color quality, shadow detail, and overall quality of a persons skin.

All that to say, again not speaking from the platform of an expert, it’s hard to justify using Lightroom anymore – at least for me. I basically tried to do about the exact same adjustments to each image and this is what they produced.

It will be awhile though before my entire workflow runs through Capture One – still learning where everything is and what all it can do – but for someone who just uses the basics for processing, I’m pretty impressed.
That’s just my honest opinion, but give the trial version a run and decide for yourself!

Lightroom

Capture One

Update: So I am leaving the original post as I wrote it below, but there is 1 big update we need to make. We have decided to move the shoot to near the campus of Georgia College in Milledgeville, GA. Opportunity has given way to a much easier process of getting all the people we need. So, with that said, if you still desire to be in the video and want to make a 2 hour drive there, then great! We would love to have you. Otherwise we will mostly be recruiting students from Georgia College. Thanks so much! Now here was the original post:

We are in the process of creating a promotional video for Love Gives Way and we need your help!

Filming is taking place over the next two weeks but there is 1 main shot that we need to capture for the end of the video – I don’t want to give too much away, but we need 100 people or more to communicate a movement taking place and couples standing up to injustice so that their Love Gives Way to hope and restoration for girls exploited in Atlanta.

Here is what we need: 50 girls and 50 guys to come prepared with at least 1 look, but more if you are able to help us with styling the shoot.

For girls:
a white or ivory dress or look and flats. This could be an actual simple wedding dress but doesn’t have to be. We are basically just trying to communicate a bride and groom together and the shot will be from pretty far away. (if you or a friend happens to have a random stash of white/ivory dresses, please let us know!)
For guys:
a wedding suit or look. Same as for the girls, this can be an actual tux you bought for your wedding, a nice suit, or pants with a vest or suspenders along with a tie or bow-tie.

Don’t over think the look too much – just need something simple.

We are looking to shoot on Friday March 2 anywhere from 3pm-6pm.
We will need 10 couples to come prepared right at 3pm and the rest to come around 4pm.

Also, as a thank you, the following will be given out:
Drawing for a $25 Starbucks gift card for 1 girl
Drawing for a $25 Starbucks gift card for 1 guy
Everyone will be emailed after the shooting of the video with a coupon that will be good for $50 off any engagement shoot or wedding package – there is no expiration date!

If you are interested and need more detailed information, email us at: onenineimages@gmail.com

Please help us spread the word – we would love more than 100 people but need at least 100 to really make this a success. Thanks!

I’ve been working on this personal project for about 8 months now and have close to 35 tattoo images. The goal is to have a portfolio of all these images once I build out a new site which will hopefully be sooner than later.
However, I want to start sharing a few of the images and at least let the world know I am working on it.

This personal project is called MARKED. The concept is this: We experience joy, anger, love, bitterness, loss, remorse, beauty, grace, and a truck load of other emotions. As a result, we are left MARKED by life and for some, we choose to be MARKED by ink to remember those things. They serve as reminders, memorials, tributes, achievements. But they also serve as beautiful pieces of art that walk past us every single day. We don’t always get to appreciate the art and hear their stories. So, this project seeks to do just that – share stories and reveal beautiful art that often goes unnoticed.

If nothing else, hopefully it encourages you to take a minute and ask that stranger whose sliver of ink you see sneaking out past their sleeve what the meaning of their art is. Sometimes you will find “that guy” or “that girl” who was just drunk and thought that a shamrock, Elmo, unicorn, or barbed wire fence around their bicep was super awesome and unique – and who knows, maybe the person with that tattoo actually does have a story attached to it with actual meaning. But, a lot of the time you will find a grateful person honored that someone took the time to notice, listen, and appreciate.

The tricky part with this project is that I am seeking to shoot all of them on a white seamless – so, that means I am either waiting on studio time, having people come to my house, or driving around with a white sheet of paper in my car I can tape up on a wall somewhere indoors. It would be too easy to just shoot the tattoo wherever I met the person. I desire to have a meaningful encounter with each person where I give them the time and attention that their tattoo and story deserves. Plus, I desire to light each one uniquely, which is proving to be a challenge.

Here are a few of the 35 I have so far to start. Hope you enjoy the project and hope even more that you pass it along to your friends who have tattoo’s with meaningful stories behind them.

“Redemption” – My great grandfather was a missionary in Japan before WWII and he was also a writer whose journals were beautiful. About three years ago, we found a poem that articulated how I felt about God more than anything I’ve ever been able to say. He was also the person I’ve always wanted to emulate as a person and follower of God.

“Family First” – After my father died at the age of 5, and my mother was murdered at the age of 8, I was left living with my 4 brothers, 4 sisters, and a couple other family members under the same roof in Brooklyn. Our address was 3315, which you see at the center of my tattoo. Family first signifies that no matter what keeps us apart, family always comes first in life and brings me back to that time when we were all looking out and caring for each other.

“Art In Everything” – My uncle was the black sheep of our family, but we probably connected the most out of anyone. He was heavy in to drugs and the process of getting sober is what eventually killed him. His body just couldn’t handle sobriety. I was given a suit case full of all his art and this was one of the last stencils he created.

“The Little Foxes” – Inspired by the mewithoutyou album entitled “Catch For Us The Foxes” as well as Song of Solomon 2:15 which reads, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” It serves as a caution and reminder of those “little foxes” that desire to creep in and steal the fruit, or the blessing, in our relationships whether they are romantic, family, or our relationship with God.

This was an incredible start to the 2012 wedding year! It was awesome to see the joy Jill and Scott shared knowing that their time had finally come and they were so ready for it. I loved seeing the giddiness of Jill play out and compliment the calm and cool demeanor of Scott. They are such a great fit which made the day such a fun celebration of these two.

Jill and Scott will also go down as some of my favorite clients and the type of clients I enjoy working with the most. Knowing that the photographs were one of the most important details from their day, they set aside time before the ceremony where they could do a first look and then have plenty of time for portraits without that rushed feeling of getting back to a reception with waiting guests.

Jill and Scott were also 100% on board with the Love Gives Way campaign as soon as they heard about it. They had actually already booked me before launching the campaign, but they were so passionate about leveraging their day to raise awareness about human trafficking in Atlanta and offer hope to victims that they immediately wanted to switch over to be a Love Gives Way couple.

Thanks so much Jill and Scott for letting me be part of your day as well as using your wedding day as a platform for hope!

I can’t say enough about these two. Josh and Erin are two of the most caring, selfless, and brilliant people you will ever meet. I have known both of them for probably over 6 years now and have been blessed to have them and their families in my life.

I can’t wait for their wedding in August – here are some of the photos from their 2 part engagement shoot – 2 parts because we got soaked as it started raining during the initial shoot and then as luck would have it for the reschedule the next morning, it was about 28 degrees with snow flurries. So it goes with Georgia winter weather I guess.