Monthly Archives: March 2008

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Busy Weekend With The Camera

March 31, 2008 – 9:13 pm

It is truly amazing how the site/blog and business has taken off. I find myself doing what I love and that is documenting important moments of life for people who find it more valuable than material items. This weekend was no exception as I found myself with the camera in hand for most of the weekend. I had Friday off and Madison (my daughter) was on Spring Break so I asked my “little angel” what she would like to do on her day off and my five year old daughter replied that I needed to clean the Jeep inside and out (so demanding) so we proceeded to do just that, long overdue, I must admit. Then we took a couple of snapshots of her near the lake, one B/W which I have posted below. We stopped for some ice cream and picked mom up from work. I had Saturday to do some stuff I needed to catch up on which included some fixing up of my house due to several windstorms we have had in the last couple of weeks. On Sunday morning, I awoke to a steaming cup of coffee, oops, I mean a cold Mountain Dew as I hate coffee and anyone that knows me can tell you that yellow#5 is for me. Around 9:30 I took a look at the news when the phone rang and I was thinking to myself, “Who could that be?” I picked the phone up and it was Thao telling me it was time. I had the camera equipment in stand-by mode for this moment and was out the door in 15 minutes and made it to Chesapeake General Hospital by 10:30 am. I entered the room and Linda said, “Are you ready?” and I asked her if she was ready? At around 8:30 pm (10 hrs later, give or take some time), a baby girl (still waiting for the full name) was born. Any father can tell you that when your first child is born, it is an earth shattering experience and it took me back to when my daughter, Madison (my first) was born. I saw the same content facial expression and pure happiness in Thao that I had when my little girl was born. I myself felt much happiness for both of them as they both got their first glimpse of their little girl when she was born ( WOW). I will post a couple of photos of the delivery when I get the time . I want to say congrats to Linda and Thao on a beautiful baby girl and I look forward to more photos as she grows up. Thanks, guys, for letting me share your happiness and this profound step in your life’s journey. It was a privilege that I’ll never forget.

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By William Coyle | Posted in Family, Portraits | Comments (2)

Maternity Photography, Baby On The Way

March 23, 2008 – 9:07 am

I have taken an amazing journey with a client and more importantly a great set of friends. I meant Linda and Thao last year and they were kind enough to let me be apart of the wedding that joined them for life. I soon found out that both would be bring a new life into the world and I would have the honor of documenting this very special moment in a couples life. So as the time grows near we took advantage of the warm weather and took a trip to the Botanical Garden in Norfolk,Virginia where we shot her maternity photos which worked out very nicely with the early spring flowers. This was the first time I had taken maternity photos and it was a lot of fun. As with most women at this point in their pregnancy she is ready for the birth of their little girl and in the next two weeks I will be there to document that as well. Thanks for letting me be part of your life Linda and Thao,  I am on standby,,,awaiting the call.

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By William Coyle | Posted in Family, Portraits, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Before And After Photoshop Textures

March 19, 2008 – 8:49 pm

OK I had a little time tonight to mess with a few photos. I found a great place with some free fine art textures to use in Photoshop and I used them on the photos below. These photos are just a quick couple of layers edited together but they give me a chance to see how these can come together and make a photo different and maybe more eye catching. I still have some more refining to do with the textures and layers but I think pretty soon I will get the hang of it and even find easier ways to manipulate to come up with just the right image.

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By William Coyle | Posted in Portraits, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments (1)

Improvement With Photoshop & Mac

March 16, 2008 – 7:44 pm

If there is one thing I have learned from shooting weddings and portraits, with the right equipment and knowledge of Photoshop you can come up with photos that are timeless and sell themselves.  I have taken a look at some of the local big names in the wedding photography business and each has a style of their own and most of it is achieved in the knowledge of Photoshop and the uses of layers to come up with the photos. This has been something that I am working hard to teach myself and master the system of layers so I also may offer my clients more of a variety and a style of my own. This is one reason I needed the Mac as you need the right equipment( not a slow PC ) in order to obtain this goal. Tonight I took five minute to edit a photo in Photoshop of Nina and Charlie engagement session in Novmber and used some layers to come up with something simple but I feel much more comfortable with the uses of layers in Photoshop now and understand how they work. I will move forward now with larger steps in order to come up with a product my clients will treasure and remember for a life time.  thetreeblog.jpg

By William Coyle | Posted in Portraits, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments (0)

Portraits Of Candace At The Virginia Beach Town Center

March 10, 2008 – 7:41 pm

I got together with some photographer from a local photography club in downtown Virginia Beach for a shoot. Candace was our model Sunday and was very kind to stand in the cold for so long and be flashed 500 times.  We started out in one of the parking garages for some portraits and moved down towards the street to finish up the shoot later in the evening. We had a lot of people checking out what was going on as there was a lot of equipment set up and four photographers all gathered around Candace which might have made her feel like someone famous.  I learned a couple things I was not aware of in the flash photography department and I am glad I went just for that reason. I have always liked shooting with natural light and strayed away from flash photography with umbrellas and lighting because of unnatural skin tones and harsh shadows but Sunday I learned how to control those effects and use flash and lighting to my advantage. I posted one of the shots I liked from the shoot with Candace. She had the prettiest eyes.. Thanks Candace. 

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By William Coyle | Posted in Portraits | Comments (0)