Though Fall seems to come slow and end quick, I love getting out in our local parks and get some great photos of some awesome families. This past week was the Seger Family out at Ella Sharp Park. There is this beautiful rotunda at a top of a hill with old pines all around it creating the perfect location. Both Don and Rachel were wanting me to create great family photos with candid moments in them and I am happy to say we did just that. Take a look at a few of my favorites!
Thanks for check out our blog! Working with families to help tell their family's story is honestly such a privilege and couldn't ask for a better job in the world. If you are interested in a session please check out Services Offered under the Clients tab and contact us! Fall is only a few weeks out of the year, don't miss your chance for a perfect fall photo shoot!
-- Always, Aynee
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Thank you all for taking the time to check out some highlights from Thomas' first birthday party. As a momma, I know these moments go by fast and I couldn't feel more honored then ever capture something a moment.
Always,
Aynee
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As you all know, I was part of a Gala a few weekends back to showcase my film photography. I had a lot of questions thrown at me about how I did the process so I decided to share! Thanks for taking the time to check it out in advance and let me know if you have any questions! We love talking photography so throw us your best questions!
--Aynee
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Occasionally (really I should use this more) I mess with the Pro Capture mode in my Olympus Em1mkii. Its a fantastic way to make sure you don't miss your shot! This isn't going to be one of those technical type deals where I rattle off a bunch of jargon or anything. So lets start with what I was doing in the first place. I met up with some photo buddies. We wandered the woods in Grand Rapids and came across a few snakes. The guy in the video didn't seem to mind us much so it was an opportunity to play with a feature called pro capture. Long story short... Once you half press the shutter button the camera starts taking burst shots and when you press down (like we always do) it records just a bit after too. All these settings can be changed but I went default mode. One thing to note is that this will fill up your sd card SUPER FAST! When i went back to review the photos, it looked like a movie! I then took all the stills and put them into video so you could see. Watch/listen for the clicks! I wasn't being scientific or anything but gave you about where I hit the shutter button. Enjoy!~Sethington
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]]>Sometimes its not photoshoots its time to play! Read about my adventure this weekend by reading below!
~Sethington
A Baby's Best Friend
As we talked and heard about their farm filled with animals and her love for their three dogs, we had an idea. We'd have the dogs tell the secret and I knew just how I wanted to put this together. She made some super cute signs and I brought my "dog whisperer" of a husband along to help wrangle them and we were off to the races. For you non-dog owners out there (if thats possible), to get three dogs to sit by each other let alone look in the same direction was a task, an impossible task actually. So with some photography magic with the help of my husband, we made it happen and look how cute they all are!
Because of the dogs, we decided to do the shoot at their home which personally I loved. This will be the place that their baby comes home to, where all of their memories will be made, where their marriage had started. Did I mention they also had their reception at their home? Needless to say, this home has a special place in their hearts. After getting "the shoot" and taking a
J + L Royalty
break to pet all the animals, I couldn't help but be inspired by their farms beautiful surroundings.
Congratulations James and Lindsay! Parenthood is one of coolest adventures you two will ever take and we are so excited to watch your family of five become a family of 6!
-- Aynee
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Well as Many of you know Aynee and I have been teaming up on photoshoots lately. She's taking on clients and creating beautiful imagery without me and with me! We felt it fitting that we take Sethington's Creations To the next chapter! Officially in 2018 we will be running the business together! (She'll keep me more productive!!). With That we will be changing the name to Duimstra Imagery to fit better with the two of us.
Don't worry all of you "pre-name change clients" will still have your galleries and what not. on that note nothing will change with the website functionality. So Fear Not!!!!
So on to some fun instead of reading about me babbling.. along with the name change we're implementing some great new tools #adobe has added to the mix! Below is a fun lil story I made in celebration!
Keep visiting over the next couple months for new services and specials we're going to start doing! (told you she's going to make me all productive and such!)
Cheers
Sethington
Click below to see our new story made with Adobe Pages!
Every year we get together with some of my closest friends and take the trek out to Holly Michigan for the Michigan Renaissance Festival. Its always a good time, though usually it consists of a pub crawl and more beer. This year was a little different since we have added one more person to the adventure and well... she really shouldn't drink beer being a little over 1 years old! :) Anyways RenFest is a walk through time and a street shooting opportunity you don't get many other places! So I'm going to keep this short and let the images speak for themselves!
~Sethington
Equipment Used
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Angela
Lets see how do i want to start this off......
MelanieOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
A dear friend of mine and fellow Olympus shooter, Melanie contacted me about what portrait lens she should buy next and asked what ones i have..Now a few of you out there may know the depths of my photography gear obsession. Its kind of like Noah's Ark minus one of the mates...... but thats not why we're here right now.. maybe later we'll talk about that!
So back to it....
lightbulb
We talked focal lengths and all that photography nerd talk other photographers talk about. Now she ultimately had the goal of borrowing one and shooting with it. Now this set off a lightbulb in my head and I asked "wanna try them all? Lets just get together with some people and do a portrait shootout" We agreed this could be fun and in all reality I had even more fun than I thought i would! I made a post on Facebook and was able to have 6 people plan on coming out to my house that saturday. So we set up some lights, backdrops and wine.. because why not get a couple bottles and share with my friends, right? (it was afternoon and everyone was over 21)
Derek
My buddy Derek also showed up and capitalized on the opportunity to knock down a good selection of portraits for his various projects and portfolio.
Check out his work HERE
Now what a great idea! I get to hang with not only photography friends but other friends of mine too! But what should I do with this? I have a couple projects i've started, I really hadn't done much "for fun" stuff recently so this was great for me. not only did it get me off the couch and take some photos aside from my gem of a lil girl Quincee. So first and foremost I wanted to add to my #thepeople project the other is just some solid portraits for my portfolio.
My project #thepeople basically breaks most of the "rules" of doing a proper portrait but hey following the rules isn't always fun. I was able to add 6 more images to my project collection. If you would like to see the full collection click HERE
Janet
Tim
Corey
Melanie
Adam
Jaci
So in addition to adding these great faces to my #thepeople project I was also able to do some other style portraits for fun and to provide these great people all a free print for allowing me to photograph them. Here is a handful of my favorites and the rest can be found HERE
Tim
JanetOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Janet
Lastly, I want to say Thank you again to my friends that made this happen! Without you guys I would have been chasing Aynee around with the camera and driving her nuts! :) Thanks for reading!
~Sethington
GEAR USED:
Camera: Olympus Em1 Mkii
Lens: Sigma 30mm F1.4 DN
Links:
Melanie Hilliard instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjay49201/
Derek Matteson website: https://mattesondesigns.com
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Spencer was getting ready to propose to his girlfriend and asked us to capture the surprise. With some brainstorming, the location was decided and the plan was in progress. I knew what he was going to be wearing, roughly where he was going to be and we planned for me to look like I was hanging at the park, reading a book and just so happened to have a camera. The plan was perfect, I felt great and then I left to go shoot and thats when things started to twist.
The sunny, blue skies started to collapse into itself and the grey clouds started to pile in. Distant sounds of thunder echoed as I unpacked the equipment from the car and got my camera all set up. From all conversation that I had, I thought I was where I needed to be, Spencer and Alyssa would come up to those benches and I would be there. A quick text to let Spencer know I was ready and things would start to unfold. I felt like a camera ninja, I was so excited to be apart of such a beautiful moment and get to sneak around a bit. With a reply back of "I don't see you", my heart started to beat faster. Was I going to miss this moment? Would she catch on and me not being ready ruin the surprise? I couldn't see them, I kept scanning the park and nothing. With a moment of decisive decision making, I decided to throw my plan(s) in the wind. I needed to start moving, I needed to find them, I need Spencer to see me but Alyssa to not.
From a football field away, I saw that teal shirt. Thank god, we planned that!! I caught Spencer's eye and the plan was back on track.
Tucked around landscaping, I watched in silence. Excited and ready, Spencer was about to make his girl's day, in the pouring rain. As I snuck up to a closer spot, Spencer gave her a handwritten note and turned her away from him. It felt like I was at the movies, just waiting for the climatic moment. Looking at him, he was calm and collected, a man who knew in his heart that she was his person. His happily ever after.
Minutes went by as Alyssa read her note and Spencer dropped to his knee. At the bottom of the note, Spencer wrote "Turn Around" and as she slowly turned, you could see how surprised she was. It made my heart just melt, watching such a vulnerable moment for the both of them gave me the chills. This is their beginning, their real beginning. August 2nd, 2017 was the day that these two began their journey to becoming one. I look forward to see what unfolds for these two, for future times that we will work together in their wedding process. I want to thank Spencer for having Sethington's Creations be your photographer for such a monumental point in your life. Here's to many more great momories to come for you two, Spencer and Alyssa.
- <3 -
Aynee
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love comes along and brings you a fairytale."
July fifteenth, two-thousand seventeen could be said to be a normal day. Sun shining bright, birds chirping and the breeze just right creating a perfect, summers day. For Sean and Chelsea, it was something more, the next chapter in their fairytale. We had the honor of documenting their wedded beginning, two hearts becoming one. For better and for worse, these two have and will always be there for one another. Hearing that Sean and Chelsea had been together for close to ten years explained the feeling of love that was radiating around them. Flowing over into rooms, giving you that tingling, lovey feeling. No doubt, no stress, no worry came to mind on their beautiful day.
As we got to know, not only the couple but their closest friends and family, you could tell this was the real deal. A moment looking at them together made you yearn for that love in your life. This day was about you two, the life you are creating together and the gigantic impact you have on others. So much love, joy and laughter encompassed your day and may you always remember that.
Stay tuned for more photos in the coming weeks!
Congratulations Sean and Chelsea!
-<3- Aynee & Seth
]]>As the talker, or typer, of the couple, I have decided I am going to try to get this blog up and running! Many people know that my husband, Seth, is a very creative man. Some know him from tattooing (oh, the ol' days!) or some might know him from photography or from working somewhere or going to school somewhere, generally when we're in public at least one person runs into Seth. He, at one point by all definitions, was a social butterfly who was known for his artistic flare. I still get texts about wanting my husband to do a tattoo for someone and its been years, YEARS since he has picked up a tattoo machine. My point of all of this is this, many know my husband can create some bad-ass stuff & for the most part, everyone thinks he's always the creator but I'm here to tell ya, I'm here too! ha ha
Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I want to say how excited I am to be starting this journey. Something that I am lucky enough to do with my best friend and partner in crime life. He has always pushed me to "do art" and I hope I can now do the same back for him. I have always been an artist of some sort, down to memories as a kid collecting interesting things in nature to hoard in my room. I have painted, I have sculpted, I have photographed and I have wrote. I love to craft and make things, Pinterest has my soul. I have been a hairstylist as well for the last 5 years. There are so many different kinds of canvas to cover and I plan to mark them all.
With my husband stepping up his photography game the last few years, it has brought a love for cameras back in my life. Years of photography in high school came back to me, I loved being behind the camera but I have no confidence. I was a hobbyist at best, i have never focused long enough to call myself anything more. I blamed my career, that I didn't have the time when I needed to build another career first. I enjoyed my times playing with his cameras but I wouldn't call one mine. Bring you forward to the last year, in this time we welcomed a tiny human named Quincee into this world and I was overwhelmed with the need to capture every last moment. Over time, as I posted more and more images, we noticed how much love we got. Not only is she adorable (I am slightly bias) but I really was getting a knack for this whole photography thing. Many people thought the photos were my husbands! I was shocked to be compared to my awesome husband, this is after months of said awesome husband trying to convince me himself. But hey! sometimes ya gotta hear it from someone else.
i took the leap, i am stepping into unknown waters to get big reward. I hope I keep you guys tuned in & watch this new journey unfold with me. Now who wants their photos taken?! I'm open for business!!
-- <3 --
Aynee
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All in all I think this is great for Brooklyn even though the arts not for everyone and in all rights it shouldn't be. Personally I love it. Well done Josh and all the artists that contributed! I look forward to see what comes next!!! Cheers!!!!
Want to see more!?!? goto the Gallery - (Click here)
Check out Water Street Art Project on Facebook - (click here)
All images shot with the Olympus Pen-f and the 7-14mm Pro lens.
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The Cows 2016
The Cows 2016some of my countryside adventures
The Cows 2016
The Cows 2016
The Cows 2016
The Cows 2016
The Cows 2016
The Cows 2016
The Cows 2016
The Cows 2016
The Cows 2016
What was in my bag: Olympus Pen-f with the 17mm F1.8 & Olympus EM-1 with the 40-150pro f2.8
]]>I was lucky enough to be on last nights youtube show Mirrorless Minutes with some awesome Olympus Photographers!!!!! check it out!
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Art of The Brick
"Art of the Brick” comes to Ella Sharp Museum! From January 30th to April 22nd, come see an exhibition featuring large scale sculptures created out of iconic LEGO® bricks by New York based artist Nathan Sawaya. The Art of the Brick is one of the largest and most popular art exhibits touring the globe. “This year alone, we’ve visited Australia, South Africa and Italy,” said Sawaya. “We are thrilled to be bringing this collection to Jackson." (via Ella Sharp Museum's website")
This rainy, oddly warm Sunday the wife and I attended the Art of the Brick exhibit at Ella Sharp Museum here in Jackson. Ella Sharp's display of the exhibit was put together so well. the lighting was amazing!!! My Olympus Em10 paired with the 17mm F1.8 did a wonderful job of capturing these youthfully wonderful sculptures and pieces of art. We did view the rest of the museums exhibits as well but maybe a different day I'll do a "Tour of Ella" blog post. Back on task Seth...
Steampunk Eddie attended with his two kids today as well as J-rod from K105.3fm
Steampunk Eddie and FamilyJackson's Steampunk Eddie and his kids building race cars at the hands on portion of the exhibit.
J-rodK105.3's J-rod noticed me :)
As much as I know you all just love reading what I write (hahaha).... The real gem of this post is the images!!! So with no further rambling on my part, Enjoy!!! (note: Hover over the images to see titles and captions)
Nathan Sawayahttp://www.brickartist.com
Throughout the exhibit were these panels with quotes from the creator of The Art of The Brick, Nathan Samaya. Make sure you stop over to the artist's website as well!
The "Black Skull" on "Gray Pedestal" was a truly cool piece, not only was the scale of the skull but the entire pedestal was also made of legos; Making the combination a truly amazing piece
"HourGlass" was a cool almost full scale piece. I'd be interested to know the artists thoughts in creating this one. My take on it would have to do with self image, but I definitely lack an "hourglass" shape... lol
"Hands"One of the many of my favorites from the Exhibit.
"Hands"who knew legos could make you feel! Aside from stepping on them...
"Hands" resonated with me by making me think of all we do with our hands.. As a creative I feel my hands act as the conduit for thoughts and ideas to escape my brain into reality.
"Building Red"One way of putting yourself together.
Building Red was a cool piece, that i wish was more on a pedestal than behind glass but that's for my own selfish photography needs.. lol The piece or pieces itself was pretty killer. Another one of those "make you think" sculptures.
"Andy Worhol"I'd hang this in my home! if i could afford it! lol
I'm Bit of a Fan of Mr. Worhol
"Ideas" hit home with how ideas are a slice of you and your mind.
Nathan Samayawww.brickartist.com
"yellow"Bare your soul
"Yellow""Yellow" greats the exhibit.
If you've researched this exhibit and the artist, "Yellow" is one of the more popular images you will come across. By far one of the best pieces in the set we were able to see but I can't say there isn't many other pieces that are just as amazing.
"green"I'd lose mine if it did that.
"X-ray"
"X-ray"I love the mixed colors!
"X-ray" was an interesting piece with the multi-color blocks vs the solid theme the artist followed on many of other works. so that alone made it stand out of the crowd. Upon further inspection you notice the heart that looks like it is hovering in the center of the sculpture's chest.
"Grasp"Those things that hold you back.
"Grasp"
Many of the designs were able to be walked around but the use of the wall on "Grasp" made a strong statement.
Nathan Samayawww.brickartist.com
"untitled"This is one of my favorite pieces in the collection..
"Gray"from the shere size alone this piece was amazing, add the lights and depth to boot!
The largest piece at the exhibit, "Gray" not only mixed the smooth with texture and shape but it boasted internal lights to accent the true depth of this piece. Bravo Nathan!
"Puddle"this was a cool piece that you had to be close to understand
"Puddle" was a cool sculpture because from afar you're not quite sure whats going on over there. Once you walk up and around it you realize its a boy looking at his reflection in a puddle.
"Courtney Yellow"
UntitledThese are so cool!!!
The Wall pieces were done in a different, equally cool method of lego assembly!
I can appreciate the complexity of these pieces. "Kissing" is great for up close and from a distance.
"Dog"
"My Boy"Extremely Moving piece in my opinion.
"Skulls"My Wife Ayn admiring the "Skulls" piece
"The Writer"
"Pointing"
"Balancing"
Nathan Samayawww.brickartist.com
"Hugman"
Nathan Samayawww.brickartist.com
My experience of the Art of the Brick exhibit was two thumbs up! It awakens the childhood spirit in all of us who grew up playing and building with these wonderful little bricks. For the inner kid in us to the art snob, these pieces will have your attention. I implore you to to take the time to visit Ella Sharp Museum to see this while its here. I'm pretty sure I will be going again sometime soon. Nathan Sawaya, if you do happen to read this.... My hats off to you sir! Wonderful Job!!!!
As always Thank you for taking the time to read yet another post of my adventures.
Be sure to check out the Art of the Brick website as well as Ella Sharp Museum's website.
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Edit:
The location was near Grass Lake, at an abandoned adult care facility. From what I hear, it has been the topic of discussion for sometime now. From what the place was while operating and what it has become. I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't a little bit of a creepy place, but I've been to scarier! Below is a small collection of what I managed to capture. (don't forget to hover over the photo to read the captions)
Off the Beatin PathOld barn off a service road
Old WorkbenchThis was a barn across the street from where we were actually exploring but hey why not check this out!
Best Seat in the HouseIts the Best seat in this house. :)
The Seat Outside
The spot where we parked the truck was across the street and there was a Old barn full of trash and what not. It was there and so were we so why not explore that first? Right? I will admit I have a fascination with chairs, not sure why but I do... lol The barn itself was amazing, it was built with pretty raw pine tree trunks though not what it was was in its day, It had some serious character!
JamieI put the flash in front of him to get a cool rim light
Deadquite bright in a dark hall.
The Other Side of the Fence
splash of lightmessing with speed lights :)
David Lawrence
Portrait of David
Portrait of Jamie
PC310185
Watching the World Decay
dark hallwhats down there?
The Room
Jamiehe's showing off his inner daft punk lol
Shadowyour shadow always follows you on your adventures
colored onirronic title right? lol
Fire Safety....
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Brett & CathyThe love and friendship these two have will carry them throughout their marriage for years to come.
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
That SmileThat smile, that dress, that wonderful moment.
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
This is Brett & Cathy. Brett and I go way back, we met from mutual friends years ago. I had not gotten the pleasure of meeting Cathy until the day of the wedding but I like her better than Brett ;) (sorry buddy she's cuter!) I took more of a documentry approach to this wedding and think I'm going to continue this approach because it was so much fun, I get to capture a ton of great moments and it is very similar to street photography. In the essences of street I decided to do this wedding in black and white, which is a little out of the norm but this wedding, the people in it and of course the bride and groom, all fit great for black and white.
Cathy & her FatherThat moment when a bride is given away to her soon to be husband....
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
Metal WeddingEven the kids are rockers!!!!
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
As you can see the black and white fit well with this wedding full of rockers! between the custom chucks, the heavy metal played at the reception and the downright cool people I got to hang out with made this wedding a blast to capture and attend! Thank you Brett & Cathy in including me in your special day!
Chris & Ginjer had this wonderful outdoor wedding on waterfront (you'll see below) and roaring 20's themed to boot! The above image is from the Michigan Theater in Jackson Michigan (http://www.michigantheatre.org). This wedding was extra fun because I teamed up with Ashley Smith of Mashed media (http://www.mashedmedia.net).
The Wedding partyI love this roaring 20's theme!
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
Feathers Galore!The hair pieces in this wedding were amazing!
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
Tears of JoyBy far one of my personal favorites of the year, not only in my wedding photography but over all! Thank you Ginjer!
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
All These Pretty Ladies!Not only did these ladies looked gorgeous in their dresses but also their hair was rocking it! My lovely wife Aynee did the hair and make up for these lovely ladies.
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
Chris & Ginjers wedding was so cool being themed like it was and even the guests dressed up to theme as well!!!!! Speaking of themes another one is that Ashley and I also shot the next wedding together below!
Kayla & Christian's ceremony was celebrated on the grounds at Cascades Manor House (http://cascadesmanor.com) in Jackson Michigan on a warm sunny Saturday. This wedding boasted vintage cars, waterfront overlooking Cascades Park and fun people all in one location!!!!
Kayla & ChristianCascades is such a great place to get married!
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
Kayla & ChristianThese two and the love they have for each other.
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
Kayla & ChristianI Love love love this car!!! and this wedding party!
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
Last but not least (these are actually in order of appearance) is Abigail & Nate! I thought I had all my weddings in the books for the year but a long time friend of mine Mike contacted me about his sisters wedding and were a bit jammed up on their wedding photographer. So not knowing anything going into it was slightly stressful but man I'm glad I said yes. Not only was the entire wedding party a blast but the wedding was so beautiful and in a church (Cascades Baptist church - http://www.cascadeschurch.com) I've never done a wedding in . Mark Miller of MMphotography (http://www.markmillerphotography1.com) assisted during the ceremony with me (Thanks brother!) and might I add he did a wonderful job! I'll share his awesome wide shot first :)
Ok let me introduce Abigail & Nate :) This beautiful couple was a blast to photograph! Their reception was held also at Cascades Manor house and was quite the party! :) On to some more images from their wedding day
Nate & AbigailIf you've ever been in love you know what their faces say!
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
Nate and the GroomsmenOh look a GQ ad! Nope thats just how dapper these gentlemen were looking on this great day!
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
Abigail's LadiesBut Lets not forget the lovely bride and her gorgeous brides maids!
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
The First WalkI just love downtown Jackson! If you're planning in or near jackson think about downtown!
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
The Wedding PartyLike I said.. These people were a blast to work with, LOTS of characters in this group for sure. :)
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
So this wraps up my weddings of 2015 and I could honestly say I can't pick a favorite wedding!!! Thank you to all the brides & grooms (mostly the brides cause you know how guys are... lol ) for allowing me to capture your special day for you. May you all have long loving marriages with lots of laughs and memorable moments! Cheers.
Oh oh oh I can't forget to show you whats already coming next year right? Dj & Krystal will be getting married next year!!! Here's a couple from their engagement shoot. We did these in the far back of the Dalhem Center this late summer/fall.
Dj & KrystalDj knows how lucky he is ;)
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
Love in a Field.Kissing in a field! Everyone does that, right? :)
©2015 Sethingtons Creations
Ok that's it for now!!!! Below are the links to all the locations for the venues and the other photographers I mentioned in this post. Winter is here so my creative projects will be kicking back up and this year is going to be AWESOME! Thanks again, Until next time. ~ Sethington.
Special thanks to:
Ashley Smith (photographer) - http://www.mashedmedia.net
Mark Miller (photographer) - http://www.markmillerphotography1.com
Jamie Macdonald (photographer) - http://jmacdonaldphoto.com
and of course to
Olympus Cameras http://www.getolympus.com for making my job easier!
Venues/locations:
Cascades Manor House - http://cascadesmanor.com
Cascades Baptist church - http://www.cascadeschurch.com
Michigan Theater of Jackson - http://www.michigantheatre.org
Dahlem Center - http://www.dahlemcenter.org
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On a recent photo trip to northern michigan (not U.P. north but "north-ish"), A friend and fellow mirrorless shooter Jamie MacDonald (http://jmacdonaldphoto.com/ & http://mirrorlessminutes.com/ ) had me test out the NEW UNO from "The b-grip" line (http://www.bgrip.com/uno-en/ ) an Italian made holster system designed for the mirrorless and compact camera formats. If you are looking for other carrying options aside from a strap (neck or crossbody) I recommend checking this out. There is another brand similar to this but I can say I prefer this design more due to the added stability they have in this design.
Lets take a closer look at the system.
Above: The Uno mounted to my backpack without the body attachment piece. Below: The Arca sized plate fits in bottom first.
It also fits into your Arca Tripod!!!!!
The main lever is what holds the plate onto the holster unit. Its a solid connection, though i do wish there was a quick connect way of doing this but that thing is secure! Even with moving around a lot on our hikes it stayed close to me and really didn't flop around much. Which is the plus of a holster system, it's there when I need it and it isn't swinging around like a cross-body strap or a neck strap. Below: The red lever is a solid locking mech. to prevent accidental release. It was very useful on those dunes!
A secure mount is a great feeling for our "mechanical babies" and was the first time trying out a set up like this. I dig it, but I'll cover that at the end. Let's look at how it mounts to your backpack strap.
In the package comes a U shaped bar with threading on each end. this is the back bar.. place that on your strap pointing out.
Place the UNO on the front of your backpack strap. Putting the threads through the mounting holes.
Screw on the supplied finger screws till tight enough making it snug (that way you can adjust it on the strap). Adjust on your strap. Finish tightening the finger screws.
DONE! You're ready to rock! put the bag on and mount the arca plate that comes with the UNO to the tripod socket of your camera.
So below (sorry I was shirtless... it was hot!!!) I had it mounted to my camel pack on the dunes in Silver Lake Michigan. I added a tether to my camera and attached to my bag for safety concerns and the fact I'm a bit clumsy!
Thanks for the photo Travis! photo by: Travis Stevens (http://www.tstevensphoto.com/)
The UNO also comes with a belt mounting piece that basically goes where your strap would. I decided to add the mounting plate to my Telephoto lens as a fast changing option. I've yet to use it like this but I will try this out soon! I'm thinking I'm gonna like it!
Below: are all that comes with the UNO. The material its made of is metal and heavy duty Polymer material.
All in all I'm really digging the Uno! If you're into the adventure side of photography or just not wanting your camera swinging all around, the UNO is an option you should check out. I know this will be a main piece (aside from my camera) in my urbex adventures and other hikes where I'm carrying extra gear. Hopefully this review answered the questions you may have on how this is set up and used but if not feel free to contact me or comment and I'll gladly try to answer it. You can of course check out "The B-Grip Line" at their website http://www.bgrip.com/
They also have those larger DSLR options too!
The B-Grip - http://www.bgrip.com/
Jamie MacDonald - http://jmacdonaldphoto.com/ & http://mirrorlessminutes.com/
]]>The speakers from the day
I chose black and white images from a quote I found of hers.
"I fell in love with black; it contained all color. It wasn't a negation of color... Black is the most aristocratic color of all... You can be quiet, and it contains the whole thing."
Louise Nevelson
If you'd like to know more about Louise Nevelson and her works click here:
http://www.louisenevelsonfoundation.org/
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Nevelson
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Enough talking; Check out the faces of Jackie! Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!
~Sethington
If you happen to be interested in joining the project, drop me an email!!! #Thepeople
]]>The Setup
I shoot with the Olympus Em1 with the M.Zuiko ED 12-40mm f2.8 PRO and use "Live composite" mode. I mess around with the settings depending on the storm and how "frothy" I want the clouds. Sometimes I want the detail. Also a tripod is a must, one for the camera to stay still and two so I can remain dry! Keep in mind with Olympus Omd's this whole lightning thing is super easy and fun. They're weather sealed too! For the Dslr people you'll need some sort of Lightning trigger, which I have no experience in so unfortunately I don't have a suggestion. (buy an Olympus! wink wink nudge nudge http://www.getolympus.com/)
The Photos
I like doing photo processing and all on my images but with these I tend to have the best luck getting things right in camera vs "adjusting" them. So Really on most of these only minor adjustments were made and a little cloning when something was in the image I personally found distracting. I feel I've babbled enough now so here are the images!
Above: By far one of my favorites of the lot! I Call it "Chaos In The Skies" Below: Also a great one! "Three Strikes"
"The Sky Is Opening" This one just was amazing to see!!!! Literally the lightning crawled out of the clouds and spread out! Truly a sight!
"Above: "Gods Eye" was my play on the fact the way the clouds and lightning spread across making a brow and eye... Do you see it? Below: Last but not least one of the largest bolts I was able to capture named "Boom".... mainly because there was a big ass boom and it lit the sky like dusk!
All in all I ended up with around 25 usable photos with lightning in them but these were some of my favorites and well... the ones I have currently processed! :) These and more in the future will be available for print here: http://www.sethingtonscreations.com/longexposure
Again as always Thank you for visiting my blog and website! Take a minute to look around things are always changing here!
~Sethington
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Snap ShotPrint! Original is watercolor and ink on 11x15" paper
So the second time lapse went EVEN BETTER than the first one!!!! I planned this out like a project and I'm super happy with how it turned out! I set my #getolympus Omd Em1 on a Tripod set to time lapse mode and shot over my shoulder. the whole painting process took about three hours total to complete, and well... the video editing took me a little longer! This is only the second time playing with adobe premier but I'm picking it up pretty fast!
Snap Shot is a time lapse of me painting a watercolor and ink piece. A handful of people have asked if the Original is for sale but, at this time the original is not for sale. If you'd like a copy of this; the reproduction print is now available here: http://www.sethingtonscreations.com/paintings/h51324A40#h51324a40
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Jackson PdOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Back in May I met up with a good friend of mine that works for Jackson's Police department and told him I really wanted to do a Live Composite of a police car at night with the lights on. He was curious as well (he's a bit of a photographer himself) so we planned roughly a time, you know how it is .. these guys are busy! That being said it was going to be at a moments notice that'd I'd have to meet up with him. Around 930 on a weeknight I get the call. "Lets meet at the park" I say "great!"
Running around the house like a mad man finding what all I wanted to take with me I opted to take my Olympus Em-1, tripod, and my Rokinon Fisheye lens. My poor wife had no clue what I was doing until right before I left, She's a patient woman hahah.... moving on. I meet up with my buddy and he proceeds to tell me he actually has another car coming too!!!! I was super excited! After a little bit of experimenting and some post work; the final image (above) was made. All in all I'm super happy with it as well as the two officers that helped make it happen (Thanks guys!!!) Prints will be going to both officers and the chief of police and a copy for my own collection.
Once again thank you to the officers that helped make this happen, hopefully you enjoy this image as much as I do! Be safe.
-Sethington
]]>Earlier this week I was on Mirrorless Minutes youtube show. If you're a photographer, tech junkie, or just like watching youtube.. lol check out their website and youtube channel at http://mirrorlessminutes.com/. Not going to lie here but yeah I completely blanked when it was time to be "on air" haha hopefully I do better next time :) anyways this is just a short blog post since the video is here.. Enjoy!
website: http://mirrorlessminutes.com/
Direct youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r6Rm7KhpIw
Audio podcast link: http://mirrorlessminutes.com/podcast/mm-podcast-episode-20/
]]>Moving on....
First off lets introduce Mark Miller of http://www.markmillerphotography1.com
Mark is a fellow #getolympus shooter and an amazing photographer!
After wandering a bit we decided we should grab a bite to eat at Connor O'Neils...
It was a bit more than a "bite" hahaha but super good!
He was impressed by the burger as well :) I suppose now I should show off some photography.
Mark has never seen the Graffiti Ally. I've got plenty of shots of it so I'll show you the above.
Out wandering we met some fun people, hopefully they stop by the website for the photo. If you're reading this Hi guys!!!.
Some more wandering......
People!!!!!!! Shortly after this we found a great spot to sit and people watch. I gotta say I love Ann Arbor.
After a while we decided to move on and explore other areas..
We found an empty festival.... lol so we moved on.....
Then I had to stop and watch this guy for a moment.. He was pretty bad ass with that stick!!! Looking back I really should have shot a video of this, but here's my favorite shot.
Love love LOVE the architecture in Ann Arbor, it just demands a presence in this beautiful city.
I just Loved this guy but he didnt want to stick around.. places to be.... people to see..
All in all I had a great time hanging out and shooting with Mark in Ann Arbor. I got to see some great people, have some good food and enjoy the company of a good friend. Once again check out Mark's work!
Mark's Website: http://www.markmillerphotography1.com Mark's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mmillerphotography1
Lets not forget....
Camera Mall https://www.facebook.com/CameraMall and of course Olympus http://www.getolympus.com/ and their great gear!
Until the next time! Thanks for reading!
-Sethington
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I had the pleasure to shoot and hang out with the amazing abstract painter Jane Robinson (http://www.janerobinsonabstractart.com/) the other day. What a wonderful time we had chatting it up, hanging out in her studio where there is literally piles of beautiful works of art she has created in her happy space she calls home.
a little bio info from her website states: "Michigan native Jane Robinson is an innovative contemporary emerging artist who works in acrylic and mixed media. Most viewers are attracted to particular pieces not only for the colors and composition but the "movement" of the piece as well. Her work has been purchased by many private collectors and businesses all over the globe as well at the Marriott Hotel, University of Michigan, DePaul University, Jackson Community Foundation and Comfort Inn."
I met Jane through a mutual friend and past student of her's known as Steampunk Eddie (http://steampunkeddie.com/). He managed to talk me into coming out to her meetup group called "Creative Entrepreneurs" (if you have facebook the link is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/558000080957071/) But you can also find information on http://www.meetup.com/The-Business-of-Creativity-Moxy-Marketplace/ If you're looking for a fresh take on the oh so fun life of artists! Enough with the links lets look at a couple more images of Jane! :)
We had a lot of fun shooting this day, it was like hanging with old friends. All in all this shoot felt more like hanging out than a paid shoot. Thank you Jane for sharing these moments with me!
Sethington
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I finally took the plunge and was part of an art show!!! The week leading up to was crazy trying to get final touches around, all that matting that i had to do. My dear wife had to put up with me and all my stress but at 6pm on saturday it all went away. The show was a success, good steady crowd of people, a couple sales (Thank you Adam and Joe), so all in all it was a great night. I was able to meet some new people, talk art, and even some possible projects in the future! My wife Ayn helped so much for this show from helping me set up, to taking some images before the show, to talking up my work with onlookers! I couldnt have asked for a better time and first experience. Thank you to everyone that came through to support all of us! Steampunk Eddie (http://steampunkeddie.com/) I want to especially thank you for pushing me to do this. It means a lot for another artist to have faith in me and my work. Denny Kezele brought some amazing pencil and charcole pieces to show. I think we all had a good time. If you happened to miss the show or you were unable to purchase a print for whatever reason but would like to, I put all the images from the show here: http://www.sethingtonscreations.com/ashowingofart these will be ordered direct from my printer and will not be signed or numbered but multiple size and print options are available. If you're interested in a signed and numbered print please feel free to contact me! Thank you again to everyone!
-Sethington
My first sale!!!!!! Thank you Adam Smith!
My first sale!!!!!
One of my Mentors and Favorite people Jane Robinson
a
Us being "artsy" lol (left to right: Denny Kezele, Myself, and Steampunk Eddie)
My lovely Wife and I
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12 days into the new year and I'm finally posting but here we go
Every year people make all these crazy resolutions of this and that... most dont stick with them, some do... Well this year I'm going to make one.....
1. Print more!
yup.. starting this year I'm going to print off more of my fine art stuff and keep it for the art shows/galleries I plan on attending this year.
Might even have to make some of these in short runs only!!!! (once they're gone they're gone)
2. Share more
yes yes I hoard my images on a hard drive all for myself! I suppose I'll share more... on social media.... :)
3. Get even more creative...
Before photography I had a very strong Graphics arts background and already knew most of the editing software photographers used. So when learning photography my first year I decided to keep the editing to a minimal if any... second year a little more edit and creative stuff (ie composites) and still working on the basics and good composition. Well this year is the year I bring all of what i know together.. the photography knowledge and the graphic arts stuff to make some truly fun pieces of art!!!!! I have a bunch of concepts already brewing so this year is going to be fun!
So that's it there's my "rough" new years resolutions I look forward to seeing how this all pans out!
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Meet the McMillen-Oakley family. I've known these two great guys for some time now and got the pleasure of meeting their two children during our family shoot early this spring.
Tom an assistant professor at Jackson College and a local author of the book Jesus Has Two Daddies
(buy it here: https://www.createspace.com/4404757)
and his blog here: (http://jesushas2daddies.blogspot.com/)
and his Husband Tod, a local teacher are probably my favorite couple I know. These guys are great! Of course their kids are also awesome, I mean come on look who their dads are!!!!
The weather was great, especially after the winter we had here in Michigan. So I was pretty excited to get out and shoot! We had a couple locations picked out and were going to make a day of it.We started out in this great spot near the north-west side of town. Their kids were pretty excited to explore, so I started right away!
The kids warmed up to the large strange guy with the tattoos pretty quick so it definitely made the shoot even more fun. Now I'd love to show you all of the pictures from the shoot but I'll keep this post short and sweet. :)
After some time playing in the woods we decided to goto the next spot they had in mind...
Which I personally found hilarious.
Off to Downtown we all went to get some shots in one of the fun allies (top of page) here in town and to one of their favorite pieces of art that was also nearby (below).
After spending the day with Tom, Tod and their kids I have to say these are the reasons I love doing this whole photography thing! Thank you for sharing this time with me Tom and Tod and Thank you to all that took the time to read this!
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So lets get started!
This winter really got me down for a while. The weather was either so bitter cold or it was a blizzard out (I did go out in the blizzard though!) and oh so grey... no color no life.. it was rather depressing. I wanted to go and shoot and capture beauty.. but I wasn't going to drive somewhere warm either.. you know.. the day job does pay the bills, so no random driving off to far away lands! anyway.. it was a fairly decent day and I was determined to go shoot and see what I could find. What I found was this cool little spot near where I live. I had to get out of my truck and get a better look. At this time I didn't have a nice wide angle lens to get a cool shot so I figured I'd try this stitching technique and see how it paned out (pun intended! lol) to my surprise it worked!!!! If curious about this email me and I'll be glad to explain it or at least point you in the direction on how I found out how to do it. If you like this photo and would like a print of it, you can find it here: http://sethingtonscreations.com/p729330675/h322C5838#h322c5838
Moving on.. sorry I have a lot to catch up on! :)
Gotta love Michigan's lovely winter storms!!!! The snow was coming down so hard and HUGE flakes!!! My love and I decided to go tromp through this snow and see what pics we could take. What possessed us to do this is beyond me because this storm literally shut down this area but hey.. we had 4x4!! During our adventure, we find this unfrozen pond with these two swans in it! so we stopped and watched for a while. The whole scene was something you see in a movie. So so beautiful.
Print available here: http://sethingtonscreations.com/p729330675/h322C5838#h3b71dbdc
snowy aynI <3 this girl!
This is Ayn, she's the love of my life and my partner in our random adventures!!! This was the same day as the above photo with the swans. We were all over this town that day looking for interesting things to take photos of. You'll be seeing plenty of her throughout this blog. I must say she is patient with me and this camera. I've got a plethora of photos of her with a million and two different facial expressions to prove that point! Don't worry though, I'll make sure I slide some in but I must choose carefully so she isn't unhappy with me. :) ok well here's one!
Next!!!
As things started melting and being able to be outside for more than 10mins was an acceptable option. I decided to go downtown Jackson and shoot with my friend Ashley Smith of Mashed media Check out her work she's a great photographer!!! (http://www.mashedmedia.net/) Even though it was cold out it felt good to get out and shoot just cause. That day produced a handful of some of my favorite images.
Many can be found here: http://sethingtonscreations.com/p606528401
Heres one below:
There are some days that I just get this feeling, some reason I really need to take my camera with me... I know I know I should have it with me all the time.. blah blah blah.. some things are meant to be seen with just your eyes.. others well yeah I still like taking photos! haha ANYWAYS...
This day was one of them.. and I'm glad I did! getting around the time I'm due to get out of work I noticed the clouds were pretty interesting and thought to myself "Might be a cool sunset tonight" and decided to go find a good spot to capture the possible sunset. So I went driving west which in hindsight I guess it would have made more sense to head north or south but whatever! I ended up at this high school parking lot with these HUGE snow banks from the plows and it opened up to such a great view!!!! Remember that stitch thing I mentioned earlier.. well I did it again with more photos (20 something) and was able to capture the below photo that I call "Chasing the Sun" because well damnit I drove around chasing the sun.. (lol I know its not nearly as creative sounding now! haha )
Not to long after I took the sunset photo I was invited to hang out with my buddy's band "The Drunksman" during their practice and got to get some shots of them playing. They're quite the fun group of guys that make up this band and you should really check them out on their youtube channel! https://www.youtube.com/user/TheDrunksmen/videos and their facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheDrunksmen
Well its getting late and all I've actually only covered January so far... January!!!! ! I suppose I'll call this part one and get some rest.
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"One Day" fun joint project with a local artist/creative! If you know the logo you know him!
print available here: http://bit.ly/Re7i2r
print available here: http://bit.ly/Re7i2r
I look at this every time I log into my website.... and say to myself.. "Seth you need to start doing this."
Then...
I don't do anything with it..
so .. I'm going to start focusing on this more and will have to catch up on my previous shoots.. so.. if anyone IS
actually paying attention to my blog (hahahhahaha) more to come this weekend
]]>After Mother nature came in and cancelled my photo-shoots today.... (they got rescheduled though) I decided I still needed to be productive! So I've been dragging my feet about starting my website. Not sure why really but just haven't done it hah! but here it is and here is the first blog post too! I'm going to use this blog to talk about my experiences with the whole photography thing.. random ramblings and who knows what else... I guess we'll see :) Anyways bear with me a bit since I am still populating albums and what not.
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