In it to win it

I've spent the past couple of weeks preparing some images for the 20009 WPPI 16x20 print competition. Last year I managed to capture Third Overall in the Premiere Division of this same competition (the biggest print competition for Portrait Photographers).

Classic Beauty/Modern Flavor

Sometimes I like to try to mix and match classic lighting, posing, and sets with a modern style of presentation. This photograph of model, Amelia Steele is an example of that.

The soft faux window light, the reclined pose, and the chaise lounge smack of classic feminine portraiture. However, the modern textured post-processing and presentation created with designhouse give the overall image a very unique feel and flavor.

Happy Turkey Day, Everybody

I just wanted to wish you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving. I know that I'm going to eat until I can't hardly walk today, and I hope you will too.

So, instead of writing a nice, long blog, I thought I'd just give you a little Adam Sandler love today. Without further ado, here's the "Thanksgiving Song"

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Yep, I shoot weddings.

Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Weddings are probably the hardest events that I shoot. I'm usually dehydrated and completely exhausted the day after I shoot a wedding. It's hard work to properly capture a couple's special day, and any photographer who tells you differently probably isn't doing it right or does't really care.

Weddings are difficult, but the reward for doing it right - oh my, it just amazes me sometimes that the images I create for a couple are going to spurn a lifetime of enjoyment that their children and children's children will share.

For more information on my wedding photography philosophy and my pricing, please visit: my weddings page.

My daughter at Halloween

Yep, that's my little evil cheerleader. She's 10 now. She'll be 11 at the end of Decemeber.

More from my latest session...

Heather Levitt (the model in these pics) has been one of my best friends for ten years or so now. We always have fun when we shoot a session.

A few fashion glamour videos...

Falling in love with Corel Painter

So, I have a new software toy. It's called Corel Painter, and quite frankly it's one of the most amazing artistic programs I've ever seen (other than Photoshop). This program let's you use every type of paintbrush, pen, marker, crayon or pencil known to man.

Here's an example of what can be done. Imagine this on a canvas.

Your wedding day is a special day...

...why not remember it with incredible images?

I find myself drawn back to the images I shot of Morgan and Jamie at their wedding this summer. It was such a beautiful day and such a beautiful wedding. And though I'm not a member of their family and I didn't know them at all before their wedding, I feel like somehow I am a part of their life in a way that will last forever.

Ah, the things I'll do...

...to make people laugh. These images are care of Tina Poppa who participated in my Grind workshop in Nashville, TN. In the first photo, I was sneaking into the back of the frame and trying to make Tina relax and laugh...and yes, I admit it freely. I look a little freakish. LOL

Chisa, me and Julie - posing with the Krispy Kreme, and then they shoved it in my nose.

Because your family doesn't live life in front of a blue mottled background.

Few things are as precious as the family portrait. In fact, most people say that if they had only a few minutes to gather belongings from their homes before an imenent disaster, they would grab their family photos. Why? These are precious moments of our lives saved forever on a piece of photo paper - a glimpse of who we were and how we became who we are.

Let me be blunt for a moment. I am not a fan of the department store portrait. You know the kind. The ones where we put on our Sunday best and our fake smiles, and someone with the same training as the person who might sell you a tie in another department snaps a photo in front of a mottled blue background.

While they are an accurate account of what we looked like in that year, these photos tell us nothing about the people in them. They show no interaction, and they never show the real us.


You don't live your life in front of a blue mottled background.
Why remember it that way?

What makes a family is the interaction between family members in a setting that is comfortable to them. How a toddler takes his mother's hand. How a daughter snuggles into her Daddy's neck when she's feeling shy. That's who we are, and that's exactly what I want to capture when I shoot family portraits: Your family the way it really is.

If you're looking for a standard family portrait that you might get at one of those photo factories in the yellow pages, then I'm probably not the photographer for you. If you're looking for someone to tell the story of your family's life through photographs - if you're looking for more than a standard family portrait - if you're looking for a timeless piece that hangs in your home and is the starter of conversation, a source of joy, and brings a twinge of longing to go back to that time in your family's history - then I'm here to capture that for you.

Glamour & Boudoir images are becoming popular gifts

It's no secret that men love photographs of beautiful women, but what you may not know is that more and more women are creating a special gift for their significant others.

Glamour/Boudoir photography is the gift for your man that just keeps on giving, and it's easier than you think. Beauty comes in all shapes, sizes and ages. I've photographed women in their 20's and their late 40's. I've photographed women who were size 0 and women who were size 15. All of them were beautiful, and their husbands absolutely loved the special gifts they received.

The key to getting great glamour/boudoir photos is finding flattering light and apparel for your figure, and then working with me to find the best pose for your body. I recently shot a session with a woman who describes herself as a "heavier person." She was uncomfortable with how her legs looked, so we hid them and not only did SHE love her photos, she knows her husband will fall over when he gets his Christmas gift this year.

There are lots of options with glamour/boudoir photos. You can find more information about my glamour/boudoir sessions here: http://www.andyarmstrongphoto.com/pricing-glamour.htm

When good models go bad!

Of course I'm kidding. Sometimes you just have to let off a little steam during a shoot! This is Miss Leighann hamming it up for my camera at The Grind: Remix in Nashville.

I like to have a lot of fun at my fashion/glamour shoots. I find that laughter helps put people at ease, and it causes models to loosen up and have a great time. The more comfortable you are in front of the camera, the better my images will be.

Thanks for being a ham, Leighann.

More fun with Leighann Nitzband "Okay!!!!!!!!" (with apologies to Jeff Dunham's Peanut)

Crazy, sexy, beautiful...and funny as hell. That's the only way I can describe the real Leighann. That and the fact that Mr. Nitzband (Leighann's husband) is a lucky, lucky man.

Leighann and I shot again last Monday, and she brought her cousin, Brittany on location to help us out (thanks for holding the reflector, Brittany). I don't mind telling you that I've developed an "old man" crush on this model. It's beyond me how anyone can be that fun, that tiny, and that sexy all at the same time.

From goofing off with "Peanut" sayings from Jeff Dunham to jumping on the bed and geese in the esophagus, wow - this session was just too fun. Thank you again, Leighann. I'm so glad you're coming to Nashville to help with the fashion/glamour workshops I'm leading the first week of November. We're going to have a blast... and if you thought the hotel room we shot in was nice - wait til you see the Hotel Preston.

Here's some of the pics from our session and here's the link to the full slideshow: http://www.andyarmstrongphoto.com/leighann1020/index.html

Ah, it's Brittany... finally

About two years ago, I was lucky enough to be asked to be a judge for dance team tryouts for the Knoxville Ice Bears. I say I was lucky, because that's the very first time that Brittany Rinehart and I crossed paths. During those two days of tryouts, I remember thinking to myself, 'Wow, this young lady is beautiful. I've got to do a shoot with her.'

She made the dance team, and it wasn't long after that, that I asked Brittany to shoot with me - and while she didn't say no, she didn't say yes either.

Well, finally - two years later - she agreed to shoot with me. And, just as I thought - her images came out beautiful. Here are a few from our session at The Cove in Farragutt. Thank you, Brittany for shooting with me, and thanks for bringing your buddy with you to help me out.