Accidental Art - Edwardsville Senior Pictures

Sarah Smith
Photograph by Tom Atwood

Sometimes a senior picture become something else. In this case, a dreamy monochromatic meditation on serenity in tall grass. Or else, Sarah blinking during the photo shoot in Forest Park.

Shutter: 1/160; Aperture: f/3.5; ISO: 100; Focal Length: 18 mm

Hannah Skirball - Edwardsville maternity pictures

Hannah Skirball
Photograph by Tom Atwood

This maternity portrait of Hannah Skirball was taken at the Gardens at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville a month or so before she had Noah, her second child. For pricing information, or to schedule a maternity pictures session with Tom Atwood Media, visit our website: www.tomatwood.net

Shutter: 1/60; Aperture: f/3.8; ISO: 100; Focal length: 20 mm

Taylor - Edwardsville Senior Pictures

Pin Oak Road
Photograph by Tom Atwood

Sometimes the most interesting ideas for a portrait come from the client. In this case, Taylor Mulhall, who wanted a senior picture draped across the hood of her beloved Mustang. With some help in editing, this image captured along Pin Oak Road near Edwardsville, Illinois turned out to be one of the most colorful, and unusual, senior pictures I have taken.

Shutter: 1/200; Aperture: f/4; ISO: 1250 (it was nearly dusk); Focal length: 18 mm 

Processed in Lightroom 4

"Unposed" - Edwardsville Wedding Photography

Wedding Day
Photograph by Tom Atwood

Some of the best wedding portraits are not planned, or posed. This portrait of Katy Fechter was actually taken moments after the wedding ceremony as she and her husband were greeting guests inside Emmaus Lutheran Church in Dorsey, Illinois. It is one of my favorite bridal portraits, taken from a distance using a telephoto lens.

Shutter: 1/200; Aperture: f/5; ISO: 2500 (not much light in the church); Focal Length: 180 mm

Low light - landscape photography

Garden of the Gods
Photograph by Tom Atwood

It was just after dawn among the cavernous sandstone formations in the Garden of the Gods near Harrisburg, Illinois. The light was dim, even outside the caverns. This photo was taken at a slow shutter speed to allow as much light as possible through the lens. The color was saturated slightly in editing.

Shutter: 1/80; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 200; Focal length: 200 mm

The Moment - Collinsville Wedding Photography

Wedding Day
Photograph by Tom Atwood

There is a moment at each wedding. One that, for a photographer, captures the day. Sometimes there is more than one moment like that. You don't want to miss it. You have to be watching for it. You have to put yourself in a position to find it. But enough about being a wedding photographer. 

This is Patty's moment. 

Shutter: 1/125; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO:200; Focal length: 18 mm

Details

Along Interstate 55
Photograph by Tom Atwood

Sometimes you find treats in unexpected places, like this spider web along a frontage road near Interstate 55 in Madison County, Illinois. From a distance, the web is unseen. But once you discover it, up close, in the details, it is magnificent.

Shutter: 1/100 sec; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 100; Focal Length: 55 mm

We're Back

Self Portrait

After a year or so away, Photo of the Day returns with more portrait and landscape images from Tom Atwood Media, including this photo which is both: a self portrait and landscape taken on the Big Thompson River in Rocky Mountain National Park at moonrise. 

Shutter: 20 secs; Aperture: f/3.5; Focal Length: 18 mm; ISO: 200

Impressionism

Mississippi River at the Chain of Rocks
Photograph by Tom Atwood

This is about as abstract as I get. Generally in landscape photography the goal is to create a a fairly accurate representation of reality. But capturing the energy of the Mississippi River at the one point where it becomes unnavigable, the "chain of rocks," is impossible in a short freeze frame. So, a longer exposure (6/10's of a second) is needed to reveal the river's movement over the anticline exposure. It also gives the overall image a surreal appearance, enhanced in editing by desaturating the photo. Shutter: .6 seconds; Aperture: f/22; ISO: 100; Focal length: 18 mm

Extreme Close ups

Taylor Hodge
Senior pictures shoot
Photograph by Tom Atwood

How close is too close? I guess that depends on whose picture you're taking. In the case of Taylor Hodge, it's almost impossible for a close up to be too close. In fact, often it is an extreme angle, or an extremely close shot like this one, that can make for the most interesting portrait.  (To be fair, though, this is not one of the shots that Taylor chose as a favorite for her senior portraits. So, maybe for her, it was too close.)  Shutter: 1/60; Aperture: f/2.5; ISO: 100; Focal length: 50 mm.