We were so proud to find out that one of our senior portrait clients, Breanne Townsen, has been elected Senior Class President for Barberton High School in Barberton, Ohio. I have to say that it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person. Breanne will be a senior in the class of 2013 at Barberton High School and we are excited to see where her future leads. Congratulations, Breanne!!

Yesterday was Ryan and Marianne’s wedding at Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens and what a beautiful day it was. Marianne started her day at the Radisson Hotel for her hair and getting dressed. Then it was on to the wedding ceremony at Stan Hywet. The weather was gorgeous and the ceremony went without a hitch. After the ceremony, Ryan, Marianne,  and the wedding party walked the south end of the grounds for photos in the various well known and popular spots within the gardens (the south terrace, the english garden ect.). Ryan and Marianne were so awesome. Although the weather was perfect it was a little warm but not a single complaint. Their wedding party was so great that I’m thinking of sending each and every one of them a pair of Tommy Bahama pants just like mine (don’t ask) and some Cottonelle wet wipes (don’t ask). The reception took place at St. Demetrius with Gary of Kidd Productions handling the MC duties. I’ve never seen SO many people handled SO well and St. Demetrius did excellent. Gary made sure that the party kept hopping and that the formalities were done in a timely manner. All and all a great day! Thank you to Ryan, Marianne, their families and the fantastic wedding party for allowing us to be part of such a momentous day. Be sure to leave Ryan and Marianne a comment below and to “Like” Spencer Photography Inc. on Facebook. Here are a few images from the day.

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Today is Marianne and Ryan’s wedding day. The ceremony is Stan Hywet in Akron Ohio and the reception is at St. Demetrius also in Akron. Marianne had a bridal session at the Akron Civic Theater a couple of weeks ago and I COULD NOT WAIT for everyone to see the images from it. Not only is the Civic an awesome venue for photography, try having such a great subject as Marianne!! I’m excited to be participating in their wedding day and can’t wait to blog some of the images!! Let Marianne know how beautiful she looks by leaving a comment below. Also, be sure to “Like” Spencer Photography Inc. on Facebook.

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Last night I photographed a corporate event at the Akron Art Museum. I have worked at the museum before for other corporate events and wedding receptions and was glad to be back there. The event took place late in the afternoon so I was able to use all natural light when capturing everything (which is always nice). Sue Parker is the event coordinator there and always does an excellent job. Her events always go off without a hitch. A Taste of Excellence catered last night’s event and they also did and outstanding job. The type of set up and food that they had was unique in my experience. Here are a few detail images from the event.

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Yesterday was our workshop for photographers. We met at the Tangier in Akron Ohio and it was the PERFECT place for what I wanted to accomplish with the participants. With many different areas for different lighting techniques, I wanted to make sure that the photographers involved understood the importance of a direction of light in their photography, which is sorely missing in most photography today. Creating texture, mood and shadows for a much more interesting image. I also wanted to show how light is light. As long as it’s used correctly ANY light source can be used (see my image of our model Lea where her face is lit with nothing but cell phone lights). I really enjoyed spending time with the photographers involved and talking about photography (DUH!!). Thank you again to all participated and also to our wonderful model, Lea. Let’s go light hunting!!

The image above was lit with nothing more than two cell phone flash lights (light is light).

Direct sunlit images do not have to be over exposed, contrary to today’s trends.

This may look like a straight forward portrait, but the location was not. Lea is standing directly next to a car with a trash dumpster over her left shoulder and a walk in cooler for a background. I wanted to show that by controlling your environment (rather than letting your environment control you) you can get acceptable images anywhere (although we always strive for exceptional, right?)

The image above shows, that with proper technique, you can get an acceptable portrait in even the least hospitable location.

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Last night was “Super Moon Night”. It was the one time of the year when the moon is the biggest and brightest as well as the closest to the earth that it will be all year. I knew that I would be photographing it like every other photographer on earth but wasn’t sure how.  I was speaking to past client Kristen Mangus and she suggested that she put her wedding dress back on for it. What a perfect idea!! And perfect it was. We met for the photo session in downtown Cleveland. I knew that I wanted the Cleveland skyline in my image, however, due to the position of the moon and my position, that wasn’t possible. Instead, we used the Superior Street bridge as our backdrop. Tell us what you think.

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Yesterday, I had a great senior portrait session with Larry (with a name like that, how couldn’t it be great!) Larry is the son of Larry Porter Jr. whom I’ve known much longer than I care to mention (we’re getting old, Larry). Larry is a senior at Kenmore High School (my Alma Mater) where he played football (every position that requires someone getting mowed over, Larry played it). Larry has his game face down pat. We did do some “smiley” photos and those are specifically for you, mom Porter.  One of my favorite spots for senior portraits in Akron is right downtown. Great little spots of light here and there that are of the type that I love. Anyway, Larry is also a guitarist so we incorporated that into his photo session. Great job, Larry, and good luck in the future (Rock on!!!) Be sure to leave Larry some love in the comment section below and also to “Like” Spencer Photography Inc. on Facebook.

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I had the chance to get an awesome couple back in their wedding attire and do a wedding photography session on East 4th Street in downtown Cleveland (a very popular spot for wedding photography in Cleveland ). Michael and Kristen had their wedding and reception last year at the Portage Country Club in Akron, Ohio. They were awesome then, and they were awesome for this photo session. I just wanted to get a great image of a bride and groom and East 4th Street and this night was perfect for photography. A fairly clear evening; a few puddles; a great couple and that was that.
We were right across from the House of Blues Cleveland. Here are a couple of images:

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Yesterday, I met past bridal clients, John and Alli Butler at Hale Farm and Village in Bath Ohio. I photographed John and Alli’s Cleveland wedding back in 2010. As a matter of fact, they were the subjects in my most successful competition print to date (-here-) so I was excited to catch up with them again. The session, though, was really all about their baby, Raya, their two year old Golden Retriever. Raya was like the Kate Moss of K-9′s, she did so well. It was great getting to meet Raya and to see John and Alli again, although I will be seeing them at at least one wedding in the next year. Here are a few images from the session. I don’t know if it was the log cabin vibe of Hale Farm or what but I am showing more sepia toned images than usual. Be sure to leave Raya a comment below and also to “Like” Spencer Photography on Facebook.

Gotta thank Cooper Heiberg for the inspiration for this image.

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As a wedding photographer, I am constantly challenged by the environment around me. Not afforded the consistency of a studio where the lighting is always the same and even backgrounds can be controlled, I have to use what the locations have or do not have. This was illustrated beautifully the other day when my brother Jim asked me to take some images of a classic car that he restored. While I was there, he asked if I could do a few images of him by his recently fully restored 1971 Corvette LT1. We didn’t have the time to pick the perfect location so we had to do this right in the parking lot of his auto body shop. Well, his shop is located on, probably the busiest main street in Green Ohio. So I had to improvise.

This first image was a test to make sure that my exposure and light were correct. As you can see, the background is crap.

I obviously had to change something in order to get an acceptable image of Jim. He couldn’t move because the lighting on his face was exactly what I wanted and the light on his Corvette was hitting it just right. So Jim remained exactly where he stood. He didn’t move…I did. I changed my angle and captured this:

It was a very simple solution that made a HUGE difference. So, hopefully, this illustrates that there are never poor locations. Just challenges to overcome.

Here is an image of the LT1 where I COULD chose a great location.

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