Dylan’s Candy Bar and Candy Cafe inside the resort offered the perfect location for a Christmas themed photo shoot. The resort was a little busy and we had people walking back and forth by the window watching us to see the action. We even had people coming up and taking their own pictures of the models. It’s no wonder. The girls were sporting their Sexy Santa outfits. We drew a lot of attention.

In all it was a great experience. Hopefully I can do more of these in Traverse City and East Lansing.  We had so many great pictures it is hard to get them all in. This is just a sample.

Once we got bored with the candy shop we walked around looking for other locations. The Grand Traverse Resort doesn’t disappoint.

Terry and another photographer were shooting with Leslie Sevenski when I arrived. They had been shooting for a couple hours and were just wrapping up when I arrived. Leslie and I have worked together several times over the past couple years. I always love photographing the Sevenski girls.

However, this time I had a model named Sarah LaRosa who had asked me to shoot.

Terry’s lighting wasn’t working out too well for me so I decided to pull out my Frezzi video light to get a different effect. I love the fall-off created by this light.

I love shooting in this little courtyard. The water flowing over the dam makes a beautiful backdrop.

Karmen decided to change outfits towards the end of the shoot. The colors worked out perfectly.

I put together a few items to show you some of the possibilities.

This first one is a senior composite. This is a fun way to showcase your images. There are several styles to choose from.

This locker template is is a great way to share photos with your friends at school.

We also do wall clusters. This one is a thin wrap with a 16X24 image on the left, an 11×17 on the top right, and two 8×12’s below.

Here is another variation of the wall clusters. This includes one 20×20 and four 10×31’s.

These are only a few of your many options. Look through the catalog and let me know what you are interested in and let us quote you a price.

The leaves are changing in Northern Michigan, Autumn is here again. Yesterday I took my father’s boat out for a spin and took my camera along as well. This photo was taken on Green Lake in Interlochen. When I loaded the image in Photoshop I thought that it would look nice as a painting so I grabbed the new mixer brush and decided to give it a whirl. This was my first time using the mixer brush. It is a new feature in CS5. I love the effect and look forward to exploring this feature with some of my other photographs. Stay tuned for more.

This digital painting is available on Canvas or as a print. Contact me for details.

I was one of the film festival’s photographers. The festival (currently in it’s 6th year) is driven by volunteer efforts. I have volunteered as a photographer since 2006.  This year’s opening day festivities were different than previous years because the opening party was held at night to coincide with Larry King’s schedule. I got some great photos of Michael Moore behind the scenes and I also got a shot of the man who heckled him at the end of the broadcast. You can see me towards the beginning of this broadcast. Look for the guy holding the camera over his head.

Click this link to parts 2, 3 and 4

Now for some behind the scenes shots.

This is the guy who heckled Moore towards the end of the broadcast.

I had nothing to do with the making of the video above. I like the song and the video gives you a good idea of how the opening went.

I barely remembered this park from my childhood. When I was 12-years-old or thereabouts my friends and I rode our bikes from Lansing’s South-side to Williamston to attend the jubilee festival. My family has some history in Williamson. Both of my grandparents on my mother’s side are buried there and my Great Grandfather owned a candy store in Williamston. I haven’t been there in a long time so my memory of McCormick park was vague.

Joe suggested the park as an excellent place to shoot. Once I got there I was taken aback by the vast expanse of open field. “What do we do in this space?,” I wondered as Joe and I walked the park in search of shooting ideas. We noticed a gentle river that flowed around the park with some very nice scenery on the opposite banks. We also crossed the road and looked at the decorative bridge that crossed Putnam Street. “Hmm…This could be interesting,” I thought “but it’s going to be difficult to find enough scenery to keep a shoot going for more than a half hour.”  The last shoot I did with Samantha and Kyle was on the top of a parking garage in Lansing in freezing cold weather. That shoot was over pretty quick because of the cold. This was much different and a welcome change.

As I was walking on the bridge to get a feel for the place Joe motioned me over to the edge where he saw a blue racer coiled up on the rocks below. “This is the place,” I thought because Samantha was bringing Sir Hiss, her albino corn snake to the shoot.  I figured the blue racer sighting was a sign from above that we were in the right place. I often leave my shooting up to the man (or woman) above and let whatever power there is in the universe flow through and make the shot. I don’t try to force it because I like the shooting to happen naturally. I often find that this leads to a more organic result.

Anyway. Enough talking. Let’s get to the pics. To me, this shoot seems like another movie idea. It’s like one man goes searching for the Garden of Eden where he meets and falls in love with Eve.

Here is Eve played by Samantha Harris and the explorer played by Kyle Gask-Wilson. (The snake is played by

Sir Hiss)

BTW. We spent hours on this shoot and had a blast!

This time the workshop was looking like the biggest one yet. I didn’t know if I could handle it. Once people arrived, however, the workshop started really humming with creativity. My main focus was helping photographers figure out how to use their cameras and the various lighting set-ups they brought. It was interesting to see all the different lights that people use for their photography. One local photographer brought a whole studio set-up. He had all the Alien bees and diffusers. I was very impressed with that.

We had a pretty good turnout of models but it wasn’t as many as I expected. We also had Victoria Mather there to do make-up and hair. She calls herself an MUAH (make-up and hair).

Here are some of the reviews I got from  a few of the photographers who attended:

Bevin Buchler  of Sweet Pea Photography said;

Todd, thank you so much (and others who helped) make the workshop happen. I had SO much fun, and it was amazing to meet so many talented people! I can’t wait for

Casey Lynn Browning said;

Had a great day today … thank you Todd L Church and all who made it possible … and thank you to everyone who was there who helped me … you guys are amazing!!!

My friend Joe and I set up a website forum for the workshops. It’s at www.modelphotoworkshop.com.

Here are a few of my images from the workshop. I didn’t get the chance to take too many because I was running around helping others.