Hot Stuff

I had this picture of my brother selected as a Hot Pick of the week on Samsung of America's photography website for the week of 11-28 through 12-4. Here is the link if you are interested in seeing it. www.soaphoto.com

Thankful

I had a fantastic time with family this Thanksgiving! This shot was taken in the middle of the road with one my Alien Bee 800's in a strip box and a nikon sb900 to light the bottom of his shoes. My brother was the willing model for this shoot! His foot was actually out of the original shot and I had to bring a leg in from another shot in photoshop. You can see the before and after.

Fairy Tale

I am a big fan of fantasy photography and I had a friend who wanted her daughter to have that type of setting in her photos. It was quite a challenge to make a setting that went along with a green backdrop, so my wife and I took the SUV over to Lowe's and hit the nearly dead foliage isle. All of the trees in this set were up to 75% off because they had some dead spots. The great thing is we turned all the dead spots away from the camera and voila, instant forest. I found some vines on the side of the road that were sporting some purple blossoms, which was awesome because they went perfect with the flowers we had picked out for the set. I used a virtual backdrop in conjunction with the set.

On the Up and Up

I received a hot pick of the week from Samsung of America's photography website for the week of October 24-30. HOT PIC LINK I took this picture of two frogs on my front porch. The frogs were resting on a plantar hook by the door. We are having the house painted in order to sell it in the near future. If you are on the look out for a great 1700 square foot house with an 800 square foot photography studio/utility building in the Warsaw, NC area then contact me about pricing.

Making a Racket!

We just finished up a great year of tennis and I am really proud of the team I coached this year. My number one player came in second in the conference and won a match in the Regionals held in Greenville, NC. I always enjoy taking the team photo every year. I bought each of the girls an 8 x 10 of the team photo. Funny story, as I was passing the pictures out to the girls at school. One of the girls showed her pictures to one of the volleyball players. They were really jealous and wanted me to shoot their pictures. They asked if it was shot on a green screen. That's quite a compliment.

Finalist-Outdoor Photography Magazine

I was really excited to find out that two of my pictures are finalists in the Sony contest of Outdoor Photography Magazine. They are called Spinning About and A Little Tipsy. There is a $3600 first place prize and publication of the photos in the magazine. If you happen to be reading this you are welcome to look at all the finalist shots and vote for the pictures if the notion strikes you.

SPINNING ABOUT

A LITTLE TIPSY

Smooth

I have been using a new editing program on portraits this past week. It is incredibly fun to use and I have really enjoyed finding out how it ticks. Here are just a few examples.

October portrait dates are filling up so, be sure and book yours before all the colorful leaves disappear.

Is that really me?

It feels like my birthday when I get to order new software for the photography business. I ordered Portrait Professional Studio 9 today! It is really amazing software that not only smooths out blemishes, it can actually warp any aspect of the face while controlling color, shadow and texture. I was skeptical at first, but after testing out the free download, I was sold on the product. I will show some examples in my next post.

Published in Cruzine Magazine

I found out this week that my photo of three wine glasses erupting in color(A Little Tipsy) is being published in Cruzine Magazine as part of an abstract photo article.

Cruzine Magazine Link

My photo is a little more than half way down in the set of about 25 photos.

A New Addition to the Lens Stable

So much for updating this place in a week! It turned into a whole month! Sorry about that!

Anyway, I have recently acquired a Lensbaby and have been practicing with it the last couple of weeks. For those of you who have no idea what a Lensbaby is, I will explain how it works. It is a sort of an inexpensive Tilt Shift lens that allows you to bend the lens to various focal points. (Some parts will be in focus and the surroundings will be soft and blurry.) You have to manually focus it, which takes some practice. You can see stars in the background in some of the photos, because of the accessories that come with the lens. You place a disc with a shape on it, in front of the lens and it makes the bokeh turn to that shape. It is a fun lens that adds another creative element to your photography. I can also do macro photography with the lens as well.

Busy Busy Busy

Getting ready for a wedding this weekend in Foxfire, NC. I am going through my ritual of cleaning all the lenses, charging the batteries, getting table cards ready and making sure I don't forget anything. I always over pack!

We are heading to Sea World in Orlando for a week! So I hate to let down the faithful readers of this blog, but I won't be updating it for a week.

That is a picture of me shooting a wedding this summer in Corolla, NC. Enjoy it! You won't see very many pictures of me on this blog!

FUN ON THE BEACH- PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

I won a photo contest this week called FUN ON THE BEACH. The Outerbanks Connection website holds the contest. I was excited to find out that I was the grand prize winner of some stickers! Here is the link: OUTER BANKS CONNECTION

Stride-HOT PIC OF THE WEEK!

Samsung of America's Photography website chose the picture of my daughter dancing as a HOT PICK OF THE WEEK. The title of the photo is called STRIDE and is a hot pick for the week of 7/25-7/31. www.soaphoto.com/

I am running a special exclusively on FACEBOOK for the next two weeks. www.facebook.com Just look up Kirk Pullen Photography in the search bar. Here is the special:

100% FREE! I am extending this offer to not just the first senior, but the first male and female seniors who contact me. You will receive a free photoshoot, facebook profile picture and 8 x 10 print. What's the catch? There is no catch! All I ask is that you tell your friends about Kirk Pullen Photography and be my personal business advertisement. If interested, you can email me at kirkpullenphotography@embarqmail.com to book your photo session.

I have a studio here in Warsaw, North Carolina for the photo session. There is also the option of taking the photos outdoors if that is preferred.

New Look New Attitude

I spent quite a good bit of my Saturday trying to come up with a logo for my business that I was happy with. I've never really been happy with the purple version you see here. The purple version has been up for two years now and I am really stoked to say goodbye to it.

Bring on the NEW BLUE! I really like how simple it is and it even has a dotted "I" on my name that looks like the lens of a camera.

You can see all the logos that I have used in the past for the website and even the other versions that didn't quite make the cut too. Some of them are too colorful and Super cheesey huh? What was I thinking?

More Dance

I have been inspired by renowned wedding photographer Jasmine Star to start blogging everyday. jasminestarblog.com She is one of the top ten wedding photographers in the nation and I look forward to attending a workshop she is giving in August.
With that said, here are some more studio shots of my daughter dancing in the studio. She has been getting her dance lessons from the Arts Company in Faison, NC. She really gets excited about going every week.

Ballerina

I had time to get a 20 minute dance photo session with my daughter yesterday. We cranked up the music in the studio and let her do her thing. She has been taking dance class for the past year and I can totally see that she has been trained in it. She definitely did not get her moves from her old man!




I had time to get a 20 minute dance photo session with my daughter yesterday. We cranked up the music in the studio and let her do her thing. She has been taking dance class for the past year and I can totally see that she has been trained in it. She definitely did not get her moves from her old man!

Portraits

I took the time to do a second round of edits with a few portrait shots of a model I worked with a few months ago. I submitted it to Samsung of America's website and ended up getting a hot pick of the week.

I do have a studio here in Warsaw, NC that I use for portraits. We are running a special now of NO SITTING FEE and only a thirty dollar minimum print purchase. If you are interested you can email or call me for current portrait prices.

Todd and Lindsey

I was in Frisco, North Carolina this week for a wedding on the shores of the Pamlico Sound. Todd and Lindsey were staying in a fantastic house called the Love Boat, which is of course shaped in some ways like a ship. Even though it was a little hot, I was pleased with the fact that the wind was calm. Many couples rush off to the reception after the marriage ceremony, so it was rewarding to work with a couple who values wedding photography.

Pool Party

My son's birthday is this weekend and I wanted to put together a creative invitation for the party. It took several hours of work in photoshop.

I also had the opportunity to shoot the Spring Fling Dance at the school I work at in Faison, North Carolina. We had a great time and the students took some great pictures! I was able to test out the new purple and pink muslin, which just happened to go along with the color theme for the dance. What luck!

Trash the Dress

A couple of weeks ago I had a trash the dress photo session with Betty and Ron. I decided to take them down to the waterfront near the U.S.S North Carolina in downtown Wilmington. There are so many places to take great pictures there. The business called A SECOND TIME AROUND let Betty get into their window display case! They really went above and beyond for the bride. I have to thank Ron and Betty for being so easy to work with in some chilly temperatures.

Summer weddings are booking up very quickly and it would be a good idea to book your photo session as soon as possible, so that your date will be secured.

She's got the Rhythm- Hot pick of the week!

I received a HOT PICK of the week over at the Samsung of America website for this past week 3/7-3/13 . soaphoto.com I was testing out some new strip lights in the studio and I knew that my daughter would enjoy dancing for me. I didn't expect her to be so good at it. She most certainly did not get her moves from me. I have no rhythm!

I also had time to work on a colorful edit of Logan who visited the studio a few months ago for a modelling contest portfolio shot.

Have a great March everyone!

Kirk

SAMSUNG Hot Pick of the Week!

I received a Hot Pick of the week at Samsung of America's Photography website this week. I took a picture of a swampy area not too far from Greenville, NC. It is a hot pick for the week of 1-17 through 1-23. Here is the link: soaphoto.com

Honorable Mention from Olympus

Every two months the Olympus(Camera Company) website has a photo contest. I was excited to see that this picture of my daughter in a tree got an honorable mention for the month of November-December 2009. To see the results, go to visionagecontest.com and click on past winners. This is my third honorable mention on this site.
The shot of the trees, I took just outside of Bear Grass, NC on the way back from the beach.
Now is the time to book your wedding! My calendar is filling up fast for Spring and Summer weddings. I have a few Weddings in the Warsaw and Mt. Olive areas, as well as several on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Have a great January!

Hot New Year!

Happy 2010 to everyone! I want to really grow as a photographer and improve my photoshop editing skills this year. I spent close to two hours turning this portrait into a Hot Picture! I really enjoy working in photoshop with images to create things that can't be done in real life. I am starting my 4th year as a professional photographer here in Warsaw, NC The business keeps growing much larger every year. Thanks for all of your business and support along the way!

Kirk