Creation Fest 2010

So starts the daily journal of the Crosspointe youth trip to Creation Fest 2010 in Enumclaw, WA.We arrived on Wednesday afternoon, along with about 6500 (total guess) of our closest friends. At least we hope we can all be friends, considering we are in very close proximity in a large cow field. I doooo love camping! 

Matt K., Christina K., Patti, me, Austin B., Madi B., Matt B.,Chris B., Matt C., Ryan C., Kaitlyn M., Jennifer H., Alena H., Zach H., Melody S., Sarah D., Haley W., Kelsey F. (hence forth called WE) began to setup camp right when we arrived.

David Crowder Band was to go on at 8PM and WE wanted to be there. I have to say I was very impressed with the youth. Matt K. told the kids they had to setup the tents their were assigned to sleep in on their own. And without instructions. They got it done! And no one cried. Christina & Patti set about getting the "kitchen" area established and dinner prepared in the middle of this crucible of mayhem. And they got it done as well. A capital start to our adventure! 

After supper, it was off to the main stage for David Crowder. It was a great show, all be it a little to short a set in my opinion. I really enjoy his style and could of had a little more.

After a brief stage reset, Switchfoot was up to finish off the first night. I tried to get to the area where the youth were watching the shows. I text back and forth with Austin and got to within 65 feet, but that was it. He and the others were about 20 feet from the stage and it was packed! i was able to get some shots of the band and then i bailed out of there. I guess i really am getting older. What does that t-shirt say, "if it's to loud your to old"? Yep, that's me. I made my way to the back of the crowd where Patti & Christina were on a blanket enjoying the show. It was here that we got to witness the highlight of the night. This little boy in the red t-shirt was bust'in a move! And I don't just mean "oh look. how cute. he is trying to dance" type moves...this kid had it going on! He was doing robot, a little Michael Jackson influence, back flips and cartwheels. I think i saw some Riverdance foot work. It was awesome. and he did this for about 45 minuets...non stop! After the show ended we all headed back to camp for a blissful nights rest and dreams of the fun to come in the following days. stay tuned......

Who will be Americas Next Top Model??

Ok, not really (please don’t sue me Tyra). But considering how beautiful every one of these girls are, any one of them could be the next top model! The real story here is these are the Senior Class of 2011 reps for Patti Boeck Photography. Patti thought it would be a good opportunity to gather all the girls together for a group shot and have a chance to meet each other. Of course the concept was real easy to come up with; however, have you ever tried to coordinate 10 high school girls’ schedules!? Not as simple as you think! Patti has the patience of a saint and the perseverance of an ant colony. She would not give up on pulling this off. After about 6 date & time changes, a flurry of texting, and numerous confirmation cell calls, she was able to lock in all the reps. Of course the time that was ultimately agreed upon was 11:30. Right when the sun would be at the highest point of its arc. Not exactly the “choice” light photographers go for. That’s ok, we will soldier on. You never see Tyra get knocked around by a little high noon sun glare! Am I right?! Let’s do this thing!

The shot plan was straight forward. Find a location large enough to line the girls up on a single focal plane and have a pleasing background. We chose a city park in Cascade Park that we were familiar with. Never go exploring for a shoot location when you are on a time crunch. Many of the girls were fitting this shoot in between other commitments so we had to stay on time.

 Side note: always keep a rake in the car. Even in these trying economic times, causing utility cutbacks, the city still finds a way to cut the park grass the day before we shoot. There is just no way to make dead grass clumps “work” in a photo. I thought I had moved all the grass that was in the background but you can still see some off to the right . Photoshop is wonderful.

 Next comes the lighting. Since I knew we would have the sun to contend with, I decided instead of trying to fight hard shadows and glare, I would bring my Alien Bee studio flashes and power them up to balance out the bright ambient light the sun was throwing down. Power came from a 2000w generator. Not ideal for a quick setup situation but it did the job. (Xmas wish = AB Vagabond portable power. Just a little FYI J ).  Being limited by a 1/200 max sync with the flashes, we made exposure adjustment with the aperture. The final group shot landed at 1/200 shutter / 10f / ISO 100. These shots are not the final version. Patti handles that tech/artistic side of things for obvious reasons.

Before you ask, no, that is not a stalker taking video. I grabbed my video/tech savvy son and put him on Spielberg duty. Tough gig I’d say. “Here kid, video tape these gorgeous girls that just happen to be your age”. He has it sooo rough these days. Anyways, stay tuned for the “behind the scenes” video to come online soon!

The session went off without a hitch and on time. Happy, happy, Joy, joy!

Lunch – ONE HOUR! Now where is that catering truck?? 

Patti brought Subway sandwiches and pop for the girls to eat for lunch while she went over a few details about the Senior rep program as well as opened up the discussion to ideas or challenges the ladies might run into when promoting Patti Boeck Photography. The whole event was a great time and a lot of fun to do. This was the first time we did this with our senior reps but I am certain it will be an annual event with each new class.

Patti will have the final version on her PBP Facebook page soon, so take a look and who knows, you may be looking at Americans Next Top Model!

(ok, I will now “cease & desist” Tyra, I promise. Please don’t sue)