July 2008 – Page 2 – Otis & James Photography

FNBM v.8 :: Once Again, The Benjamin Edition!

Shucks now, any season – whether it be Winter, Spring, Summer of Fall wouldn’t be complete without a visit from superfriend to the o&j, none other than the always wonderful and talented Benjamin! He knows this place like the back of his hand, truthfully…he does.

In fact, he’s probably at the point where we could hire him as a photographers assistant, judging by his abilities in figuring out how to power on our flash system we have in the studio (he’s also got mad skillz with a Blackberry, which is pretty amazing for a young man of his age, but I suppose that he already has one – kids and their corporate technology these days!) Unfortunately, we weren’t going to working in the studio this time, so he’ll have to save his skillz for the next time. Instead, we opted to take a little stroll around the lovely downtown area, and just capture Benjamin chillaxin’ and hangin’ like he normally does.

As usual, he totally owned the shoot. He worked it to the fullest, and the results were superfantastic! We can’t wait until the next time that we get to work with him, or any member of his wonderful family, for that matter! Well, I’ll stop typing all of these silly words and take a second to give MuchLove to Benjamin & his assistants (Grandma & Grandpa) for stopping by the FunCenter, and to all of my good peeps out there in Land of Blog – Enjoy!

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FNBM v.7 :: The Rosslan Edition!

What can I say about this lovely young lady that the photographs just a few short words away can’t? Nothing. So I’m not even going to bother.

I’m just going to walk away from the keyboard…I’m going to refrain from the temptation of some superlong crazy post about nothing, and just say that Rosslan was a dream! She was a wonder! She was a superstar! And that we loved working with her!

And you can take that to the bank, all day long (I have no idea what that means.) MuchLove & ManyThanks to Rosslan for being so awesome, and to all my good Children of Blogville up way too late – Enjoy!

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FNBM v.6 :: The Nicole & Toby Edition!

Dear Nicole & Toby,

I just wanted to let you know that you guys are awesome. I know this may be a little forward of me for saying this, especially after we’ve only taken pictures that one time, but I’ve just been sitting here thinking about it, and I’m pretty sure I can say this, and know that it is true.

You know how like you just know things sometimes, and even though you may putting yourself out there too far by saying it so quickly in the photographic relationship by saying it, but you just have to say it? Well, this is one of those times.

I hope that you feel the same way about o&j.

OK, that’s it. I’ll let you go now. I hope that all is wonderful with both of you guys, and know that we offer up a big bowl of MuchLove to you! And if you happen to see any of the peeps of Blogville around, tell them to – Enjoy!

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FNBM v.5 :: The Family Dick Edition!

I don’t know if I ever told any of you out there reading this (and really, who am I kidding, I’m fully aware that these words might as well be a foreign language that nobody understands, as I know that you’re relaly here just to see the lovelysnaps, and I’m OK with that, as these words are really just for me, and serve as some form of a therapy session in which I can just spew word after word in order to clear my head…but getting back to the post), but my family really wasn’t one for the ‘Family Portraits.’

In fact, in our fractured family, there seem to be a lot of pics from the mid-seventies, and then they just kind of stop, and then they pick back up when our family unit changed a little bit (there was one pic taken on the day of the new marriage, and that pic should never see the light of day due to a red pull-over sweater I was wearing that was about three sizes too small), and then that was it.

We could never really pull it off, for various reasons, but mostly because we were (and are) an odd looking bunch. What I’m trying to say here, without going any further into my family dynamics, is that we didn’t have the skills that The Family Dick posess.

The main skill being, how to look totallysweet in pictosnaps. Because they possess this, and they possess it hard. I would be remiss to say there isn’t a certain amount of jealously, but I’m OK with that, as I know they just stumbled into their greatness, and they are humble about it. But make no mistake, they tore it up during their shoot, and we’re just glad we got to be a part of the greatness.

Well, from looking at my non-existent watch, I can see that it’s time for us to leave these silly words behind and get to the part you’ve been waiting for. So MuchLove to The Family Dick for sharing some of their awesomeness with us, and to all of my good peeps out there in Land of Blog – Enjoy!

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FNBM v.4 :: The Ashley & Chad Edition!

If there is one thing that I know about FunCenter, it is that we try to make the pictosnap taking process as painless as possible. Really we do. And really, when it comes right down to it, I’m not all that bright of a guy, and I really do only know about three things, two of which involve how to make a perfect Reuben sandwich, so I guess that it’s not really saying all that much to say that I do know this about the FunCenter, but – from what I understand – it’s good that I do know this, because it seems to be pretty important.

Like, you could all go to another photographer and they might make you feel all weird on the inside, and the time that you might spend with them may cause you to wince, or perhaps even wonder just how long a minute can really take, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with us. I think it has something to do with the fact that myself, the Mr. Otis, likes to keep the studio at a balmy 67º during a shoot. Always gotta have the music playing, and the air has to be moving, and cold. Time moves much faster then. It’s fact. Scientific fact, and who am I to argue with science.

Again, what does this have to do with the totally awesome couple that is Ashley & Chad, you are probably asking yourselves? You see, they too had a good time…or at least they pretended to…one or the other. Either way it doesn’t make a difference because their snaps pretty much rocked, so it’s all good. You heard me…all good!

With that antiquated bit of slang, I leave you now with MuchLove to this couple for wandering into our lives, and to all my good peeps out there in Land of Blog – Enjoy!

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FNBM v.3 :: The Kelly & Ryan Edition!

And the train of love just kept on-a-rollin’, and this time our mission was to take images that were happening in real time, put some sort of a light source on them, and then to have the reflected light be caught on an image sensor that lurks behind glass and a shutter on our camera. The subjects of this experiment were none other than new friends to the o&j empire (based more on empirical data than actual size or accumulated land), the ever-lovely Kelly & Ryan!

They, along with two canine friends (I’m sorry, I forgot the names, so I’ll just refer to them as the Huckelberry Hounds), bounded into the FunCenter just a rarin’ [ed. Is it frontier days around here, or what’s the deal with the ‘rarin’, and what exactly is ‘rarin?’ Just wondering] to go! And, as you’ve probably already guessed, all was wonderful and perfect in the FunCenter for this wondrous shoot, and the results were fantastic (it must be something that we put into the air, and I’m thinking it’s Gonesh #2, in case you’re wondering)!

Now is the time that we give MuchLove to this couple for taking time from their day and giving it to us, and next comes the part when we tell all of you out there in the Land of Blog to – Enjoy!

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FNBM v.2 :: The Family Gust Edition!

There is cute, and then there is super cute. For example, I am cute. When I am with my puppie doggie Suzie, I become super cute. When I throw in a song and a dance, it’s off the charts.

With this in mind, it is with no hesitation that I declare the Family Gust to be…SuperCute! They don’t need a puppy or any other props (I need props…lots of props), just by default they can stroll into the FunCenter and the cuteness factor goes off the charts. No joke.

The time that we spent with this lovely family was filled to the brim with joy & love, and the results – my friends – were absolutely wonderful! But really, how could they be anything but with a family so fine! So, let’s heart it for cute, let’s hear it for meeting randomly at Chamber of Commerce Eagle Awards, and let’s hear it for The Family Gust! And don’t forget to – Enjoy!

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FNBM v.1 :: The Doug & Dawn Edition!

Alright my good People of Blog, let’s get this Blogging Madness underway, and what better way to start it that with some wonderful snaps of lovely friends (neighbors, actually) to o&j, none other than Doug & Dawn!

What looked at first to be a sketchy situation with the weather turned out to be an absolutely perfect shoot, and this was made possible by the total awesomeness of this wonderful couple! As usual, we had an awesome time working with them (if you really want to call it work), and would like to offer them MuchLove and ManyThanks for making a little bit of time for a visit to the FunCenter (well, technically, it was more of a location thing, but I’m not really one for all sorts of ‘details.’)

And to my good peeps out there on a night so lovely – Enjoy!

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Friday Night Blogging Madness (FNBM)!

There used to be a time when Friday nights would mean one thing. That thing, my friends, was that I would be able to sit in my room, and watch Miami Vice on my 12″ Black & White TV. And, if I was sneaky, I after Johnny Carson, I would stay up past my bedtime and watch Friday Night Videos.

I was wild, I will admit this. Did I mention that Friday night was also Pizza night? Ahhh yeah…life don’t get much better than that. Now, flash forward about twenty-two years or so, and here we are. My 12″ TV has been replaced by a 15″ MacBook Pro. Miami Vice & Friday Night Video’s…I couldn’t even tell you what the line up is on a network station (late night for me now consists of Adult Swim and Food Network.)

Dreaming of what my future might be, looking out my bedroom window on a warm summer night and seeing two huge blinking TV towers, wondering what my future might be, well…that’s been replaced by me still wondering what my future will be, but I know that in my immediate future, I’m about to spread some love across the interweb in the form of a whole ton of beautiful blogs that are about to beat you over the head.

So, sit back, relax, wish that you had a Carbone’s Pizza in the paper bag (we’re talking pre-pizza box days, my friends), and instead of waiting for Crocket & Tubbs, wait for Friday Night Blogging Madness!

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MuchLove!