~ November 5th 2008 ~

~ Welcome to the online home of Bill Cawley Photography (now part of Mode Photography LLC) ~

There is a lot of new content here, so please pour a glass of your favorite beverage and have a look around. :~)

Check out the new website at www.ModePortraits.com it’s cool!~ ;-)

Today’s Note:

Can you believe it’s November already?? :)

(: Scroll down to see what’s new :)

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Pictures in the newspaper ~ Mohoric Fundraiser

Filed in Family, Published, February 27, 2008, 10:37 am by BillCawley

On Sunday Erin and I went to a fundraiser for the family of Dennis Mohoric. Dennis’s sister Shelly and Erin have been friends since high school. We donated a portrait package to the auction and I also brought my camera to take a few pictures of the event. It was an amazing turnout, they had 1000+ people in attendance and raised over $90,000. The Centralia newspaper, The Chronicle, ran a story about the event yesterday and included some of my pictures.

Pictures of fundraising event published in the newspaper

I don’t know much about pancreatic cancer, other than it’s tough to fight. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dennis and his family ~

wrist band in support of pancreatic cancer awareness

~Bill and Erin

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Basketball District Finals and a new camera!

Filed in Sports, Tech, February 23, 2008, 11:24 am by BillCawley

A couple days ago I took delivery of my new favorite camera of all time!! This thing is amazing, I won’t bore you with a lot of geeky tech talk (unless you ask…) ;) But suffice to say I would have a hard even imagining a better camera than Canon’s latest and greatest 1D MkIII (techy review here). I haven’t been this excited about a camera in years, maybe ever. :)

On to the pictures. I don’t know anything harder to test new equipment than fast moving subjects in the dim fluorescent lights of a high school gym, so I went to the first couple games of the girls basketball district finals in Tumwater last night. These were all taken at either ISO 2000 or 2500, and they are very clean files.

The full set is here: Evergreen 2A district finals

Update: I just posted the galleries for the GU16 Soccer game, South Sound Futbol Club (SSFC) vs Synergy and also for the  Boys 2A basketball district tournament.

I started out at Tumwater High School for the Black Hills Wolves vs the Mark Morris Monarchs and then went over to the Black Hills High School for the Tumwater Thunderbirds vs the Elma Eagles.

Coach giving instructions during a time out

Cheerleader at the basketball game

driving for a layup - girls basketball Olympia WA

layup closup action shot

Elma pride!!

getting ready to shoot a free throw

driving the lane for a basket

pick and roll

driving around the apponent towards the basket

moving in for the score

That’s all for now, I’ll add some more later from the boy’s games I’m going to today (their tournament starts tonight). :)

Tomorrow Erin and I are going to a fund raising auction for a friend of her’s that has cancer and needs the community’s help with all the huge medical bills, we’re donating a little something to the cause.

“What’s that? What’s that you say? You say it’s Saturday? Goodbye, I’m going out to play!”

~Bill

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Lunar Eclipse ~ 2008

Filed in Fun stuff, GOYA, Outdoors, February 20, 2008, 8:38 pm by BillCawley

2 blog posts in one day!?!? crazy I know, happens about as often as a total lunar eclipse!

I didn’t go outside to check it out till it was just past ‘total’, so by the time I set up my tripod, it looked like this…

2008 Lunar Eclipse - astrophotography

:-)

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Napa, CA Photography Conference

Filed in Fun stuff, GOYA, Portraits, Weddings, , 11:46 am by BillCawley

I spent last weekend in Napa and Sonoma California with a bunch of cool wedding and portrait photographers. This is the second year in row we’ve gotten together to hang out, take pictures and learn from each other.

The drive down took me 12 hours, basically sun-up to sun-down. The mountain pass as you go from southern Oregon into northern CA was sun and snow covered ~ basically a beautiful drive. :)

The sunrise as I was pulling out at 7am:

Sunrise in front of my house

Mt Shasta through the windshield at 75mph:

Northern California mountains and scenery

I stayed in Sonoma with my new friend Trevor Meeks, photographer and pilot, he has an awesome studio in the middle of the wine country and let me crash on the floor. :-)

A few behinds the scene shots (click image for a bigger view):

Trevor’s Studio and my junk on the floor Ed showing his style Rachel getting out her Holga - a medium format plastic camera of questionable quality ;-) Trevor taking an iPhone picture of Jillian giving her ‘dear silly lady’ speach… Kevin Swan hanging out at the hotel bar Chris relaxing with a drink Having some pizza with John, Jenna, Steve and Larry - fellow Seattle area photographers

Night shooting; everyone got out their off camera lights and pocket wizard channels were overloaded!

Night shooting with creative lighting Jillian at the night shoot

So instead of using my flashes, I opted to shoot with my favorite low light lens (200mm f1.8) and get the mood of the street lights rather than the flash. I think it worked out. :)

Latino couple in a phone booth at night

quiet embrace on the street corner at night

passionate night portrait

lips almost touching

street light from above ~ kissing

There were also some kids posing… :)

Again, just lit by the fluorescent lights from a nearby bank parking lot.

young man at night on the street

young woman at night on the street

We also had a chance to visit a couple beautiful wineries and work with some great ‘models’ (really friends and clients of the local CA photographers). What a treat! The first day I was a group leader, so I spent more time working with other photographers than actually shooting, I still got a couple shots I like of our model Kayla (who is actually a makeup artist from Sacramento — correct me if I’m wrong). Kayla had never modeled at all before (sorta like most of my clients, lol) and did an amazing job ~ Thank you Kayla!

creative portrait through the vines

portrait of a beautiful girl with a fountain outside a winery

dramatic wide angle portrait ~ beautiful girl and oak tree

The second day, Sunday, I had more time to shoot and our ‘models’ were all dressed as brides and grooms. Fun and relaxed bridals and couples portraits were the order of the day. These are the types of images that are hard to get on your wedding day when their is a tight schedule and lots of other demands. So doing a fun bridal after the wedding is an awesome idea, no stress and not a big deal if the dress gets a little dirty. :-)

bride and groom laughing in a field of flowers

Bridal portrait with style ~ edgy ~ old rusty truck

Bridal Portrait ~ bride on top of an old rusty truck ~ sassy ~

Bride and groom ~ dipping her in a field of yellow flowers

Bride dancing in field of soft flowers

groom holding bride close

a few more: :)

looking up into the vines lost in a sea of soft yellow flowers ~ beautiful bride bride with flowers Gerard, the Itallian groom and his beautiful bride Gail dramatic lighting on a passionate dip in the doorway to the wine cellar good looking groom side lit and surrounded by vines at the vinyard. close up of bride in the vines

bride on a ledge surrounded by vines

smiling bride on a big brick ledge with vines covering the wall

A big thank you to everyone who came out to model and all the photographers that volunteered there time to help organize the event. I really enjoyed it ~ again. :-)

Looking forward to next year.

~Bill

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Denny Heck ~ ‘Our Times’

Filed in Commercial, Fun stuff, GOYA, Performing Arts, February 12, 2008, 4:08 pm by BillCawley

Last night Erin and I had dinner with our good friends Eric and Tara and then went to see a show. Denny Heck’s performance was both captivating and informative. Denny has been involved with WA state politics for a good long time and shared our state’s political history from his own unique perspective. All of the procedes from his performances are going directly to his favorite charities. I took a few pictures that he’ll be able to use for promotion.

Good friends and good food ~ nothing better :)

Laughing and having fun with our good friends, Eric and Tara

(click an image to make it bigger)

Tara enjoying Erin’s conversation while I played with the camera… ;-)beautiful food at the Anthony’s Hearth Fire GrillAwesome happy hour specials - this beef was amazing!Erin and Tara were both tired, but having fun anyway :-)Eric’s crazy little car… it’s even got neon lights underneath.

Then we went from the restaurant downtown to the performance at the Capital Playhouse. It was very dark in the theater, so I was pushing my fastest lenses to their limit to get these shots without using any flash. Sorta like the lighting you might find in a romantic candle lit wedding ceremony ~ fancy that. ;-)

Denny with an image of a face projected behind him

Animated performance art - one man show

Looking right at me, but the lights kept me in the dark

It looks like he’s looking right at me, but the lights on him and the darkness where I was meant that he couldn’t see me at all… In fact he said in an email today that he didn’t see me taking pictures at all… Ninja Bill. ;-)

Here is the response from Denny to the first couple images I emailed him:

Wow, Bill, just Wow! Thank you! I was completely unaware of you taking photos . . . as was Paula. Wow! Thank you.

Doesn’t get much better than that. Thank you Denny. :)

Profile documentary portrait of Denny Heck during his performance

Politcal commentary - discussing the affect of Iraq on WA state Stage performance low light photography Detail image of Denny’s shoes and cane on stage Smiling and enjoying the applause and cheers after the performance

Looking tired - the makeup and crazy hair really add to the effect

Overall a great evening, and although I didn’t actually get to meet Denny in person, we had to leave right after the performance, I’m looking forward to doing just that in the near future. :)

~Bill

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Business Bootcamp - Seattle

Filed in Education, Fun stuff, GOYA, January 31, 2008, 9:56 am by BillCawley

Erin and I spent the last 3 days in class learning all about the business of photography from Liana Lehman. Liana is certified by the PPA (Professional Photographers of America) to teach accounting and business skills to photographers… not an easy task, teaching business skills to artists is something akin to herding cats into an orderly formation… We spent 22 hours in class in two days and I found myself constantly thinking “Can’t we just go take some pictures now?”

So yesterday, on day 3, as a reward, we did just that. Here are few quick images of our new friends: classmates, teacher, and the resident dog Kiesha…

Liana Lehman - BBC instructor

Liana glances up from her computer…

BBC Seattle group picture - looking over Liana’s shoulder

The whole group looking over Liana’s shoulder as she edits some images and shows off her famously simple workflow. :-)

Kristin smiling - close up fun headshot

Kristin smiling as I sneak a headshot with the long lens.

Taking pictures of the group participants

We all took turns getting headshots taken by Liana. Erin and I got ours done together too, I can’t wait to see those and post them in the bio section!

capturing the moments around us

A crazy scene with a bunch of cooped up photographers shooting each other… ;-)

Julie is so fun and expressive - a joy to be around :)

Erin and I both hit it off with Julie Watts, she’s able to talk motherhood with Erin and old cars with me (we both own quirky Porsches).  I got a bunch of good pictures of her, she’s expressive and fun so it was easy… ;-)

Pictures always tell a story, sometimes they lieJulie taking a picture of the groupa well lit headshota three quarter length portrait with nice window lightlaughing spontaniously

On Tuesday night the whole group went out to dinner at Jai Thai in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. We had a blast…

Allison having a drink and smilingErin giving me the ‘don’t point that thing at me’ look.Great food and new friends :-)Wine and good fooddeep fried spring rolls and sweet and sour saucepeaking over the menuTracy in black and white

Just a few more of the group, I wish we’d had better weather and more time so we could have gone outside and done some more, but it was cold/rainy and several people had to leave quickly to go to the airport and/or beat the traffic home. Erin and I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon in Seattle shopping and hanging out, so we didn’t beat the traffic, but that’s OK. ;-)

Allison watching Liana workDinea close up with the wide lensvertical headshot of Kristin smiling

And last but not least, Kiesha, the dog that made sure we all stayed awake by running around the house and barking loudly at random intervals… ;-)

Kiesha the dog showing me her belly

I’m so glad we both went, it was money and time well spent… ;-)

~Bill

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7/7/7 wedding slideshow

Filed in Video, Weddings, January 26, 2008, 10:28 am by BillCawley

One of Theresa’s relatives just ordered a couple copies of the DVD slideshow from their wedding on July 7th, 2007 (biggest wedding day of the century, maybe ever). That was such a special wedding, there was so much love and nowhere else in the world I would have rather been. Pretty much every photographer I knew was at a wedding that day, but I think I got the best one. Watch the show to see what I mean… ;-)

The biggest ingredient wasn’t the money they spent, but the love they shared. I wish them the best and I’m happy to call them my friends now. :-)

~Bill

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Lacey + Curtis ♥ the wedding

Filed in Weddings, January 2, 2008, 3:57 pm by BillCawley

Lacey and Curtis live in Texas, but are both from Western Wa. Curtis is a helicopter pilot in the Army and Lacey is a teacher. What a beautiful ceremony they had! Everyone had a great time, the food was awesome and there were tons of little details that made the whole day really special.The black and white theme was super cool and carried throughout ~ from the many jars of candy to the monogrammed gift boxes for each guest.

It was my first event at the Lake Union Cafe and I can’t wait for more, The place is beautiful and the staff is amazing, even fixing a mishap with the cake (!!), highly recommended, truly an awesome choice for a special event. ;-) The very talented Joe Yamada entertained with solo piano, DJ and kept everything on track as the MC.

Enjoy the pictures, and if the spirit moves you, leave a comment ;-)

Portrait in front of Lake Union Cafe

Lounging in the foye ~ goofy wedding portrait

Outside portrait - cold winter wedding - fun moment

Pre wedding preparation ~ getting the dress on

Final wedding prepartion ~ on the way to the first look

First Look ~ Bride and Groom ~ Lake Union Cafe main dance floor

Groom’s first look ~ expression of joy ~

Brides first look ~ expression of joy ~wedding dress detail - black and white - formalDress detail ~ depth of field ~ mixed lightingdress detail ~ yellow background - back of dress detailbrides room with dress on hanger ~ amazing detailsgirl and grandmother ~ wedding moments capturedcurious bride waiting for the right time - photojournalist momentspecial moments ~ greeting guestsgroomsmen enjoying themselves ~ black and white documentary momentJoe Yamada playing piano during the wedding ceremonywedding ceremony - low light - indoors - journalisticguest wiping a tear away from her eye ~ special momentlighting the unity candle ~ low light indoor weddingkids playing ~ all dressed up for the partymember of the amazing staff at Lake Union Cafe serving red winefirst kiss after the cake cutting ~ sepia toneblack and white ~ bride and groom sharing a quiet moment ~ laughterParty time ~ dancing ~ Black and WhiteBride and Groom dancing and laughing with rainbow lens flare

Lens flare ~ indoor dance ~ beautiful bridal

Dancing fun ~ slow shutter edgy camera tricks with off camera flash

Thanks for trusting and including me on your special day ~ ;-)

~Bill