DO NOT come to this workshop if your be-all, end-all goal in photography is taking pictures in a dark studio in front of wrinkled cloth backgrounds or a portrait park with a bunch of fake sets! Look at my work and you’ll see that isn’t what I do!

If instead you want to learn how to find the light or, as I often do, create the light, then this is the place to be!

And no holding back and no trying to sell you a bunch of “stuff”, I’ll answer ANY questions about how I do what I do!

If you sign up before July 16th then it’s only $249 PLUS you’ll receive a copy of my personally created BAD Actions! This includes venue/location fees, style costs, meals, etc.! If I do this again it will NOT be this inexpensive, so come take advantage of me for this first workshop, it’s going to be crazy fun!

Call or e-mail me with any questions! Payment by Paypal or call the studio with your credit card (see flyer below)!

Artists statements for this month:

“Dylan Clemmons is currently a senior at Shawnee Heights High School. She is involved with many art classes but her favorite has always been photography. Dylan enjoys bringing out the beauty she sees in everyone and everything through this art form.  She adored her first windup film camera (which she got as a 2nd grader), and carried it with her everywhere even though it didn’t have a flash. Her parents, Dale and Kate Clemmons, were thankful when her grandmother helped her purchase a 2 mega pixel digital camera at the age of 12, since she went through rolls of film faster than her mom could buy them. She now owns a Pentax K 100D and is hardly ever found without it. She appreciates still life but really loves “people pictures”. Recently, she attended Washburn University’s Art Day and received 1st place in the photography division.
If you care to see more of Dylan’s work, visit her online gallery page at: deeceemarie.deviantart.com”

“Raven Smith is a senior at Shawnee Heights High School. She has had an interest in photography for several years and has created images both for fun and for school. Along with photography classes in high school, Raven has taken classes from Washburn Technical School in photo technology. Raven enjoys working in the darkroom with
B & W film as well as in the digital realm. She likes that photography allows her to show the world as she sees it through the lens of her camera. She likes to experiment with different perspectives on her world and has experimented with alternative printing techniques. Raven has recently worked with and enjoyed a medium format old style Holga camera to create vintage looking images. Her goal with her photography is to enable others to see life from different perspectives and to help them see and appreciate simple wonders around us. Raven plans to attend Highland Community College next year to pursue a degree in Commercial Photography.”

“Briana Caspers is a senior at Shawnee Heights High School. She first became interested in ceramics when she was able to work with clay in her 8th grade design class. She has been in ceramics classes since her freshman year and is currently in ceramics 4. Briana enjoys making her pieces as gifts for friends and family members and is inspired by their likes and interests. Painting on details with colored underglazes is her favorite way to finish her pieces. During her time in high school she has attended Highland Art Day and an art workshop at Washburn University.”

“My name is Rachel Seuell and I am a Senior at Shawnee Heights High School. I have always loved art and knew that one day I would learn to paint.  Although I have been painting since my Freshman year, I don’t think that day came and I truly learned how to paint until this year.  My grandmother has always been one of my biggest inspirations because she is an amazing artist. I am so captivated by natural and beautiful things, and I like to paint things how I see them.  Painting is my passion, and I will keep painting and loving art for the rest of my life!”

This summer I’ll be returning to Cancun for a week in June and I want to take one senior and their family with me to model! You’ll pay NO senior session fees, saving you $500 or more, plus get some awesome images in an absolutely beautiful location! We’ll be staying at the Cancun Caribe Park Royal Grand, an all-inclusive resort with the largest beach front in Cancun! You can come for the entire week or just a few days, whatever best fits your schedule. You’ll not only get your senior pictures and some beautiful family portraits on the beach but will also still have plenty of time to lounge around the pool or beach and explore the area! Vacation and portraits, how could it get any better? I’ll tell you – half price! Yes, the group of photographers I go with has secured a special half-price deal on the rooms at this amazing all-inclusive resort, saving you even more!

I can only take one senior+family with me so if you’re interested call (785-220-7810) or e-mail me ASAP to get more details and arrange an interview! Do not delay and miss your chance at truly unique senior and family photos!

The above image and these were all taken at where I stayed last year and this year’s location looks every bit as awesome if not better!

One from a day excursion to Tulum on last years trip:

Also, I’m a beta tester for Adobe Photoshop CS5 and these are the first images I’ve edited with the product that I’ve been allowed to post. Sorry, can’t reveal any more details about the product yet!

First off though I want to thank the whole team that helped me put this together and make it happen. We’ve been planning this for months and it really took the combined efforts of everybody to get the results that we did! All the makeup was done by Amber O’Dell who besides being a great makeup artist is also a fellow photographer and a great friend. The awesome hairstyles were done by Lindsey Anderson, you can find her at Touch of Class Hair Salon in Topeka. These are my “go-to” girls who I work with almost exclusively for all my senior and other creative sessions including our Senior Road Trips. Next I’d like to thank Evert Nelson for coming along and assisting. Evert is a student photographer from Shawnee Heights and was featured at my studio on the First Fridays Art Walk a few months ago. From carrying equipment and setting up and adjusting lights to making sure the models had blankets to keep warm and even shooting some video for me, Evert was everywhere and a huge help yesterday! My dress supplier in New York did an awesome job of getting me about $4000 in designer dresses from Christian Cota, Tibi, the Robert Rodriguez Collection and Badgley Mischka on time and during New York Fashion Week no less! Of course thanks to the models Joanna, Emily and Morgan for doing a great job during less than ideal conditions. Also thanks to Emily’s mom Andrea for taking video on-site while Evert was occupied with other tasks. I think we all agree that by the time we got on site the temperature had dropped what felt like about 20 degrees and the wind picked up substantially from when we first met that morning, and of course it had to start snowing, but the girls were all troopers and didn’t complain at all!

I especially wanted to address and thank the fire departments who were involved in this and made it possible for me to do this shoot. This was a combination training exercise for the fire departments and a demolition for the owner of the house and they were very gracious to have allowed us to do what we did.  I want it to be clear to any other photographers who might be contemplating something like this that I coordinated everything I did with the firefighters both in advance and once we got on site. This included things like what sides of the house we could shoot from to how close we could get and even the use of some of the firefighters in the photos. I also made it clear to my team that we were to follow all  instructions and directions from the firefighters while on site and that no photo was worth compromising our safety over. That said, these guys were all super professional and everything went off smoothly without a hitch as far as I could tell. I am glad we did the shoot after the majority of their training was over as we were understandably a bit of a distraction for the guys

And, as promised, a few more images from the session… these haven’t been fully enhanced in Photoshop, just a few basics done to them, but I’m buckling to the peer pressure and posting anyway!

UPDATE!!! – Anyone who purchases an art piece or donates directly to the Marian Clinic at DeShazer Studios during the art walk on March 5th will be entered into an additional drawing for a portrait session and a 16″x20″ gallery-wrapped canvas!!!

Here is the flyer for the event, as well as the text of the Public Service Announcement that will be playing:

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
You won’t want to miss the first “Art from the Heart” exhibit with a special exhibit of selected art being presented at participating galleries on March 5, 2010 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm.  Participating galleries include The Topeka Art Guild, Artist Collection and Custom Framing, and Brent DeShazer Photography.  Art is donated by students and local artists from Jefferson West High School; Highland Park High School, Hayden High School, Topeka West High School, Washburn University; and Washburn Institute of Technology to benefit the uninsured for Marian Clinic.  The exhibits are free to the public.  Marian Clinic is a safety net clinic providing medical and dental service for the uninsured and working poor.

This week is New York Fashion Week and as a tribute to this event we’re putting out our Casting Call for Class of 2011 Seniors for our Senior Model Program! Check out the information page for details and then use the link at the bottom of that page to access and complete the application! We’re looking for Senior Models with all kinds of different looks and ideas so we encourage everyone to apply because we make everyone look great! But be quick, the application process is scheduled to close March 31st!