Peter Cruse Photography Blog

Katherine in Roscoe Village

I think it’s been close to a hundred years since I last saw Katherine, and almost as long since we’ve been planning a photo shoot. I guess the first time we started talking about doing a shoot together was late in 2007, and due to scheduling conflicts we just haven’t been able to pull it off. Until now. About two weeks ago, we traveled to Roscoe Village in Chicago. Katherine chose the location, and I thought it was very fitting for the vintage theme. It’s an old fashioned section of town with a lot of antique shops and old buildings. I decided before the shoot that I’d process all the photos in black and white for the vintage feel, but afterward I ended up doing some in color anyway. I will probably end up doing a couple more in color for Katherine’s makeup artist and friend, Vanessa. Katherine and I are already planning another shoot for a little later in the fall, and I’m pretty excited about it. She’s a very experienced model which makes her very fun and easy to work with. For now, though, here are the Old Hollywood photos put together by Katherine, Vanessa and I.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

William in Newark

Two Sundays ago I did a shoot with William. He’s a friend and local musician who I happened to go to school with from K-12. We decided to go to our hometown to do this shoot. After all, it’s where we started. First shoot, first album and all that jazz. If you live in the area you should check him out. He’s just started playing in clubs, but he’s already making waves. Plus, he’s got an awesome CD coming out pretty soon. Check him out at http://www.williammusic.com

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Nicole @ My Studio

On Saturday I had a photoshoot with Nicole from Model Mayhem (#1269946). We’d been discussing pin up photos, and after doing some research I discovered some pin up cards. I created some props for the shoot, and when Nicole arrived the theme changed to more of a casino or playing card theme with pin up overtones. The shoot lasted about two hours. My friend Joe who just came home from Japan came over to assist with the shoot. He also had some great posing ideas! It was great working with Nicole, and I wish her great luck in her modeling career.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Mary Kay Area Meet

Last night I attended a Mary Kay area meet hosted by Director Susan Hohlman. I have been attending and photographing at Mary Kay meetings for a little over a year now. It’s a wonderful opportunity, and I’m honored to have it. At these meetings, Mary Kay Consultants and Directors invite guests. Guests who attend have their photos taken, get a make-over administered by their consultant and then have a few photos taken afterward. It’s similar to Glamour Shots, if you’re familiar with that process. I had 27 models at last night’s event. Here are a few of the photos.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Mistress B @ Silver Springs

So I met up with Mistress B from Model Mayhem (#1128249) at Silver Springs on Thursday, July 9th. She told me about her costume about a week before the shoot so I’d have time to kinda figure out what I wanted to do during the shoot. However, when she arrived, the costume was completely different than I’d imagined. So, the entire shoot was basically improvisation. I ended up with about 250 shots after almost two hours. Sadly, upon reviewing the files on my laptop, I found the focus was off just by a little on a large portion of the shots. This has been happening more and more lately, and I think it might be time for a new camera body soon. I can’t keep taking photos which look sharp on the LCD, but end up being too soft.

This was my second Model Mayhem shoot, and it went really well for being improv. I’m excited to do more.

Anime Central

Saturday I attended Anime Central in Rosemont, IL. It’s an anime convention of epic proportions! People come from all around to have fun at this con. Most are costumed, whether it’s for a masquerade, dance, skit or just for fun. It was my first time at Anime Central as a photographer. While I didn’t photograph as many people as I’d like (there were waaaaaay too many to get in one day,) I did photograph some good cosplayers (costumed participants.) Here are some of the shots I ended up with.

Being out of the anime loop for a while it’s hard to ID or remember all of the character’s names. If you happen to know the name of the character in the fourth picture, feel free to tell me in a comment! Thanks!

Portrait Session with Natasha

Last week I had a portrait session with Natasha from Model Mayhem (MM #837108). It was about a two hour shoot at Fabyan Park in Geneva. I took nearly 700 photos during the shoot, and ended up with about 40 keepers. It was a TFCD shoot, which means there was no payment involved. We worked together to produce these images to benefit our portfolios. It was great working with Natasha, and I think we both have some nice portfolio pieces as a result.

Here are some of the shots from our session:

Hey, it’s a blog!

Hello everyone! Peter here, and this is going to be my first experience blogging. I’ve recently launched a website to help promote and organize my photography business, which I’ve also recently launched. I’ve signed up here on wordpress to help get the word out about my website, and let you know how business is going. I guess this is the best way to keep everyone up to date without using Twitter.

Well, I’ve recently photographed a group of Mary Kay clients at a meeting. Sort of like a glamour shots type deal at which I did not obtain model releases, so I will be unable to share those with you. I booked a wedding today for May and I also recently did a portrait shoot for TFCD, as I’m testing the waters of fashion and glamour photography. I’ll write a post about that shoot soon.

So far things are great, and I can’t wait for what the future will bring. Wish me luck!