Lukas VanDyke Fine Art Photography

Old to New: a re-upholstered chair

Lukas VanDyke — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:39:08 +0000

This isn’t quite as exciting as an underwater trash the dress session, but it was still a lot of fun. A few weeks ago I saw this great old chair sitting on the side of the road. I figured with a little work it would make a great prop for a shoot, so I tossed it in the back of my truck. It was too nasty to bring in the house, so it sat in the garage for a few weeks. But last week I finally had a the chance to get some fabric and re-upholster it! Maybe I should have watched a Youtube video on how to do it before I started. But I kind of just figured things out as I went, and it came out nice! Photo shoots with the blue chair coming soon!

Nasty dirty chair.

ewwww

Ripping the old fabric off.

Fresh Paint and enamel!

Stapling the fabric on to all the parts.

Sewing the cushion. I think this was the most difficult for me since I tend to have a hard time following patterns that involve curves on the sewing machine.
No patience to put a zipper on so I used the hole punch shoelace technique for the back of the cushion.No-one ever sees it anyway. =)

Hot gluing all the trim on!

Tada! New chair!

Free Underwater Trash the Dress session: A CONTEST

Lukas VanDyke — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:54:37 +0000

I had so much fun doing the underwater session I posted yesterday, that I decided that I want to do another one! But this time I’m going to make a contest out of it, and will give away the session for free to one lucky couple. I have some really awesome ideas for the next session, so it will be even better than the first! The great part is a little pool water isn’t going to do any damage to most wedding dresses, so you can do the session and still save the dress for your kids! For those of you who like the idea but don’t feel it’s for you, I would love if you would tweet this link, set it as your facebook status or email it to all your married friends who you would like to see looking gorgeous in the pool.

How to enter the contest

To enter you need to write a blog post on your personal blog or a facebook note and include the following:

1. Why you want to do an underwater session & any creative ideas you have.

2. Why I should pick you to do the underwater session.

3. A photo of yourself in your wedding dress with your husband.

4. A link to this page “http://www.lukasvandyke.com/?p=5234″

Once you have finished your post you need to either tag me in the note on facebook or leave a comment on this post with a link to your blog. The contest ends at midnight on Monday 9/13 at which point I will pick the winner!

If you’re not sure how to write a note on facebook, there is a great help article here
If you want to start a new blog check out Google blogger
Contestants must be married, still have the wedding dress they were married in, and be available in the near future to do a session
Contestants agree to pay to have an underwater makeup specialist do their makeup. ($60-80)
Session will be at my place in the East San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles CA
Winners will be picked based on the creativity of their blog post and ideas for the session.
Click here to see the photos from the last session
If we aren’t facebook friends and you want to enter feel free to add me “Lukas VanDyke”.
Feel free to enter if you live in another state, you will just need to provide my flight there and the pool.

Paul & Jessica: Underwater Post Wedding Session (Trash the Dress)

Lukas VanDyke — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:45:27 +0000

I don’t really like using the term “Trash the Dress” because it sounds negative, and makes it sound like you are out there to intentionally wreak havoc on your wedding dress. Sessions like this are more about creating some really cool art. It just happens that in some cases the dress doesn’t survive the process. I think I’ll just be using the term “Fine Art Post Wedding Session” unless someone can come up with a better idea.

I’ve really been wanting to try an underwater session for a long time now, but I never seemed to have time and things never seemed to come together. But this last week has been in the 100′s and a nice cool watery session sure sounded inviting. I also recently saw my friend Jessica. Although she did a session involving some paint and already destroyed her wedding dress a few years ago, she always mentioned if I had some good ideas her and Paul would be game. Well last week I shot them an email, bought a dress on eBay and here are the photos!

Please please leave a comment below as I would love to know yours thoughts!

I also need to give a shout out to Jen at “Simply Skin by Jen”. She did all the makeup using a special underwater blend and sealer. Seriously I didn’t even know that stuff existed until she put it on! Give her a call if you ever have makeup needs, especially if your going to be wet, sweaty or need to look extra good on that surfing date. Just make sure to tell her I sent you!

Gavin & Christina: Wedding

Lukas VanDyke — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:32:15 +0000

Last Saturday I got to spend the afternoon with Gavin, Christina, and all their close friends and family. It was an intimate time with all the refinement, elegance, and little goofy inside jokes that make up their personalities and relationship. Thank you again for letting me be a part of your day! Click here to check out the Storybook Slideshow with the rest of the photos from the day.

An Underwater Kiss

Lukas VanDyke — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:53:24 +0000

I did a really fun session today. But that’s all I’m going to say about it right now. =). Check back in the next couple days for the rest of the photos and the story. =)

Tj & Karen Smith

Lukas VanDyke — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:00:46 +0000

Every now and then I will do prayer cards for missionaries. Last week I did a whole lot of them and they were all way to short. But a few days ago I got to spend an hour or more with TJ & Karen taking some photos, and I think even more time talking about their ministry in India. There are so many great missionary families out there doing great things for Christ. It’s awesome! Someday soon hopefully Suzy and I will get to come visit you and all the other families we know in India!

Your daughter is adorable!

Daniel & Alyce: Engagment

Lukas VanDyke — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:43:45 +0000

Saturday morning I got to spend a little time with Daniel and Alyce. We decided to go to the Americana in Glendale because right in the spot where I took the first photo below they got engaged. The only difference is that when they got engaged it was Christmas week and there was a huge Christmas tree in that very spot! Isn’t fun going back to places where significant things happened and getting to re-live them! You guys are really cute together, and I look forward to your wedding coming up in only three days now!

Kevin & Jessica – Wedding, Palm Event Center, SanFrancisco

Lukas VanDyke — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:53:51 +0000

I absolutely LOVE weddings that involve a cool location, a lot of creativity and a lot of detail! Jessica, it’s amazing how you put this all together. I felt like I was in a non stop flurry the whole day trying to capture all the little things which you put together. I didn’t even notice the M&M’s with one of my engagement photos, and the wedding date on them till a few minutes before it ended.

But even better than all of that, you guys and your friends are a blast to spend time with. I’m glad we got to meet at Keith & Chelsea’s Wedding last summer, and even more glad we got to meet up again this year for your wedding. Enjoy the photos below, click here to check out the
Storybook Slideshow, or here to see all the photos.

Love this one! Can you say magazine image?

Gorgeous!

Two page album spread maybe?

Kevin & Jessica: Wedding Preview

Lukas VanDyke — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:25:19 +0000

I’m so often amazed by the creativity of brides as they plan their big day. Jessica & Kevin’s wedding was lovely, with a 1000 cool details. But one fun thing which stuck out to me personally was the guest book. I’ve seen couples use my engagement photos in their guest books before. But what was really fun for me was that Jessica actually printed the text of my blog post in the front of the book. I never imagined the words I wrote that day would live on for the rest of your lives on your coffee table for everyone to see. I’m honored. Thank you again for letting me be a part of your big day, and I hope all that change in your life is more wonderful than you could have expected! =). Check out the original post here.

Just of quick preview. Many more photos and the story of their day coming very soon!

Ben & Lindsey: Engagement and a return to FILM (Union Station)

Lukas VanDyke — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:16:35 +0000

When Ben first emailed me about shooting his wedding, he said he would rather have a few really good images than a lot of mediocre images. I guess that’s what sadly will often define the difference between the film and digital age. A lot of people will take 1000′s of image but they never spend time on a single image and end up never getting anything great.

That statement became the obvious precursor to his request to shoot some of the wedding and the engagement photos using medium format films cameras. My first SLR was a film camera, and I used to shoot a lot of 35mm when I was in school. So the thought of going back to film just sounded like too much fun!

We decided that it wasn’t worth the risk to shoot the engagement session or the wedding in 100% film, but it would be fun to do some of both. We figured we could use the engagement session to practice and see how it went and we ended up heading down to Union Station in LA with 4 camera’s

1. 1960′s Medium Format Rolleiflex with some Fuji Pro400H, Illford HP5, and Kodak E100G Film. We tried push processing some of the black and white and things didn’t work out so well. But the slide film came out beautiful. I’ll point out a photo of the Rolleiflex below. But it was a lot of fun looking at everything through the top and focusing with the manual knob. You can tell which photos are off this camera because they are all square.

2. 1960′s Leica M3 Rangefinder with T-Max 400. These always throw me off a little because they aren’t SLR and neither the Rolleiflex or the Leica have a built in lightmeter. So I ended up metering with my digital and then basing the Leica settings based on that.

3. My 1980′s Canon A1 35mm. I’ve shot with this a lot before. But the battery for the light meter was dead so I ended up using the light meter on my digital also.

4. One of my good old Canon 1D Mark IIIs. The funny thing is I really doubt in 50 years anyone will still be using this camera, whereas people will still be using the fun old medium format ones.

I really love some of the ones off the Rolleiflex, but I will let you judge for yourself. The funny thing is that some of the color ones look so good you can’t tell they’re not digital. Or maybe I should say the digital ones look so good you can’t tell they’re not film?

This is Ben taking photos of me as I took photos of him. =)

The rest from here on are digital

This is what it looks like looking through the Rolleiflex. You focus with the little knob on the left and all the settings are on the front.

Boy can Ben leap!

These come from the genius mind of Ben himself. I LOVE the perspective and love the idea. I can’t wait for their wedding to see what happens there!

Missionary Conference 2010

Lukas VanDyke — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 01:05:13 +0000

It might seem like I have been missing in action on my blog. But last week was another one of those intense exciting non stop experiences. My church has hundreds of missionaries all over the world. Every two years we put together a conference so they can all get together, regroup, meet with the board of directors, and reconnect with each other. If you know anything about the intense work that is everyday in the life of a missionary, you can image how much this conference is looked forward to by everyone. The conference is staffed with a team of volunteers from church who spend the week caring for the 100′s of children and offering up their services to the missionaries. Usually the conference is held somewhere in Europe because it is more central for most missionaries to travel to. However, every 4 years it is held in Southern California so they have a chance to reconnect with everyone at church.

Suzy worked with the High School kids all week. I took a lot of photos of everything happening, taught a photography seminar, met with individuals to give them one on one photo/editing training, and did a lot of family photos for prayer cards. At the end of every conference, all the missionaries, their children and a number of the pastors from my church gather together for a banquet. At the end of the banquet there is always a video to review the week as the very last item before the conference closes. The making of the video below was a total blast and is what occupied a lot of my spare minutes last week. I made it on the fly so it’s a little rough, but you get the idea.

Thank you so much all of you who have dedicated your life to share the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ around the world. You are all my heroes!

In case you’re wondering about all the couples in the beginning, this year the theme of the teaching at the conference was “marriage”. The first part is a little slow, then it gets fun. =)

Missions Conference 2010 from Lukas VanDyke on Vimeo.

Photos: Canon 1d Mark III
Video: Canon 5d Mark II
Edited in: iMovie
Additional Photos by: Susannah, Anne, Quincy, Lauren.

Music:
Devoted to You, By: Carly Simon & James Taylor
I Saw the Light, By: David Crowder
How Deep the Father’s Love for us, By: Selah
Foreverandever Etc, By: David Crowder
Greater Than We Can Imagine, By: Sovereign Grace Music

Wil & Janie: Wedding – Sacramento California

Lukas VanDyke — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 20:30:51 +0000

In the past I have described weddings based on the beverage which I think they would best represent. Wil & Janie’s wedding was an ice cold glass of lemonade on a warm sunny afternoon on the farm. In this case I speak literally. I arrived on site to find the girls getting ready in a beautifully decorated farm house, the guys getting ready in a little backyard guest house, the ceremony was under a spanning oak, and the reception was held in the barn.

Janie, when it comes to details you are incredible. I meet so many people over the years which have such good taste that I wish I could get married once a year just so I could hire them to have some creative input in my wedding. You came up with a wonderland of ideas which made for a lot of adorable photos. I loved the barn, the desserts, your dress, the guys outfits, your veil, the little signs, and so many more well thought out ideas. Love it!

Be sure to check out the Storybook Slideshow for the story of the whole day set to music. I also have the full set of proofs up if you want to check them out here.

Wil & Janie: Preview

Lukas VanDyke — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 07:13:16 +0000

When I think through the 1000′s of people I have had the chance to photograph, a number of couples stand out in my mind as those who are super thoughtful and sweet. Wil & Janie qualify as one of those couples. Two weeks ago I helped with the youth summer camp at my church. Suzy and I decided to ride there and back on the buses so we would get to spend more time with the students. The down side was that it was an 18 hour bus ride each way. I got off the bus a week ago Saturday night, went home and showered, and then went straight to the airport to fly up to Sacramento.

When I arrived at my hotel a few hours later I walked in the room to find a gift basket sitting there waiting for me! After 18 hours on a noisy bus, unpacking and repacking all my bags and another flight. I can’t tell you how nice it felt to be in a quite hotel room with a a gift basket full of snacks and little bit of downtime ahead of me! I pulled up a movie on my laptop and thoroughly enjoyed myself the rest of the evening.

The next day I got to be part of Wil & Janie’s adorable wedding! Here’s a couple quick previews. I should have the rest of the photos and a slide show up tomorrow.

My gift basket

A nice little note.

Snacks!

Ashley & Kathleen: Wedding

Lukas VanDyke — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 02:22:54 +0000

Ashley & Kathleen, remember that Starbucks where we first met on that early morning so long ago? I remember I had some heavy coffee, and we talked about iPhones, but I think all that’s all I remember. Well that conversation somehow resulted in me getting to spend the day with you guys at your beautiful wedding, and creating some photos together that I think we will both enjoy for a long time to come. We haven’t spent a lot of time together, but I need to say I love you’re creativity when it comes to ideas for making cool shots!

Enjoy the photos below, and the Storybook Slideshow here!

Does Kathleen have a cool taste in shoes or what?

Yup, these were custom made with their initials and the date of the wedding!

These were Ashley’s grandfather’s cuff links!

And his grandfather’s watch valued at more than all my camera’s and lenses combined! I was a little scared to touch it to even take the photos.

When in doubt, check Youtube!

Loved the cars!

This is my favorites of the girls!

Too cute!

Does this say “California” or what?

Steve & Holly: Engagement – Los Angeles

Lukas VanDyke — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:41:42 +0000

In the past few years I’ve seen a little less of Holly than I used to. But 8 or 9 years ago when I first started shooting Holly was always around as my practice subject. I remember the first time I decided to try “studio lighting”. I leaned a mattress up against a wall, threw a white blanket over it, got two shop lights out of the garage, and figured I was ready to go. I shot that whole session with an old Canon A1, on slide film. I think I still have the photos somewhere.

As I start to think back that was just one of many memories of Holly letting me practice on her as I tried to figure out what I was doing. Wow does time fly. I can’t believe that was all so long ago. Well after a lot of practice sessions, you are finally engaged and I’m super excited to get to be there to shoot your wedding!

Lukas VanDyke Fine Art Photography

Old to New: a re-upholstered chair

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