Monday, June 6, 2011

Theo-Graphics has moved!

This will be the last post from the Blogger site for Theo-Graphics. From now on, please visit Theo-Graphics' Blog directly on the website, www.Theo-Graphics.com.

Also, make sure to check out Theo Graphics on:

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Thanks very much!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Europe 2011 - It's Official!

My girlfriend and I have just officially booked a fall trip to Europe! After finding out that my dad, sister and stepmother would be moving to Paris so that my sister could pursue dance, we decided that we had to take advantage of a relative living in Europe! After constantly watching the rollercoaster that is airline fares, we finally jumped on a rate that looked good last night. 


It will be Ashleigh's first ever trip and my fourth (2003, 2006, 2007). We are both very excited! Now that the flight is out of the way we can begin the much more fun process of deciding where to go, what to do and how to do it. Looking forward to the miles of walking, the meager breakfasts and delicious coffee!


To celebrate, I will post up a few of my favorite photos that I took during my other trips to Europe. Enjoy!


Arc De Triomphe, looking down on the Champs-Elysées. 2003


Arc De Triomphe, looking down on the Champs-Elysees


 


Elvis lives! Seen in the Tuileries in Paris. 2003


Elvis lives! Seen in the Tuileries in Paris


 


Dad taking it all in while at the Tuileries. 2003


Dad taking it all in while at the Tuileries


 


Paris, busy with tourists and locals alike in the summer. 2003


Paris, busy with tourists and locals alike in the summer


 


Tricia, Rhe and Dad looking down the Parc Du Champ, framed by the Eiffel Tower. 2003


Tricia, Rhe and Dad looking down the Parc Du Champ, framed by the Eiffel Tower


 


Grainy, hand-held night shot of the Eiffel Tower. 2003


Grainy, hand-held night shot of the Eiffel Tower.


 


Boats in the water, Naples. 2006


Boats in the water, Naples


 


Italian countryside in Dragoni. 2006


Italian countryside in Dragoni


Renato Civitillo and my dad, Rob Civitello. Related? Who knows! He was nice enough to invite us in and show us his garden, feed us lunch and provide us with long stories of Peidimonte Matese, where our family is originally from. 2006


Renato Civitillo and my dad, Rob Civitello. Related? Who knows! He was nice enough to invite us in and show us his garden, feed us lunch and provide us with long stories of Peidimonte Matese, where our family is originally from


"Watercolored" clouds over Dragoni. 2006



 


 The, um, "toilet" on the train to Rome. Opened straight onto the tracks! 2006


;The, um,


 


Quite possibly the ugliest car in existence. Rome. 2006


Quite possibly the ugliest car in existence. Rome


 


The line to the Vatican. Rome 2006


The line to the Vatican. Rome


 


Incredibly ornate passageway to the Sistine Chapel. 2006


Incredibly ornate passageway to the Sistine Chapel.


 


The "easter egg" atop St. Peter's. 2006


The


 


The Piazza Navona at night. 2006


The Piazza Navona at night


 


Flame juggler in the piazza. 2006


Flame juggler in the piazza


 


Spongebob visiting Notre Dame. 2006


Spongebob visiting Notre Dame


The Arab Institute in Paris. These moving apertures open and close in relation to the light outside! Very cool. 2006


The Arab Institute in Paris. These moving apertures open and close in relation to the light outside! Very cool.


 


Tube escalators at the Pompidou in Paris. 2006


Tube escalators at the Pompidou in Paris


Roman sunrise (while stranded at the airport overnight). 2007


Roman sunrise (while stranded at the airport overnight)


The Trevi Fountain, Rome. 2007


The Trevi Fountain, Rome.


Intricate mosaic work in St. Peter's. 2007


Intricate mosaic work in St. Peter's


 


The Pantheon. 2007


The Pantheon. 2007


 


Playing peekaboo, Frankfurt. 2007


Playing peekaboo, Frankfurt.


 


The notorious Red Light District. Amsterdam. 2007



The notorious Red Light District. Amsterdam.


 


Amsterdam. 2007


Amsterdam


Beautiful church in Paris. 2007


Beautiful church in Paris.


 


The great Rosette, Notre Dame, Paris. 2007


The great Rosette, Notre Dame, Paris.


 


The Eiffel Tower on a misty night. 2007


The Eiffel Tower on a misty night.


Pigeons getting friendly in the Piazza San Marco. Venice. 2007


Pigeons getting friendly in the Piazza San Marco. Venice


Glass horse, made right before our eyes in about 3 minutes. Venice. 2007


Glass horse, made right before our eyes in about 3 minutes. Venice.


 


The BMW headquarters, still under construction. Munich. 2007


The BMW headquarters, still under construction. Munich

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Tilley Wedding

I was fortunate enough to be able to shoot a wedding a few weekends ago for Jacob and Samantha. They were a great couple to work with! Their ceremony was at a beautiful location in Montgomery, Texas which featured an outdoor area for the wedding and a large indoor reception area with towering ceilings.



Flowers at the wedding


Wedding Flowers


We photographed the bride opening the large doors to the outside area, framing her in the sunlight, which I thought turned out very nicely.


Bride Opening the Doors


This was an unapoligetically "country" wedding, with the groom's side wearing camouflage cummerbunds and vests. The bride even wore a pair of brown leather boots under her dress! The groom's cake featured a fishing boat, complete with the trusty family dog by its side. Very cool details!


The ceremony itself was at 3 p.m., and I did not envy any one of the groomsmen in their full tuxedos. Everyone was a trooper though, and the ceremony went off without a hitch. Both the bride and groom were very relaxed, and it really does show in the photos. For their couples shots, they thought of the poses on the fly and cycled through them one by one. I was lucky to be able to keep up! It was great that they knew what they wanted, though.


Bride on Bridge Looking Away


Bride Laughing


Bride and Groom Kissing


Bride Directing the Ceremony


Group Wedding Shot


Flower Girls


The Rings


Shooting outside was surprisingly good, even with the direct afternoon sunlight. The colors all popped very well. Inside was a bit tougher, however. The reception area was all cedar, with ceilings that must have been 20 feet high, at least. The orange lighting and high ceilings wreaked havoc on my flash and white balance, which took a bit of messing around with to get to acceptable levels. For a few shots, I tried cross lighting with two mounted flashes. The results were very good when the subjects were centered directly in the middle of the light's path, but it was a bit fiddly and hot/cold. It was fun to try, but I'm not sure how reliable it really is.


The reception was a big success, and everyone had a great time. Towards the end, there was an auction for "Harry's Home Brew", a vicous concoction made by Uncle Harry himself. He was quite a character, and loved telling stories about the potency of his brew. I grabbed a quick shot of him, which quickly became one of my favorites of the set - he's got loads of character!


Uncle Harry's Home Brew


As people slowly started to leave and the atmosphere calmed down a bit, I was able to capture some of the quieter moments. Guests dancing, both the mother and son and the father and the bride having one last dance while the christmas lights overhead produced a dreamy white glow. It was all very nice.


Reception Dancers


Father and Bride dance


Mother and Groom dance


Shortly thereafter, in a shower of birdseed, they were gone!


Bride and Groom in Rice shower


It was a great time, and Jacob and Samantha were a lot of fun to work with. I wish them the best!

Updates with Theo-Graphics!

Hey everyone,


It's been a busy day! I have established a Google business listing, Bing Business listing and Facebook page for Theo-Graphics. I'd really appreciate a review from any of you that I've worked with! For everyone else, please become my fan on Facebook! I've got some new wedding photos listed on my facebook page and other exiting photoshoot offers coming in in the near future, so be sure to check back!


Thanks!


Theo




Theo-Graphics New Google and Facebook Listing

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The O'Quinn Collection - Photos of a billionaire's estate.

This shoot started out in the most unassuming of ways. I was contacted by an auctioning company based out of California who had been hired to move some cars for an unnamed person's estate. We traded emails back and forth while setting up the shoot later on in the week. I didn't think too much of it until I received the shot list from the contact: "A 1927 Rolls, 1985 Aston Martin, '57 Continental...what?!" It soon dawned upon me that this would be no average automotive shoot. The official shot list:

  • 1963 Fiat 750 Abarth Berlina
  • 1955 Ford Thunderbird
  • 1965 Mercury Parklane
  • 1985 Aston Martin Lagonda
  • 1961 Nash Metropolitan
  • 1909 Cartercar Model H Touring
  • 1957 Lincoln Continental Mark II
  • 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Towncar
  • 1931 Ford Model A Victoria
  • 1916 Oldsmobile Model 44 Roadster
  • 1957 Ford Fairlane 500


Come the day of the shoot, I waited outside of a large, bland warehouse in a decidedly seedy area of town. I assumed that a small portion of this warehouse was where I would be shooting the few cars, and I was worried that the inside of the warehouse would be in disrepair and would make finding a suitable shooting location difficult. Once my contact arrived, I walked inside and quickly realized that I couldn't have been more wrong. To my complete disbelief, the massive warehouse stretched on for what seemed like forever in each direction, with HUNDREDS upon HUNDREDS of classic cars before me, all gleaming under the lights and sitting upon a spotless sealed white floor. Most likely deducing from the dumbfounded look on my face, my contact grabbed a golf cart and offered to take me on a tour.

I learned that this was the extensive collection of none other than John O'Quinn, a famous Houstonian, trial lawyer and billionaire who passed away two years ago in a car accident on Allen Parkway that is still shrouded in mystery. At it's peak, his collection amassed over 650 cars worth a staggering $100 million. As we buzzed around as he casually pointed out cars that would easily be the centerpiece in any other collection. Twin orange GTO's to my right, Marlene Dietrich's custom Rolls Royce and Al Capone's Armored Cadillac to my left, Steve McQueen's Indian complete with side car straight ahead. It's unfortunate that I didn't have time to write all the names and cars down as we sped along, as the list was a star-studded one. As a small footnote, he had every model year Corvette, Camaro and Mustang ever made! "It's a shame you couldn't have seen it 9 months ago", he said. "You're only looking at about a third of what used to be here. All the Enzo's, McLaren's, F50's, F40's and Bugatti's are all long gone.". However, the centerpiece of the collection still remained. Painted a dull blueish-gray, wedged among two giant 1920's coaches, stood a 1975 Ford Escort GL. This was the pride of Mr. O'Quinn's collection, for which he paid $690,000. Why so much for such a lowly car? Only for the simple reason that it had belonged to none other than Pope John Paul II. It is pictured below in a terrible shot from my Blackberry.



Pope John Paul II's 1975 Ford Escort GL



After the tour, my own personal golf cart was bestowed upon me so that I could get from place to place without getting winded. We had a small area to shoot because the rest was crammed with cars, so we cleared out the area as best as possible and set up to shoot. My gear for the shoot was:


  • D700
  • 50mm 1.8
  • 105mm. 2.8
  • SB 600
  • SB 900
  • Cheap wireless triggers
  • Light stands
  • 20" softbox
  • Tripod
I setup the SB900 in the softbox and used that to light the dominant side of the car. It was placed camera right at an angle about 20 feet away at 1/2 power. The SB600 was used to light the nose or rear of the car, placed camera left about 20 feel away, bare, at 1/2 power. I found that the exposure that worked best for me was 1/20 sec, f5, ISO 640 - it achieved nice even lighting that hid the streaks from the overhead lighting pretty well and also made the treated concrete wall behind the cars look nice.

Slowly but surely we moved through the inventory. Surprisingly, most of the cars ran, albeit while slowly hemorrhaging transmission fluid and oil onto the pristine white floor. I wrote it off to their age - when I'm 80-something, I'll probably have a few leaks too.

It was amazing to be able to interact with these cars, to see automotive history rolling right in front of your eyes. From the simple days when "cars" were nothing more than horse coaches with engines strapped onto them to the 1950's, where cars were rolling sculptures, heavy with steel and bright reflective chrome. Sitting in them was great too, and gives you a huge appreciation for the modern studies in ergonomics! The easiest way to exit the 1909 Cartercar? Through the passenger side of course, unless you feel like contorting yourself like a pretzel around the spider's web of metal framing for the roof and the steering wheel that presses against your thighs as you steer. All these old cars had personalities that were completely their own, which is something I love and feel that most modern cars today lack - a real soul.

While shooting, we discussed the collection, and what is going to become of it now that it is in the hands of the estate. I learned that Mr. O'Quinn had intended for these cars to be placed on permanent display for the city of Houston to enjoy upon his passing, and that up until his death, the plans for this museum were already in the works. Upon his passing however, there were disagreements between those in the estate, and it was decided that this collection would be sold to settle debts and other discrepancies left behind be Mr. O'Quinn. It was truly sad to hear that this collection, surely one of the finest and largest in the world, was being dismantled and sold off. A collection like this will probably never exist again, and it is a great disappointment that Houstonians will not be able to enjoy this collection for years to come.

This shoot was something that I will remember for a long, long time. I am very honored to have been able to see it, even at only 1/3 its original size, before it has been divided up between bidders all over the world. If I had never seen this collection in person, I would've never imagined that it even existed. The sheer size of this collection was something that I had trouble wrapping my head around. I lingered a bit before leaving, trying to take every last bit in.

Thanks to everyone who helped with this project! Below are photos and videos of the shoot. Thanks for checking back, and please go have a look at my new website, Theo-Graphics.com!



A few videos I took while tooling around in the golf cart.



*Videos Removed By Request*



1909 Cartercar Model H Touring - I'd never heard of this brand until now. It goes down as the oldest car I've ever driven! Well, driven as in steered while it was being pulled by a golf cart.


1909 Cartercar Model H Touring



1985 Aston Martin Lagonda - What an ugly car! This think reminded me of a stealth fighter, as it reflected ALL the light I put on it which made it very hard to photograph. The interior was straight 80's, with a dash layout like an old Macintosh computer and CRT (that's right, CRT) displays. How, um, futuristic.


1985 Aston Martin Lagonda


1985 Aston Martin Lagonda Interior



1957 Ford Fairlane 500 - Immaculate inside and out. Love the color scheme.


1957 Ford Fairlane 500


1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Engine


1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Interior


1957 Lincoln Continental Mark II - This car won awards at SEMA among many others. This thing was ridiculous in person. Bagged suspension, paint that was so glossy it looked like it was a foot deep. Such a beautiful car.


1957 Lincoln Continental Mark II Taillight


1957 Lincoln Continental Mark II Taillight Three Quarter View


1957 Lincoln Continental Mark II Interior


1957 Lincoln Continental Mark II Side


1961 Nash Metropolitan - Called it the "Creampuff", haha. The doors felt like two sheets of steel welded together with nothing in between because, well, that's pretty much what it was. Gotta love safety standards of the '60's.


1961 Nash Metropolitan


1916 Oldsmobile Model 44 Roadster - Bill Harrah's old car.


1916 Oldsmobile Model 44 Roadster


1916 Oldsmobile Model 44 Roadster Interior


1931 Ford Model A Victoria - The paint scheme on this car was gorgeous. The photos do not do it justice.


1931 Ford Model A Victoria


1931 Ford Model A Victoria Side


1931 Ford Model A Victoria Rear


1965 Mercury Park Lane - I loved this car. Something about that green interior!


1965 Mercury Park Lane


1965 Mercury Park Lane Interior


1927 Rolls Royce Phantom I Towncar - Beautiful car. Very regal.


1927 Rolls Royce Phantom I Towncar


1927 Rolls Royce Phantom I Towncar Emblem


1955 Ford Thunderbird - Perfect example of a classic. Spotless inside and out.


1955 Ford Thunderbird


1955 Ford Thunderbird Grille


1955 Ford Thunderbird Grille Rear


1955 Ford Thunderbird Grille Engine


Another bad cell phone shot of FDR's 1941 Presidential Packard Limousine:



FDR's Presidential 1941 Packard Limousine