It’s been a long time since I’ve had the opportunity to just shoot a car without any time constraints, deadlines, or expectations.  Alan and I caught a break in the weather on Sunday night and despite having my SB-600 and umbrella on stand blown down by the wind, the photos still turned out great and Alan was very happy with the outcome.  I also used this opportunity to test out the Nikkor 85mm ƒ1.4G that I rented from BorrowLenses and it definitely proved the sharpness of Nikon’s pro portrait glass.  Here’s actually a good example of the testing, with the apertures going from ƒ1.4, to ƒ4, and finally to ƒ8:

Except for one of the photos below, each photo was taken by simply using the ambient available light. Perhaps the wind blowing down my flash and umbrella was a sign that I just wasn’t destined for strobe automotive photography?  Maybe, maybe not, but nevertheless I’m happy with how everything turned out:

2011 proved to be a banner year in terms of the sheer number of photos I’ve taken and how I feel I’ve grown as a photographer. I shot a variety of different subjects, helped mentor and advise a great group of photographers, and helped NWMotiv establish itself as a major media player in the local automotive scene. Rather than bore everyone with a long write-up on everything, I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves, starting from the beginning of the year. Be sure to click the caption under each photo for the full gallery.

J A N U A R Y

The Mendozas

F E B R U A R Y

Philippines

Singapore

PROPS! Vitamin D and International Mo at Rock Paper Scissors

M A R C H

Nikkor 135 ƒ2 DC Lens Testing

Erica at Discovery Park

Nikkor 24mm ƒ1.4G ED Lens Testing

A P R I L

NOS Citrus Launch

Sakura Con 2011

M A Y

Fast Five Premiere

Erica for NWMotiv.com

Erica for the Subie Girls Calendar

Finegold-Pham Wedding

UW Street Fair and Gasworks Park

J U N E

Brianna

Seattle at Night

Blue Scholars Cinemetropolis Appreciation Party

Cheeky Cafe

Forum Fest 2011

Alan’s FC3S

Lee’s Triumph Daytona 675R

J U L Y

Independence Day 2011

Big NW Subaru Meet

Evergreen Drift Extreme Night

Kaylee at Coulon Park

Formula D Seattle 2011

Hoops206

KP’s Seattle Adventures

A U G U S T

XDC Seattle 2011

DeadMau5 at the Paramount

Hagen and Natalie’s Engagement

West Coast Subaru Show 13

S E P T E M B E R

San Diego Trip 2011

Wence and Jo’s Court Wedding

Matt’s Dodge Magnum for the Falken Tires 2012 SEMA Calendar

O C T O B E R

Erica Potter

N O V E M B E R

Stephanie and Travis Maternity

Wence and Jo at Volunteer Park

D E C E M B E R

NWMotiv Toy Drive and Winter Meet 2011

I had the honor of photographing Stephanie and Travis’ wedding last December, and now I had the honor of photographing their maternity photos. We had a bit of a scare because the weather was looking rather gloomy, but we caught a break with only a little bit of light drizzle and none of the continuous rain that was predicted. This was also my first time taking photos at Seattle’s Volunteer Park, which turned out to be a great suggestion from Stephanie thanks to all the beautiful fall colors. I took the first few photos with my Nikkor 24-70mm ƒ2.8, but then decided to switch to the Nikkor 70-200mm ƒ2.8 VR2. The 70-200 VR2 proved to be an excellent portrait lens and I’m starting to like using it more for portraits than my beloved Nikkor 85mm ƒ1.8D. Anyway, special thanks go to my good friend Erica May for her great assistance in taking these photos!

All the photos: http://photos.arminausejo.com/People/Stephanie-and-Travis-Maternity/

And a few of my favorites:

Just a little Halloween fun with Miss Erica May.  I shot each photo with my Nikkor 24-70mm ƒ2.8 and the 100% natural lighting worked great inside the University of Washington’s Suzzallo Library.  We timed it perfectly with just a few bystanders giving us strange looks, and we made sure we weren’t too big of a disturbance in the quiet areas.  Erica’s always a pleasure to work with and I’m glad she didn’t get too nervous about the location!  Link to all the photos:

 http://photos.arminausejo.com/People/Erica-Potter-10-22-11/

And a few personal favorites:

Hagen is Garret’s brother, so I was more than happy to take their engagement photos, along with his upcoming wedding as well. Hagen and Natalie were going with a nautical theme for their wedding and wanted some shots with the Seattle skyline behind them, so Alki was the obvious choice for some good locations. We lost light pretty fast, but thanks to R.J. Deguzman’s help with reflector and off-camera speedlight work, we were still able to get some good captures. Please follow this link on my ArminWeddings.com website for more:

http://www.arminweddings.com/2011/08/hagen-and-natalies-engagement/

For the second year in a row, I was fortunate enough to shoot DeadMau5 for the Seattle Weekly. I shot the entire show with just my Nikkor 24-70mm ƒ2.8, and its lightning-quick focusing proved to be very invaluable. The show was amazing as usual and I was able to get some great crowd photos. You can see all the published photos at the Seattle Weekly link above, but here are a few of my favorites:

See more here:  http://photos.arminausejo.com/Events/DeadMau5-8-18-2011/