Photography from Nicholas Viltrakis: February 2014

A Snowy Valentines Day at Krohn Conservatory

Valentine's day at Krohn Conservatory was beautiful!

Despite the level 4 snow emergency many many lovebirds came out to see the conservatory by candle light on their special day!

The Avant Garden was beautiful in the twilight!

And I got the privilege of meeting lots of really wonderful couples!

There was so much love!

(the photography wasn't restricted :)

Krohn also provided delightful little crafts for your valentine too!

THANK YOU EVERY ONE!

We hope to see you all at this year's Butterfly show!

Photo Pro Expo 2014

Last weekend was so amazing I had to post 32 images!

Once again the center of the photographic universe was Northern Kentucky on the Ohio river!

For 4 days the Covington Convention Center hosted a few thousand eager photographers!

This year was every bit as much education and excitement as last year! Above Brian Smith talks about tearing it up while photographing the stars!

Blair Phillips worked the crowd into a frenzy with his wit and knowledge! And threw out a few freebies!

Then there was the opening night party...

Where I got to touch Blair Phillips' hair!

[Cut Scene]
Until the next morning where newcomer Landon Day presented an outstanding speedlighting class to STANDING ROOM ONLY!

In between all the excitement I still managed to get some awesome shots on the step-and-repeat.

And then... "liquid underpants remover" Jerry Ghionis took the stage to bring the crowd to their feet!

And there were a lot of them!

With a great amount of practical technique...

and an ice light or two Jerry and Melissa worked their magic!

Then it was time for the amazing expo trade show!

I spent some time explaining that "anything" could be used as a light modifier!

This years trade show was THE PLACE TO BE!

The lovely Sandy Puc took time out of her busy schedule kicking butts to set up shop in the entrance and interview all the A list speakers and presenters!

I did have one issue with a model, but we worked it out pretty quickly!

Another highlight of day two was combat photographer Stacy Pearsall who proved that every time is the right time for great lighting!

Then that night, the awards ceremony was thrilling!

There was some fresh faced new members...

And, of course, Jason and Kate Higdon continued their trend from last year and took all of the awards for everything...

seriously, Kate literally took home a pile. A PILE OF AWARDS.

And shockingly enough, in a convention of the best photographers in the world, there was still a lot of people taking photos with iphones... WTH?

But I digress... Incoming President Rosemary Cundiff-Brown displays the tasty wares at the party and ...

Melissa and Jerry Ghionis approved of the jams laid down by Teeny Tucker and her 7 piece band! It was quite a night!

Sunday was an amazing day of inspiration with the amazing work of internationally recognized photographer Sam Abell.

And another highlight for me was getting the opportunity to interview educational sensation Sandy Puc

I think she was looking for insight into being as nerdy as possible in the photo business.

I delivered.

If you would like to see my Red Carpet Showdown at this year's Wescott Lighting Booth, click HERE!

Check out last year

HERE

and 2012

HERE!

Red Carpet Showdown! with Nicholas Viltrakis

One of my favorite parts of the massive 4 day Photo Pro Expo was when I got to slip into the Westcott lighting booth for my Red Carpet Showdown!

Our model was the beautiful Rebecca, who portrayed the Black Swan.

Here's the booth agenda of a bunch of "A-list-ers" and me!

After a brief introduction the demo was off! (I think Rebecca was excited, her face says it all.) My photographic assistant for this booth was Lindsey Driscoll of Eclectically for You who captured all the images of me.

My mission coming into this shootout was to bring something different to the images that would stand out in the competition and be FUN!

It's all about the reflector.

After some brief adjustment of lighting I pulled out my Bower 8mm wide angle to get a 2001 Space Odyssey look with the Westcott grided strip banks!

And an action shot!

Again I was trying anything I thought had not been done.

There's a really cool contest for the whole weekend and I picked uncommon lens and angle combinations to get some original images. Most of the people walk by with the 24-105 and take the same shots.