Thank you for visiting!
I'm a portrait and business branding photographer here in St. Louis, Missouri.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to visually tell your unique story. I love the creative process - working with you to design a session plan including wardrobe selection and choosing an awesome location, embracing creative freedom while carefully capturing the moment, then further bringing your images to life with tasteful post production editing.
How are we different? Our creative vision and adventurous approach allow us to lead photo sessions producing beautiful portraits that genuinely capture your personality and the pulse of your business.
Our goal is to create amazing portraits of anyone, any product, any space, anywhere in the world. We're always looking for ways to improve the final image.
Is modeling for a portrait out of your comfort zone? Are you nervous about posing, or your expression? No worry, we get it - We'll give plenty of direction throughout the session so you can feel confident we're creating incredible images. With your trust we'll have a blast - so let's do this!
...We'd love to work with you! Send a message here to set up a session introductory call.
-Ryan Gallagher
Through all stages of production, or focus remains on mastering the following four key elements of portraiture:
Relationship
It's so important that we quickly earn your trust. Let's face it, most of us aren't every day models, so you may be a little nervous before your photo session. We'll give clear direction so you don't feel awkward or uncertain of how you're doing. Once you're comfortable you'll have more fun interacting with each other, which definitely shows up in your photos.
Figure
Any fine art painting or portraiture book will emphasize paying attention to leading lines, angles, curves and positioning of the hands. Each can be used to draw the viewer's attention back to the subject. Attention to these details makes or breaks the shot.
Creative Vision
This is the fun part - the storytelling. In addition to landscape/environment selection, deciding how to use light, color, texture and design makes each photographer's approach to describing a moment unique. It's their style of making an idea a visible reality.
Technical Accuracy
It's no secret - proper equipment helps to capture sharp, quality images.
Camera Bodies
Canon EOS 1D Mark 4
Canon EOS 5D Mark 3
...
Lenses
Canon EF 17-40 mm f/4L
Canon EF 35 mm f/1.4L
Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift Fixed
Canon EF 50 mm f/1.4
Canon EF 100 mm Macro f/2.8L
Canon EF 70-200 mm f/2.8L
Promaster Digital HGX UV Filters
Canon Lighting
(3) Canon 600EX-RT Speedlite Flashes
(1) Canon 580 EX II Speedlite Flashes
Canon ST-E3-RT Speedlite Transmitter
Paul C. Buff Studio Lighting
Einstein™ Flash Unit
CyberSync™ Trigger Transmitter 2
CyberSync™ Transceiver
CyberSync™ Battery Powered Receiver (3)
Manfrotto MK294C3-A0RC2 3 Section Tripod
LiteMod™ Unit Mainframe + Barndoors
LiteMod™ Gel Holders + Gels
14” X 60” Foldable Stripbox + Grid
86” White PLM™ Umbrella + Diffusion Fabric
Westcott / Other Lighting
(2) Westcott 2334 28" Recessed Medium
Softboxes
Westcott 2332 43-Inch Collapsible Umbrella
LumiQuest Mini SoftBox
Stands/ Bags/ Post Production Tools
(3) Manfrotto 1004BAC Master Stands
Naneu Sahara 217f Expandable Backpack
Lowepro Pro Trekker 600 AW Backpack
(2) Seagate External Hard Drives
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Lightroom
Built for correct linear perspective in architectural images, this tilt shift lens can also be used for artistic portraiture, making use of shallow depth of field and soft bokeh.
This telephoto lens helps me stay in the moment, but from a distance (outdoors with a barrier between me and the subject, during a Wedding ceremony, sports photography, etc.) It's also super fast, which helps freeze the action when dealing with movement.
This wide angle lens produces super sharp images and wide aperature for nice depth of field. It's become my workhorse lens for portraits.
A wide angle lens with zoom that allows flexibility in frame choice. Great for panorama/environmental images and group portraits.
It's tough to take a bad portrait with this lens in hand. Great for even shallower depth of field.
A powerful macro lens. I use it primarily for wedding ring photographs. Also nice for bug photography if you're in to that.
Off-camera lighting couldn't be easier. Step 1: Angle the flashes where you want them. Step 2: Use the on-camera transmitter to control the lighting output.