virginia

A tornado hit Hampton, VA on the evening of June 1st. Since it was so close to home, I headed up on Saturday morning to survey the damage and take some photos. We ended up responding for a few days, helping homeowners cover roofs and clean up debris. I snapped these the first morning--crews had just started cleaning up vegetation in the street. Big, beautiful trees had been uprooted. Luckily I only spotted a few homes that been split in two by giant trees.


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I'll be honest up front: I'm not a head shot photographer by trade. I've been learning more about what makes a good head shot ever since I started shooting them a few years ago. Every time I shoot a head shot session I learn new tricks to getting a fantastic image. I spent a few weeks casting for America's Got Talent back in 2007, and I watched Casting Directors toss away so many head shots for the silliest reasons. I'm not a Casting Director, but I've worked with actors in the past, and I've seen my fair share of head shots, good and bad. That being said, art is about breaking the rules sometimes....


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These are from a recent engagement photo shoot with Steven and Megan. They were hilarious; had me laughing the whole time. Steven is in the Navy and Megan wanted to get these photos taken before his deployment. We picked three beautiful locations around Norfolk, Virginia, and they turned out great. My favorite photos are hands down the ones with their daughter Olive, and her shirt that said "save the date." Too darn cute.


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I had the pleasure of meeting Morgan and Collin recently for a headshot shoot. Morgan and Collin are local commercial and film actors who needed updated photos to hand out while auditioning. They were easy to work with, and were quite comfortable in front of the camera. We shot on the campus of Regent University for about a hour and a half. Such an awesome family--they had me cracking up the whole time. The end product was great. 


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I helped a friend shoot some headshots about a month ago. He only had fifteen minutes, so we shot as much as we could, and then called it quits. We ended up with a few good shots. He needed some photos for his website, not necessarily headshots, but these are close.


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  I'm trying to build a strong portrait photography portfolio with new equipment. That said, I'm willing to shoot a 3 hour session for $100. With what goes into a photo session, plus equipment, that's definitely a steal! If you're interested or want more info feel free to use the contact page. Or you can email me directly: ryanjohnsonfilms@gmail.com The session would include three different location (an hour at each), around forty or fifty final images. I would professionally touch up the fifteen best ones. After that, I would give you a Data DVD with all the images. Feel free to pass...


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I'll be honest with you... This was my first ever engagement photo shoot. Troy and Kelsey were patient, looked great, and had a lot of fun. We shot in a few locations around Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs. I've been shooting news and commercial photojournalism for so long now that it shows itself in my work, which is fun. Hopefully I can start shooting more engagement/portrait sessions. Put shortly, our two hours together were a blast. Some of my favorites are below. Click on the SmugMug picture below to see all the photos from our shoot!


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