glp // ground level photography

the photography of michael tangen

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Best of Portraits & Fashion : These are the best of my client sessions for lifestyle portraits, fashion, and promotional shots for professionals.

Best of Portraits & Fashion

These are the best of my client sessions for lifestyle portraits, fash ...

Updated: Jun 13, 2008 8:54am PST

Best of Nature & Landscapes : A collection of some of my best landscapes, scenic and nature-centric photographs taken over the past few years.

Best of Nature & Landscapes

A collection of some of my best landscapes, scenic and nature-centric ...

Updated: Jun 11, 2008 1:55pm PST

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Most Popular Photos

(June 21) "Etc."

I stopped in this restroom on my way back from a meeting in Downtown Saint Paul and thought, "hot damn, look at this killer endless reflection." So I put it to good use.

(June 09) Today at in Saint Paul at Minnesota's state capitol, they celebrated the opening of the long-overdue World War II Memorial. The capitol lawn was filled with thousands upon thousands of people coming to either to be paid tribute or to pay tribute to the those that helped protect our freedoms through the second world war.

The flag shown in this photo had to be the largest flag I had ever seen. It was suspended by two hook-and-ladder fire trucks extended at full length and hung in front and above the capitol. It was an amazing spectacle.

I literally have over 700 photos from the day, so I will be sharing my favorite highlights over the next few days in my PAD gallery.

October 10 - "Head shot session: Allison"

My photo gig that I had back in June with one of the assistant professors of Opera Studies at the University of Minnesota really paid off. Now I'm starting to offer portrait sessions (head shots) to some of the opera students. One thing's for certain... er, maybe two things... I've significantly improved since then, and also have better gear to work with in terms of lighting. The results are just so much more pleasing, that I might ask the assistant professor if she wants a free re-shoot.

Anyway, this was probably one of the best shots in terms of composition, the angle of her head, and the two light sources. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

Resources:
Lighting setup
The rest of her photos

October 02 - "I am cat... watch me lounge"

Frankie's favorite past time is a close call between eating and sleeping; and whenever possible, he likes to sleep in the vicinity of wherever I may be hanging out. So Frankie decided to sleep on my seamless paper backdrop and afforded me the opportunity for a cat portrait session with controlled lighting.

Good times.

(June 20) Zonked

That's how I felt today. I didn't get enough sleep, was anything but motivated to be at work today, and could think of nothing but wanting to be out and about today. So what do I do? Come home, crash, experiment with my flashes, and take this somber SP. I think I could use a beer.

(June 03) This is my third official portrait session, one of a series of 45 pre-wedding/engagement photos. Tyler and Britni were an easy couple to work with and I hope and pray for a bright future for them as they go forward in life together.

On a technical note on this photo, I totally forgot to have my portable softbox mounted to my flash, so there are a few harsh shadows there, but I can live with that. At least I was using my stroboframe and had the flash mounted high above the camera.

September 13 - "35W"

My new Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 was delivered today and my wife and I finally ventured down near the 35W bridge and took all these photos. Despite the fence that obstructed our view a bit, it was still moving to see the vast amount of wreckage that still lies at the sides of the river.

(June 12) A decisive moment.

Today was an all around rough day—I didn't want to be at work (at all), I was feeling a bit depressed about my future, and felt trapped in circumstances beyond my control. I almost didn't have a photo for today; and while that'd be just fine, I'd probably regret not taking the time to make at least one worthy exposure.

I took a few pictures that were focused around line and perspective studies, but they really lacked any sort of story or message. After all, they were just lines and lacked any sort of meaning for me. I drove a bit further down and saw this sign...ordinary, yes. But it represented a bit of my day, being at a cross-roads and needing to make some decisions about things—one of those decisions being to keep plugging along and not to give up.

I really want to be in the photography field someday and out of the boring routine of web design—it's really lost its appeal. After all, I've been doing it for 12 years and I've become pretty bored with it these days. But would I become bored with photography someday, too? What's to keep me interested and active with it? Probably a series of decisions like this photo...I can turn left and give up, moving onto something else; or I can take a right turn and keep at it.

I think I'll make a right turn for now.

On a technical note: this photo really was quite ordinary looking to begin with. But with a significant amount of post production and tweaks in Adobe Lightroom, it turned out to be something quite a bit out of the ordinary. I was surprised how the arrows seemed to glow and the gloomy sky and silhouetted trees seemed to help depict the mood I've been in today.

September 11 - "Contemplation"

True confessions; I didn't take this photo on September 11th. Rather, this is from one of my fashion shoots that I did towards the end of last month. Talaya was easy to work with and is pretty gifted with coming up with some fun poses. This shoot in particular was to give her some more photos to prepare for some TV work that she's going to be doing with some new extension of the BET network; or at least something of that flavor.

I thought this might be a good photo for the September 11th anniversary as each of us have our varying levels of contemplation that we might endure that day.

(July 05) "Fire in the Hole"

My wife and I went over to Fort Snelling Historic Site today and spent a few hours there. At the tail end of our visit, I caught this cannon demonstration. It was quite loud, which I'm sure you can gather by the body language of the historians playing their roles.

It was an interesting place to visit (haven't been there since I was little), but can't imagine coming back all that frequently unless there were special events going on. But it's still a must-visit when you stop in Minnesota. There's a lot of history contained in that facility.

(July 21) "Midsummer's Eve Shoot"

I had a chance to do a great photo shoot this morning and evening, capturing both morning and late evening light and experimenting with various lighting techniques. This one used a side flash fill, diffused with an umbrella. I wanted the green, mossy floor to come to life and make it almost dreamlike—something you might see out of a fairy tale or something. You can see the rest of the photos here: morning session / evening session

I hope to get caught up with the rest of my photos soon here and put up some additional galleries. It's been a very busy weekend for me. Now if I can just make time to read more of my Harry Potter book.

ground level photography • Michael Tangen / Photographer
All photos are © 2007—2009 Michael Tangen. All rights reserved.

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