Sean M. Leahy Photography

How Much Vroom is too much VROOOM?

Recently one of my friends entertained my idea of shooting a motorcycle in my studio.  We did not have much time to work outdoors as the sun was setting fast and needless to say its not the easiest thing to freeze a motorcycle rushing past you with a few speedlights and an itchy trigger finger.  But I made the best of what I had on location, and managed to get just a handful of decent action shots.  We followed up the action shots with a few from inside the studio.  This bike was made to have its picture taken, the combination of such bright and full colors really made the bike stand out.  Here are a few of the images I was able to get.

All of the images above were shot with my Nikon D300 and the incredibly versatile Nikkor 18-200mm VRII lens.

Special thanks to Adam for letting me shoot his bike, thanks buddy!

I normally prefer to be behind the lens of my camera not in front of it, but recently I have been exploring some aspects of self-portraiture.  Here are some recent self portraits.

Self-portraits are a great way to explore the psychological nature of a portrait.  After all, what does any portrait say about its subject?  When you only capture a faction of a second, you are not really capturing that person; rather you are capturing a single moment in that persons life that will never be relived.  So the challenge comes form trying to convey an emotion, frame of mind, personality trait, etc. in just a single click of the shutter.

I am pleased to share the news that I have recently taken 1st Place in the annual MSU Global Focus Photography Contest.

2008 MSU Global Focus Winner

This contest draws specifically on images that have been shot outside of the United States, hence the “global” branding on the contest.

This print along with the other winners will be unveiled at the MSU International Center on Monday November 17th, 2008 at 12:30pm and will hang on display in the main lobby.

Another contest entry of mine also received an honorable mention award for the same contest.

2008 MSU Global Focus Honorable Mention

These images were taken back in January of 2008, outside of Jaipur India.  The people in the images were extremely friendly which made it all the easier to approach them for pictures like these.  My trip to India provided me with lots of great pictures, lots of great stories and many opportunities to share those experiences with others through my photography.

I would like to say a special thank you to the organizers, sponsors, and facilitators of the 2008 MSU Global Focus Contents, for choosing my images as the first place winner and honorable mention.

Thank you.

-Sean