photography by john michael cooper, blog post by dalisa cooper

JMC is still slightly obsessed with John Singer Sargent’s El Jaleo painting which has shown in his work over the last 3 or 4  years.  This is the closest he has come in remaking the famous painting it which he was able to do after finding the perfect couple for such a project.  Joyce and Rick’s story just happens to come together over a flamenco dance and now they are soon to be wed.  You can certainly feel the romance with this couple.

And a few portraits for everyone’s viewing pleasure…

Lori White on Hair and Make up

blog post and photography by john michael cooper

It’s always a pleasure to have your expectations of a shoot to just change right when you start shooting. That was exactly the case with Jane, just after a few clicks of the shutter this portrait session seemed to turn into a fun fashion shoot around the Wynn hotel, on the Strip and then into the beautiful light of the desert.

photography by john michael cooper, blog post by dalisa

We were delighted when Karin contacted us for photos of herself and her husband while they were in town all the way from Maryland.  The occasion?  Karin’s 40th birthday - I have my fingers crossed that I look half as hot as Karin when I reach 40 - Wowsa!  Heath, your a lucky man…

this last set is my fav… JMC can really work those hot lights.  Hair & Make Up by the Lovely Ms. Lori White

A few years ago this family allowed us to put a spin on the traditional family portraits by transforming into super hero’s for the day.  This year, they are stars walking the red carpet.

Tivon, Kiera, Willie, Randi & Naazir.  If you know this family than you really know how suitable this is for them as they are real life super stars - amazingly giving, ethical and passionate with all that they do.  I believe the red carpet was made just for them.

Thank you to RSVP for the set up and to Tuxedo Junction for dressing the men so handsomely!

Delight in Disorder by Robert Herrick

A sweet disorder in the dress
Kindles in clothes a wantonness:
A lawn about the shoulders thrown
Into a fine distraction–
An erring lace, which here and there
Enthrals the crimson stomacher–
A cuff neglectful, and thereby
Ribbands to flow confusedly–
A winning wave, deserving note,
In the tempestuous petticoat–
A careless shoe-string, in whose tie
I see a wild civility–
Do more bewitch me than when art
Is too precise in every part.

We seriously can’t get enough of the gracious Ms. Ricci.  We photographed her wedding and bridal session, her pin up session and now her anti-bridal photos.  Now all we need are maternity and newborn;)  As you may or may not know, JMC has been coined as the “godfather” of the Trash the Dress phenomenon. Considering we actually don’t even offer “Trash the Dress” sessions, we find it humorous.  But we do offer anti-bridals and we do not offer them to just anyone.  Not only is there a hefty price tag attached to these but this art is more about the concept and about finding the right person.  John Michael Cooper came up with this idea just under a year ago while photographing a live concert.  Ricci was the perfect subject and when she arrived for her pin up shoot, we explained that we had finally formed the concept for her very own anti-bridal.

Make up by Jolana Adamson

photography by john michael cooper blog post by dalisa cooper

This super star couple came out to Vegas to celebrate their 10 year wedding anniversary - what better way to mark such an occasion than with some portraits?

We decided to share a few outdoor shots with you as well as a few studio frames

photography by john michael cooper, blog post by dalisa cooper

Meet the best Dental team in Las Vegas!  We were lucky enough to find Doctor Sidhu several years back and a trip to the dentist office now has a whole new meaning for the Altf family!  Not only do I recommend him to all of my friends and family but to anyone who is or isn’t looking for a dentist. seriously.  go see them.  right now.  go.

Below the oh-so-cool: Dr. Jessy Sidhu, Leslie, April, Angela, Karrah and Sheila

photography and blog post by john michael cooper

A little pre-wedding day studio session for Shellene and Jeff.  It is getting harder and harder for me not to consider our new studio as a “day light studio” . Technically, I don’t think it qualifies as a “day light studio” but from about 9am to about 5pm - if I roll up the bay door, I get this beautiful light on the cyc wall (above) and no need for other lights or reflectors or any other tricks… just beautiful clean light. Needless to say I’m loving the new studio, and especially more when I have a couple like Shellene and Jeff that make it feel more like a studio fashion shoot rather then a studio bridal..

.john.

Just because we are shooting in a studio doesn’t mean that I’m not going to pop outside for a few shots..

Back inside and switch from pure natural light to busting out our old hollywood lights.  Can you tell we love shadows!

And below: the last images on the temporary wall we put up to study and pay homage to the great Irving Penn.

They say “all good things come to an end”, “change is good”, myself -I  said at the Mystic conference “it is always a good time to re-invent”.  Enter Finao, a bad ass album company, to help us with the reinventing of altF.  Yes…. an album company.   As of the beginning of 2010 we have been changing things all across the board here at altF and our albums are not immune to those changes.   As of a couple of months ago we have stopped the production of our hand crafted albums and passed over the craftsmanship of our books to the folks at Finao.   I know some will be disappointed, as we have been at the very forefront of artist crafted books for the last 11 years, but not to worry - I will still have my hands busy creating things, it will just be in a different place. Having Finao produce our wedding books will free us to do what we do best which is push the boundaries and do things people haven’t seen yet.  So with that, I’ll leave you with a small hint on why we have chosen Finao over all the other album companies:  There are a lot of great album companies out there and Finao’s quality (which is superb by the way) was only a very small part of the equation.  We picked Finao because of their attitude, passion, and style line up with our philosophy here at altF.  Frankly we are just “trying our best” to be bad ass fucking photographers and we need one bad ass fucking album company to make our books. Finao!

.johnmichaelcooper.

ps. I also like that there is an “F” in Finao.

a few of our new samples and a good segue into moving away from our albums to Finao’s with a 12×18″ book with a decade of our artwork,  signature images from 2000-2009.

Jodie and Steve had a gorgeous wedding so this little trip to San Francisco for a day of portraits was all icing for us - and sweet it was.  I will just let these great images speak for themselves..