Welcome to the blog of Iwen Exposures- a custom photography studio located in the middle of the coasts in Omaha, NE. After years of living, working, and playing in mountain and coastal communities all over the West, we somehow found our way back to our Midwestern roots.
We couldn't be happier...except, of course, when friendly reports come in notifying us of 4 ft. of fresh power at Big Sky or 3000 CFS flow on the Arkansas River. Living in Omaha definitely has its benefits: we get to travel more, the people are super nice, the air is clean, and the corn is absolutely delicious.
Have a look around...
This blog is the place where our photography lives and breathes. It's hard to nail down one genre that we specialize in- we strive on diversity. Simply put, we eat, breathe, and sleepwalk photography. You may find outtakes from a commercial shoot, a good face-cake-smashing from a wedding, or portraits of my pops in the backyard tending to his daylillies. You never know.
Still hungry? You can view more commercial work here: http://www.iwenexposures.com and more wedding and portrait work here: http://www.iwenweddings.com.
For the last 6 months, my life has been consumed by reinventing my business. I am constantly trying to find new ways to do this, but the last 6 months have been HUGE. Some of you knew about this, some of you were a big part of this, and some of you probably wanted me to shut up about this. 6 months ago we bought a building for our new photography studio. It was in pretty rough shape. At one point in time, it had been a recording studio, but it had been sitting empty for 5 years. Well, not totally empty…It was definitely a lovely home to a variety of organisms- just not the type you would want to snuggle up next to at night.
My wife, Joey, and I put everything into this place. We worked on it everyday. And night. And day. And night. 50 hours restoring the 100 year old tin ceiling that we found hiding underneath the drop-down ceilings. Another 30+ hours restoring the original tile floor- it’s amazing how long it takes to get up 50+ years of glue and grit. 30 hours here. 60 hours there. We put our heart and soul into this place. We learned so much. I had to take on the role of architect, designer, general contractor, goodwill ambassador- and I have become a better businessman, a better artist, a better husband.
We refinished aluminum Goodform chairs from 1947 that look so delightful around the conference table that came out of the original Union Pacific building. Joey spent days (literally) scraping paint off of the tile in the bathrooms. We got creative. We were annoyed. We had a blast.
I have dreamed about this place for the last 18 years. If you’re in the neighborhood, please stop by and check it out. We’d love to see you. I guarantee we have the coolest trash can you have ever seen in your life.
And here is the evolution of the building over the last 6 months.
This was actually our first shoot at the sand dunes. We had been experiencing crazy weather all week and we’re starting to get a little nervous. Friday afternoon brought more storms…still nervous. Then the storm broke, the sun came out, all but one of the models showed up, and we hit the sand and had a blast.
One of my favorite quotes from Forrest Gump…always makes me chuckle. Aaron just ran. All day. Up and down. Over and across. Around and back. Back and forth. And up and over and across and back down again. And occasionally he fell down and got sand in places he wished he hadn’t. It’s a good thing he likes to run. Running up the sand dunes is a little like running away from scary monsters in your dreams- you never seem to really get very far. For every three steps you take you slide back down a good two. He really didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he always seemed to have a scary little smile on his face. Good for him.
This one took a little convincing. Gravity is a beast flying down a 200′ sand wall with near vertical section at the top. He took the plunge and literally flew down the wall.
Saw this cool scene happening out of the corner out of my eye…tried to convince aaron to run up there to get them to sign model releases, but his look frightened me a little so I backed off. Cool picture, nonetheless.
Amazing couple. Amazing wedding. Enough said…
Ashley broke her arm a few weeks ago, so she managed to convince her doctor to give her a temporary cast for the wedding night. First time I had seen that!
And, last, but not least…my personal favorite from the day:
Early morning lifestyle/outdoor apparel shoot at the Great Sand Dunes. Perfect day. Medano Creek was a tad bit chilly- ok, down right frigid at 5:45. You know, that bone-zapping, make-you-want-to-strangle-the-photographer-that-just-made-you-cross-the-freezing-river kind of cold? The sunrise was phenomenal and hopefully was some sort of compensation for the near hypothermic state that everyone was experiencing. Most of the models had never been to the Dunes before, so the backdrop was pretty overwhelming for them. I wish this was Groundhog Day and we could live this one over and over and over….
Medano Creek and the Great Sand Dunes at sunrise >
It’s been almost a month since I got back from my big shoot in southern Colorado and I’ve been trying to get caught up ever since…I’m almost done editing all of the shoots- just one more to go. This particular body of work is actually being put together as a multimedia piece as we speak, but I wanted to get a few images up so you can see what I’ve been working on.
I absolutely love how these images turned out. Everything worked out perfectly that day. After a week of unpredictable weather, we were blessed with gorgeous clouds and a vibrant blue sky. The car? Fabulous!!!!! 1961 Nash Metropolitan. Love it.
July 2, 2009 - 4:04 amCarrie Iwen - I love them all! Excellent pix and what a beautiful day you had to shoot! I especially like the first one with just the car.
When my wife and I decided to move back to Omaha from Colorado a couple of years ago, I knew that I would have separation anxiety from the mountains and wild areas that I had grown to cherish. Before Denver, I spent time on the Gold Coast of California and also lived and played for a few years in Southwest Montana. Making beautiful images in those areas was effortless and easy. Yellowstone was an hour and a half from my doorstep in Montana and the Pacific was always in view when I lived in Ventura. I’m not saying that I took it for granted- never ever- I can just look at those experiences with a different perspective these days.
Being a professional image maker in Omaha, Nebraska has forced me to look at things a little differently. The breathtaking natural beauty is not 5 minutes out of town in every direction….or maybe it is, I just have to learn to adjust to a different level of ‘breathtaking’. I try get one solid point across to my students every quarter: you don’t take great pictures, you make great pictures. I honestly believe that moving back to the Midwest has forced me to evolve and mature as a photographer- it has forced me to search out meaningful and interesting features and locations, subjects and personalities, and new concepts and ideas.
I really like these images. The light, the wind, the emotion, and the environment all work together seamlessly to tell a great story. I think they are a perfect example of what this post is about- the great Midwestern search! Finding the secret spots to make great images. I’m obsessed with that goal and I’ve never been happier!
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by bwi
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