David Hakamaki is the owner of Cutting Edge Photography in Michigan. David has become known as the "Home Based Photography Guru" and operates a full-time home-based studio in a small, rural community. David has gained national recognition for his work with HS Seniors, Families, Children and Wedding couples. David serves on Simply Color Lab’s “Senior Dream Team”, and is a member of Kubota Image Tools’ “Champions”. He is sponsored by Simply Color Lab, Kubota Imaging Tools, Triple Scoop Music, Animoto, Fundy Software & LumiQuest. David is a regular Speaker at local, state & national conferences, provides training webinars, acts as a Photography Mentor, serves as a beta tester on industry products and has been featured in PPA Today. 
David Hakamaki of Cutting Edge Photography recently had a chance to try out the new Savage Product Pro LED Light Table. Check out his review and why he’s adding this convenient LED table to his macro photography tool kit!
Too often, photographers rely on natural lighting for the majority of their portraits. Although natural light is an integral part of a photographer’s repertoire, it is also the factor that is least reliable and often changing. Here is where a good photographer can shine by utilizing different lighting sources in their arsenal.
When it comes to photography, it is getting harder to distinguish yourself just from posing and camera equipment. What is left is uncharted territory for many photographers – lighting. Whether it be strobes, speed lights or LED constant lighting, artificial lighting can be used to really distinguish your look.
Are you stuck in a rut? Do you keep working with the same background and getting the same results? Why not diversify your Savage seamless background options for more inspiration!
Earlier this month at WPPI, we had the chance to host several live demonstrations in our expo booth featuring our most popular Savage items. David Hakamaki of Cutting Edge Photography worked with some of his favorite seamless paper and fabric backdrops to create these captivating headshots.
Bringing in bright colored backgrounds will make your photographs “POP” and your subject feel alive. Incorporating bright backgrounds will also allow you to show off a bright, cheery and fun session with your session. I love to have bright colors in my teen and HS Senior sessions. This makes my sessions much more fun for my subject and emotionally grabs them and their friends when they view my images.
This photo album was shot by David Hakamaki and features our Grunge Brick and Red Oak Floor Drops. Here’s what David had to say about our Floor Drops after using them in several senior picture studio sessions… See Full Gallery>>
Planning your rounds for the WPPI expo next month? Stop by the Savage Universal booth on March 4th at 1:45pm to watch David Hakamaki demonstrate how to successfully light and position your model on white and black backdrops to separate them from blending into the background.
