A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege to photograph one of my favorite IHOP worship leaders, Deryck Box.
Deryck has a really neat sound, and back in the days when IHOP had a low tech web stream from the Prayer Room, you couldn’t really see who was leading. I IMed my friend Randy one day and asked “Who is this? I love his sound!” Randy wrote back that it was Deryck and that he used to be at IHOP, went away, and had just come back. I said “cool!” and went back to my work. A couple of weeks later, I heard another great sound from the Prayer Room and IMed Randy again about who it was. His answer? Deryck. My response: I must really like him!
I ended up out to lunch with Ben and KC (who we live with), Deryck and his family, including his mom Lorraine, who works at a church where my friend Susan is a children’s pastor. Susan had wanted me to connect with Lorraine and I thought the chance of that were slim to none that we’d run into each other, but God DID want us to connect. All of us! Deryck was able to share his vision for a new ministry coaching worship teams and how he needed photos for that. I also got to have coffee a few days later with Lorraine and my friend Gerry.
I could go on about all these great connections, but I know you really come here to see photos, so here goes!
We started the session in Union Station in Downtown Kansas City. I had scouted the location when I was out with Jessica and Maggie, and this picture was in my heart before it was in my camera. You will notice that I broke out the Tilt-Shift lens a few times in this session. It’s a fun lens, but tricky to use because it is manual focus, and the focus area is really kind of random as you tilt and shift. I’m always really excited when I get one in focus where I wanted it in focus!
Canon 24mm TSE, f3.5, 1/200th, ISO 400
For these shots, Tracy was holding a reflector to the right of Deryck, helping to fill light in on his face.
Canon 85mm, f3.5, 1/160th, ISO 400
Canon 135mm, f3.5, 1/400th, ISO 400
This was on a bridge over the railroad tracks. I had a photo similar to this in my Jessica and Maggie post, but there was no sun that day. It was a very different location with light coming in through the slats!
Canon 135mm, f3.5, 1/640th, ISO 250
I’m usually really about clean light, but I really wanted to try new things with this session and push my “rules” and “boundaries” a bit. The funny thing is that I didn’t take very many shots in this location because I didn’t think it was working!
Canon 135mm, f4, 1/1250th, ISO 250
On the stairs down from the bridge. I just love all the lines!! I had to resist doing a lot of special treatments to these photos, but he needs them for a variety of pieces, and I felt strongly that I needed to just finish most of the photos as good, clean color or black and whites. I did do this one in a different coloring because I couldn’t help myself!
Canon 17-40mm at 17mm, f4, 1/320th, ISO 250
Canon 17-40mm at 17mm, f4, 1/320th, ISO 250
I like the intensity in his eyes.
Canon 135mm, f2.8, 1/800th, ISO 250
This was just Deryck joking around, but it’s one of my favorite shots! Did I mention how much fun this session was? We just love Deryck!
Canon 135mm, f2.8, 1/500th, ISO 500
This location was under a road bridge over the tracks. It was amazing!
Canon 135mm, f2.8, 1/500th, ISO 500
This was another shot in my mind before the session. The interesting thing is that I had another idea in my heart of pillars being in the photos before I went scouting. When we got to Union Station, there were no pillars, so I just dismissed what I had seen. Then we got to this location, and there were my pillars – cool!
Canon 135mm, f2.8, 1/500th, ISO 500
Canon 135mm, f2.8, 1/500th, ISO 500
Canon 85mm, f2.8, 1/500th, ISO 320
Canon 50mm, f2.8, 1/640th, ISO 320
Okay, so normally, I use long focal lengths for portraits, but this was a rule-breaking session, so I used a wider lens for a few close-ups and I really like the results!
Canon 17-40mm at 33mm, f4, 1/320th, ISO 320
For this one, I had the camera on the ground and I was just shooting blind. Sometimes I think I’m more creative when I’m not looking through the lens – ha ha!
Canon 17-40mm at 29mm, f4, 1/320th, ISO 320
Canon 24mm TSE, f3.5, 1/200th, ISO 320
As we headed back through Union Station to our car, a few more photos popped into my heart. I wanted to capture Deryck’s life of prayer.
Canon 135mm, f3.5, 1/100th, ISO 640
Canon 85mm, f3.5, 1/100th, ISO 640
If you want to see more, view the full slideshow of Deryck’s photos. It also includes a track of one of his songs, so you can hear his great sound! Roll over any image in the slideshow to see the camera settings for that photo.
