Rachel and Ryan

Facebook

Hi everyone. I wanted to write a quick post about clients putting photography up on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. I don't really have a problem with this, because obviously they love the photos enough to do so! The best part is, when one of our clients puts up some of their wedding photographs, ALL of their friends see that they have done so through notifications. This is a huge marketing tool for us, and it is a great way to bring in new business through referrals (which is what are business is based on now, we do NO advertising).

I have to admit, at first I wasn't too happy about our clients using our photos willy-nilly on whatever website they want. My first reaction was "I have to find a way to control this". Then I got smart and realized that it would hurt me more to attempt to control and micromanage every aspect of the reproduction of our photography. It would cause me more time and stress than you could possibly imagine. I sure as hell don't want to police myspace and facebook looking for our photography to pop up at all hours of my already busy days. The bottom line is that times have changed. Digital is here. Photos are online, and LOTS of clients are technically savvy enough to know how to get digital copies. It's something that I have accepted. I would rather spend my time creating beautiful images.

Boda Bag Update

Hi everyone. I wanted to put up a couple images I took this past Saturday. Steve and I went to the University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens to do some shooting, and we took along Steve's new Boda Dry. This was one of the first time we were able to use the bag in the field, and I have to say, I will be purchasing one for myself very soon. We were able to put all of our essential gear (lenses, CF cards, SB-800, lens and body caps, car keys, cell phone, etc…) very comfortably. Steve wore the bag for more than two hours straight, and was still very comfortable. This bag really does seem to be the perfect bridge between you and your big camera bag, especially on location shoots. I'm sure there will be more updates about the bag as we use it in different situations. Enjoy.

Brooke and Russel Engagement

Hey everyone, here is a quick video that we made before/during Brooke and Russel's engagement session. Enjoy.

~chris

Julie and Paul Preview

Photoshop World's Midnight Madness!

Chris and I have to admit, we were a little skeptical when we woke up at 6:15AM to get in line for Midnight Madness tickets; after all, we'd never been before. However, we can honestly say that it was well worth the early wake up call. We got to see some outtakes from the Photoshop World opening movie, and played an fun round of 1 versus 200 / Family Feud based on Photoshop questions. Of course, we can't show you too much of Midnight Madness, because you have to get up early if you wanna go! Plus, I don't think Chris and I had enough energy that late at night to hold the camera steady. :p

We also got a chance to briefly talk about what we did during the day while walking back. The night of Midnight Madness actually fell on the day with the most classes, so we were pretty tired when all was said and done. Totally worth it. It was a blast.

Check it out:

A couple more images from Florida

Here are a couple HDR images that Steve and I shot when we were down in Ft. Myers. These are the condos that we were staying in the weekend before we headed up to Orlando for Photoshop (Dude) World. I can't really decide which one I like better, so I'll include them both. Both were shot with a Nikon D200, 18-70mm Nikkor lens, supported by a Manfrotto carbon fiber tripod and ballhead. The final HDR image was created from 5 individual exposures, at one stop increments. Merged and edited with Adobe Photoshop CS3. Comments are always welcome : )