Monday, August 30, 2010

Business

I gave going into business another thought today. Some of you will undoubtedly know that this is something I wish to do someday, but I also know I need more practice. Practice, because I want to actually be competitive in the only area that matters in professional portrait photography: quality. Price is the worst possible area to be competitive in, it actually reduces the average creative quality among all photographers, probably because a lot of businesses (not just photography related, but all) feel the pressure from the slumping economy right now.

Trust me when I say that being more skilled and having a better creative eye counts for more than having the lowest price! When all this recession stuff is just an afterthought, a story to your kids, only the strongest will survive to have a business. Ultimately it's about that canvas you sold to that client, who bought it to hang on a wall for many years. I feel that if you sell a canvas like that, your very best, and only your very best effort should be in the image that created that canvas. I wouldn't want a half-job on my wall, so why should anyone else? Someday, the image you created using a camera and some software is the only form of memory your client will have left of the moment. I'd like to think they would want to have that preserved perfectly.

Just a few thoughts.

Friday, August 27, 2010

A shot of a day at the lake.

I wanted more, but I'll take anything I can get, it was a day out with the family after all!

Alexis and Erika Faces

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Calibrated!

Today I received the Spyder3Express display calibrator. So I grabbed the umbrella and shot this:

Erika Faces

Now with real colors and everything! I'm excited. All this time I knew I was missing out on being able to see hidden color detail and proper white balance, but now it's actually clear I had no idea what I was even looking at. The road to consistent colors is almost over!

^_^

Monday, August 23, 2010

Thought.

Random photo moment, which I thought was definitely capture worthy.

Out There...

There's no real story behind this photo, but there could be, which you as the viewer can fill in. That's what photography is really about!

Friday, August 20, 2010

I want Ice!!!

A little bit less "photo-shoot-y" perhaps, but fun all the same. The kid was throwing a tantrum because...

"I want ice in my water!!!"

She knows better than that, she knows I have a camera within reach at all times.

Alexis wants Ice

Thursday, August 19, 2010

First real practice session. Good Bye, 365!

As I say goodbye to documenting the 365 Project on this blog (I still actively participate, but on ILP only), I say hello to what may very well be my future! Time will tell.

Below you'll find the very first beginnings of what could be my future photography business. I went and took what I learned over the past year or so and put it to practice. My wife and daughter have been tormented with shutter clicks and light flashes for what seems like an eternity to them, and I decided to show them what all that practice can produce. I personally say it's a very successful first session, but as always, you be the judge!

Erika on Bridge
Erika and Alexis in Park
Erika in grass
Alexis in grass
Erika and Tree
Erika in Rose Garden
Alexis Playing With Grass

And because my wife loves this image, even though I failed at adhering to some basic photography rules, here is this:
Erika and Alexis on Bridge

I'm not saying they're perfect pro material, but I am saying I like where this is heading.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

365 Slacking

To those who still occasionally check my blog: I realize I haven't been around much. I have still taken my daily 365 photo, and they're available here along with a bunch of other stuff I've photographed over the past few months. I promise to get back into this blog more, but I'll do it in a different fashion, something simpler, maybe bigger articles but less frequent?

Thanks for reading.

^_^