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The New Site is Live!
WHAT: News | WHEN: August 7, 2010
I first contacted Brock and Dave at Infinet Design over a year ago about wanting to combine my blog and my outdated website into a single site to make it easier for people to find everything they needed in one place. And to be honest, I wanted to simplify my own life by having only one sight to maintain because, let's face it, my previous site was basically orphaned for the better part of 18 months.
Fast forward a little over a year, and after all the planning, designing, redesigning (due to me changing my mind), testing and tweaking, this new site has finally been breathed to life just in time for the upcoming fall photography season. It's really gratifying when you see something you've spent so much time on finally take flight, and it's even more gratifying that I don't have to worry about getting this done anymore... or at least for another two years or so.
Many, many thanks go out to Brock and Dave for all their assistance. They took my ideas and made them magically appear on the web in spite of my constant iteration cycles and seemingly endless modifications. They are truly consumate professionals and the epitomy of customer service. They always come in ahead of due dates, and there's never been a case for me where I haven't had my questions answered the same day (or early the next day if I emailed them late at night). As busy as they are, I felt like their only customer, and I couldn't ask for more. Thanks again, gents!
So, take a look around and check out the new digs. The updated branding is more in line with the type of feel I hope reflects the work I create. There's a couple new fun bells and whistles including the image voting which feeds into a "Viewer Favorites" gallery and a dedicated "For Photographers" section I'll add more resources, tips, tutorials, and other photographer goodness to over time. And if you're a future or past client, check out the "Details" section to find answers to questions you may have or to get a better picture (pun only sort of intended) of what you can expect from a custom photography experience with me. As I continue to add information to this section, over time it will become you're one stop shop for almost anything you would want or need to know.
Welcome to the new site. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you visit often for the latest in what's new!
BTW, I know every post is better with a photo, but an image of the new site seemed, well, redundant, since you're already here.
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Proofs vs. Edited Final Images
Two questions I frequently hear in the photography industry center around 1) how much editing should be done to an image before it gets shown to a client and 2) how many images should you show them.
Regarding the first question, some photographers feel that clients can't envision what an image could be unless you show it to them fully-edited while others will say that any editing you do to an image before a client sees it is purely speculative and a potential misuse of valuable time if they don't order it. I used to swear by the first school of thought, but earlier this year I found myself buying into the 2nd approach. I see the merits of both postions, though, and ultimately for me the answer lies somewhere closer to the middle. As a result, the process I've adopted that I feel yields the best results is to fully edit/retouch ~10 images before clients come in for their viewing & orderings session, and the rest of the images I show have minimal editing done to them (primarily minor exposure and white balance adjustments and cropping, if needed) to get them to a proof state.. When I show images for the first time at their appointment, I emphasize to my clients that I'm looking for their favorite images based only on expression and composition. I inform and assure them any images they select for a product they purchase will be fully retouched, and I refer to the sample images on the wall in my gallery room as well as the ~10 fully-edited images I've created from their session as examples.
Admittedly this works really well for repeat clients as they are familar with my work and I've already built that level of trust with them, but even most new clients are savvy enough to envision what their final images will look like when they can see a few examples.
About the 2nd question regarding how many images to show, I'll raise my hand and admit that I used to be a card-carrying member "the-more-images-I-show-the-happier-my-clients-will-be" club. On top of that I was fully-retouching every image I showed, so it didn't take long before I was starting to experience burnout. I felt like I had to show a lot of images so that my clients would have a lot of variety to choose from and that more variety = more satisfied clients. In reality, though, more often than not I was finding the more images I showed, the more overwhelming the ordering sessions became because they had too many choices and were afraid of making the wrong ones. With the investment they were making in custom photography, it was easy for them to start worrying that they were going to have buyer's remorse with so many choices. Clients (and I) would get stressed out and mentally fatigued at their ordering session. People like simple, clear choices. This is why nearly every fast-food chain has gone to a simple number-based ordering system... it's uncomplicated with a few options to choose from. Easy.
So, all that to say I typically show approximately 25 images (~10 fully-edited) when clients come in to view their images, and I also present a few recommendations to them based on things we discussed in their pre-session consultation. It's been a win-win situation for everyone involved.
To give a frame of reference of what I'm referring to when I talk about proofs vs. fully-edited images, below are a few examples.
In this first set, the proof image is generally pretty good, but you can see a few blotchy skin areas on little Cassidy that needed to be retouched for the final image. In addition I added a little more contrast, saturation and warmth in the final edit.
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In this next example, the couple was slightly underexposed in the proof, and the image in general lacked a little of the warmth and contrast I typically like my images to have. I also felt the composition of the final image was a little stronger when the image was cropped to put their shadow closer to the lower right corner.
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Occasionally 2 is better than one. As a photographer, I always want to get everything just right in a single image, but sometimes it just doesn't work out (especially when younger kiddos are involved). In the images below, I loved Hayley's look and her wind-blown hair in the first image, but I liked Juston's expression better in the 2nd image. In this case I was able to swap heads in Photoshop because the images were taken at the same angle and distance and with the same lighting conditions, and I think the final retouched black & white version of the image turned out really well.
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In this last eaxample, I wanted the image to have more of a fine art feel to it, but there were a couple things I needed to do first for the final image. I started by editing out the white stripes in the sweater to create a cleaner image with less distraction from the important parts of the image. Secondly, I retouched the skin a bit. To give it a more timeless feel, I converted the image to a black & white, added back some warmth, and then overlayed a couple textures to polish off the image. For this type of finish, I typically fully-edit at least one image like this to help the client see what an image looks like with this treatment since it's a bit more involved than a typical fully-edited image and a little harder to imagine.
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The FIL
WHO: Garry (a.k.a the "FIL") | WHAT: Portraits, Random | WHEN: August 2, 2010 | WHERE: Plano, TX
Kylie's parents just left today after staying with us for the last four
and a half days, and I 'm sad to see them go for a couple reasons: 1)
It's just nice to relax and hang out with them because they're good
peoples from the mid-West. 2) No more fresh corn on the cob straight
from the Indiana stalks. 3) The indulgent snacks (home made ice crean,
brownies, homemade strawberry shortcake, Klondikes, homemade cinnamon
rolls, buckets of soda, etc.) suddenly become harder to justify eating
when all the company leaves. 4) Mia seems a little depressed after
being in K-9 heaven with the nearly 24-7 attention and spoiling she got
from "Grammy" and "Grandfather Garry". 5) Now that Garry's gone, I'm designated as the
resident handyman again, and for those that know me, the term "handyman"
and me? Well, we're not exactly friends. In fact, most days we're
downright adversaries.
Oddly enough, my dad is quite the Bob Villa as well when it comes to
fixing things around the house. Apparently I was absent the day he and I
had an appointment scheduled to transfer that father-son knowledge. In
general, it just seems like men from my dad's and Kylie's dad's
generation know how to fix more stuff. Me? I'm blaming the
internet and Microsoft for my home improvement shortcomings - the
internet because it's made me lazy and Microsoft, well, because it's
been a while since I blamed Microsoft for anything (and it's due).
Anywho, back to Garry (a.k.a. "the FIL")... everytime her parents come
down for a visit, Kylie makes a list for her dad of things around the
house that need a little help. And typically Garry goes above
and beyond in blowing through the list and then some. For me it's
great because I pick up all kinds of tips and tricks for fixing things
while Garry does the work and I pretty much stand there and say, "Great job,
Garry. Lookin' good... You need somethin' to
drink? Need me to wipe that sweat off your forehead before it gets in
your eyes?" WIll I ever remember said tips and tricks when the time comes and he's not around? Dunno, but I like to think I'm absorbing his skills through osmosis, and they'll magically come back to me next time something comes up and he's not around, and it will be my time to shine. Wishful thining? Prolly.
I was out watering the plants in the front of the house last night - a skill I picked up all on my own, thank you very much - and I noticed the sunset and wanted to grab an image. I decided to snag Garry and rescue him from watching Design Star with the ladies for the moment and do a quick portrait in the middle of the street. It was pretty dark, and all I had was a light meter and a Nikon SB-800 flash, but no light stand to hold it. So I had Garry hold it, laid on my back in the street (as a neighbor and his 3 dogs walked by, of course), and fired a couple images. The one above was my favorite because he kinda looks like Super Garry, which - considering there's not much he can't fix - seemed appropriate.
For you photography geeks out there who might be wondering, I put the flash (with Pocket Wizard transciever attached) in manual mode and set it to 1/128th power and placed the light meter right in front of his face to get a reading. I set me shutter speed to 1/250th of a second which is what my light meter told me to use at ISO 400 with an aperture of f/5.6 at a flash output of 1/128th power. I ended up slowing down the shutter speed to by a stop to 1/125th to burn in a little more of the orange sunset light in the background.
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One Person's Junk...
WHO: Me | WHAT: Random, Travel | WHEN: July 31, 2010 | WHERE: Canton, TX
... can be another person's junk for the low, low price of [insert your offer here].
Yesterday Kylie & I and her parents went to First Monday Trade Days in Canton, TX to get a quick fix for any desire we may have had to have a garage sale any time in the next several years. In hindsight, I can't think of a better thing to do than walk around 100+ acres of what I can only describe as the world's biggest garage sale in 100+ temperatures. I mean really, who wouldn't want to walk around for hours with your shirt stuck to your skin and sweat dripping in your eyes while looking at bird houses made of license plates, rusted car parts converted into yard "art", and used spark plugs from 1977? What can I say? We're livin' the dream.
Actually I'm being unfair wih the sarcasm; there's actually a fair amount of some pretty unique new retail items in addition to old treasures to be found at Canton. Unfortunately you won't see hardly any of them on this blog because unbeknownst to me before we arrived, it's actually against the rules to photograph any of the stuff for sale without the owner's consent, and based on all the "absolutely no photoraphing or sketching signs posted in the booths and shops, I'm guessing most weren't in teh consenting mood. I was politey reminded of this by a gentleman who looked like the kind of guy who could smile and make you feel like his best friend while at the same time permanently disabling you with some Jedi mind trick if he so desired.
I did manage to sneak a few images in while in stealth mode, though. Actually, it was more like ignorance mode. All the images posted were taken before I was aware of the strict rules against photography, and even then there were plenty of things to photograph that weren't for sale... I was just too hot to put forth the effort in most cases.
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I was really stoked when I stumbled on these old microphones and was all set to buy the one in the front lower left foreground in the image below (with the black slots). As I was reaching for my wallet to pull out the $35 I thought it cost, I walked just a bit further around it and noticed the "2" I couldn't see from the first angle. $235 was a bit lot more than I wanted to pay for a non-working microphone, no matter how cool it looked.
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9,688,896 Minutes
WHO: My Trusty Alarm Clock | WHAT: Random | WHEN: July 27, 2010 | WHERE: The Night Stand
September of 1991. Almost 19 years. 9,688,896 minutes... that's how much life I've lived with this stupid alarm clock. It's not fancy by today's standards... no CD player, no gently crashing wave alarm sounds that make you have to go to the bathroom, no iPod/iPhone hook-up. The radio barely works anymore... and only gets some random opera music station [playing in the background as I type this]. The minute button is hard to press and you have to angle your finger just right to get it to work. It just tells time. And it's been doing it for appx 9,688,896 minutes. How many other things do I have that I can say are still (quasi) working after that long? None. And to boot it only cost about $25 when I bought it.
The alarm clock's been relegated to guest room duties since I got married, and tonight I dusted it off as I cleaned the room in preparation for Kylie's parents coming to visit later this week. It's missing the battery door on the bottom, so it's got one sharp corner that has started scratching the wood in the night stand it sits on any time it gets moved, and for that reason I decided tonight it's time to send it on to it's un-glorious final resting place.
Here's the thing, though; as ridiculous as it sounds, I got a bit sentimental for a few minutes tonight thinking about this clock (hence the photo) and reminiscing about all the things that have happened - good and bad - in my life over the last almost 19 years. How many things have come and gone, been celebrated and mourned, friends made and relationships faded, etc over the course of 9,688,896 minutes? This clock has been with me for over half my life, and that's pretty amazing to me. And in a weird way - and maybe this is the soft opera music getting to me in the background - it's a little sad to see it go because it's one of the few things I've had for a long time and consequently feels like I'm letting a little piece of my past go. This silly little inanimate object has taken on tangible meaning for me. I guess I equate it to a Toy Story movie waiting to happen, except Woody is replaced by this dumb, no-name digital alarm clock. [NOTE: if you see any movies about sentimental alarm clocks as the main characters come out in the next couple years, you heard it here first... and I expect a big, fat royalty check.]
I think back to all the late nights I crawled into bed and just stared at the red numbers, unable to fall asleep for awhile in thinking about all the things still to be done and things that would never get 'done'. And then I was reminded of these words from the song "When There's No One's Around" by Garth Brooks (well, his remake of it): "It's 4 in the mornin', I'm lyin' in bed. A tape of my failures playin' inside my head. It's heart aches and hard knocks and things I don't know. I listen and I wonder where will it go." I love that song becuase the message is about who we are - the good and the bad - when no one else is around. And this clock has seen it all.
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Wow, it's late, and I better wrap up this post before I start talkin' about how this clock made me who I am today. (The opera music is definitely gettin' to me now.) So long, no-iPodin', no CD playin', no wave soundin', no minute buttonin', opera musicin' alarm clock. Hope you've enjoyed the ride.
Let's see what the next 9,688,896 minutes brings. Check back July of 2029 for an update.
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