A little advance planning can pay big dividends.  Right now is the time to be thinking and making plans for those springtime photos.  If you really want best results start noticing things now.  Where are the bluebonnets likely to come out and when?  Have you talked with the subject about that time frame or cleared enough of your schedule to make a session in that time period something you can do?  Is there a particular type of flowering tree that you want to use in the photos?  If so when is it likely to be at peak color?

One thing that is now possible with digital imaging is that if you have conflicts that make these types of photos impossible are you totally out of luck????  Not anymore.  With digital imaging we can work this out with the magic of the digital wizard, but we can't do it unless we plan for it. 

In years past to get an image of someone or something at peak bloom, you had to be there at peak bloom.  Not so anymore, but its much better if you can.  If you really want that photo, we can arrange to make a photo of the background at its peak, another photo of the subject, and then combine the two later. 

I also have a source now for canvas prints that can take a photo, print it on a canvas and have it stretched on an artist frame so that no photo frame is needed and it can hang on the wall just as it comes from the printer.  The canvas gives it a very unique look. and adds to the decor of any room or office..

Contact me for the details and I can't wait for spring to get here.  Its one of my favorite times of the year

Happy holidays everyone.  One thing I hope to do one day is to get the small pocket point an shoot camera that I can have with me all the time.  Yes I have a working camera that the point and shoot could never rival, but till that day don't forget the cell phone camera.  They are getting much better.  Though it will be some time before a cell phone camera can get something ready for display in an art gallery, it can preserve those special moments that often happen around the holidays.  A small print is often better than no print.  The memory is preserved.

For the important events, hire a pro and enjoy the event.  Yes keep your camera handy anyway, but there you can enjoy the event, the dinner, the party ect  without worrying about you being responsible for capturing those memories.

Happy holidays everyone.

Fall is one of my favorite times to work outdoors.  I would rather work with trees turning some of the most wonderful colors ever imagined than in front of a backdrop any day.  The changes fall brings offers opportunities of texture and pattern, that you can find at no other time of the year.  It also makes for some of the best portraits, and can make great holiday gifts.

It does require just a bit of preparation.  The time frame is VERY limited.  You only have at most a couple of weeks and the combination of the right conditions and peak color may be even more limited than that.  Some years I have seen places that it was only a single day.  Reasons can range from a storm with a strong wind blowing the leaves down early, to rainy weather lasting longer than peak color.  It can be very frustrating.

Now is the time to begin start watching the leaves, and planning ahead for that photo session.  Talk with your photographer and tell them what you are trying to do, where, and what you want to accomplish.  Watch the leaves as they turn and as they get closer watch the weather too.  Then it becomes a bit of a guessing game.  As a rule of thumb a week too soon usually works better than a week too late.  A week too soon and the color, though maybe not peak, usually still has the vivid stand out look that makes fall something to look forward to all year.  Wait too late and the leaves, though they may still be on the tree, tend to start to die and look lifeless.

Granted this is a lot of time and effort, but the results can be well worth it.

Yes a great formal portrait is priceless, and I believe everyone should have a formal portrait done every so often.  But I also believe that the INFORMAL portrait maybe more important. 

The informal portrait opens many opportunities to show more about who we really are at that time.  It gives us the opportunity to preserve where we are and what we thought was important at that stage in our lives.  That changes, but it also opens a bit of a door that tells future generations a bit about who we were long after we are gone.

I believe the informal portrait should be done in settings where the subject is around what he loves to do.  Someone that loves horses should be around something about horses if not a horse.  An artist portrait might be done in their art studio at work.  A hunter might be photographed in the woods, showing his or her love for the outdoors.

When setting up a photo session it is important to think about these things.  We instinctively know that photos are history, but often don't put enough thought in what that history should say.  It is important to discuss these ideas with a photographer.  Being open helps a photographer understand what you are trying to create.  I tell people I sometimes can read your eyes, but I can't read your mind and I should have to.  Talk to me.

Well the computer has changed imaging more than anyone can really imagine.  It isn't just digital imaging, but the computer chip started impacting the photography business long before that.  When it started doing part of the exposure, and then later having the ability to come up totally with a shutter speed and F stop, photography got much easier.  It opened the door to millions of people that might not have ever picked up a camera.  It also added another question that separated the pros from the joes.  What's hard?

No one pays for something they can do for themselves.  What's hard was the key and being able to do it on demand.  At first it was equipment totally.  Pros typically used more expensive cameras with larger film sizes that produced much better results.  To the outsider it was the more expensive camera that made the difference.  To those on the inside, they knew it was only part of the puzzle.

Now digital cameras and digital imaging automates the process even further, the question is still what's hard.  Far more images are being taken today than ever before.  The digital imaging automation a digital SLR can produce images that unless you enlarge them greatly can produce amazing results.  The vast majority of images rarely make it past 8x10.  At some point the pros have to even ask themselves how good is good enough.  Now the 10+ mp digital SLR have the ability to far more than most expect.  Now some jobs demand the highest end and specialized equipment, but not the vast majority do not.  So the question is still "What's hard?"

The answer to what's hard is really the same as it always was and likely always will be.  It is simple.  It is just common sense and can be summed up in a single word.  Knowledge  

The simplest camera in the world can be an effective image maker in the hands of someone that understands his craft and art.  The more advanced the camera, the more knowledge it takes to get the most out of its abilities.  That takes time, practice, study and testing.  Now could you learn how to do it??  Absolutely, but would you??  Is it worth your time?  Can you do it consistently and not count on the lucky press of the button?  What you need from a pro when you hire a pro isn't his or her equipment but their mind.

Once in a while I am asked why do I enjoy black and white and miss all those beautiful colors in a particular image.  The last time I thought about that a while and pondered it in quiet moments.

I realized it was because it was such a different way to see the world.  I get the color reaction with my eyes.  I can save that with a digital capture or with a color film, but until I actually go through the process I can't see in black and white.

It is that difference that creates the response to the image.  It may not be a stronger reaction to the same image in color.  It may not be that I like the image better, but its different.  With years of practice I usually have a pretty good idea of what the image is going to look like in its final form when I press the button to capture an image, but there are always surprises.  Sometimes they are what did I do to foul this up, but often they are look at that butterfly that I didn't see when I made the image.

Shapes that sometimes hide in a mass of color, often stand out.  It is sometimes hard to believe but color can be a distraction.  Remove the color and you remove the distraction. 

It doesn't matter whether its film or digital.  Both are valid.  Different processes, but my reaction is quite similar.  It is a sense of anticipation and wonder whether it is waiting for software to make a conversion or waiting for a print to appear in a developing tray.  Both allow me to see that part of the world in a different and sometimes very special way.

 In the age of digital portraits, people often forget the original medium, black an white film.  Though its progressed light years from its beginnings, like everything else, some of the qualities that made it special to begin with are still valid.  A silver image is one of the most durable images out there.   We still have the heartbreak of the US Civil War and the true brutality of conflict recorded using some of the earliest photographic methods.  Those photos serve mankind in many ways.

A black and white photo lasts.  For documenting a family history, everyone should occasionally get a black and white portrait done.  That photo will be around to show your kids grand kids.  More importantly you can create moods in black and white which is difficult if not impossible to do in color.  For many people and in many situations, color can be distracting.  Instead of noticing the pretty color of a dress, black and white often allows the viewer to notice the deep strength in the eyes, or the kindness in a heart that comes from that unique smile.  Yes it can happen in color, but are we smart enough to see it????

Though not really an instruction website, I know how many cameras will be a clicking away on Christmas morning.  Since I am not sure anyone has enough money to hire me that morning I thought Id add few tips for holiday pictures to the blog.

First is when you are taking pictures looking downward, you most likely are not getting the best photo.  Get down on your subjects level.  Trouble is that means if you are photographing someone opening a gift on the floor, you need to be there too.  When you get my age, getting up isn't so quick or so certain anymore but I do it it anyway.  You want to see the facial expressions, not the top of ones head.

Tip number 2 is to think of the initial photos as starting points not end points.  IF you don't have any experience in digital imaging find a friend that does.  The ability to manipulate gives us opportunities to correct problems, get rid of that annoying object in the background, fix the color or any of a host of problems that happen with snapshots.  Yet sometimes snapshots become treasures with just a bit of tweaking.

Have a great holiday season and enjoy your family and friends.

Well the digital equipment life cycle is an ever increasing source of frustration to me.  The latest has been building this website.  Every time I think I have this thing figured out where I can get back to doing what I like to do most, something else seems to develop and that ten minute job turns into two days.

Yet I guess I should be glad because with each problem comes a new opportunity to learn and explore.  Yeah its a very simple site and probably always will be.  I'd rather spend the time behind the camera.  Yet but learning how building a site works, should help in many ways, even if later I spend big bucks to let someone else do it for me.  I just hope I get a few days where I don't have to learn by aggravation. 

As I look at my studio, one thing catches my eye more than anything else.  There is more PVC pipe here than the plumbing aisle at Lowes or Home Depot.  My backdrop holder is made out of PVC pipe instead of those adjustable fancy dancy  and expensive stands.  They hold up a backdrop with plain old $1 spring clamps.  Cheap but they work.  Now when I think about how I should spend money on a backdrop holder, I think again for a minute.  I have very good lenses because I don't have the expensive backdrop holder.  A lens is going have a far greater impact on quality than anything else.

Then I think again my best images seem to come from people with which I really like working with.  A connection and a trust seems to develop.  They relax.  I soon can get an honest laugh.  Once that happens the magic can begin with an honest, non posed smile.

Sometimes a smile isn't necessary for a great image.  In fact for many of the ones I like a smile isn't a requirement at all.  Many emotions can be expressed with facial expressions and not all emotions are happy.  Power, glamour, determination, contentment, reflection can all be powerfully portrayed with nothing more than look and lighting.  The skill of the photographer is understanding how to bring that out in a subject.

Trouble is the client doesn't always have the ability to put into words the look they really want.  I can sometimes read their eyes, but not their mind.   When showing a particular piece of work I have learned to watch the client and not look at the image myself.  The reactions can tell a great deal.  Even better is when a client brings me a photo of something and say," I want to do something along this line."  Now we have some easy and effective means to communicate what they want, not what I want to do with them.  My job is not to please myself, but my client.  Sad so few people will actually cut the photos out and bring them to me.

Yet given a bit of time, a little joking around, having fun, not taking this too seriously even though its a serious job, and I find that people will instinctively produce what they really want.  They may not know it when its happening, but it usually just comes out IF they are relaxed and having fun.  Like I said it gets back to the people again, not the gear.