casting call images

Here are some of the images from the latest casting call. I plan on doing these every once in a while to help out local clothing boutiques. Let me know if you have one you would like to recommend and maybe we will use them for the next casting call.

casting call winners

The girls from the casting call who will be in the photo shoot on Thursday have been selected. We went with four girls that had looks we were looking for and would photograph together well. Thank you to all that came out, and we hope to be able to work with many of you in the future. So here they are!

a simple realization about complexity

It came to my attention the other day while moving all of my computers and equipment that goes along with it how complicated computers have made day to day living. Not that I would give away my computer and go back to the time before everyone (or almost anyways) had one in their home, but I do think that my profession was simpler back then.

I started off my photography career in high school shooting with an old Canon AE-1. Sure, it had auto-exposure, but no autofocus and can you believe~ FILM!! I loved that camera and what I could create by playing with the f-stops and shutter speeds. Shooting T-Max for black and white and Kodak for color, it was simple. Take the pictures, send the film out for processing, and either make my own prints or send them out as well. After a few upgrades to my film 35mm camera, including a Canon 1D, I switched to a Mamiya 645AFD. A medium format camera. If you are not sure what medium format is, imagine a 35mm frame and then double the length and width and that is just about medium format. Prints the size of a wall with very little grain, how could it get better. Then came digital (actually, I had both the digital and mamiya at the same time).

My first digital camera was the Canon D30. I whopping 3 MP! Whew, I had the biggest and the best at that time. It was a hard sell telling people that images from their photo sessions or weddings would look just as good with the 3MP Canon, and honestly, it probably fell well short of the digital camera. But, that was cutting edge stuff! I then upgraded to the D60, a huge 6MP! Who would need any more megapixels than that I wondered. Everyone would be fooling themselves to think they needed anything more. Boy was I wrong. I now use two Canon 5D's. They are wonderful cameras. Shoot 10MP, which is fine for prints up to 30x40 with very little grain (do you have a print larger than 30x40 in your home?).

With all the fun that comes with digital, and the ability to check for eye blinks and exposure right when you take the image, there is a lot of down sides. All the equipment you have to own to do it right. I have a Drobo hard drive system, much like a Raid system where it writes the digital files to more than one drive in case of hard drive failure (which happens all the time to people), a online backup site that stores all of my jpegs, DVDs to give to clients when they purchase the usage rights to the images, 3 Mac computers, and all of the cables, charges, and tools that go with them all. It is not fun to move and set up it all.

So I came to the realization, it is wonderful shooting digital and being able to create images in photoshop that were not able to be created before, but film sure was simple!

Studio Update

So a lot of people may be wondering when the studio will be open again. In case you did not know, I had to close the studio down for a couple weeks while we get a new concrete driveway and parking area. Well, after waiting many weeks because of rain every couple days, the driveway should be poured in the morning and should be drive-able by this weekend. That means I can start accepting shoots and consultations again. My apologies to those of you that felt ignored or that I had to turn away. Call now and we can schedule your appointment.

Yearbook Ad Creations

Let us create your yearbook ad from images we shoot during your senior session. These can also be printed out as a poster for you to keep.

Wedding Prices Restructured

Okay, so after getting feedback from brides at the bridal show, I have decided to go back to the original pricing structure for my packages. Custom packages will still be available, they just won't be the only option. So now you have the option of one of three different packages or your own custom package. That should satisfy everyone's needs. (I think) :)

The Best Wedding Package Ever!

I offered this as a bridal show special and it was so popular, I decided to keep it around for awhile. Here is what you get in the package:
Engagement Portraits and a 16x20
Bridal Portraits and a 16x20
6 hours of wedding coverage
8x12 or 10x10 20 page leather storybook album
3-4x6 or 4x4 photobook parent albums
print disk with full resolution images
All for only $3000
What more could you ask for? This special won't be around forever, so call today to schedule your consultation at our studio in Rockwall ~ 214-289-1238