Brand It

Well I decided this weekend that I was going to start on branding my photography business. I was tired of not having a consistent look for a logo, business cards, web site, etc... I got some of it done during the weekend. I finished my logo (which you can see on facebook.com/charliekphotography), picked out all the colors,fonts, and I revamped my wedding brochure. This project will take some time, but I will be worth it in the long run. The big thing I have left is redesigning the web site to conform to this new look. I have decided however to wait until I have the new Adobe CS5 master collection to start because it has the tools and technology I want to utilize in my web site. Technologies like HMTL 5 and CSS 3. I know this is probably greek to some, but these technologies will allow me to add some features that would take some serious work to implement in older technology. I have some big ideas on what I wan to do now its just time to do it and stop messing around.

Full Service

I like to say that I'm a full service photographer. What does that mean you say??? Well it means that if you need it photographed I'll photograph it. I just like making pictures I don't care if its at a wedding or high school senior portraits, or even your kids 1st birthday party. I just want to make pictures. I might specialize later in my career, but for right now I'm just going to focus on improving this craft anyway I can.

Let me Tell Ya.

This heat is killing me in more ways then one right now. I want to get out and shoot, but with the temps being over 100 all weekend it's really hard for me to gather up the strength to go. I know I know I know I need to just get out and do some shooting, but when most of the stuff you want to do includes a model or clients, its hard too and in all reality you have about an hour to an hour and a half before everybody starts to get tired and cranky (myself included :) ) I love photography have ever since I picked up my first camera, so like I said this heat is killing me.

Early Morning Shoo

This composite is made from photos that I took at an early morning session today. I have to admit that I wasn't looking forward to getting up at 5 AM, but I will say that the time was perfect, the light was awesome, and it didn't get too hot until later on in the morning. I had an awesome time shooting this. One thing is for sure and that is I learn something new every time I go out. I think that is very important for all of us and that is to try something new every time. If you're not comfortable using a piece of equipment go out and get better with with it. Not good with lighting practice. The most important thing is to never get complacent with your learning, never stop learning.  

Aperture

For those who know me know that I'm a major Apple fan. I love how all their software that I use talks to one another and I'm easily able to use pictures from Aperture and put them in my Pages documents, Key note presentations, sync with my iPhone and so one and so forth. I however recently read a blog post about why is Lightroom better then Aperture. I have to say that I agree that from what I've seen and read Lightroom seems like the better product when it comes to organizing my photos. My only problems is now that I've been using Aperture for a few years I have thousands of photos in my libraries and how do I move them over easily. I know when I moved from iPhoto to Aperture it was a pain. Is that pain worth the out come and some better performance? Maybe, but I'm not totally convinced of that just yet. I think I need to some more ready and watching. In the long run I will probably end up staying with Aperture even though at times it can be a bit sluggish. Only time will tell how this ends.

In The Beginning

I was looking through some of my old photos the other day and came across this portrait I did of my friend swinging. I remember shooting this, it was my very first portrait shoot and I had no idea what I was doing, but my model was patient and helped give me ideas for shots and really just kinda owned the moment. Which is good I don't really enjoy having to pose people in a very specific way. Personally it doesn't look natural. After shooting with many different models I have become at ease with giving direction on the image I wanting and what I would like them to do. Just like everything else it just takes practice and time. The more you do it the more comfortable you are with telling the person you're taking the pictures of how to place their hands, move their chin down, etc... I'm glad I found these old photos it really reminds me just how far I have come in my photography.

Brand Zealots

I got to thinking about the whole Nikon vs Canon, Mac vs PC thing. What do I think about it? I personally think it's pretty childish. They are tools nothing more and nothing less. Yes I have my preference, but it is just that a preference. I am a firm believer that it's the persons talent and skill that makes an image, film, artwork, or anything else not the tools they use. There are people however that don't see it the way I do and that's fine. They feel that one is better then the other and let me tell you there are some passionate people out there. I will tell you the gear I have found that works for me and that's Canon Cameras and Apple computers. I have found that there products work best for my needs and allow me to me get the job done quickly and easily. This is just my feelings on the subject and nothing more.