Well, the guys/girls over at Frame Works, in SLO, CA. are awesome but I am talking about our framing contractors for the new PRODPI project. They pounded out a ton of walls in one day! We should have fully framed rooms later this week, with electrical quickly following. This is getting exciting!
So we were able to win the painting battle of the new PRODPI location this past weekend. 24′ tall walls/ceilings are crazy!
The scissor lift is awesome! Kinda scary when you are that high though!
You can’t find good help these days… So I leave my brother-in-law and his girlfriend for a little while and come back to this:
Check this out!
Cory Parris has started a wonderful site called “The Wedding Photography Project”, it can be found here. Here is what it is all about:
“Here’s the skinny. This will eventually be a site that will feature fantastic photographers and an article written by each one. What’s the purpose? To make every wedding photographer that views these articles better, to shorten the learning curve, and to raise the level of art being created by wedding photographers around the world. It’s a lofty goal, but why not?”
Contributors so far include:
Becker
Cory Parris Photography
David Beckstead
Garrett Nudd
Jessica Claire
JVS Images
Kristin Duarte
Maurice Photo
Neil van Niekerk
Randy Kepple
Cory has asked us to provide articles on of printing, image prep and anything having to do with getting the best prints for wedding photography business. I can’t wait to get started, it is so great to be able to share and teach!
An awesome photographer on DWF (Digital Wedding Forum) lent me a helping hand today with his recomendation of File Renamer by Sherrod Computers.
John Blair from John Blair Photographer helped me with a little renaming problem that we ran into. I needed to remove a string of characters from 1000+ image files. File Renamer, for Windows, did it in a flash. It has the most file renaming tools and abilities that I have ever seen. We were able fix our problem quickly and without spending a penny!
Thanks John! Check out John’s website here. Also you can view his blog here. John shoots portrature and weddings in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Tennessee. Beside being a wonderful photographer, he is a great assett to the DWF community, providing excellent feedback, knowledge sharing and inspiration.
We have used Lacie Electron Blue CRT monitors here in the lab for quite some time now, when Lacie discontinued them we began the search for a good replacement LCD with the following characteristics key to us:
A few months back we tested a demo NEC 1990SXI. It is a spectacular LCD. Everything that we could have hoped for in a display. My NEC rep mentioned that I should wait before replacing all of our CRT’s with this model so that we can review the new 1970NX. So, I took his word with hesitation due to the price being half of that of the 1990SXI. Well, it came today and it is a winner.
Removing it from the packaging is always a treat, like Christmas. NEC packages and ships their displays really well, almost Apple like. The box contains:
Setup was a breeze it fired right up on both Mac and PC based workstations. I let the LCD warm up for about 30 minutes then started the calibration/profile process with a Gretag Macbeth Eye One Display2. I was easily able to obtain the following settings via the NEC OSD.
I created a profile and was in business. Literally 15 minutes to a fully calibrated and profiled display solution for a production workstation. The screen is nice and sharp, but not overly sharp to hurt the eyes. Color is great and easily matches the PDI test chart when softproofed.
I would enthusiastically recomend this display. Is it better than the 1990SXI? For half the price, the 1970NX is definately no slouch. Where you see a difference is in the build of the housing. While the 1990SXI has very refined construction and fit and finish, the 1970NX feels a little less. It definately isn’t going to fall apart though. The OSD buttons are easy to operate but feel a little loose. The monitor does however sport a USB hub and a swivel base.
If you are in the market for an accurate display I would highly look into both the 1990SXI and the new 1970NX. Make sure youo order the newer 1970NX, designated with a 1 at the end of the model number.
I describe myself as Creating Emotional Photostories.
I have always been drawn to emotions and am fascinated by the ability of the human face to portray that emotion. This drew me to the field of photojournalism when I was in college and I interned at a daily newspaper (The Herald in Everett, Washington).
My background in photojournalism has largely shaped both my methods and what photographs I identified with. The reality of a wedding is beautiful – two people that are making a lifelong commitment out of love. There is not a lot of need for embellishment, but rather a need to record and find the moments to emphasize the beautiful moments.
This love of emotion also shapes the way I take the couple portraits. I want them to interact and play so the real emotions show through even when it is in a controlled situation. Couples on their wedding day are brimming full of emotion and it bursts through all the time. I just emphasize it and capture it.
I love capturing the real events and emotions of the day.
I really feel like my life started over the day I met my wife, Leslie. Everything I value in life started at that moment. In the 14 years since we met, I have only not seen Leslie for one day. Marrying her and having children has been the greatest joy in my life. I hope that other couples are able to find that same sort of happiness with their spouse and that is what makes me thrilled to be part of so many weddings. The love, laughter and tears of a wedding day are like a reaffirmation of the way I feel about Leslie every weekend. I use my own emotions to connect to my clients and it makes me work harder knowing that I am there to document and illustrate the culmination of so much love and passion and the start of their lives together.
-Cory Parris
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PRODPI would like to thank Cory for his wonderful thoughts. Cory has been featured in Studio Photography Magazine, click here to read the great article!
It has been a pleasure to work with him and hope to continue to share the opportunity to be part of his wonderful services as a photographer.
PRODPI is happy to offer Cory 2 Metallic Enlargements.
PRODPI is proud to sponsor “Fast Cars and sunglasses- A live desert wedding shoot and BBQ”
The details are simple:
Memphis Barbeque dinner
a setting sun
a bride, a groom,
and a pink cadillac.
With photographers John Michael Cooper & David Beckstead!
From Jeff Caplan of DWF-
Hi Folks…
If you’ve been to a DWF Convention, you know about the scream: It’s that moment of recognition when members who read each others’ posts and PM finally meet in the real world. The scream goes something like “Aaaaaaaah!” followed immediately by the hug. Opening night, you see it happen a few hundred times only to be repeated with the hug goodbye four days later.
In between the heartfelt hello and the exhausted goodbye you’ll experience four days of networking, partying, and learning. Sometimes you’ll find all three things mixed up. Picture Laura Novak holding up her laptop computer to a group of members as she holds an spur-of-the-moment business seminar on the casino floor. It happened last year!
About the learning? Right before the final seminar of last year’s convention, I asked 600 attendees “OK, who feels like their head is gonna explode from all this information?” 600 people shouted back. THAT’S the DWF Convention.
Join us in Las Vegas?
I would like to share this article written by photographer, Cameron Ingalls. His blog can be found here. It was featured in the latest issue of YWD (Your Wedding Day). He is such a wonderful photographer, filled with a true gift for imagery. He has one of the largest hearts ever, and is one of those people that touches lives and makes a difference. Though this is written for brides and grooms, it is a great read and I think all wedding photogoraphers can learn from his words. Enjoy his article.
So, You have booked your photographer and may now be wondering, ‘should we get the engagement session too?’ I mean, if you’re already hiring someone to photograph you for eight hours on your wedding day, do you really need extra pictures?!
Well, one good reason to get the engagement session could be to provide you with some beautiful pictures to give as party favors or an enlargement for display at your wedding. But, as a wedding photographer, I’ve learned there’s much more important reasons to celebrate the emotions and energy which spring from this exciting stage of life.
When I started shooting weddings, I thought of the engagement session as good practice for the wedding, but it seems my couples have taught me what it’s really all about. So, Instead of telling you my top ten reasons for getting these shots, I want to share with you what I have learned from brides and grooms just like you. Here are the stories of a few of the couples I have had the privilege of photographing, not only on their wedding days, but also during their engagements.
Nathan and Tiffany wanted to shoot their pictures in a secluded forest. Since they were coming from Santa Cruz, we decided to meet half way in the beautiful coastal mountains of Big Sur. Prior to the session, we had lunch and talked about everything from our favorite music to their future plans. It was an intimate time of sharing about our interests, our dreams and ourselves and it gave me a chance to understand what makes their relationship unique. Later, as we tromped through fields of poison oak and ducked under heavy pine branches, we were no longer just a photographer and his clients. We were friends hanging out in a forest, on an adventure to capture the perfect images to tell the story of Nathan and Tiffany. I learned from them that building a friendship is a great way to achieve beautiful, natural-looking images.
I clicked with Denton and Sadye immediately and by the time our initial meeting had ended, a new friendship was blossoming. They wanted an urban/industrial feel for their session, so we headed downtown as I had a couple of locations in mind that would work perfectly. Our first stop was in front of a metal warehouse and it was immediately evident that this photo shoot was going to be exceptional. I put an 85 mm lens on, backed off and told them to start playing. They were absolute naturals!
Later, I asked Sadye to share with future brides how she was able to be so comfortable in front of the lens. “You are taking engagement photos to show who you and your fiancé are as two individuals completely in love. Be confident, and don’t apologize for being yourself in front of the camera. If you get the jitters, take a step back, breathe, close your eyes and breathe again. Then, look into your fiancé’s eyes and find a moment that makes you smile. Just be in the moment until you forget that the camera is there.” I found that photographing them was as easy as simply observing and capturing their unashamed chemistry.
I think the most encouraging feedback I’ve received from a bride came from Allegra Parreira. I shot her engagement session last October at another of my favorite locations, a gorgeous beach in Montana De Oro State Park. I could see right away that this couple were deeply in love and it wouldn’t take much direction for them to be comfortable in front of the camera—in fact, they soon became absorbed in each other and their personalities began to show. After I gave them their engagement proofs, Allegra sent me a note, “Your pictures were the first time I was able to see how I look at Christan and how he looks at me… for the first time I saw what our love looks like and I was able to understand how true that love is! You managed to capture the essence of us… goofy, laughing, fun, in love and with an ability to be serious.” I learned from Christan and Allegra that the engagement session is more than just practice for the wedding—it’s an opportunity to preserve one of the most romantic seasons of your relationship and to capture the bliss you felt at the beginning of your lifetime together.
So when you run out to get photographed before the big day, make sure you take some advice from these expert brides. Become friends with your photographer – ask a ton of questions and be sure to share who you are. You will find yourself able to be more comfortable, more relaxed and even more romantic while being photographed. This will help your photographer to get natural and heartfelt pictures of you and your fiancé and will greatly increase your level of comfort in front of the camera on your wedding day.
But, most of all, be confident and unashamed. Take the time to enjoy being in love.
