Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Day to Night - Look ALL RIGHT!

Day to Night - Look ALL RIGHT!



Juvia slim fit shirt, $54 / RED Valentino brown coat / Lace skirt, $42 / Ripped skinny jeans, $34 / Alexander McQueen ankle boots / Azaara 14 karat gold earrings / Elizabeth and James bracelet / Badgley Mischka scarve / Chico s circle scarf

Fashion faux pas are easy to make, especially when one has to go from work to an evening out. No problem here!  Just bring the skirt and some dangling earrings and within minutes, your look has transformed from Friday casual to evening celebration.  

Warm winter fur and leathers

Warm winter fur and leathers



Cushnie Et Ochs black crop shirt / Balmain animal jacket, $7,145 / Frame Denim high waisted flared pants, $1,900 / Marni block-heel ankle boots / Engagement ring / NOVICA handcrafted jewellery / Palm Beach Jewelry smoky quartz stud earrings / Unreal Fur long shawl, $40



I love earth tones as they look good on everyone. Here, I took a two tone pallet and added a kick of - green.  Just enough for that unique spark. The inspiration pieces were the jacket and the green #ankle boot. Stay warm! It's cold outside!
   

Comfortable winter fashion

Comfortable winter fashion




  1. Monrow dress / Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti stretch belt, $590 / Antonio Marras over the knee boots, $530 / Amanda Rose Collection sterling silver jewelry / Chico s scarce
Like you, I love comfortable clothing.  Find a sweat shirt dress on a cold day, add a pop of color with a scarf, be careful to pull that color through with a great pair of boots, add a coat and voila! No one will know how casual you really are...and comfortable.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Wants, Needs, and Desires...


Recently,  I visited a fellow photographer's studio and prominently displayed upon the wall was a disc, presumably of wedding images, with the words,"Do your wedding photos look like this?"
The point was well taken.  Too often I'm asked, "Can we get the disc?"  And when I inquire as to why this is desired, I learn, "So we can make our own prints."  

Great!  Fabulous! You want to save money (which is most likely the bottom line).
So, you get the disc and...where is it now?  Yup.  In a drawer.  Or, hmmm, you can't remember.  Maybe, you've uploaded the images to the computer - and sent the disc to mom.  But, the computer died and you had no backup, so you asked mom to send the disc back.  But, she inadvertently had an accident with it and it is in the trash.-and she didn't print any images either.  So, you call the photographer and ask for ANOTHER disc.  

So, let's begin with what you really WANT.
AMAZING images to grace your mantle, show to your friends, share with family, and to future generations.  Got it.  You NEED prints or a book.  Why?  How fast does technology change?  We've gone from the floppy disc to a cd to thumb drives.  Try to find a floppy disc reading computer today.  Obsolete.  And many new desktops and laptops no longer come with a disc drive.  Obsolete.  And the thumb drive? Going the way of the cloud.  Think, too: when you went to visit mom and dad - or grandma and grandpa - did you see images displayed? Yup.  And each time you visit, you look at that image, in awe, of "how young they were".  Or your marvel at the genetics on display, "I have grandma's eyes!" The better to see prints with, my dear. 


Why do photographers charge so much for prints?
Our computers are calibrated to the print house (or our very expensive printer). 
We retouch images that are ordered (If it is 8x10 or larger, I'm retouching it to perfection).
We don't order from the local, "we have everything under the sun including a 16 year old working our almost fully automated photo lab".
We use good photographic paper.
We depend upon print sales to supplement our income.  We may not have charged you a lot upfront for a "sitting fee", so we depend upon print and canvas sales.

Will you GIVE me the RAW files?
This is like walking into a restaurant and saying, "Hey Chef!  I absolutely love your Tuscan Chicken Pomodoro!  Can you give me the RAW ingredients?"   He would give you a bag of imported Italian wheat flour, eggs, a raw chicken, spices...

You don't want the RAW files.  You really don't.  In fact, my RAW files are so big, you probably couldn't open them on your computer.  I have special software and years of training to create your image from RAW files,  just like that chef had years of training to make that amazing dish.

Can I have the copyright? 
No.  My guess is what you really want is the RIGHT TO COPY.   This is much different than a copyright.  I own the images as the artist who took them.   I can give you the right to copy - this is called a "print release".   I will burn this to a soon to be obsolete disc in a size in which you can print 8x10 images (gift print size).  If you print them, this is all you will most likely need.  After all, you'll share images on social media.  And if you do make prints, they'll be this size - or smaller.

Order prints.  Order a canvas.  Have us frame it for you - go on, make your life easier.
Order a book.  

Or, display your disc on the wall and entitle it, "Our Wedding Photos".





Sunday, February 1, 2015

Valentine's Day flare

No stress dressing

Did you hire a "faux-tographer"?

Sometimes, I just shake my head. Not in a no, or yes, but in a "I can't believe believe you paid someone to take that image!" 

Yeah, everyone has to start somewhere. And lots of "photographers" just started this December. The 25th to be exact.  You know, the day they got the camera for a gift.  I mean, why not? It can't be that hard!  "I'll shoot your party, your family, your kids...I won't charge much..."

Ahh. But charging makes you a BUSINESS.  Are you licensed? No?  
Then you are not paying taxes. 
And you are not really "professional", now, are you?
And your website? Oh, it's your Facebook page!  Sorry, your FAN page!

I was just looking at a photographer recommendation ISO note on FB:  "In need of photographer for party pics of my kid.  I don't want to pay a lot.  I want all digital images."  Then I looked at the names that cropped up.  Cross referenced several.  Not one registered with the county or state.  Not one with a website.  Not one who appeared to know the difference between a picture and a photograph.  In fact, most of these "faux-tographers" only had a personal FB page. 

I followed one link over to check out images on a FB page - ouch.  Child on mom's lap -mom's hands are cut off.  Child playing in a park - out of focus.  Family walking in the park - dog poop? in the foreground.  Comment from said mom on this FB page: "I LOVE these pictures!"  Perhaps words were missing: "I LOVE these (out of focus, missing body parts, dog poop)  pictures!"

I looked at another "faux-tographer". Crooked horizon lines. Blown out (too white for data to be recorded) images.  Yup, she is inexpensive.  Really inexpensive.  

And then I went to a photographer "help" site, and read things like this: (paraphrased)

"Help! I accidentally tried to shoot in M - and I don't know why some pictures came out and others didn't!  I shot them the same day."  Images: photos taken in morning appear "dialed in".  Afternoon - too bright. 

"Why are my photos blurry?  My camera is on A. Iso 200." Image: Dusk with a running dog.

"Just shot my first wedding.  Why is the dress super white in places?"  Image: Blown out wedding dress.

Hire a photographer.  Not a "faux"tographer" especially if this is for a once in a lifetime special event.