Well, we're working on some major updating here at the studio.

Gone is the old red, white, & blue colors. (No, it wasn't a flag in here!) Callie has determined that we needed a fresh look this year, and we wanted to go dramatic.

WOW.

The color is called "Velvety Merlot", and it looks like a million bucks. Beautiful, rich deep burgandy color.

It's trimmed with a custom color that Callie calls "Chocolate Milk" - I think it looks more like a hazelnut cream. (We all drink too much here - merlot, chocolate milk, hazelnut cream - LOL)

To top it all off - we're going to lay hardwood floors in the main reception area and down the hallway to the studio.

WOW.

It's really hard to pick a style for your studio - it really reflects your artistic side. Neutral colors just don't say much, and too vivid can clash with images. This just really works well.

We're going to start offering custom in home framing consultations - basically we'll decorate your walls for you! The cool part about this is we can figure out what you want, create it during your session, then come back and install it all for you (yes, we'll even hang it - you know that it never gets done if you don't do it immediately! I still have pictures that need to be hung at my house! LOL).

How do you show how well you do this when you only have 4 walls to decorate? I mean, really - you have to put up the best of the best, don't make it look crowded, make sure the entire room works (not just each wall individually) - and show the different styles you can do.

I think we're going to go with a simple black frame, white mat theme in the reception area. Clean, classy, and with track lighting we'll spotlight each image.

Down the hall, we'll go for a bit more casual - maybe some fine art prints, more playful bright mats in the kids area - just to mix it up.

If you're in the area, you'll have to swing by and see. We should be done in the next couple of weeks.

Anyway, I just wanted to share. I'll post pictures when I'm not covered in paint!

Shan

Wow - less than 12 hours ago, I started shooting their wedding.

How fun!

Last week, we did their engagement session. Simple order - black frame, signature mat, print, and a guest book.

Let's list the problems related to this simple session:

After the session - they left their diaper bag. Delivered that to their house on Easter.
Frame - out of stock. Had to drive an hour to pick up another style from a different supplier.
Print - got left out of the order. Had to overnight it from the lab.
Guest book - didn't get printed until Friday. Saturday delivery (on my doorstep from California this morning!)
My easel - missing a screw. Off to Staples to get a new one.


Oh yeah - my rechargable batteries for my flash haven't arrived yet.

Anyway, it all came together perfectly - and Melinda and Rocco never saw any of the problems! (They didn't need to - that was all my job!)

We got some AMAZING images - they are so cute! - and they were so much fun to work with.

You can tell they really love each other the way they work together!

Anyway, we got some great shots. Beautiful colors, happy people - you can't go wrong!

This one really speaks to the bond between Melinda and her dad. Rocco is saying his "I do" (to the Love, Honor, Cherish, etc) and her dad never took his eyes off Rocco while he answered. You can tell he loves his daughter and really trusts Rocco to let him have her.

There was so much emotion in this wedding - you could tell this family had some close ties.

Anyway, they are off to Greece. Just wanted to share!

Shan

As I sit here eating my 3 year old's fruity marshmallows (you know the ones!) I'm reminded of the show "How it's made".

Have you seen it yet?

For fans of "Futurama", it's just like "hypnotoad".

It is a narrator, talking about how things are made. Anything - marshmallow cookies (which is what reminded me of the show), professional kites, photographic prints.

(Do you like how my train of thought derailed and caused a huge thought disaster? LOL)

Basically, it's just a video inside different factories showing things in a repetitive process.

Over and over.

Again and again.

Eventually, you're rescued by a commercial and you can wipe the drool off your chin.

It's such a cool show! If you get a chance (and want to burn 30 minutes of your life) turn it on once.

(Wow - I'm a geek. What a sad realization. Oh well! LOL)

Anyway, more on point, I wanted to let everyone know that this blog is open for comments - even if you're not a blogger.

Look below this post - you'll see something that says "0 Comments" - or if we're lucky - "1 Comment" or more!

Just click on it, and you'll get a window to leave your own note for me! I'd love to see what you think of my various rants, raves, and geek talk. I look at the stats, and I'm amazed at how many people check out my blog on a daily basis. I'd love to hear from you!

Ok...time for bed.

G'night!

Shan

We've been sorting through the tons of info gathered at the WPPI convention a few weeks ago, and we're putting together a new product lineup of some extremely unique items. You wouldn't believe all the different things that are out there!

Here's some samples:

La-Vie Album
I've seen these albums elsewhere, but this was the first time I was able to put my hands on them. Talk about quality! These albums are handmade. Each image is cut out by a designer, as well as the archival papers used for the background images. Every page is laminated for durability.

Oh, did I mention how they open? Every page is a surprise. Foldouts, various sized pages, cutouts showing images from the next page - absolutely amazing. Truly a one of a kind album that I'm pleased to say we'll be offering soon.

www.la-viealbum.com


Rock-It Banners
Want to make an impression? Imagine walking down the hall to your reception, and on either side are 24x60 banners of you and your new husband on beautiful soft-as-silk satin. Each banner comes with a brass hanging rod, and looks absolutely amazing. What to do after the wedding? How about having someone make them into a quilt! Imagine that being handed down for generations!

Guest Books
Not just another magazine style album, but a unique combination of photo paper and high quality writable pages. Every other page is writable, and has spaces for the guests. This means no more smudging, damage to the images, and questionable longevity. Perfect!

Leather Asuka Books
I knew these were coming, but they felt even nicer than I expected. Talk about progressive - they have both real leather (sooo soft....very nice) as well as "animal friendly" leather substitute - which is even softer than the real leather! No pricing on these yet, but soon!

Fine Art Greeting Cards
Wow - these things feel like a million bucks. The papers they have are absolutely gorgeous, and have such a high end feel, you'd expect a $10 price tag on each card. Super rich colors, the textures are amazing, and the even come with lined envelopes.

Frames, Frames, and more Frames!
I can't even describe some of these amazing frames we saw. Floaters (the frame is a shadowbox style, and the image is supported from behind, giving a "floating" look), rich polished woods that look about a mile deep, and even wood mats! The frames interlocked, allowing you to create your own frame in a frame in a frame style - wow!

Of course, we met some longtime friends (Millers, MPix, WHCC, Asuka, Albums Inc, GraphiStudio) and finally got to put faces to the names. New press albums from both MPix and WHCC means faster turnaround on non-laminated coffee table albums. Gotta love it!

We also learned quite a bit from experts in the field. Building (and earning) trust, different photography techniques, how to improve our current setup, etc. We're processing this and working on making it benefit our customers. We're going to be adjusting our product and service lineup to help simplify the decision process, as well as focusing more on service. You just wait to see what we have in store for our customers!

Until next time!

Shan

Yesterday, I went to Washington D.C. (Mr. Smith goes to Washington?) to do an engagement session with Craig & Hillary.

If you don't know, the height of Cherry Blossom season is April 3 until April 5th out in D.C., and boy, it was beautiful. It was about a 6 hour trip, and we got there around 5. We started with pictures at 6:30, getting that last hour of beautiful light.



Of course, we kept going for another hour. We were able to use the beautiful twilight and the monument lighting to create some really cool images!

After we were done, we all went out to a little diner (mmmm...diner food!) and looked at the images and had a good time laughing and telling stories.

I had to be back today, so it was an all night drive back, but it was sooo worth it! I can't wait to shoot their wedding - it's going to be a blast!


[geek talk]
It was the first time I got to use my new Sigma 24-70 2.8 EX DG lens. Oh yeah, this is my new favorite! Great color, super sharp, fast focus - awesome! (Now if the filter was just smaller than a square mile, it's be great! It takes an 82mm filter!)

The zoom ring is smaller than expected - the focus ring is actually about 2x the width. It's stiff but not difficult. I imagine that it will loosen up after I use it more.

Another interesting thing is how you switch to manual focus. You actually push / pull the focus ring. It locks into position (AF / MF) and that's the switch. Nice, since it disengages the clutch so you can't damage the AF motor (this one doesn't have the HSM).

It was slightly louder than the HSM versions, but not unreasonable. It focuses so fast I can't imagine anyone actually noticing it.

I also got to play with the new Sigma 50-150 2.8 EX DG lens. This little baby is so light, but has a great usable range. Super fast too! It has the HSM motor (like the 70-200 sigma) but I swear it's about twice as fast. It never hunted - it just locked on!

It came with a circular hood - not the normal petal type hood. It actually made the lens look more substantial, since it's actually a very small lens for a 2.8. If you didn't know, you'd think it was either a 4.0 or a standard variable aperture lens!

It's a great match for the 18-50 2.8. Steph is going with this setup (18-50 2.8 + 50-150 2.8) and I'm going to run with the bigger ones (24-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8). The digital only lenses (18-50 / 50-150) are at least 1/2 the weight and size of the full frame models!

It interesting to note that the digital versions (18-50) work out to almost exactly the same range on a 1.6 crop digital as the full frame versions without the crop.

In english:
18-50 * 1.6 crop factor = 29-80
50-150 * 1.6 crop factor = 80-240

Put those lenses on the 20D/30D/Digital Rebel, and they are almost the same as the 24-70 & 70-200 on the 5D or 1Ds!

Good thinking sigma!

(Still looking for that sponsorship - love the polo shirt I got at WPPI!) ;-)

[/geek talk]

Until next time!

Shan