Monday, November 14, 2011

Lana & Steve | Portraits

Lana & Steve are one of the coolest couples you will meet.  From the way they joke back and forth to playing Hot Hands, they have some of the most hilarious exchanges between each other. We had such a fun time during the session that the time just flew by. Below are a few captures and slideshow from the portrait session.

Enjoy.

Brian









Thursday, November 3, 2011

Brandon: Senior Status

We had a blast photographing Brandon a few weeks back and wanted to post a few images and the slideshow on the blog as well. For this session, we shot on a farm that has been in his family for generations. The best part about the location was the variety of places for us to shoot in like a small dock, barn, and corn cage to name a few.


Enjoy the session and feel free to leave a comment.

Ja mata,

Brian














Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Fall Portrait Preview

A few teasers from a recent portrait session with Lana and Steve, an awesome couple who are a blast to hang out with.

Enjoy these few shots before the slide show gets released.

Ja mata!
Brian







Monday, October 10, 2011

The Fog

I am like a kid on Christmas morning when I wake up to a foggy morning. You really cannot beat them when it comes to photography, well unless you are photographing people. Normally, the fog here only last til about 8-9 am, but on this day it lingered around until about 11am! Next time I'm going to shoot some film too.
Below are a few images from the recent fog outing, finding the heron on the last shot was all about being there and being ready.

Enjoy,
Ja mata.
Brian







Fav shot below...


Monday, August 29, 2011

What you learn at Conventions only help if...you use it.

A few weeks back I was at Skip Cohen's Summer School in Vegas with over 300 other photographers learning from some of the best in the photography and video industry.



While it would be fun to recap all of the knowledge that was shared, it is more important to discuss what we do with what we learned. Too often we hear about how awesome a seminar or convention is, but when we talk to an attendee months later they have failed to properly implement anything they into their business.


So what happens between being energized at a conference with fresh ideas and the plane ride home? Generally life happens. Even more so, we fail to set proper goals and allocate our time correctly to best apply the ideas learned. This happens to everyone. Even as I was writing this post, I was feeling the temptations to watch Stargate SG1 reruns on the Sci-Fi channel. I will address the time issue in a future post, so for now let's focus on setting goals and implementing the new ideas.



The problem I used to face was going to a convention and trying to write down everything I heard. Once I returned home, I would re-write my notes and then attempted to implement it all. That was a sure fire way to set myself up for failure and disappointment. Why? Because I was trying to redesign 'my' wheel ['wheel' being an analogy for brand, business model, shooting style, etc] to look like the speakers' wheel, when in reality I only needed to apply small changes to make it more efficient.



The key is to select specific topics, apply them and later rate the measurable outcomes. Additionally, you can setup a timeline showing when you expect a Return on Investment [ROI] and estimated time until implementation is completed.  Keep a journal documenting the process. Also evaluate the implementation, did it work the way you expected? Is it a good fit for your business/brand?



Now for the next important question, what should you implement? Only you can answer that, but I will offer a few suggestions on what portions of your business to focus on when narrowing down your topics of interest. In addition, I'll touch on ways to make yourself accountable, followed by evaluating the implementation.

I suggest you pick 3 ideas that you learned from the conference, just 3. The reason I say three is due to 3 important aspects of your business:

1. The Business.
2. The Client.
3. You.

1. The Business: Choose one idea that will help your business grow. Whether that idea is a marketing campaign where you partner with another wedding vendor, investing in studio management software, or focusing on your brand. Look for the one idea that most inspired and energized you at the event. If the idea is large like with 're-branding your company' you should break that down into manageable and measurable action items. Let's say instead of re-branding everything at once, you first design a new logo, which could easily be broken down into the following steps:  (A)find a designer whose work rocks. (B) Brainstorm and talk about your vision with them. (C)review rough drafts. (D)Pick your new logo. This could be a 3 month project, after which you should look back on how you managed your time.





2. The Client: Find something you learned that will benefit your clients. The benefit could be a new album company, better gallery hosting solution [making it easier for them to navigate their memories], product packaging, an educational service, or even a booking gift for your future clients. Once you make a decision on a topic, research it and find a way to make the addition yours. When we learn from speakers's really meant to be a starting block, a point for you to innovate from. If you don't, then you are not really setting yourself apart from the others who went to the same seminar. Again, set a goal for this that is measurable, even setup tasks to be completed towards the goal. Make a deadline, and hold yourself accountable.




3. You: Lastly, take one topic for yourself, something to re-energize your passion for the craft while engaging a new technique. Two years back, I took on the 365 project and was blown away by how much I learned from shooting daily. I was even able to get back into the field (nature) shooting landscapes, foggy mornings, train tracks, stars, the moon, water drops, and my daughter. Find something you connect with.




Remember what brought you into photography, re-explore it via your one topic take away. Maybe you saw Jon Canlas and are inspired to try your hand at some film, or Roberto Valenzuela's banana test photos sparked your interest in shooting fruit. Find one topic and carve out a few hours a week to practice it, cut the TV off, get your gear,  a baby doll and shoot something. Or you can just open the window of your hotel room and practice long exposure captures, like below.



To sum it all up, pick 3 topics from the conference you attended. One topic should be based on improving your business, another to enhance the clients' experience, and the last topic is one that helps you expand your creativity. Also, make time to practice, research, and implement the ideas into your business. If you sit on the knowledge and do nothing, then you are wasting everything you invested in. Set achievable goals; start with small ones so that you will see accomplishments early on, helping to build momentum to go after the larger task. Make yourself accountable, blog about it, tell a friend, tell a stranger, tell your kid, heck tell me, I'll shoot you an email at the end of the 3 months. Leave a post about at least one thing you would like to implement into your business, for your clients, or for yourself - or feel free to send me an message and I'll give you a push to help you along.

Now go out and kick some butt!

Monday, August 15, 2011

MS Society Pedal to the Point Event

This past weekend was the 25th anniversary of the National MS Society, Buckeye Chapter's, Pedal to the Point  !!  It was a great event! Really enjoyed seeing everyone who came out to help support the cause, cheer the riders on, and raise money to find a cure... even with all the rain we got. Here are a few images from the event:






And since we are celebrating 25 years of Bike MS, what better way to show some fun than with Balloons. No matter how good the day is, balloons just adds to it!





Enjoy!!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Beth + Scott Married Preview

Here is a sneak peak from yesterday's beautiful wedding with Beth + Scott.



Congratulation and more to come!

Enjoy,
Brian

Friday, May 27, 2011

Trees in Bloom

Just before all the wind and rain hammered us in the past few weeks I captured a few images from my favorite line of trees. I happen to be driving by earlier and saw all of the flowers in bloom, so I parked close by and went shooting. This is reason #168 to keep your camera/gear handy, you never know when you will need it to capture something that might not be there later.

Enjoy -







Brian

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Engaged | Elizabeth & Scott

Meet Elizabeth & Scott, they are a very fun couple who have some of the best dog stories. They actually met at a St. Patrick's day party years back, and as they say 'the rest is history'.

As I mentioned in the teaser, Elizabeth, Scott, and I went to the Silver Creek Metro Park in Norton. We had rescheduled the engagement session from a previous date due the frigid Ohio weather. We started off on the park docks with a little fishing, then made our way to an open field talking and laughing the whole way. The weather held off long enough for us to finish the engagement session and also provided some well timed wind gust.

Thanks Elizabeth & Scott,  I had a great time with you two and cannot wait to capture the memories from your wedding day.

Enjoy

Brian.