SmugMug & Bay Photo RULE!!

As some of you may have heard, I switched all of my online gallery and printing services over to SmugMug a couple of months ago. I had been happy using NextProof & White House Custom Color for the last year, but there were limitations to that combo and I switched based on the recommendation of another photographer in my area. Well, I can't tell you how glad I am that I made the switch. I use SmugMug's Pro service with Bay Photo as my printer and I recently placed a sample order so I could check their print quality with all of their papers. Well the order was printed and shipped within 2 days of my request and I recieved it yesterday. When I opened the package and checked out the prints, I was floored at how accurate they were and how consistent they were throught the different paper types. I've never seen anything so incredible. I'm so pumped to hear feedback from my clients!!

Favorites, Favorites!!

Ok Friends,

In the spirit of the blog and some of the trivial information that is out there on ALOT of blogs, I thought I would add my contribution to the pile. ;-) In the words of Julie Andrews and Von Trap family, here a few of my favorite things:

Fav Lunch- Sushi

Fav Pizza- Fireworks Pizza in Leesburg, VA. Try the Smokey Blue. It RULES!!

Fav Guilty Pleasure- Krispy Kreme Baby!!

Fav TV Show- No Reservations

Fav Company- Apple Computer..They RULE!!

Fav thing to do to release stress- BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF MY DRUMS!!

Fav Music- Everything on my iPod

Fav Movie- Breakfast Club

Fav thing that I can't do without- Hi-Def TV..Once you fly first class, coach SUCKS!!

Fav Sound- The laughter of my kids

Fav Camera- Canon 5D MkII

Fav Soda- Diet Dr. Pepper

Fav Gadget- my iPhone 3G

Fav iPhone App- Tweetie

Fav People- My sons Wesley & Bradley

Fav Person- The J-Man.. My Rock

Fav Band- Toto...Don't Hate on Me!!

Have you had enough? I have... Let me know what your fav's are if you want.

Workflow, Workflow

Ok...So this post isn't really geared for my clients and non-photographer friends, but sometimes one must indulge. I get asked alot about the gear that I use and my workflow from other photographers, students, and folks who hear that I'm a photographer and just wonder how things have changed since the days of film. Normally, I don't mind talking about gear, but lately I've changed the subject because in the end, the gear doesn't make the photographer. Even so, I promised a few friends and students that I would post something soon about all of that tech stuff that bores most people. So, for all of you that love the toys like I do, here goes:

Computers & Software-

17" MacBook Pro (Apple Rules!!)

Adobe Creative Suite CS4 (image editing)

Adobe Lightroom (image management)

Totally Rad Actions (Photoshop Actions)

Showit Sites (WebSite Design)

Photojunction (Album Design)

Storage & Back-Up- 3 Tier image Back-Up & Storage

LaCie 2Big Quadra 1TB RAID (Tier 1 Back-Up)

Drobo 4TB FW800 (Tier 2 Back-Up)*

SmugMug (Tier 3 Unlimited permanent image Back-Up)

Cameras & Lenses-

Canon 5D MkII *

Canon 40D

17-40 f4L Wide Angle Zoom Lens- I love this lens for catching everything!

24-105 f4L IS Zoom Lens- This is my "do everything" lens

50 f1.2L Prime Lens- This is my new "Fav"!! Buttery portrait lens.

70-200 f2.8L IS Zoom Lens- I can't live without this bad boy!! Tack sharp!!

Canon 580EX Flash

Canon 580 EXII Flash *

*- on order. Should have them in a couple of weeks.

I hope this answers any questions that my gear-head brethren have.

New Stuff for 2009

Good Morning Friends,

As a follow up to my last post, I wanted to take a quick moment to update everybody with information on whats new for 2009. Besides moving my business and my life, I have made some product line changes to my packages. This mainly applies to albums, but I have also changed my online gallery provider to SmugMug. I've been toying around with switching over to them since the summer, but some of the changes they have made to their service sealed the deal for me and these changes will help my clients in several ways. First, SmugMug now has a new lab and I couldn't be more happy. In the past I have been using White House Custom Color with no complaints, but my gallery provider didn't integrate with them and this increased order times substantially. But now, SmugMug integrates seamlessly with Bay Photo. Bay Photo is an incredible lab and they have won practically every shootout on print quality and service. I'm really excited about this change. Also, with SmugMug you can preview the cropping on all photos that you order before you finalize your order. This is key and I have been receiving alot of feedback in the past from my clients about this feature and how much they wanted it. Well now, you've got it.

As for albums, I have recently decided to stream down my album offerings to make things less confusing to my clients. My standard albums will still be KISS Wedding Books because they ROCK!! But now, I'm proud to offer PictoBooks. These premium albums are pretty incredible and offer more options than you can shake a stick at. If you want jewels on your album, they can do it. If you can think of it, they probably offer it. I will still be able to order Finao, La-Vie, and Asuka Books if you want them, but my mainstays will be KISS and PictoBooks. Until next time....

I'm back!!.......Again!!

Ok.....go ahead and say it, I'm a slacker. Its OK...I can take it. Yes, I said that I would be blogging about something every day and NO, I haven't blogged about something every day. But the truth is, I have been really, really busy over the past month. Probably the biggest thing going on is that I have moved myself and my business to Ashburn, VA. Getting settled has taken a while and I've been fighting an awful flu. Also, I quietly rebuilt my website and am getting good feedback on the new design. Feel free to stop by and send me feedback. Anyhow, I'm back and busier than I have been in a while. My calendar is filling up with weddings and engagement sessions and I couldn't be more pleased. OK....I could handle a little more business, but I'm not complaining. With all of the stuff thats happening in my life, I'm feeling truly blessed these days.