We recently had the opportunity to create some Eagle Scout portraits. The rank of Eagle Scout is a lot of work and something that is recognized even as an adult even though it can only be earned up until the age of 18. The first portrait is not quite technically correct, but we were asked to match the pose of his older brother. The second is a traditional portrait pose. It was our pleasure to work with these two young men and we offer our congratulations to both on a difficult and outstanding
achievement.
We are happy to announce that we have finally rolled out our new online selling solution. We are using a product called RedCart and hosting everything from our website. That means that customers can expect our high quality service throughout the whole process.
Check it out at here.
Over the next couple of weeks we are going to be rolling out a number of changes to the website. We have started today with a new color scheme that more closely matches our blog. Soon we are going to be hosting our own online proofing and shopping cart system. Initially we will be selling products using PayPal, but in the coming months we are going be processing credit cards directly. We are also going to make a long over due update to our portfolio. Stay tuned for good things to come.
We have been photographing the Coronado High School Dance Concerts for over 5 years now. We got started with our daughter being in high school. It’s time for the Spring Dance Concert which is titled “Art In Motion” this year.
It is well done and very enjoyable to watch. We haven’t attended other dance concerts in the local area, but one of the things that I think is somewhat unique to Coronado is their male dance team. They are very good and always enjoyable (if you can stand the screaming girls).
The concert runs again tonight (Friday) and tomorrow night (Saturday). We got a little out of control last night with the number of pictures and haven’t had time to even go through all of them. I shot around 2,000 and will probably end up with half of that after weeding out the misfires and blurry images. We don’t use a flash so as not to disturb the dances and preserve the lighting effects on the stage. That means that we are pushing the limits of the camera and frequently end up with a large number of unusable images.
Here is a great one from last night’s performance.
Flying
I was asked to take some pictures of the March of Dimes picnic at the beginning of April. The pictures are of the children that were born premature and spent time in the Newborn ICU. This is a project started by Jessie Baldwin who owns and operates Speckled Bird Art.
The reality is that the majority of babies that are born premature will go on to live happy and healthy normal lives. However, as new parents visiting a Newborn ICU every day its hard to see the future. Jessie had the idea of producing canvas prints to be displayed in the hospital halls that show Newborn ICU graduates along with some of their stories.
I’ve been helping out with the project where possible including covering this picnic. The results are quite stunning and can be viewed at the University Medical Center here in Las Vegas.
While I was at the picnic, I walked over to some trees and bushes to get this picture. I’ve always been fascinated by leaves and flowers that are back lit by sunlight.
Back lit leaves
I’ve spent some time talking about Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. Barbara and I are affiliate photographers with this organization. We answer the request for pictures of babies that tragically pass away prematurely. It is a highly emotional and difficult task, but we look at it as a way to give back to the community using our unique talents. A way to help make the community a better place.
On the 2nd of April we were called on again to offer this service. A beautiful baby boy who passed away before making it to full term. The family was devastated and I could tell really wanted this child in their lives. They won’t be able to see him grow up, but hopefully through our efforts can at least bring the memory of their angel home.
We recieved an email from the mother and I’d like to share a part of it.
“I can’t express how grateful I am to you and to Now I lay me down to sleep.
The service you are providing me and my family are more than amazing and
bigger than a blessing.
Thank you so much for helping me bring the memory of my Angel home. I am
just stunned and amazed there is a service like this for parents like me..
God bless you and all the work you do for parents in my shoes.. ”
It’s messages like this that keep us going no matter how difficult. These angels deserve to be remembered.
About a month ago I was approached about doing an executive portrait for a Farmers Insurance agent named John Koutsulis. Barbara and I really enjoyed talking to John while working on the portrait. Besides being an insurance agent, John is also the President of the Band Boosters for Coronado High School. We were able to capture the following portrait.
We had a great time working with John and even decided to switch our insurance to Farmers through him. John cares about people and not just the job, so we can highly recommend him as an insurance agent. If you want to contact him to find out what he can do for you, click here.
It has been far too long since I have posted anything here and I am going to try and do a better job.
Last November, Barbara and I were honored as the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation’s Volunteers of the Year. For us, it was a humbling experience to be given this honor and it didn’t really seem like we deserved it. Barbara and I really enjoy working with the foundation. We have been involved with the photography at the Gala dinner since 2005 and spend a lot of time involved with Flashes of Hope. Last year we even got to spend a day at Camp Cartwheel.
This year has continued the same. We have covered both Flashes of Hope events so far this year. In fact one was just last week and I am still working on editing all of the pictures. They should be done in the next couple of days.
Barbara and I feel blessed to be able to work with such special children. You can’t help but notice the ravages caused by their illnesses, but through it all they have shining spirits to brighten the day. We can’t take away the pain and suffering, but can hopefully capture what makes these children so special.
Wow, still trying to get caught up from the weekend, but I thought I better make this post before I forget. I spent Thursday evening at a training class for NILMDTS. I learned some things, but more importantly met some of the participating local photographers. At the training class, Rhiannon decided to become the Las Vegas Area Coordinator. We really need one so I give her my congratulations and thanks.
Friday and Saturday I spent time volunteering in the NILMDTS booth at the Photoshop World trade show and meeting all of the other vendors at the trade show. It was different this time because I usually am trying to learn as much as I can about new techniques in photoshop. This time I spent most of the time helping in the booth with Julie and Terry.
I saw some really interesting things at the Photoshop World trade show. One is a product that isn’t even available yet. It is a new way of dealing with fonts in the Adobe products as well as Microsoft Office products. It looks very promising. I made a couple of other really cool changes, but I’m not going to talk about them right now.
So, this week is the Photoshop World conference in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay. I won’t be attending the full conference this year, but will be hanging around the trade show. Besides that, I will be taking a training class for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep on Thursday evening and helping out in their information booth on Friday from 3pm to 5pm. For those that don’t know about this amazing organization, I’ll be talking about it more in the future.
