Now that the holidays are over and we have photographed dozens of wonderful corporate and private holiday parties, we turn our attention to the new year and upcoming events.
February 14th tends to inspire one of my favorite types of events... the Daddy Daughter Dance. Over the years, Daddy Daughter Dances have become more and more popular. We sure love photographing them. Those adorable little girls all dressed up in their most beautiful dresses.... arm and arm with their daddies. Sometimes we even get to watch them dance (in between taking photos of course). The babies are the cutest... swirling about in their dad's arms. It's quite a site to behold.
If you have never attended a Daddy Daughter Dance (and if you are a "daddy") you really must find one to attend. While many local churches and community associations hold them on a yearly basis, there are also new D&Ds cropping up every year. Do a Google search for your area. I promise you will not be disappointed, and your daughter will always remember how special she felt.
This year we will be @ two of our favorites... The Clay Madsen Recreation Center and Austin Country Club's Daddy Daughter Dances. If you are a member of either of these organizations, you really must check them out. They are so much fun! Maybe we will even see you there.
Kate
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Choosing an Event Photographer - Cont.
Today I continue with selecting a professional event photographer.
Professionalism, reliability and price are the remaining factors to consider when selecting a photographer to photograph your event. Today I will talk about professionalism... perhaps the most important factor you will consider.
Professionalism means a lot of different things to different people, but Webster defines it as: 1 : the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person . Professional is further defined as: 1: characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession 2: exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace.
When considering a photographer to take photos for you, you would be well served to gather some information about the professionalism of the company. Some great questions to ask would be: 1. How many years have you been in business delivering photographs onsite? 2. What professional associations are you members of? 3. Are you a member of PPA (Professional Photographers of America) or SEP (Society of Sport & Event Photographers)?
The number of years a photographer has been delivering photographs onsite will significantly impact your event's success. It takes a wide variety of skills and talents to be able to deliver quality photographs quickly, while maintaining a consistently effective connection with your guests. New photographers rarely realize the complexity of this type of photography, and find themselves ill-equiped to handle the numerous challenges that inevitably present themselves. It is absolutely imperative that you hire photographers that have a good deal of experience handling the specific type of event that you are putting on. Every type of event has nuances that can "trip-up" a photographer that is not well-prepared. You don't want your event to be their "test-shot".
As for membership in professional photography associations... being a member of one or both of these organizations (PPA & SEP) assists a photographer in staying current with digital photography trends, and gives them access to information about "conforming to the technical or ethical standards" of their profession. While membership in these organizations does not ensure that a photographer will adhere to professional standards, it does indicate a desire to do so.
Photographers that are associated with other organizations such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB), International Special Events Society (ISES), National Association of Catering Executives (NACE) and Meeting Planners International (MPI) are indicators that they are attempting to stay current with event trends, network with other industry leaders and adhere to ethical standards for the event industry. Long-term membership in associations such as these indicates a company that is tried and true. Because they are attended by other industry professionals, photographers that do not adhere to professional standards lose interest quickly from the lack of leads generated by their attendance.
The other part of investigating professionalism is by gathering information on their ability to "exhibit a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace." I will discuss this along with reliability and price in my next post.
Professionalism, reliability and price are the remaining factors to consider when selecting a photographer to photograph your event. Today I will talk about professionalism... perhaps the most important factor you will consider.
Professionalism means a lot of different things to different people, but Webster defines it as: 1 : the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person . Professional is further defined as: 1: characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession 2: exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace.
When considering a photographer to take photos for you, you would be well served to gather some information about the professionalism of the company. Some great questions to ask would be: 1. How many years have you been in business delivering photographs onsite? 2. What professional associations are you members of? 3. Are you a member of PPA (Professional Photographers of America) or SEP (Society of Sport & Event Photographers)?
The number of years a photographer has been delivering photographs onsite will significantly impact your event's success. It takes a wide variety of skills and talents to be able to deliver quality photographs quickly, while maintaining a consistently effective connection with your guests. New photographers rarely realize the complexity of this type of photography, and find themselves ill-equiped to handle the numerous challenges that inevitably present themselves. It is absolutely imperative that you hire photographers that have a good deal of experience handling the specific type of event that you are putting on. Every type of event has nuances that can "trip-up" a photographer that is not well-prepared. You don't want your event to be their "test-shot".
As for membership in professional photography associations... being a member of one or both of these organizations (PPA & SEP) assists a photographer in staying current with digital photography trends, and gives them access to information about "conforming to the technical or ethical standards" of their profession. While membership in these organizations does not ensure that a photographer will adhere to professional standards, it does indicate a desire to do so.
Photographers that are associated with other organizations such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB), International Special Events Society (ISES), National Association of Catering Executives (NACE) and Meeting Planners International (MPI) are indicators that they are attempting to stay current with event trends, network with other industry leaders and adhere to ethical standards for the event industry. Long-term membership in associations such as these indicates a company that is tried and true. Because they are attended by other industry professionals, photographers that do not adhere to professional standards lose interest quickly from the lack of leads generated by their attendance.
The other part of investigating professionalism is by gathering information on their ability to "exhibit a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace." I will discuss this along with reliability and price in my next post.
Friday, October 31, 2008
New Get The Picture Location
Wow! It has been a crazy week! In the last week we have moved our entire home, office and studio from Austin to Lago Vista and completed seven photography event projects. Everyone on our staff is feeling a bit dizzy from the whirlwind, but it is going to be soooo worth it! Our new location allows us to move the office and studio out of our home and into separate buildings. We are so excited about the new studio and offices. Of course most everything that is not essential is still in boxes, but we are quickly getting things organized for the business to expand.
With our new studio location we will be able to accomodate many more clients for portraits. Our focus will be on families, couples, business photos and senior portraits. We can hardly wait to get started!
Stay tuned... we'll be posting new studio client specials soon!
With our new studio location we will be able to accomodate many more clients for portraits. Our focus will be on families, couples, business photos and senior portraits. We can hardly wait to get started!
Stay tuned... we'll be posting new studio client specials soon!
Friday, October 17, 2008
The Smile Never Fades - Austin TX
I"m going to take a break from my blog on event photographers to talk about a wonderful event we participated in on Wednesday night. Our dear friend and colleague Bill Bastas held an amazing fundraiser for breast cancer research at The Mansion on October 15th, 2008. The event was to commemorate the release of his sencond book "The Smile Never Fades: Caring and Sharing". It is compiled of portraits of breast cancer survivors, their friends and family and other supporters, as well as intimate essays written by the survivors themselves. All of the proceeds from the book and the event will go to the Breast Cancer Resource Center of Austin.
Everyone who turned out for the event had a fabulous time! Third Language played great music and Complete Music provided Emcee services. The food was amazing, and the speech that artist William Stidham gave to honor Bill was heartfelt and nothing short of inspirational.
Some of the other sponsors who participated were Sterling Affairs, Sparkling Engagements, Twin Liquors, Emerald Entertainment, Third Language Band, Austin Party Central, Floral Renaissance, Amazing Ice Designs, Michelle's Patisserie, RK Group, The Inviting Pear, Steve Armstrong Photography, Wild Parrott Video & Simon Lee Bakery.
It was terrific to see our friends and colleagues come together for such a wonderful cause. Thousands of dollars were raised to fight breast cancer while bringing together the event community to honor Bill and his beloved wife Michelle who lost her life to the disease.
Next year I hope to see all of you there too.
Everyone who turned out for the event had a fabulous time! Third Language played great music and Complete Music provided Emcee services. The food was amazing, and the speech that artist William Stidham gave to honor Bill was heartfelt and nothing short of inspirational.
Some of the other sponsors who participated were Sterling Affairs, Sparkling Engagements, Twin Liquors, Emerald Entertainment, Third Language Band, Austin Party Central, Floral Renaissance, Amazing Ice Designs, Michelle's Patisserie, RK Group, The Inviting Pear, Steve Armstrong Photography, Wild Parrott Video & Simon Lee Bakery.
It was terrific to see our friends and colleagues come together for such a wonderful cause. Thousands of dollars were raised to fight breast cancer while bringing together the event community to honor Bill and his beloved wife Michelle who lost her life to the disease.
Next year I hope to see all of you there too.
Monday, October 13, 2008
How to choose an event photographer. Continued
So, what do these different types of event photographers have to offer the customer?
As a customer, you will be looking at several factors in your decision-making; quality, speed, reliability, professionlism, and price. You will also be interested in how the photography company will be assisting you in meeting your goals for your event. There may be other factors that you will want to consider, but these tend to be the ones most clients that we have worked with focus on.
If quality is important to you, there are a few things that you may want to keep in mind. Quality photographs can be produced onsite using only two methods, inkjet or dye sublimation. Both of these printing methods require high-quality input. In other words... photographic talent and professional cameras will be needed regardless of how good the printer is. Assuming that the person taking the photographs has a good eye, and they are using professional capturing devices, then either inkjet or dye sublimation printers can create a quality image onsite. However, there are two major differences between the two that must be considered. The first is that dye submlimation prints are produced in such a way that they are much more immune to handling and water damage (an important consideration if you will be having alcohol served at your event). The other factor, and most important for your purposes, is speed. Ink-jet printers take a long time to produce an image. The dye sublimation printers that we use produce a 5x7 in less than 15 seconds.
For the photographer this choice usually comes down to cost and features. A professional photographer who owns a studio may select an inkjet printer because of the flexibility it offers them in their studio. Inkjets can print photos in many different sizes and paper types making them a better choice for someone who owns a storefront. The inkjet printers are also usually much less expensive. However, a professional event photography company that delivers photographs onsite would only use dye sub. The speed of these printers keeps the photography line moving quickly, the delivery process seamless, and the quality of the image as high as possible. Inkjets simply can't keep up with an event that needs a high volume of quality photographs to be produced.
In my next blog I'll continue with the other factors I listed above.
As a customer, you will be looking at several factors in your decision-making; quality, speed, reliability, professionlism, and price. You will also be interested in how the photography company will be assisting you in meeting your goals for your event. There may be other factors that you will want to consider, but these tend to be the ones most clients that we have worked with focus on.
If quality is important to you, there are a few things that you may want to keep in mind. Quality photographs can be produced onsite using only two methods, inkjet or dye sublimation. Both of these printing methods require high-quality input. In other words... photographic talent and professional cameras will be needed regardless of how good the printer is. Assuming that the person taking the photographs has a good eye, and they are using professional capturing devices, then either inkjet or dye sublimation printers can create a quality image onsite. However, there are two major differences between the two that must be considered. The first is that dye submlimation prints are produced in such a way that they are much more immune to handling and water damage (an important consideration if you will be having alcohol served at your event). The other factor, and most important for your purposes, is speed. Ink-jet printers take a long time to produce an image. The dye sublimation printers that we use produce a 5x7 in less than 15 seconds.
For the photographer this choice usually comes down to cost and features. A professional photographer who owns a studio may select an inkjet printer because of the flexibility it offers them in their studio. Inkjets can print photos in many different sizes and paper types making them a better choice for someone who owns a storefront. The inkjet printers are also usually much less expensive. However, a professional event photography company that delivers photographs onsite would only use dye sub. The speed of these printers keeps the photography line moving quickly, the delivery process seamless, and the quality of the image as high as possible. Inkjets simply can't keep up with an event that needs a high volume of quality photographs to be produced.
In my next blog I'll continue with the other factors I listed above.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Photographer Austin TX - How to choose an event photographer
It has recently come to my attention that there is a lot of confusion about what an event photographer really is. Most people understand the concept of the "photographer", but because photographers specialize in so many different areas, everyone seems to have their own understanding of what one does. For myself, I was trained in a traditional studio environment, taking family, children and senior portraits. This was my concept of photography for a long time. But now the "photographer" is an ever evolving phenomenon. The introduction of digital photography has expanded everyone's awareness of the art form, and the traditional photographer is being forced to evolve with it.
In steps the "event photographer". With digital advancing at a rapid pace the possiblity of delivering a professional quality photograph onsite has become a reality. But I gotta tell you... it ain't cheap! To deliver a high quality image an event photographer needs to invest in quality cameras and lenses, fast & reliable computers with lots of hard drive space, expensive software that will allow you to show, print and deliver the photographs quickly onsite, and dye sublimation printers. You also need a way to carry all this equipment, transport it and workflow systems in place to manage it all. All of this costs big bucks!
So what you will find in the marketplace are three varieties of event photographers. One... the professional event photographer who bites the bullet and invests many thousands of dollars to run his/her business effectively with numerous systems capable of producing high volume and high quality portraits onsite at events. Two... a photographer who owns a studio and is "getting into" event photography with purchase of one dye-sub printer to expand their current business. Or Three.... an opportunist who sees event photography as a quick way to make money, but refuses to invest in quality equipment to do so.
I will be blogging further about the types of event photographers and giving suggestions on how to select the best photographer for your event in the days and weeks to come.
In steps the "event photographer". With digital advancing at a rapid pace the possiblity of delivering a professional quality photograph onsite has become a reality. But I gotta tell you... it ain't cheap! To deliver a high quality image an event photographer needs to invest in quality cameras and lenses, fast & reliable computers with lots of hard drive space, expensive software that will allow you to show, print and deliver the photographs quickly onsite, and dye sublimation printers. You also need a way to carry all this equipment, transport it and workflow systems in place to manage it all. All of this costs big bucks!
So what you will find in the marketplace are three varieties of event photographers. One... the professional event photographer who bites the bullet and invests many thousands of dollars to run his/her business effectively with numerous systems capable of producing high volume and high quality portraits onsite at events. Two... a photographer who owns a studio and is "getting into" event photography with purchase of one dye-sub printer to expand their current business. Or Three.... an opportunist who sees event photography as a quick way to make money, but refuses to invest in quality equipment to do so.
I will be blogging further about the types of event photographers and giving suggestions on how to select the best photographer for your event in the days and weeks to come.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
NACE Austin Chapter Eat The Heat - Austin Event Photography
Last Thursday night we had the pleasure of participating in the National Association of Catering Executive's (Austin Chapter) yearly fundraiser... Eat The Heat. Through the efforts of dozens of local event companies, caterers, djs, photographers, bands, local venues, and fabulous local chefs, NACE was able to raise thousands of dollars to help support local charities in Austin.
It was a blast! We all celebrated the 102 degree temperature of the day with fabulous food and drinks, great music, and wonderful friends. Maggie Mae's had a brand new event space and Buffalo Billiards created delicious authentic African cuisine to tantalize our taste buds. The Blue Lights played at Maggie Mae's and did a terrific job! Wow! What great sound! Tons of people even showed up from San Antonio to support the charities, and at The Omni, the local chefs put out a spread you wouldn't have believed.
We even took greenscreen photographs and put people on an African Safari background. Pretty Funny!
I was on the silent auction committee, so I got to help grab up the silent auction sheets just as time ran out. It was so much fun. There were people all huddled around the papers up until the final seconds waiting to quickly put in their last bid before it closed. It was really cool, and all for a great cause.
If you weren't able to attend this year, make sure you come out for Eat The Heat next year. It's going to be fabulous... as always!
To view our photos from the event click on the following link:
http://web4.sendtoprint.net/proofbook/0838/base.asp
Our dear friend Bill Bastas also took photos that night. You can view his photos here:
http://www.4shared.com/dir/8767448/4dde7caf/sharing.html
Kate
It was a blast! We all celebrated the 102 degree temperature of the day with fabulous food and drinks, great music, and wonderful friends. Maggie Mae's had a brand new event space and Buffalo Billiards created delicious authentic African cuisine to tantalize our taste buds. The Blue Lights played at Maggie Mae's and did a terrific job! Wow! What great sound! Tons of people even showed up from San Antonio to support the charities, and at The Omni, the local chefs put out a spread you wouldn't have believed.
We even took greenscreen photographs and put people on an African Safari background. Pretty Funny!
I was on the silent auction committee, so I got to help grab up the silent auction sheets just as time ran out. It was so much fun. There were people all huddled around the papers up until the final seconds waiting to quickly put in their last bid before it closed. It was really cool, and all for a great cause.
If you weren't able to attend this year, make sure you come out for Eat The Heat next year. It's going to be fabulous... as always!
To view our photos from the event click on the following link:
http://web4.sendtoprint.net/proofbook/0838/base.asp
Our dear friend Bill Bastas also took photos that night. You can view his photos here:
http://www.4shared.com/dir/8767448/4dde7caf/sharing.html
Kate
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