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!
Friday, October 31, 2008
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
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Austin Chamber of Commerce Awards - Get The Picture Finalist
In 2005 we were honored to receive the award for Excellence in Innovation for Small Business from the Austin Chamber of Commerce. Today, we received word that we have been selected as finalists again for the same award.The Austin Chamber of Commerce 2008 Greater Austin Business Awards will be held on August 27th, and we invite all of our clients, friends and colleagues to join us for the festivities.
2008 has been a great year so far, and we are excited to be part of this fabulous group of businesses once again!
Wish us luck!
http://www.enewsbuilder.net/grtraustinchamber/e_article001153922.cfm?x=bd47nwK,b1mDw5sL,w
Monday, May 12, 2008
Austin Event Photographer - Crockett High School Prom
The proms just keep getting more and more exciting! This Saturday we photographed a prom for Crockett High School at La Zona Rosa in Austin. It was fabulous!
With the Austin Cityscape as the students background of choice, we were able to deliver portrait packages to every student who purchased... On The Spot!
Of course the evening was not without its hiccups. As policy, we always arrive to proms an extra hour early to leave room for any challenge that may arise. And this Saturday was no exception. It's a good thing too, because we ran into a big one! Our Virtual Background system has light module assembly inside it that basically makes the whole system work. On the first test shot we took on Saturday, our flash tube blew. I don't know if it was the massive thunderstorm that rolled in, or just that flash tube's time to die, but we didn't have a way to take any pictures. That's not exactly correct. We could take photographs, we just couldn't see the backgrounds. And when you've promised a school an Austin Cityscape background, you had better deliver.
As luck would have it we have just recently purchased a second Virtual Background system. It has been so popular that we simply needed a second system to handle all of the events. Along with the purchase of our second system, we bought a backup for our entire light module assembly. So with the additional time we had and the new assembly sitting back in our office, we were able to be up and running before our scheduled start time of 8 PM.
Whew! That was a close one!
Tune in next week for more prom adventures.
Kate
With the Austin Cityscape as the students background of choice, we were able to deliver portrait packages to every student who purchased... On The Spot!
Of course the evening was not without its hiccups. As policy, we always arrive to proms an extra hour early to leave room for any challenge that may arise. And this Saturday was no exception. It's a good thing too, because we ran into a big one! Our Virtual Background system has light module assembly inside it that basically makes the whole system work. On the first test shot we took on Saturday, our flash tube blew. I don't know if it was the massive thunderstorm that rolled in, or just that flash tube's time to die, but we didn't have a way to take any pictures. That's not exactly correct. We could take photographs, we just couldn't see the backgrounds. And when you've promised a school an Austin Cityscape background, you had better deliver.
As luck would have it we have just recently purchased a second Virtual Background system. It has been so popular that we simply needed a second system to handle all of the events. Along with the purchase of our second system, we bought a backup for our entire light module assembly. So with the additional time we had and the new assembly sitting back in our office, we were able to be up and running before our scheduled start time of 8 PM.
Whew! That was a close one!
Tune in next week for more prom adventures.
Kate
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