Mourning the Loss of a Namesake

This is background 3D65 (DJ Salinger), which we had painted in the midst of our authors' names series. The image itself bears little connection to Salinger - as a nonagenerian New Hampshire recluse, we doubt he frequented many night clubs. We don't have any boulevards, parks, or mountains to name for him, so this scene will have to stand as our tribute to this literary giant. We'll always be grateful for his gifts of Holden, the bananafish, et al.

Coming Soon to an iPad Near You!

Well, we've started on You Tube, but the sky's the limit. Or the iPad. Tempted? See how easy it is to use our backgrounds by clicking on our less-than-two-minute video (hey, we're all victims of some form or other of ADD). Click here as we try to match in viewers the number of round-trippers hit by local ex-hero steroid-denyer Barry Bonds. Lovingly and appropriately scored by songwriter Brian Wilson, our YouTube video affords you the opportunity to 'Dance, Dance, Dance" while learning how to "Photograph, Photograph, Photograph."

A Postcard Suggestion

James Burke of Burke Photos in Marquette, Michigan found out how easy it is to create a low-cost mailing that he hopes will bring him more dance business.

While we can't do the mailing for you we're happy to provide jpegs that you're welcome to use in making your own. Thanks for sharing, James. May this winter and spring bring us all lots of dances!

Senior Portrait Artists 2010

We kicked the new year off with a drive down to San Diego for Senior Portrait Artists to display our wares and get a little fresh sea air. It was a little strange for us to be in upper-seventies heat in January, but stranger for others - we breakfasted one day with a gentleman from Minnesota who noticed it was -17 back home. I don't imagine he was looking forward to the close of the show. Here are a few shots from the conference - our booth, the hotel, and Teddy Perez, my brother-in-law, whose company is contracted to clean the windows of the high-rises across the way.

Client Tip - Posing Menu

Sherrie Schouten won our first client tip competition with this posing menu. Here she writes about her process:

"I came up with this Posing Guide years ago to help make the lines go faster. The kids could pick their pose and that would make them feel like they had some control. Since then, I take two poses and let them look at both...and they choose which one they like best. By the time I've deleted the unwanted image, we are ready to photograph the next couple."

Dozens of Muslins at the Los Angeles AIDS Walk

We were happy to be able to contribute 2D37 (Carnival) to the Starwalker Party at the LA AIDS Walk. Starwalkers are individuals or groups of people who raise a certain amount of money for the event. Their primary motivation might be altruistic, but we like to think that getting to have their pictures taken in front of our backgrounds is at least a secondary goal. Congratulations to our friend Scott and the rest of the AIDS Walk Staff for another successful event. We are proud to be the official photographic background suppliers for the AIDS Walks.

Don't Fear the Camera Phone

It's a commonly held conception that the widespread use of digital cameras has cut into the professional photography market. For a different perspective, read the following quotation. It comes from July's issue of Professional Photographer - it's an excerpt from an interview with Seth Godin, an expert on marketing. According to Seth:

"Since Matthew Brady - the guy who took pictures of Lincoln - for 150 years, photographers have made a great living when they had no better technology than everybody else. Making a great living at photography has never been about access to the tools....To photographers I say, 'Are you doing photography worth paying for? If the consumer's choice is between doing it himself for free or paying a professional hundreds or thousands of dollars, what is it about what you're doing that's worth paying for? I'll tell you this - it's not because you can take a pretty good photo.'"

According to Seth, it's the experience you create for your clients. He continues:

"What [great photographers] do for a living is create an experience and an approach that is so remarkable people can't help but talk about it. What they do for a living is create interactions between themselves and the people they are taking pictures of. Or to create souvenirs of what they do so that people can't help but talk about it."