Specializing in fine portraits of Families, Children and high school Seniors for over 30 years in Hawaii.
Here's the first page of Chapter 2 of my new book, "Creating Your Perfect Portrait". This book is all about helping people who want to have a great portrait made to succeed in that quest...And encourage more people to have a portrait made.
Why Should I Have A Portrait Made?
You may think that only people who are important, or
famous, or wealthy have portraits made of themselves or
their families. You may think that you aren’t a good subject
for portraiture, or that people will think you are egotistical if
you were to have your portrait made.
Let me assure you that people of every status in life have and
enjoy portraits of themselves and their families. And that
every person is a good subject for a portrait! And if someone
should think poorly of you because you have a portrait of
yourself, well, that’s his or her problem! Now, if you have
every wall of your home covered with larger-than-life
photographs of yourself, well, maybe your ego is a little
inflated…That’s a subject for a different kind of book.
It is true that wealthy, famous and important people have
portraits made of themselves and their families. You may not
consider yourself to be wealthy or famous, and that’s fine.
Most of us aren’t. But you certainly are important! You are
important to your family and friends, and you are most
definitely important to you! But let’s consider your family,
progeny and society in general for a moment.
You are important to your family no matter what part you
play in the family dynamic. If you are an unmarried child,
you are no doubt very dear to your mother and father. If you
are a husband or wife, you are very important to your spouse.
And if you are a parent, your children depend on you. You
are a very important person within your family and circle of
friends. For that reason alone you should have a nice portrait
made of yourself.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Digeus Registry Cleaner
Specializing in fine portraits of Families, Children and high school Seniors for over 30 years in Hawaii.
This is totally unrelated to Photography or Portraits, which as you know is MY thing...But I just want to share this... I just recently obtained a copy of this program called Digeus Registry Cleaner. Here's what it says about what it does: Digeus Registry Cleaner speeds up your computer by cleaning errors in your Windows. It removes the junk that accumulates in your Windows Registry, fixes Windows errors which results in speeding up your computer. With Digeus Registry Cleaner you just need a few mouse clicks and your computer will become as good as a brand new one.
I am not a computer geek and don't even know what "registry errors" are, but I have heard the term before, and this program found some 1400 such errors on my computer! I was shocked! I had noticed that my computer was slower than it used to be, and I thought I was doing well with knowing to run a "cleanup" and "defrag" every month or 2. That didn't really seem to make any noticeable difference in its performance though.
Here's what I can tell you about this Digeus program...It's really easy to install and doesn't take long at all. It's extremely easy to run, one click to check for errors, which may take a while if your computer has as many errors as mine had. One click to "fix" the errors, and the fix doesn't take hardly any time at all! And it does seem to speed up the performance. All-in-all, I'd say it's worth the small investment.
This is totally unrelated to Photography or Portraits, which as you know is MY thing...But I just want to share this... I just recently obtained a copy of this program called Digeus Registry Cleaner. Here's what it says about what it does: Digeus Registry Cleaner speeds up your computer by cleaning errors in your Windows. It removes the junk that accumulates in your Windows Registry, fixes Windows errors which results in speeding up your computer. With Digeus Registry Cleaner you just need a few mouse clicks and your computer will become as good as a brand new one.
I am not a computer geek and don't even know what "registry errors" are, but I have heard the term before, and this program found some 1400 such errors on my computer! I was shocked! I had noticed that my computer was slower than it used to be, and I thought I was doing well with knowing to run a "cleanup" and "defrag" every month or 2. That didn't really seem to make any noticeable difference in its performance though.
Here's what I can tell you about this Digeus program...It's really easy to install and doesn't take long at all. It's extremely easy to run, one click to check for errors, which may take a while if your computer has as many errors as mine had. One click to "fix" the errors, and the fix doesn't take hardly any time at all! And it does seem to speed up the performance. All-in-all, I'd say it's worth the small investment.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Creating Your Perfect Portrait
Specializing in fine portraits of Families, Children and high school Seniors for over 30 years in Hawaii.
Creating Your Perfect Portrait is the title of my new book! It's my 3rd book, and it's my first book of it's kind.
My first book was a collection of anecdotes and thoughts that I felt impelled to write after I turned 50 years of age, and is titled, "Epiphanies Of The 50th Year". My second book is a coffee table book of portraits, and featured 12 portraits I created as a personal project in 2004 called "Local Heroes" along with many others.
Creating Your Perfect Portrait is dedicated to people who have an appreciation for fine photography, and are wanting to have a better than average portrait created. It is full of information that is intended to help people to achieve that goal.
There are chapters that deal with the process of interviewing photographers to find the one that is right for YOU. Everyone has specific needs and desires, and not all photographers are right for every person! I know I'm not the right photographer for everyone...and neither is any other photographer! So there's a chapter on questions to ask the photographers you are considering, and the answers that you should hear in response.
There's a chapter on what you should expect of the experience once you've hired a photographer, a chapter on what kinds of portrait products are available, a chapter on how to prepare for the photo session, what kind of timelines you should expect, and even a chapter on how to display and care for your portraits.
My goal is to begin distribution of the book by mid March. Meanwhile, in upcoming posts I will be sharing excerpts from the book. If you are interested in ordering a copy, let me know!
Creating Your Perfect Portrait is the title of my new book! It's my 3rd book, and it's my first book of it's kind.
My first book was a collection of anecdotes and thoughts that I felt impelled to write after I turned 50 years of age, and is titled, "Epiphanies Of The 50th Year". My second book is a coffee table book of portraits, and featured 12 portraits I created as a personal project in 2004 called "Local Heroes" along with many others.
Creating Your Perfect Portrait is dedicated to people who have an appreciation for fine photography, and are wanting to have a better than average portrait created. It is full of information that is intended to help people to achieve that goal.
There are chapters that deal with the process of interviewing photographers to find the one that is right for YOU. Everyone has specific needs and desires, and not all photographers are right for every person! I know I'm not the right photographer for everyone...and neither is any other photographer! So there's a chapter on questions to ask the photographers you are considering, and the answers that you should hear in response.
There's a chapter on what you should expect of the experience once you've hired a photographer, a chapter on what kinds of portrait products are available, a chapter on how to prepare for the photo session, what kind of timelines you should expect, and even a chapter on how to display and care for your portraits.
My goal is to begin distribution of the book by mid March. Meanwhile, in upcoming posts I will be sharing excerpts from the book. If you are interested in ordering a copy, let me know!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Testimonials
Specializing in fine portraits of Families, Children and high school Seniors for over 30 years in Hawaii.
Yesterday, 1/25/2012 I received one of the greatest testimonials I've ever received! It was better than most because of the specific, enlightened appreciation that my client expressed.
I want to mention that this client invested several thousand dollars in their portraits...I'm not disclosing this because I want to brag about myself, but because it's validation and verification of my belief that portraits, especially Family Portraits are more valuable than most material possessions.
Besides all the wonderful, beautiful expressions of how much they all love the portraits, how great the experience was, how fabulous they turned out, and how they "are the talk of the town of Gallup, New Mexico", my client commented specifically about how beautiful the day was, (when we did the photography), and that "the lighting was perfect"..."everything was perfect!"
And it's true...it was a beautiful day, the weather was great...and the natural light was good. But it was the artwork that I did after the photography: saturating the sky; bringing up the clouds; and adding light by use of speedlights at the location, and then painting the faces in post production that made the finished portraits look "perfect"!
My client couldn't tell that I did all that to the portraits because it looked so natural. Only I know all that I did to improve on what was captured in camera. But I do know, and it's very gratifying when a client says: "You made it perfect!" "Your work is worth every penny of investment!" (She actually repeated that statement 3 times!)
Price is what you Pay: VALUE is what you Get!
Yesterday, 1/25/2012 I received one of the greatest testimonials I've ever received! It was better than most because of the specific, enlightened appreciation that my client expressed.
I want to mention that this client invested several thousand dollars in their portraits...I'm not disclosing this because I want to brag about myself, but because it's validation and verification of my belief that portraits, especially Family Portraits are more valuable than most material possessions.
Besides all the wonderful, beautiful expressions of how much they all love the portraits, how great the experience was, how fabulous they turned out, and how they "are the talk of the town of Gallup, New Mexico", my client commented specifically about how beautiful the day was, (when we did the photography), and that "the lighting was perfect"..."everything was perfect!"
And it's true...it was a beautiful day, the weather was great...and the natural light was good. But it was the artwork that I did after the photography: saturating the sky; bringing up the clouds; and adding light by use of speedlights at the location, and then painting the faces in post production that made the finished portraits look "perfect"!
My client couldn't tell that I did all that to the portraits because it looked so natural. Only I know all that I did to improve on what was captured in camera. But I do know, and it's very gratifying when a client says: "You made it perfect!" "Your work is worth every penny of investment!" (She actually repeated that statement 3 times!)
Price is what you Pay: VALUE is what you Get!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Will The REAL Expert Please Stand Up!
Wow! I'm concerned about something that I'm actually surprised even came up to my conscious mind! (I was watching TV when this occurred to me.)
Do you ever watch TV? Do you look at and read ads in magazines or the newspaper? What about ads on the internet...Ever see one of those?
My question is: Are there really that many experts?! I mean qualified authorities with proven track records, and who have the solution to whatever problem you might be facing, such as: Exercise; Nutrition; Fat loss; Erectile dysfunction; Sleeping disorders; Dry eye; on and on???
Some years ago there used to be a game show on TV called "To Tell The Truth". They would have one person who really was an airline pilot, a plumber, a professional auto racer, etc, etc, and three other people who would pretend to be that genuine (whatever) and do their best to fool a panel of contestants into believing they were the real deal.
As I recall, (I was pretty young back when that show was on), the fakers would get money for the votes they got by fooling the panel of "guessers" into believing they were the real deal. At the end the host would say, "Will the REAL____ please stand up!" And still the fakers would continue to play the part and pretend they were about to stand up! Finally the real (whatever it was) would stand up.
I think it was the first presidential campaign that JF Kennedy won when it was pronounced that from then on television and the way a person appeared on TV would be the determining factor as to who would win. Interesting, eh? Not the facts, the record or the platform...The way they appeared on TV!
There's certainly no question that television is a major influencer in society today. And so is the internet and even the printed word such as ads in magazines and newspapers. All these ads present their pitch as if they are THE foremost authority on the subject, and their product is the obvious choice. They even have testimonials...Of course they may be from actors paid to give them... They expect us to believe them! But should we?
Have you ever noticed some of the disclaimers and "side effects" associated with the use of their products and advise? Some even include the possibility of causing death! Holy Smokes, Batman!
So, my conclusion is that NO! They don't have the answers...But they present slick, believable appearances, and use proven psychologically intimidating and or convincing statements. But we should not trust and believe them just on their say so! I just want to remind you to use your thinking ability when considering decisions about buying and using products and services being pitched in such high-powered ways.
We should ask questions. Questions such as; What is the Guarantee? How long has the business been in business? What is their track record? Are there unresolved complaints about the business or product registered with the Better Business Bureau?
Those are my thoughts... Be well! Don't be duped!
Specializing in fine portraits of Families, Children and high school Seniors for over 30 years in Hawaii.
Do you ever watch TV? Do you look at and read ads in magazines or the newspaper? What about ads on the internet...Ever see one of those?
My question is: Are there really that many experts?! I mean qualified authorities with proven track records, and who have the solution to whatever problem you might be facing, such as: Exercise; Nutrition; Fat loss; Erectile dysfunction; Sleeping disorders; Dry eye; on and on???
Some years ago there used to be a game show on TV called "To Tell The Truth". They would have one person who really was an airline pilot, a plumber, a professional auto racer, etc, etc, and three other people who would pretend to be that genuine (whatever) and do their best to fool a panel of contestants into believing they were the real deal.
As I recall, (I was pretty young back when that show was on), the fakers would get money for the votes they got by fooling the panel of "guessers" into believing they were the real deal. At the end the host would say, "Will the REAL____ please stand up!" And still the fakers would continue to play the part and pretend they were about to stand up! Finally the real (whatever it was) would stand up.
I think it was the first presidential campaign that JF Kennedy won when it was pronounced that from then on television and the way a person appeared on TV would be the determining factor as to who would win. Interesting, eh? Not the facts, the record or the platform...The way they appeared on TV!
There's certainly no question that television is a major influencer in society today. And so is the internet and even the printed word such as ads in magazines and newspapers. All these ads present their pitch as if they are THE foremost authority on the subject, and their product is the obvious choice. They even have testimonials...Of course they may be from actors paid to give them... They expect us to believe them! But should we?
Have you ever noticed some of the disclaimers and "side effects" associated with the use of their products and advise? Some even include the possibility of causing death! Holy Smokes, Batman!
So, my conclusion is that NO! They don't have the answers...But they present slick, believable appearances, and use proven psychologically intimidating and or convincing statements. But we should not trust and believe them just on their say so! I just want to remind you to use your thinking ability when considering decisions about buying and using products and services being pitched in such high-powered ways.
We should ask questions. Questions such as; What is the Guarantee? How long has the business been in business? What is their track record? Are there unresolved complaints about the business or product registered with the Better Business Bureau?
Those are my thoughts... Be well! Don't be duped!
Specializing in fine portraits of Families, Children and high school Seniors for over 30 years in Hawaii.
Friday, November 12, 2010
November News
Specializing in fine portraits of Families, Children and high school Seniors for over 30 years in Hawaii.
It's been a while since I wrote anything here, but in my defense, I'm the only one working in my portrait business. There are only so many hours in a day, and so many days in the week...and taking care of my clients takes priority over everything else. (Except for golf on my one day off each week!)
So, I cut my hair. I meant to trim it a little and reduce my ponytail from 20" to about 6", but what happened I can't really explain. Anyway it looked ridiculous when I finished, and I couldn't even get it into a ponytail any more. So I went to Supercuts to get it "fixed" so it looked decent.
My haircutter just couldn't get what I was explaining to her about what I wanted, so I left $20 lighter and no happier with my hair than I was when I went in. The next day I went to the barber here in the shopping center where my studio is, and she fixed it for me...for only $15!
Then I got MARRIED! (No, not to the barber! To my sweetheart of the last 15 years!)
Here we are saying our vows at Magic Island park on Oahu.
It was a very short ceremony, and then I serenaded
my new bride with a love song by Neil Young,
"Harvest Moon".
My good friend and fellow photographer, Steve Dantzig manned the camera during our event, then we put it on timer to include him in the group photograph. Unfortunately this Blogger program doesn't want to upload that photograph for some reason...I tried 4 times! But it was a fabulous day, and the food was great as usual at the Price Court after the ceremony.
I will attempt to be more frequent and regular with posing here in the future. All the best to YOU!
It's been a while since I wrote anything here, but in my defense, I'm the only one working in my portrait business. There are only so many hours in a day, and so many days in the week...and taking care of my clients takes priority over everything else. (Except for golf on my one day off each week!)
So, I cut my hair. I meant to trim it a little and reduce my ponytail from 20" to about 6", but what happened I can't really explain. Anyway it looked ridiculous when I finished, and I couldn't even get it into a ponytail any more. So I went to Supercuts to get it "fixed" so it looked decent.
My haircutter just couldn't get what I was explaining to her about what I wanted, so I left $20 lighter and no happier with my hair than I was when I went in. The next day I went to the barber here in the shopping center where my studio is, and she fixed it for me...for only $15!
Then I got MARRIED! (No, not to the barber! To my sweetheart of the last 15 years!)
Here we are saying our vows at Magic Island park on Oahu.
It was a very short ceremony, and then I serenaded
my new bride with a love song by Neil Young,
"Harvest Moon".
My good friend and fellow photographer, Steve Dantzig manned the camera during our event, then we put it on timer to include him in the group photograph. Unfortunately this Blogger program doesn't want to upload that photograph for some reason...I tried 4 times! But it was a fabulous day, and the food was great as usual at the Price Court after the ceremony.
I will attempt to be more frequent and regular with posing here in the future. All the best to YOU!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Classes, Actors and Videos!
I've been giving talks and presentations for more then 20 years. I've been conducting classes as an instructor of photography for a few years now. Not long ago, with some help, I made a short video for my website's home page, and that wasn't too tough. Mainly because I was on camera for only two short sentences or so. The rest of the voice over was easy because I wrote what I wanted to say, and I read it. I wasn't ON camera, so reading the script wasn't a bad thing.
Last week I undertook the making of a series of short instructional videos. Actually, I began the process some weeks back, but the actual production began last week. And I say BEGAN, because while I fully intended to make all seven of them at one filming..... That didn't happen!
I had written the scripts for the videos the week before, and I had them to where I thought they were good, and polished to the point I wanted them. When my friend and videographer came to my studio to record the videos I read over the scripts a couple times, and knowing the material, I thought, "This will be easy!"
Hahahah! Not so! According to all the best information out there, videos for YouTube should be about one and a half to two minutes long maximum. So when reading my scripts, I made sure they were no more than two minutes. Shoot! To record 14 minutes of video shouldn't take more than one hour...right?
I suppose that would be so if, and this is a big IF...one has the script memorized! So, even though as I said, I know the material, (heck, I wrote it, and it's stuff I've been teaching for years!), in a matter of three hours we were only able to get three of the videos recorded! And as it was, it would require quite a bit of editing on the part of my friend the videographer!
I'm excited to get them all finished and posted, but I tell you, I now have a whole new respect for actors! They memorize many pages of scripts and deliver them as if it were spontaneous. Nothing to it! That's quite a talent! One that I haven't developed. So, yeah, I have new-found respect for actors!
Specializing in fine portraits of Families, Children and high school Seniors for over 30 years in Hawaii.
Last week I undertook the making of a series of short instructional videos. Actually, I began the process some weeks back, but the actual production began last week. And I say BEGAN, because while I fully intended to make all seven of them at one filming..... That didn't happen!
I had written the scripts for the videos the week before, and I had them to where I thought they were good, and polished to the point I wanted them. When my friend and videographer came to my studio to record the videos I read over the scripts a couple times, and knowing the material, I thought, "This will be easy!"
Hahahah! Not so! According to all the best information out there, videos for YouTube should be about one and a half to two minutes long maximum. So when reading my scripts, I made sure they were no more than two minutes. Shoot! To record 14 minutes of video shouldn't take more than one hour...right?
I suppose that would be so if, and this is a big IF...one has the script memorized! So, even though as I said, I know the material, (heck, I wrote it, and it's stuff I've been teaching for years!), in a matter of three hours we were only able to get three of the videos recorded! And as it was, it would require quite a bit of editing on the part of my friend the videographer!
I'm excited to get them all finished and posted, but I tell you, I now have a whole new respect for actors! They memorize many pages of scripts and deliver them as if it were spontaneous. Nothing to it! That's quite a talent! One that I haven't developed. So, yeah, I have new-found respect for actors!
Specializing in fine portraits of Families, Children and high school Seniors for over 30 years in Hawaii.
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