Here we Go Again!!!

Ok, so of course I owe my few followers an apology for my absence and promise to be much better at this.

So, wrapped up the 2010 year in a positive manner feeling pretty good about things on the business front and very hungry for more. I believe that we had a good year, we shot a lot of great family, newborn, senior, freelance, children, fashion sessions as well as a few weddings! I tried to spread myself somewhat thin, but to stay in control, as well. I learned not to overbook by spending massive time at the computer editing until 2-3 AM for many weeks. I loved that we were that busy but also learned to manage that time by spreading things out a little bit more.

Jill and I spent a few days in NYC shooting for Box 185 on the streets of Manhattan which was very cool, especially considering it was nearly a year after leaving the 9-5 to pursue this dream. A big thanks to Sara Keiser for that opportunity. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our friends and families for the incredible amount of support and referrals. Without all of you, this year may have been a much more difficult one. That said, this year we will be changing our pricing a bit for a couple of reasons that I'll discuss. I will also be a bit more aggressive this year promoting our business. I know there are a lot of photographers in our area and I'd like to ultimately be considered amongst the best. I know that requires a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (yours not mine, because you love your photos sooooo much).

Pricing, as I mentioned earlier, I spent many long nights at the Mac editing. Again, not complaining and I know that with experience this time will shrink, but also there are a lot of uncontrollable things that come up that sometimes need to be dealt with on the system. I realized some of those early mornings that I really wasn't paying myself much at all. I am not a money hoarding person but we have to be able to keep the wheels turning on this and be able to continually stay competitive, which means additional equipment and the ultimate goal - a studio! We want to strive for nothing but satisfaction for our customers. So we are in the process of updating the website with a new pricing area, as well as much needed new images.

I will be a lot better at keeping this blog updated and try to manage my work flow accordingly. Jill and I really want to build this business up to be a top notch respectable Photography business that our customers come back to over and over again. Ideally, I would love for Jill to work more with me on location (she has a great eye for excellent shots). She will have a camera in her hand soon, as well.

So for now I will say can't wait to see you here again and I hope that you visit often and enjoy the images that we capture. Thanks again for all of your support and maybe we'll see you in front of the lens soon. Take Care!
E

Busy, Late or Early, and Fun

Ok, so I've been absent again...damn I have to get better at this. It's 3:09 A.M. as I type and am still pretty wide awake....crazy but what the hell I have to work when I can and that's what I suppose is good about being a bit of a night owl. I have been having an incredible October! Super busy, booked up for the whole month early on, Flew to NYC to shoot for my friend Sara Keiser of Box 185 for 4 days (talk about Kick Ass), and loving my favorite time of the year. No, not the political season...Fall, and we are having an absolutely beautiful Fall this year!

So, I am up this late or early, however you want to look at it, because I'm trying to rock out as much editing as possible. Tons of family stuff, kids, engagement, seniors (the high school kind) and newborn work to get done and out to clients. On top of that I'm still booking the rest of the year out and even though I'm super busy now I know it will slow soon as that white stuff begins to creep into SD again. Don't let that stop you from booking, we can do some cool stuff in the winter!

The NYC trip was incredible and I will post some photos and fun stories on that soon, it deserves it's own post.

I Love My Job!
Thanks for reading and hopefully I get to see you soon, through the lens or not...maybe at bar, don't look for me unless you call though, kiddos are bar killers (and that's ok:-))

(The photo above is the son of my High School classmate Dan Brendtro and High School / college friend Jen Lee Brendtro. Thanks to the Brendtro family!)

good morning,
E

Problem: Bottleneck, Solution: MacbookPro!

Its not often that we spring for new shiny toys around here, but our latest shiny toy is a welcomed addition to the business. If you've recently booked a session with Erin, you'll recall that his schedule for fall is filling up fast. Of course, this is obviously a great thing, but its resulted in some sleepless nights of editing for Erin. Sessions typically take 1-2 hours, which is the quick part. What customers don't see is the time spent on the back end, sorting through the hundreds of frames and editing what will become your final portraits. If your a nightowl, you're bound to see Erin surface via Facebook in the wee hours of the morning. The guy doesn't sleep! Since we only had one system, I didn't have a computer to edit on, so I....well...slept. We figured that in order to provide a quicker turnaround to you, our wonderful customers, we'd add an additional system so we can both be editing into what we hope aren't quite the wee hours of the morning any longer. Problem solved!
-J

Kellee & Matt

Its pretty easy to take photos when the couple looks this good! Kellee and Matt were married on a beautiful (but incredibly windy!) summer day. We were lucky to find a secluded spot near their eastside church to take advantage of the outdoors. Congrats Kleins! And thank you for allowing us to share in your day. -J

Here's some of my Recent Fashion shoot w/ Box 185 - by Sara Keiser

Stranger?

Wow, Sorry about the absence! I guess that I might actually be speaking to my 1 Follower (thanks Kelly). Anyway I have to say that the reason I haven't kept up with news here is that I've been pleasantly busy. A lot of late nights editing and days shooting on top of the rigors (loves) of Fatherhood.

So, I thought that I'd share a couple of recent things that I've shot and hope that any of you looking at these are doing well and if it's a bad day maybe these could give you a smile.

Thanks for stopping,
E

A Few Recent Shots

These are some of the images I've captured recently. I have been at the computer editing a lot, listening to good music, and very much enjoying the incredible opportunity to be my own boss.

I have always felt that Photography or a Photo gives us the chance to stop time, or a captured image can really act as a time machine. I find this especially true with children for obvious reasons. My goal in shooting photos of children is to capture who they are, who they really are! Who we as parents see daily and at any given moment think to ourselves how beautiful they are and how much we wish we had a picture of "that expression" or smile. I want to give you that as a parent.

Time flies by so quickly so lets try to stop it on occasion!

A special thanks to the Karim Family; The Petrick Family; The Hennies Family; and The Van Beek Family on our recent sessions.
E