I'm trying to catch up on some blog posts here but sometimes life just gets crazy! So, I wanted to share some cool photos that I took in Chicago a month or so ago and tell a (what is now a funny story). One of the things I enjoy most is walking around a city and just exploring to see what I can find. Often, taking a taxi to wherever I'm trying to get to is much easier, but I've never been disappointed when I decide to grab the camera and walk a few miles.

Rebecca and I were in town during one of the rainiest weekends I can remember. We were going to go see B.B. King as apart of our anniversary and I ordered the tickets online way in advance. I figured, we're both blues fans, and B.B. King is a legend, how many chances are we going to have left to see him? We had been walking around Chicago all afternoon shooting pictures, window shopping, etc... We were out the previous night during a rainstorm shooting pictures... It was going to be nice to stay inside and enjoy a concert.

We're getting ready in the hotel room and I grab the tickets from my bag and as I'm double checking the time for the concert I noticed the date. It said "Concert Sunday, Doors open at 7PM". I thought I had bought Saturday night tickets. Of course, we couldn't stay in Chicago an extra night because we had to get back, and we called the venue to see if there was anything we could do, and low and behold...nothing. Sorry. I was bummed beyond belief. Here I am, trying to be Mr. Details-Smooth-Guy and I completely botched it. I was sulking, and annoyed at myself for letting this happen. Rebecca stepped in and said, don't worry about it, we're in Chicago, we can't change things, so why be upset? Let's go have fun!

It turns out, we had an incredible evening together. We found a fantastic jazz club called Andy's Jazz and had got a chance to see some local musicians blow us away. We never would have found it had we not missed out on the concert. It was very cool. A lesson learned.

I mention this to all of you because I see people planning the most important day of their lives, and there's so much detail and precision riding on that day that the stress just piles up. I'm here to tell you, roll with the punches and let things ride... It doesn't always go according to plan, but sometimes, those little bumps you encounter make some of the best stories. Make the best of it, and have fun!

In the end, my solace was I got a chance to create some cool photos and spend an amazing weekend with someone I love very much. Enjoy the pics!

During the winter it gets a bit harder to find the motivation to grab your camera and go make pictures.  The thing that I hate the most is when I am out shooting and I can no longer feel my hands.  Or when you have to make a finite adjustment to your camera and you can't quite hit that little button without taking off your glove...at which point you are screwed because you've exposed your skin to the elements. All complaining aside, I think getting out and shooting during the winter is a true test of commitment and motivation.  If you can muster the courage to brave the elements more often than not you will be rewarded for your efforts.

We had some time to shoot in Nashville the last night of the conference and so we decided to have a little bit of a contest. Our goal was to go out and shoot for a couple hours and to see what we could come up with. Chris and Jeremy went off in one direction and Brad and I went off in another. I love walking around new cities. I think that being in an unfamiliar place with a camera really does allow your creativity to shine.

Our photos turned out awesome and I was really happy to see that everyone went for something a little different. Chris went for abstract art, texture, and shape whereas I produced some HDR photos, interesting color, and some portraits for people I met around town. I met a very nice lady named Abby who was playing spoons in the downtown area just up the street from the original Grand Ole Opry. She was gracious enough to let me photograph her playing. It was about 10 degrees out that night and I had to commend her on her willingness to entertain out on the street. She loved to play, and I loved to shoot. That's dedication to your craft.

There's so much detail to be seen if you just stop and look for it. A cool angle on a building, an interesting texture on the street, or a passing glance from a stranger... the point is to get out and shoot! You might be surprised what you're missing.

Brad, Chris, and I met up with Jeremy, from A-Team Productions to head down to Nashville Tennessee to attend a fantastic photography conference, Imaging USA. For those of you that don't know what Imaging USA is... it's run each year by Professional Photographers of America and was created to serve as a place for photographers to learn, network, and explore new technologies in the industry. We got a chance to meet some of the best and brightest photographers in the industry.

Some of our favorite lectures were delivered by Joe Buissink, Denis Reggie, Dane Sanders, Allison Rodgers, Jeff and Julia Woods, and Clay Blackmore. There lectures spanned a wide variety of topics such as studio management, marketing, creative identity, inspiration and style.

Joe Buissink and Steve

If you haven't seen Joe's work, you've got to check out his web site. Click here.

I heard many photographers give excellent presentations, but Joe's really stood out to me. The reason why I like listening to Joe is because when he talks about photography, he talks about it as a passion, not a job, and that's exactly how photography should be. Of course, it's a means to pay the bills, but there is so much more to it than that.

In his lecture, he said, "Every time I snap the shutter, I leave a part of myself in that image." He also went on to say, "I grab the moment between moments...the amazing instances..." Wow. It's funny to think about how many photographers call themselves photojournalists these days, and I think it's obvious when photography is overly posed. If I see an opportunity to put my subject in good light, I'll step in and make it happen, but what I've found over the last few years is that my most popular prints are the ones where my subject wasn't even aware that I was there. Joe's got it right. Capture the moment between moments...

"Put your passion first, and your business second." - I seem to remember a college professor telling me that once...

-Steve

This past Sunday we participated in the Ohio Bridal Expo at the Aladdin Shrine Center in Columbus, Ohio.  This was our second year exhibiting and we had a great time meeting all of the potential Kaufman Kramer brides for 2010 and 2011.  During the show, I was able to snap some photos of the booth, expo floor and one of the fashion shows that took place during the expo.  I hope the photos give you guys an idea of what the show was like.  Enjoy.

 

This year we are taking our presence at bridal shows to the next level.  Steve, Brad and I are really proud of the booth we have put together for this year's shows.  It features some of our most stunning work displayed in a variety of ways. Featured predominantly on our back 'wall' is a canvas cluster surrounding a large 20"x30" canvas print featuring our brand new logo. Major props to Brad for devising a system to hang these clusters.  We are using a complex grid of high strength wire that enables us to position the canvas in virtually any position we desire.

Moving down from the canvas cluster, you can see our dueling 24" iMacs featuring our favorite Animoto videos.  They are surrounded by some simple but effective IKEA furniture that creates an ambiance that you rarely find at bridal shows. Our booth has a distinctive 'warm' feeling that appeal to a lot of the brides that stop by.

One of the most popular parts of our booth is our album table.  This small round table placed at the outermost corner of our booth draws in most people as they walk by our booth.  We feature our finest GraphiStudio sample albums at this table which always seem to be a great conversation starter.

We are trying to go green and reduce printing costs this year, so the only things that we are giving away at the booth are a simple bookmark with links to our website and business card.  As some of you might have noticed, we have a 2010 client information PDF posted on our home page.  By downloading this PDF, potential clients can read through nine glorious pages of information about who we are, what we do, and what we bring to the table.

I look forward to seeing past, current, and future clients at our upcoming bridal shows!
 

When I'm walking around looking for things to shoot, especially for HDRs, I am looking for architecture that stands out against the skyline. I love lines, color, and contrast, so if I can find all three in a particular scene, I'm going to try and see what I can come up with. When processing HDR's you have to be careful not to over-process the image. Now, on my HDR's I am intentionally going for a more surrealistic look, since that's what I like. However, if for example you are being paid to shoot interiors of a building, and you want to expose the inside of a room versus the windows facing outside, the surreal look just won't work. In this case, you have to be very careful to make sure your shots are well-exposed and merged properly. If you look at good real estate photography, you'll notice that when you're standing in a room and looking outside, you can always see the room clearly and the outside area clearly. HDR's are perfect for that kind of thing, and certainly much easier than hours upon hours masking in Photoshop. If you notice in the image below, while it is a cool HDR, it's slightly over-processed because of the "ghosting" around the buildings. Sometimes it looks cool, but in this case it's a bit much, so I would bring this back through my editing process to eliminate how extreme that looks. On this image, I love how the HDR brought out the detail under the archway. You can see all of the wood rafters, as well as into the building. Here's an example of how lines can create an interesting graphic element within the scene. The tall building in the background looks like a grouping of emerald crystals when standing far away. I thought it was cool to show it as a part of the block in downtown San Diego. Compared to much of the South-Western look of the downtown area, this building it seems to grow out of the ground and makes a striking addition to the San Diego skyline. Hope you like this set of photos! More to come! -Steve