If you know any full time photographers they will tell you that this is the greatest job in the world.  Every job, including ours has stressful days but all it takes is working with some cute little ones to remind you how great a job this is.  There is something so pure in the expressions of a child.  We have been blessed to work with quite a few adorable little ones already this year.  Here are a couple of the cuties so far…more to come!

Brrr…my fingers are still a bit numb from the snowy but wonderful wedding we were lucky enough to be a part of for Caitlin & Craig.  This is our third year in a row we have shot a January wedding, I think we are finally getting used to shooting in the white stuff.  The temp rose to a robust 8 degrees Saturday but that didn’t stop the spirit of the Bride & Groom and their great group.  Thanks so much C&C for all the fun & letting us spend time with all of you on your biggest of days, we had a blast!

Here’s a few peeks!  Enjoy!

It’s that time of year!  It’s when we pack all our Wedding Albums, pricing booklets, banners, etc all up and head to the bridal shows!  It is always a lot of fun to visit with all of the excited brides who are planning the biggest day of their life.  They are always so full of energy and eager to talk to us about what we do and ask us lots of questions.  It really is a fun time for us as a business!

Here is the cover flyer we are using in 2010…See you there!

Sorry Clem…no Mancy’s for you! 

Dee and I want to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a safe & Happy New Year!

See you all in the new year with many more new blog posts!  (I promise Clem…)

Mahalo!

-Brian, Dee & Kage

It should be a blast!

 Check out the specifics below!  Mahalo!

Where:
Austin, Texas (exact location to be announced)

When:
Monday, March 22nd and Tuesday March 23rd

Registration:
$279 per person

Early-Bird Registration:
$249 per person (if you register by January 31, 2010)

Workshop Description:

The market for Glamour and Boudoir Photography is growing every day. Don’t fall behind the curve. Learn how you can tap into this market and create images that wow your clients and lead to bigger sales.

The Grind: Austin is an intensive two-day photography and post-processing workshop that will focus on Fashion, Glamour, and Boudoir photography.

Join three-time international award-winning photographer and creator of Design House, Andy Armstrong as he teaches and demonstrates interpersonal interaction, shoot strategy, pose flow, and how to get through the “grind” of creating image after image that make mouths and wallets fall open.

“This is going to be a fun, but serious workshop, folks. I’m searching for the best models Austin has to offer, and I’m going to show you exactly how I do glamour photography. From approaching potential models that build your portfolio to the first interaction in the studio – from building a model’s confidence to making her feel ’sexy’ without being intrusive – from finding the light to getting the very best poses – and much, much more. I’m going to show you exactly how I find, shoot, and succeed with this genre of photography.” – Andy Armstrong

The Grind: Austin includes:

- Live model shoots
- Posing demonstration and instruction
- Lighting demonstration and instruction
- How to communicate more effectively
- How to make your clients comfortable
- Hands-on coaching
- When and how to break the rules
- Intensive Photoshop demonstration and training

So you don’t shoot fashion, glamour, or boudoir? Don’t worry. Everything (from pose and communication to post processing) you’ll learn at this workshop will translate easily into every aspect of your photography, whether it’s weddings, kids, or families. You’ll walk away fired up and ready to take on the world.

And, since everything’s bigger and better in Texas…

We’ve got an extra special guest assistant for this workshop. Award-winning photographer and Graphic Authority designer, Brian Little of B&D Photography will be joining us a special guest speaker and assistant for the entire workshop.

To learn more about Andy Armstrong’s work and his Design House product, you can visit the following sites:

Andy Armstrong Photography (home page)

Andy Armstrong Photography (glamour work)

Design House

To learn more about Brian Little’s work, you can visit the following site:

B&D Photography

A note about location:

The final location in Austin, Texas has not been determined as of the time of publication of this material. We are, however, working on an excellent location for this type of photography, and the location will be secured and announced shortly.

For more information and to register, please visit this link:

http://www.getdesignhouse.com/dh_store/i…products_id=119

Meet my new nephew Aiden.  We decided over the holiday weekend we would introduce Aiden to his first (of many) photoshoots.  Apparently no one informed Aiden. 

I have tentatively nick-named Aiden WD40 because he never seems to stop squeaking.  He also never wants to sleep either…at least while being photographed.  I had prepared a whole slew of cool poses for when we got him to sleep, it was going to be great.  After roughly 5 hours in two days and 4 pooped on towels, we got all of 45 seconds of him actually sleeping and recorded one whole sleeping pose.  If he wasn’t so darn cute I might have gotten frustrated-but look at him.  He looks just like his uncle Brian. 

I love you Aiden, we’ll get more next time…Enjoy!

Ahhh…I love this time of year.  You see, for us October and November are typically our busiest time of the year.  We shoot almost every day usually working 12-14 hour days, deadlines, rainouts, busy…busy…busy…  It’s almost enough to get me a little stressed out – then here comes good ole Thanksgiving.  It comes just in time to remind me how truly thankful I should be, it lets me sit back and really take into account everything that the good Lord has blessed me with.

I have the greatest job in the world.  How many people really get to do what they love for a living…really?  I have a fantastic wife Dee and my sweet pea Kagie whom I love to pieces.  I have a wonderful, loving family that helps me whenever I need it and always believes in me, even when I struggle to do so.  I am thankful for my good friends and photography buddies that I am able to have around me, talk to, ask advice from and who make me smile everyday.  Thank you…

Thanksgiving is truly a wonderful holiday.  Take time to think about all the things you are thankful for in your life.  Everybody has something that makes them smile.  Now…what was it I was stressed out about…I guess it must not be that important.  Happy Thanksgiving. 

Here are a some images from this year (many more to come).  I havn’t blogged in a while (get off me Clem…) so I thought I would share some of what I have been doing.  Enjoy!…Thanks everyone, Mahalo!

What a week…we just got back into the offices late Monday after returning home from attending the NOBS Inferno in Nashville Tennessee at the Preston Hotel (home of the greatest blackened chicken sandwich I have had in a long while).  What a great time we had, seeing old friends, making new ones, alot of fun was had by all!  I have always appreciated my NOBS family so it’s always a pleasure to get a chance to see them all in person, hang out and spend some time talkin Photography!

We were lucky enough to come home with some booty this year after winning some contests.  We entered 3 images in the print competition, in 3 different categories.  We were stunned to find out we won 1st place in both the Group Category and the Wildcard Category.  We also took a 2nd place in the Senior Category.  We also won the Grand Prize for the highest scored image in the competition.  How cool is that?  We couldn’t believe it!

Later on I was part of the Shoot-out Competition where they paired 7 shooters with 7 re-touchers to try and come up with the best single image.  They gave each shooter a model, 2 lights and 1 prop that must be used in the shot.  They then gave the shooter 5 whole minutes each to get a great shot and the retoucher 15 minutes to work the image.  I was luck enough to get paired up with the talented Josh Carter from LifeCaptured Photography who rocked his 5 minuters and got a great image for me to work.  We were voted the winning image and won some really great prizes-Thanks a ton Josh, I had a blast!

All in all a pretty great time-I even got to award my buddy (and freakishly mustached) Clem (a.k.a The Dirty Squirrel) an Achievement Award.  Good times.  Below are the 3 images I entered, the shootout pic as well as a couple others.  Thanks Rob & James, Andy, Clem & Cathy, Riff, Alison, Josh, Jason, Steve & Shelley, Sarah, Bob, Neil, Gabi, Julie and many many others…it was a great time-see you all at WPPI.  Enjoy!

We love sports…that’s why we get real excited when we find a senior who doesn’t mind braving the cold or getting doused with freezing water to get a cool shot.  Well, we found one…Thanks Tyler, we had a blast!  Here’s a few peeks…