Seminar June 2

I have an upcoming seminar coming up in Dayton. I have had several calls recently about the seminar so I thought I'd post the details on the blog. If you are interested in signing up (there are a few spots left) you can e-mail Chuck Shade at shadephoto10@yahoo.com See you in Dayton!!!!

Dream Light

Wow! I just got a new toy and it is AWESOME!! I purchased it some months ago for next year's senior sessions and I just now got around to getting it put together and working. It's called a Dream Light and although it is quite ugly in appearance, it produces some unbelievable effects. I tried it out on Saturday with Katherine in her Prom dress and I was so excited with the results! If there are any seniors from this year who would like to have a Prom dress session with this amazing light, call at the studio and tell them you want a Dream Light session.

Bailey Book

Hey, I was working on finishing several orders for some of the 08 seniors and came across this page I created for Kortni Bailey's coffee table book. I had to share with everyone because I absolutely love this car! Isn't it awesome??!!

Chapmanville Prom

Last night, I photographed Chapmanville High School's Prom. Their theme was "The Secret Garden" and the prom committee had done a wonderful job of transforming the school into a magical place. Everyone looked so nice and they all seemed to have a great time dancing. When I attended the prom over 20 years ago (I know it's scary!!) hardly anyone danced at all. Maybe the occasional slow dance but most of the time we just sat around like a bunch of knots on a log. Not these days, the kids are all dancing, singing and having a great time!! It's fun to watch!


I always enjoy seeing all the kids dressed up in their formal dresses and tuxedos. It's so different from the way I see them when they come in for their senior portraits. Anyway, I wanted to share a few candids I took of some the seniors that I had photographed in the studio earlier in the year. Enjoy!!

photoDUDS Announcement Freebie

I put a new freebie up on the photoDUDS website. So, if you are a photographer and working on senior graduation announcements like I am ...go check it out, download it and have fun!! Here is a link to the page.

More from Hawaii

I finished some more images from our trip to Hawaii. Here are a few images that I took of Katherine close to our hotel. I wish we would have had more time to spend out taking portraits but with all of the activities we participated in there wasn't much time left. Katherine will be a senior this coming year so we decided we would start her senior portraits a little early since we were in such a beautiful location. I think they turned out pretty nice even though we were in a huge rush.











I am also including a few shots from our helicopter ride over Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Earlier in the week before we arrived, a small explosion occurred at at the summit of Halema‘uma‘u Crater of Kilauea Volcano which is the area we toured. On one of the photos taken from inside the helicopter you can see the coast line and the steam which is rising up from where the lava is hitting the water.Also included is a shot from the luau we attended on the last evening of our trip. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Hawaii time!!

Well, here it is 2 a.m. and I'm still awake. My body is still six hours behind . . . (it's only 8 p.m. in Hawaii and, thus, why I am still awake pounding on the computer and retouching like a crazy person!!) I doubt anyone's really out there anxiously awaiting images from my trips but I thought I'd take a short break from work to post some images. Here are a couple from Hawaii . . . As you can see, Katherine and I took a horseback ride in the mountains of the Waipio Valley. The scenery was amazing!! I'll try to post some more images from the trip over the weekend.

WPPI and My Vacation

Well, I have been gone for two entire weeks!! The first week I was in Vegas for WPPI and the second week I was on vacation with my family in beautiful Hawaii. I have lots of images to share so keep checking back as I plan to post lots of goodies from the last two weeks.

Generations

I was working on an order for the Spradling family and thought that this was something worth sharing. Two years ago I entered a print of a great-grandmother with her infant grandchild. The print was titled Generations and scored a 99 at the Mid-East Regional print competition. It went on to be included in the Professional Photographers of America Loan Collection. Well, here is an image from Claire's recent session with her brother and sister. I thought it was amazing to see how much she had changed since that photograph was taken a little over two years ago. I am also including an image of Claire with her big brother Evan and big sister Audrey.

WPPI

Well, WPPI is fast approaching and I have been burning the midnight oil trying to get ready for my seminar. I hope to put on a great presentation and exhibit some great new products we are preparing to offer to our seniors in '09. I already have about 40-50 seniors booked for next year so we are working hard to make it the most exciting year ever!! I will be leaving on Saturday and my program is scheduled for Monday, March 17 from 8:30-10:30 a.m. in the Bally's Las Vegas rooms 1-3. Hope to see you there!!




Here is a recent image of a senior I shot a few weeks ago. The senior is Markie Gunnells from Westside High School. She had the idea to combine her basketball jersey with her ballet tutu and toe shoes. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Just wanted to quickly post some portraits from a recent Birthday Session that I thought were just darling. The photos are of Addyson Amick, daughter of Sabrina and Phil Amick of Williamson. She and I had such a great time at her session last month! She is such a sweet little girl and I wanted to share her beautiful images with everyone. Have a great weekend!!

Once

Over the weekend I got the chance to see the independent movie Once starring Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. What a treasure!!! I loved it!!
It's the story of street busker and a Czech immigrant and their "whirlwind" week in Dublin, as they write, rehearse and record songs that tell their love story. This movie which premiered at the Sundance film festival and took the audiences by storm was created for a mere $160,000. (DIRT CHEAP by movie making standards) And, Hansard and Irglová won an oscar on Sunday for Best Original Song for the song titled "Falling Slowly." So, if you haven't seen it already, go check it out.

PS After watching the movie, I went to check out other music by Hansard and his band The Frames. Notable albums include: Cost, Burn the Maps and of course the Once soundtrack

Animoto Video

Well, it's apparently on a few more days away until Animoto releases an update to their amazing software. Their system was updated over the weekend in preparation for the new features which include higher res output, more controls to the content and a photographer's license . We are really excited about offering these shows to our clients. We have several ideas in the works for iTunes podcasts, myspace videos and DVD slideshows.

SPA

I couldn't believe it when I went to my blog and realized I hadn't posted since Halloween. I apologize for being such a loser. Anyway, I am currently attending the SPA (Senior Portrait Artists) convention in Tuscon, Arizona. I am really enjoying myself, learning lots and meeting tons of great people. I can't wait to get home and try all the new stuff I've picked up here . . . I have loads of ideas for next year's batch of seniors!! Anyway here is an image of one of the folios I entered of Erin Stone. Enjoy and I'll try to b a better blogger. Bear with me people . . .