End of the Year SALE

Hey Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!

I am very thankful to so many of you for all your orders for Christmas. To say thank you, and because I love after Christmas Sales too, I am having an End of the Year SALE through 12/31.

Buy 10 5x7 prints...........................Get 5 free
Buy 1 8x10 or 8x12.........................Get 1 free (different images*)
Buy 1 12x18..................................Get 2 8x10s free (different images*)

16x20 and 16x24............................$25 off

Custom Framing.............................20% off

Pre-Sized Photo Frames...................20% off
Frames Catalog part 1 part 2

IMPORTANT NOTES:
/ Order through your Pictage event. All sales apply to NEW purchases (not credit orders)
/ *Free prints can be any image, unlike Pictage's 2 for 1 sales when they are duplicates of what you ordered.
/ YOU MUST email me the number(s) of the free prints you want following your print order. All prints will ship together.
/ Estimated Turnaround times: All print orders will require 7-10 business days for delivery. (all orders are custom enhanced) Frame orders require 3-4 weeks. If this sale is super popular, it may be a little longer:)
/ Please note new product options list on Pictage. All prints larger than 4x6 are listed under "Finished Prints". This is to allow for custom enhancement by our studio.

/ PRINT OPTIONS AND PRICING WILL CHANGE AS OF 01/01/2009 (UNLESS YOUR WEDDING WAS IN SEPTEMBER '08 OR AFTER) SO THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE AT CURRENT PRICES.


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This is the first time I have done this so if there are general questions or any problems, please leave a comment or send an email and I will answer below.

Some encouragement...

While working on another album this afternoon, I have been listening to Charlie Hall's relatively new album, "The Bright Sadness"
One song I have heard before totally jumped out at me today. I don't have the energy today to go into depth but this year has been such a challenge for me/us. Many of you know our family lost our Dad this year, which has been way more difficult than I imagined given we knew it was coming for a long time. Our daughter has been amazing and pretty much perfect but the combination of this business exploding this year, having an infant and Anna going back to school full time has been a liiiiittle stressful at times (ok, all the time).
But I digress...a song on this album is called "Bloom Again". It's super encouraging and poignant for me right now. Also a quote from a book I read last month also has kept me focused on the right things. It is from Glenn Beck. (pictured below)

This photo was an accident but I later saw it and really liked the perspective it gives. Maybe a little reminder that many of our plans are not what ultimately brings the most valuable things???
Click the photo if you want to grab it and use it.

A couple other awesome songs on this album are "Scenes" and "New Year" Check out Charlie's site since my friend Sarah Rhoads shot the photography for the website.

One of my favorite things...

Michigan Avenue, Chicago in the Summer!

"The Bean" in Millennium Park.
(not HDR but some pixel love in PS)

That's me in the red shirt ! :)

Kickin' it in HDR

I added 2 more photos...

I was just playin' around with some images from Mexico from this year. I did them in Photoshop and Photomatix in a process called HDR. It is taking multiple different exposures (same composition, different shutter speeds) and combining them to create High Dynamic Range.

the absolute master of this stuff is Trey Radcliff and his blog is Stuck In Customs If you are interested in this process (we photo nerds call Photoshop editing "Processing") you should check out his tutorial. It is not only super informative but also hilarious.

anyway, I have only played with a few to give it a try. Maybe more to come this winter in some down time. The cool thing about it to me is that it is totally real. Nothing is added really. It is just incorporating all the lights and darks that your eye sees a lot more of so in a way, HDR is closer to what your mind experienced when seeing that scene. Which is nice...

What do you think?

also a good friend of mine bought my old camera when I upgraded to the bad boy D3 and he loves to do HDR stuff. Check out his FLICKR page: Superwagon

So cute it hurts!

I couldn't resist. After a day of cleaning up outside, re-organizing my office, catching up on billing, backing up and restoring my iPhone, working on getting framing orders finished for Christmas delivery, planning out my next batch of albums to design and catching up with family, I came across this photo of my girls last spring in Cancun. I laughed out loud at how much I love that little girl!! ... and so I had to play with the photo and post.

412 iPhone images

Here is my last 18 months in phone pics.
No commentary, No explanations. No deletes (except for the ones of that thing with the deal)

Ok, one comment: The first one is what I look like when I am working on your projects or getting ready to fly out (I can't remember which) at 4:27am

If you want to guess on what's going on and where it is, I will give signed copies of the image to anyone who guesses correctly.
Cuz they are certainly works of art!

:) have fun!

What thaaa...?

The weather right now in the OC. (Oklahoma City that is)

National Meg Guess Day

Ok it is in my book anyway. Today is the 1 year anniversary of Meg Guess Couture boutique opening in MidTown OKC. She had been in business for a while before that but the new boutique has now been a gem in the city for a year now. This isn't just another vendor that I work with, Meg shares the same passion for quality, industry friendships and both personal and professional values that make her a joy to work (and chat) with.

The following are some images from the last year and a half from when we have worked together from weddings to fashion shoots. Some you may have seen on here before, some are previously unposted.

Meg, Congrats on such amazing fashion design as well as crafting a top of the line business to go along with it. Best Wishes for an even better 2009!

My introduction to Meg came through my client Heather Hilliard Beaver. Here, she is showing off Meg's earrings and hair accessory flower.

A custom Meg Guess Cage Veil

an image from Meg's Kenneth Pool Trunk Show earlier this year.

The next several are from a wedding with the bride in a custom Meg Guess Gown. Check out how happy she is to see herself in her custom gown. This is one of my favorite memories from the year. Joanna was so over the top excited. As as guy, I caught a little glimpse of how worth it is for brides to get EXACTLY what they want for the wedding dress.

a little wedding day fashion shoot!

This bride (Abby Bova) just so happened to be in Meg's boutique when I stopped in one day. The rest is a pictorial history!!

Look at how cool that veil is!!

My most recent Meg Guess bride, Ashley Vaughn. She cracked me up at our consultation. She said she found me through hearing about me from Meg. She said, "I do everything Meg Says!!!"

These last few are from a couple fashion shoots with Meg and Sharon Tabb a couple months ago. I have posted them before but I did a little re-enhancement.
an Elizabeth Fillmore Design Available at MGC Boutique

a Kenneth Pool Design Available at MGC Boutique

Meg, once again thank you for being so great to work with. And I wish you all the best in 2009 with all your huge endeavors!!!

BRIDES: you owe it to yourself to go to this boutique and see for yourself her work!!

Some great images!

I love checking out other photographers blogs just because I love to see what they capture at all their different venues and moments. I have some good friends Jerry and Ingrid from San Fran that captured these recently. Since I have been on a little blurred lights kick (see header and the post below) I thought these would be perfect to share. I hope you don't mind Jerry, maybe my 3 blog regulars will check out your blog too! Ha!

Images by Jerry Yoon

I would so frame that one 20x40 in my living room if I were that couple!!
Images by Jerry Yoon

Images by Jerry Yoon

/ The Spotts Family /

As fascinating as the post below was, (as evidenced by zero comments) I had to get Madonna off the top of my blog. Phew!

Now on to some crazy cute pics of The Spotts family. I am kicking off my family photo availability now days so I was happy to meet one of my best friends David and his family out for some super fun pics and a family double pizza date afterwards. Check out the last few for some nice sparkle!

David, Tanna, Cassidy & Ethan:

David is one of the best dads I have ever seen! Definitely one of my biggest role models in the parenting biz!

P.S. and Cassidy, I think you're pretty cool too! We'll do pizza (or lasagna or whatever) anytime!!