Halloween

So tonight was Halloween. The photos are of Christina and Jonathan who have been staying with me for a few months. Jonathan will be two at Christmas and tonight he was a pirate. The next photo is of my son Garen and his girlfriend. Garen dressed up as her and she was a thug gangster with a aluminium foil "Grill" Seeing my sporto son dressed as a girl sent a cold chill down my spine. He looks like my brothers daughters and a little like my mother. Oh well, David Bowie made a lot of money dressing that way.
The last photo is of what I did for the evening. I just went for a canoe ride to photograph the geese. I got started to late and only got this one shot of 4 of them taking off in front of me.

Red Sox Win

OK, so the Red Sox won the World Series. They played better than the Rockies. They deserved to win. But I was still pulling for the Rockies because I am a National League kind of guy. Go Braves in 2008 !

The Faces of Town

Here are a few photos from my personal project called "Faces of Town" It is a collection of photographs of the people that you see almost daily around the downtown area of McDonough , Ga. This is a great town. The fruit stand lady leaves all of her produce outside at night on her little stand and no one ever steals it. There is the guy that gives out the parking tickets. The firemen who are always outside. My real estate agent, half naked in black and white. The pretty blond owns my favorite restaurant. I shot those this morning. I have many more on the way and they will all hang at the main restaurant on the town sq threw Christmas. All of the prints will be 30 to 40 inch gallery wrap canvas.

Y'all Get to Church

Just a photo from today's wedding in Fayetteville, Ga. I think I will call it "Y'all Get to Church"

The Post Below This One

In the post below this one I said that "I almost Promise" to update the blog every day. Look for stuff from the two weddings I have this weekend in the next post.
Also, as of yesterday I will be the speaker on Sunday night for the Alabama- Mississippi PPA convention in July in Moblie , Al. I will be doing my new "50 Things Every Photographer Should Know" show.

South Dakota and Dominican Republic What Do They Have in Common ?

Both places have someone new looking at my blog ! And London, England checked in too. Welcome to you all.

And hey Ringold, Ga. I need a comment. Also one from Memphis would be good. And lets see......... I need a post from J in Kansas and one from just north of Ocala, Fl and I haven't heard anything from the good folks in Kentucky in a while. Greenville, SC needs to call me with a credit card number and the jackass from North Carolina that keeps e mailing me, please stop.
To the TVA photography group, I would love to do a Photo Restoration seminar over there next year. To the Aniston , Al Cheehah group, please send in my speaker merit form. And I would love to do another show over there also and then go drink beer with y'all again. GLPPA in Louisville, KY I still need y'all to send in my speaker merit form to PPA. Also, Brownsville, TX please e mail me and let me know how you liked the DVD set.

That about covers all of the things I needed to get off my chest. I almost promise to update the blog every day.

Portrait Session

This morning I did a quick portrait session at my house. We viewed the photos projected in my media room and an order for 12 8x10s , 3-16x20s and a 30x40 inch Gallery Wrapped Canvas was placed at that time. I never really enjoyed doing formal portraits before but I am starting to like it. I think I am going to do a week of portraits each month. The photo with 3 people in it is going to be the 30x40 with 16x20s of the other two. Any comments ? Should I just stick to weddings?

This Weekends Wedding

I had a good time this weekend. My wedding was for a family and group of friends that I have photographed several events for. I love photographing this family. They have such beautiful daughters. I asked the brides father how he manged all the guys buzzing around as they were all growing up and he gave me this look like I really don't what to know. He and his wife must have done a great job because all of the sisters are so articulate, witty, and graceful. What we call "Good Southern Girls"

Here are just a few photos from the wedding.

Just Saying Hi

I know it has been 3 weeks since my last post. I have been super busy and the blog got pushed to the back burner. Nothing really newsworthy other than I took 1st place in the Wedding Category at the Georgia Professional Photographers print competition in Augusta, Ga. It was at the annual convention and I got to watch the judging of the photographs. It took about 7 hours to judge them all. It was very enlightening.
The only other thing of any interest was that I was almost killed at last weekends wedding. I tripped and almost went over the balcony railing at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Atlanta. The photo is taken from where I landed. Those steps are steep and slick.

That night when I got home and started to unload my bags and download all the images, my little dog Sonny was the only one waiting up on me. He crashed on my light kit bag the instant I sat it down. He has never done that before and now I can't keep him off of it. It is comfy. I slept on it one time in an airport.

Lastly but the most enjoyable thing is that I took my daughter Marah out for her 17th birthday this evening. The photo of my kids was taken at the ball field a few weeks ago with my little Nikon S9.

A Whole Lot Going On

First of all, I want to apologise for not posting very much over the last month. I have been very busy . Lots of weddings and DVD production and a very big personal project called "The Faces of Town" I may do a separate blog just for that project.
Right now I am watching something on CNBC called "The Age of Wal-Mart" Love them or hate them, Wal-Mart knows how to make money and how to cut costs. Overhead costs are the number one killer of the small business.
Wal-Mart keeps track of everything. What was sold. What did not sell. What sells best when a hurricane is due to hit your location, then they react by ordering more or less in real time.
EVERYTHING is about cutting costs and delivering products to the common person that they can afford. Now the flip side. Does Wal-Mart put such a squeeze on their suppliers that the suppliers can not make a profit ? I hope to find out with a DVD project that I am working on. It does not even involve photography. I will not say what it is other than to say that there is wealth in knowledge. Sell what you know. Because there is always someone that wants to know what you know. Thank you to all the new people that check out this blog. England, Germany and New Zealand are countries that have folks that have checked me out. Welcome to you all. Or as we say here in Georgia, welcome to all y'all. Photos from the Faces of Town project will be in the next post.

This Saturdays Wedding

Here are a few photos from this Saturdays wedding. I have not even downloaded today's wedding yet, but will do so tomorrow.

Old Stuff Can Be New Stuff

Yesterday it was raining here for a while in the afternoon. So instead of working on the continuing clean up in my yard from the storm damage, I started poking around in some of my old files looking for some photos that were my favorites a few years back. When I came upon this one I remembered how I had wanted to take this photo for about 5 years but never had a wedding couple and a Pickett fence that were both willing at the same time. I remember that it was about to rain when this was taken. I added the painting effect with Corel Painter and Photoshop.

I Have a Date with a Chainsaw

Yesterday afternoon, after I shot a small local morning wedding. I went to have a late lunch at the restaurant across the lake. It is only a mile if I walk from the house so sometimes I do that. The temp was only around 90 and the wind was blowing so it was no big deal to walk.

While I was eating and having a few cold ones on the deck outside, my cell phone rang and it was one of my brides calling with some changes she wanted to make to her album that I had posted on line for her to see. I told her that I would go home and do them and send her a proof in a few hours. So I left lunch early and walked on home to start on the 3 changes that she wanted. Now if she had not called, I would have had desert and another beer and then walked home 15 min later. It takes about 20 min to walk home and as I walked up my driveway, the wind started to pick up and I felt a very cold rush of air. Within the next 2 minuets I lost 8 trees in my backyard . My garage was filled with limbs and parts of lawn furniture and several windows were smashed. If my bride had not called, I would have been walking home in all of that. And from seeing all of the damage along the trail I used to get home. I might not have made it. Thanks for the call Mary Ann.

This Weekends Wedding

I had only one wedding this weekend and that is fine with me because of the HEAT.
This week it was in Montgomery, Alabama at a beautiful church in the old money section of town. The bride and bridesmaids were all from old south society and veterans of many debutant balls. And every single one of them was absolutely beautiful. (Hey, I'm a guy. I notice stuff like this.) Anyway it was 109 degrees in the shade. See the photo of the thermometer on the mirror of my truck. All was going just fine until the electricity, (that runs air conditioning and lights) went out at the church 20 min before the wedding and stayed out the whole time.
No problem. I did not freak out like everyone else was doing. Just a few minor changes to my cameras settings and all turned out fine. I always bring a studio light for the family alter shots. The lights plug into a special power pack that does not need to be plugged into the wall. So all went well for me. See the photos below. The first inside shot of the church is with the lights on. All others are after the power went off.

A Few More from Saturday

Lets set the stage. Atlanta. August. Temp is 101. Humidity around 90%. Put on a suit and tie and go take some photos outdoors.

Scroll to the bottom of this post to see two photos that I combined to get the shot I had in my head when I took it. You have to take both photos exposed differently intentionally in order to make it work. It was not a simple "Cut and Paste" job as the tones were different and there was no real detail in the evening sky. Making the sky blend smoothly was the most difficult part.
I will put this bottom photo on my next Instructional video and show how it was done. I will do the sign on the rock wall thing also. I am not finished with the sign photo yet but wanted to post it anyway.

One more thing, I decided to name the photo on the swing "Play Mate, Soul Mate" Is that to cheesy or does it work? Comments please. And don't e mail me, actually post a comment. It is not that hard people.

And one more thing. You two in Antigua. Quit looking at this blog and get back to honeymooning !

The Best Thing That Happened In Baseball Tonight

The Braves beat the Mets 7-3
Comments ?

Yipeeeee !

This photo shows how happy I was to get home from today's wedding. This little girl was the flower girl and she just LOVED playing in the flowers ! Beautiful kid .

It was so hot today. It was in the 90s all day and someone said it hit 100 degrees. The wedding was out side and was really beautiful. My couple were smart and had ice water in big tubs for the guests when they arrived.
I had a lot of water but the sweat was just pouring out of me. I checked when I got home and I lost 7 pounds today. I have another one tomorrow, outside. So I am off to bed. I will post more photos from today's wedding in the next day or two.

Last Night at the Braves Game

There are times when being "Dad" feels unappreciated. I am in my 40's and my kids are in their teens. We went to the Atlanta Braves game last night and this time my kids and friends did not want me to sit with them. I am just to old and say stupid stuff. So this photo was taken just for the teen aged boys that went to the game with us last night.

Sometimes it pays to sit with dad ! Dumb Asses !

A Rare Day Off

When I am not shooting, giving classes, speaking to other photographers groups, designing wedding albums or filling out every stupid tax form in the known universe, we play around at the house. We either play baseball or guitar. This photo was taken this evening at about 8pm by my assistant. It is a very rare photo of me. I am sitting on the swing that my grandfather made for me about 2o years ago. My Father, Garen and I put it up the other day and it is just about my most favorite spot on the property. Over the last few days when my eyes would get tired from the computer screen I have picked up one of the many guitars that are around the house and went to the swing to play in peace. I ran electricity out there so I could plug in a small amp. Have you ever tried to mimic the sound of geese honking with an electric guitar ?

When I got home from last Saturdays wedding at 2am I went out there to sit for just a moment and fell asleep.

I will post more new stuff next week. One more thing, my new Instructional Disk Set "Wedding Album Design from Scratch" is now shipping. I will do an e mail about it on Monday, so if you are not on the mailing list, get on it by sending me an e mail scott@scottevans.com

Mini Seminars

This week I am doing 2 mini seminars in Alabama. Last night was in Aniston, Al The folks in the photography group there treated me great and seem to be a well organized group. The title of the show is "Combating the Shoot and Burn Photographer" There were a few shoot and burn folks that came to the meeting that were not members, and I hope that they do not feel as if I was there to pick on them. Although I did point them out several times. For those of you that are not familiar with the term "Shoot and Burn" That is the photographer who shows up at a wedding and photographs the whole thing and burns the photos to a CD for $500.00 and walks away. Most of them have NO training, do not color correct the images or offer any other services such as albums or prints. The resulting photos are often quite horrible when compared to a real photographer. These two young ladies were very receptive to everyone's suggestions and I truly feel that they were there to learn. I hope to see good things from them soon.

Thanks to all the members that took me out for cold beers after the show.

Tonight I am in Huntsville for another show.

State Baseball Championships

This weekend has been a wild one. We started the playoffs on Saturday morning at 9am in Blue Ridge, Ga in the Beautiful N Ga Mountains. It is about 130 miles from my house. It is now Sunday night at 10:45 and we just got in. We stayed in a hotel last night but came home this evening so I can get some work done tomorrow morning. We go back tomorrow for a game at 8:30 pm and will stay the night if we keep winning. Three more wins and we will go to the World Series in Memphis, TN.

Looks like I have some washing to do also.
I promise to have photography stuff up on the blog in my next post. Maybe some game photos with explanations as to how they were taken. I designed 3 wedding albums between games and will be posting them on my video site at http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewalbum.html?bm=79060

Fireworks

This photo was taken from my house looking over towards my office. My office is on the top floor of the building to the left. A fireworks display company did a pretty good show on Sat night for all the folks around the lake. Exposure was 10sec at f11 ISO of 250.

I held a black t shirt in front of the lens between the two bursts.

Portraits

These are just a few photos from a photo shoot of a couple who's wedding I am shooting in the Fall. We spent 5 min at my house shooting down by the lake and then they followed me in to town and we shot for 5 min at a loading dock around the corner from my favorite restaurant.

I was not keeping track of the time but Garen set his stopwatch just to see how long it would take. Total time including travel was 32 min.

So, I set the stopwatch to see how long it would take to download, edit, color correct and crop the photos. Also I timed the retouching and artwork and out put a 20x24 on watercolor paper and then tore the edges to make it look cool. Total time after the photo session was 4 hrs and 18 min. Almost 5 hours total. Over one half of a normal work day for the average person.

I am giving all of these time details so that people can see just how much goes into making a piece of photographic art work. This photo session had the purpose of just making one print to hang at the wedding reception. Imagine the amount of time that will go into photographing the wedding and producing a wedding album that will knock peoples socks off.

Basically what I am saying is that if you really want something different. If you want quality. You have to hire a REAL PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. The key word here is REAL. Not someone with a decent camera and a lot of time on there hands that will shoot some photos and burn them to a CD. It takes so much more to make something different.

The equipment used in the session was as follows:

1 Nikon D200 with 70-200 2.8VR lens. Lexar Compact flash card. 1 juiced up computer and monitor. Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop software. Epson 9800 printer and watercolor paper. Total value of equipment used was $ 10,500.00

Now I am not saying that the 4 photos in this post are just the best thing in the world of photography. It is just my style of photographing 2 people. What I am saying is that it takes a lot of time and equipment to produce the best results. That is why REAL photography is so expensive.

Does anyone have any comments ? If so PLEASE post them or e mail me.