Experiment turns into collaboration

A coupe of days ago, I had an opportunity to work in the studio with a friend of mine, who agreed to help me work on a few ideas. She was a pleasure to work with, and I've gotten some excellent feedback from her.

The best part, of course, is that she's interested in setting up another session!


You can check out her blog at http://thisissanjana.blogspot.com/

Beautiful Maternity Images

A few days ago, I had a pleasure of working with an expecting mother, who asked me to document her pregnancy in artistic style, trying to avoid glamor and allure while concentrating on beauty and grace.

Her personality lent itself beautifully to the task I had in front of me, and these images are the result of our studio collaboration.

You can contact for more information about my Studio and Pregnancy photography services

Photo session in the park

A few days ago, I had a privilege to work with a a friend of mine in the great outdoors. The weather was beautiful, and the the spot we found was simply amazing. It was the end of a relatively easy trail, and the few small stepping stones at the water edge were perfect.



After walking around the park a little more and meeting three beautiful and quite friendly dogs (and their owners), we found a bunch of boulders that we decided to explore. That space offered plenty of opportunities and resulted in many interesting images.



A very short drive away from that park, we found ruins of a small village, just a few houses really. Though pressed for time now, we managed to walk around and find a few gorgeous locations that lended themselves beautifully to our efforts :) Overall, the day was a total success, and I'm looking forward to visiting that place again







You can see more at http://intimatesketch.blogspot.com/

Missing my fellow commuters

This morning, I was reading news on my new digital gizmo while riding the train. When the train slowed before my stop, I realized that I missed everything. I didn't get a change to study people around me, their faces, facial expressions, hands, feet, items they carry. I didn't get a chance to guess who they are, what they do for a living, where they are from, what they are looking at, how they carry themselves. I was concentrating on some useless story and missing up the chance to study the way the light falls on their faces.

The ride back will be different, it'll be interesting, like it used to be

Another shoot in the park

Two Sundays ago, I was lucky to work with a great model in the beautiful location. We walked up the stone steps of the park overlooking Hudson River, looking for interesting places to shoot. The theme was the natural summer look and the weather cooperated perfectly.




One of the highlights was the family of three passing by. They were walking their dog, and I asked if they would mind if we took a few pictures of the model with the dog. They were happy to oblige and the dog didn't seem to mind either.






In the end, we found a hidden spot with the small stream, which we've used to emphasize the summer feeling we aimed for.

Stay tuned for more images from that day

"willingness to learn"

"Once the amateur's naive approach and humble willingness to learn fades away, the creative spirit of good photography dies with it. Every professional should remain always in his heart an amateur."Alfred Eisenstaedt

I met a young photographer yesterday and let her use one of my SLRs for a couple of days. Her eyes lit up and I could see her visualizing the images that are possible with this new tool comparing to the old one. She has a lot to learn about the technical aspect of photography, but I envy her "humble willingness to learn" and her creative spirit. I envy her approach to the creative part of it. It makes me look at my own work differently, re-evaluate my goals and answer the question "why am I doing it?"

Of course, tools are important and being familiar with them is even more important. But often, that tinkering interferes with the creative work. The artistic goal appears not to be the what I think of my work not opinion of the reviewer, but the process itself.

New business model?

Looking at how companies offer free products and services, I'm thinking about changing my services lineup and coming up with something that might sound interesting to people, who are used to freebies.

So far, I've decided to offer free engagement session that would last up to one hour and result in images that can be used on couple's online profiles and social sites, such as myspace, facebook, etc. No commitments, no strings attached, no deposits for future services.

What other free services would you be interested in? Do you think that it'll worth the time and efforts on my side and result in bookings?

Google voice... amazing!

Just got an invite and signed up for Google Voice! Amazing service! Too bad they can't move my old number to this account, but it's still too good to pass :) It's like having a personal assistant working the phones in my virtual studio

Also looking forward to adding a Google Voice widget to (my contact page ;)

How do you measure satisfaction

Is it measured in how much you are being paid, or in how much you have accomplished? Maybe it's all about the appreciation? Getting a positive feedback is nice, but when you see that the model really means it by using your images for self promotion, it makes it for a very rewarding experience :)

Shooting in the park...

Beautiful female in the park with arches, steep stairs, elegant hat, flowing dresses, heels, and perfect weather :) The only thing missing are a couple of assistants to carry the gear, a makeup artist, and someone with the cooler full of chilled bottled water.

Check out the gallery and let me know what you think
http://intimatesketch.com/gallery/bz
cheers

website finished !!!

Finally, I've completed my website ! phew... Now I need to promote it, which might be more difficult than making it. Oh well :)

CRESPIGO.com

Visit it and let me know what you think

New web site

Working on a new and improved web site for crespigo, what a pain :)) Made me appreciate the skills of web designers, as well as the fees they charge.

You can see the preview at crespigo.com/crespigo10 while I'm working on the images. Stay tuned

50th Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday, I was taking a train back home and noticed a woman, who was sitting and slowly turning pages of an album titled: "Mom and Dad 50th Wedding Anniversary". The images were mostly black and white, circa 1955, clean, sharp, and contrasty. The woman's expression was changing from emotional to happy and back. Her young parents and other relatives were looking at her from the pages of an album.

If some couples are lucky enough to make it to their 50th anniversaries, will they have their wedding images that their children can look at?

100 year old Wedding Portrait

Being a wedding photographer, I do not only provide my clients with images that are candid, posed, interesting, funny, serene, fashionable... I provide my clients with timeless memories, the only thing left after wows are exchanged, flowers withered, food eaten, guests left, all the candles are melted. I provide their children with memories of their wedding day, their faces full of emotions and worries, laughter and love. I even provide their grandchildren with the insight into their grandparents' lives.

In some cases even great-grandchildren are lucky enough to be able to peak into the past and see what their great-grandparents looked like on their wedding day. My grandmother kept the wedding portrait of her parents that is about 100 years old now. Black and white, printed on the very thick paper, with the seal of the wedding atelier. My great-grandfather is standing next to his young wife, both looking serious, as was customary at the time, but full of energy, determination. The image shows no signs of fading and makes me feel like I've known these people, my ancestors, all along.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, consider how worthwhile it is to you to hire a professional photographer, the only one among all the wedding vendors who can provide you with the product that can be enjoyed for years and even generations to come.