Where have I been?

I know, I’ve been gone for awhile. I haven’t done any shooting in the past few weeks other than messing around, so I don’t have much to post but I do have some great things to talk about.

First, I went to the ImagingUSA conference for Professional Photographers of America which was excellent. I was able to meet Anne Geddes, baby photographer extraordinaire, I listened to a great presentation from Sandy Puc’ on newborn photography, learned a ton about business from the lovely Carol Andrews and the incredibly knowledgeable Ann Monteith. I was also lucky enough to attend a class by Mr. Jon Woodward. It was like drinking through a fire hose, but it was very informative. I hope to sit in one of his weeklong classes in the future. Man did I learn a lot. There were several others that I learned from as well but these people just blew my mind time after time.

Second, I just signed a deal with Marathon Press to be a member of their Marketing Advantage Program. This program will provide me with the tools and knowledge I’ll need to market myself more effectively and grow my business. It isn’t cheap, but they are a well respected company in the photography world and their products and services come highly recommended. I look forward to working with them in the future.

Third, I’ve joined the PPofSC. They are the Professional Photographers of South Carolina organization. They are the local branch of PPA and like PPA, have the goal of educating photographers with the hopes of raising the level of photography of all their members. This translates into higher quality work produced by the photographers and better products and services for our clients. In addition to joining, they are having their upcoming conference starting Feb. 6^th. I’m looking forward to that as I will again be learning from Mrs. Sandy Puc’ and getting an opportunity to learn from Ron Nichols. Great stuff.

Forth, if I haven’t gotten enough of Mrs. Puc’ by then, in March I’m scheduled to attend her “Tots 2 Teens” tour coming here to Columbia. I can’t get enough of this woman. I bought her DVD from her “Bellies and Babies” tour last year because I missed that. Now I’ve purchased her “Bellies and Babies” package which provides more educational and artistic materials for me to learn and grow with. I look forward to getting that and seeing her again in March when I’m sure I’ll purchase her T&T package, whatever that will turn out to be. She is my idol I guess. I know this may not be a great thing to say, but if I could remake myself, I would be the intellectual and artistic child of Jon Woodard and Sandy Puc’. My little brain probably can’t handle the amount of knowledge I could gain from those two, but gosh if I could grab a bunch from each of them I’ll have no trouble being successful and making beautiful art for all my clients.

Anyway, I think I’ve gotten you caught up. If anyone actually reads this keep your attention here for the near future as we will be rolling out a new web site, new blog, and so new photography as I have two great shoots coming up.

Thanks for visiting

David M.

So you've seen the maternity, here is the result.

Well, you’ve seen the maternity shots, now it’s time to see the after affect. This is Averie Grace, the beautiful daughter of Leslie and Ronnie. She really didn’t want her picture taken this day, and it was cold in my garage, too cold for a newborn so that was my fault for not getting the heater going soon enough. All that being said, she still took some beautiful pictures.

Another maternity shoot - Leslie and Ronnie

This one was shot shortly after the first, so I haven’t made any changes yet. I’m still experimenting with the light direction and background. I love this black velvet. I bought it at the fabric store, 10 yards of 60 inch wide black velvet. Cut it in half and sewed it together side by side. Made a 10 x 15 backdrop basically, give or take a few inches. If you decide to do this, be careful how you sew it together as velvet has a grain and if you don’t match the grain, half the background with be shiny and the other have dark. You need to match the grain, it is critical. To tell, just lay the two pieces side by side on the floor under a light, one side may be dark and the other shiny, if so, switch one, so they are either both shiny or both dark, then sew it together like that. You’ll be glad you did.

What kind of blog friend am I?

What kind of blog friend am I that I could let the new year pass without so much as a “have a good one” to my reader friends? I’m sorry it’s late, but Happy New Year! Now that I’ve said that let me get back to work so I can show you all some more photographs.