Old school

Ok Ok I get it.
I ragged on a photographer in my previous post which made me think about why I ragged on him.

Let's get right to it. One reason is because some of the techniques he demostrated in the pre-conference class were very basic. What he did was tried to pass off techniques that what he perceived some great God taught him, and passed it off as his own. Essentially he was "selling" abc,s of photography. Which you should already know the first time you took photography a little more serious. Or when you bought that big camera.

Ok so that made me think about the photographer that I worked with and I thought wow this guy knows what he's talking about. He has been in business as long as I have known say 15 or more years which in my area is pretty amazing since everything else besides olan mills has come and gone. He shot my wedding.

Then I realized this guy is the same guy as the photoshop flake and at that point I realized these guys are both old school shisters.
www.urbandictionary.com
1. Shister
One who speaks bullsh#t fluently in order to fool people out of money or other possesions, often associated with used-car salesmen or photography.
That shister just talked me into paying for his ticket.

What these guys have learned and are teaching is that customers have no clue or care about quality. Customers want someone they know who is well known, or who is cheap.

Peeple dont value quality work or long term commitments.
I find this sad as hell because one of the things that drives me is crazy is that 10 years later I am still looking at my wedding photos and saying wow, I wish we didnt go with the cheap guy who didn't know how to focus his camera.

A great photographer told me that there are four occasions where quality is a essential,
1.Life
2.Baptism (insert religion or term/practice of choice)
3.Wedding day
4.Death. I know it sounds morbid but think about it.

Now if you take that into consideration think about all of the other occasions why quality is essential.
I can think of one or two at this very point in time.
How is your child's senior photo?
Graduation, only happens once hopefully twice. Those are glorious occasions that you should document forever.

I know I still have my moments in time documented and most of the photos are still in good quality.(besides my wedding) but I'm still married. For better or for worse until death do we part.

I'm not saying you need to rush out and get a a pro either, but it helps, and not just someone just trying to make a buck. It should never be "just alright" or tucked away. If you got it flaunt it.

Point here is to think about what you want, not who you want, the who will follow the what if you look in the right place.

Don't be cheap ask momma she will tell you "Yeah I still have your ___ picture". Or look at me there or now.
Followed by Wow

Thanks for taking the time.
enjoy.

Talk S#%t Tuesday

Say what you will and I promised myself that I would not do this BUT, that was then.
I believe in a lot of photographers, but what I can not stand is a photographer who is not open to change.
Isn't photography all about seeing things from different perspectives.
Also, I promise to keep things more brief in future posts.
Ok the culprit.
As I mentioned I recently went to Photoshop World and it was awesome. While I was there I signed up for a pre- conference session with a "So called" "Wedding Photographer "
I aspire to shoot weddings and I will. I shot one and had a blast.
Again I digress, so the reason why I say he is a
"So Called Wedding Photographer"
is because he is getting rave reviews for his work which mind you is I have to admit may be good BUT not great and if you are a photographer and look at his work you can tell me what is "not great" about it. Hmmm maybe I should start a contest, anyway who cares right? This guy is charging crazy money for s$$t work.
He uses cheap lenses which in my opinion is the biggest NO NO EVER.
That will be a later blog entry.
Ok so one of the reasons why I am not a big fan and why I am talking s#%t is based on his Raw perspective. This "So Called Wedding Photographer" charges piss crazy money for jpegs yes you heard me right. I believe in modest pay for a modest day. If you aren't familiar with the Raw file format a Raw file contains more information and is what we really aim for, If I was paying for service I don't have any interest in paying for assistants if the photographer cant get it right in the camera.Oh yeah look at his portrait work do ya see any catchlights in his wotk maybe he should use the right lens at the correct focal length.I want the most for my money. I know it is more work but with the right software it is exactly how it's suppose to be.
In short jpeg is quick and easy and Raw is work, isn't that what you pay for at crazy prices. "Work for me I think not" I love photography and welcome the work.

I'm not a "Hater" just the facts. ( sorry had to go there).

I would hate to think the American way is to charge outrageous prices for the least amount of work and be glorified as a great photographer. Maybe good businesman or crook but not photographer.

Thats it for today thanks for taking the time and don't forget to ask yourself

What have I shot today??

Orlando, Florida

Happy Place. 

Well one of them. 

Hi I'm Shawn and I'm a photographer.  

Absolute Elegance Photography.

All of my blogs will pretty much be photography related.

So let's get started. 

I recently took a trip to Orlando Florida which of course anywhere in Florida is what I consider my happy places.

Just a little history about me . 

I'm  originally from Michigan (Go Blue) and I moved to Hallandale Beach Florida, Best time of my life. Unfortunately, it was only for 6 months. 

In six months I was able to experience more in that period of time than all my life in Michigan. 

Nonetheless, as I said I recently went to Orlando, for a Photoshop convention and it was awesome.  However, when I lived in Florida I avoided this tourist trap (Orlando) like the plague. What did I know.  

While in Orlando, my wife decided she wanted to go to a Pirate show dinner and needless to say I wasn't to excited, but I did not rule it out, so we went and we paid extra for the vip tickets which I highy recommend for your first time. 

But as I said I am a photographer and I shoot with a Canon. Canon Love ya baby call me.

I digress as you enter the pirate show complex one of the first things they do is take a photo of you, well this is all good but what threw me off is that they use Nikon Cameras.

How in the hell could that be possible shooting someone with a Nikon over a Canon at a pirate show???

Don't get me wrong I could love Nikon (sorry Canon I'll make it up) but that's another entry. 

That's it for today trust me it will get better and I highly recommend the Pirate dinner experience.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy.