Ryan's Family - Again

Here are some more of Ryan's family, we did two sessions - hence, two posts.

Watch Uncle Arnold, Ryan has a surprise for you.

Dad and Uncle Arnold sporting some moves.

Maybe they're a little rusty?

They nailed it the second time.

Here is my favorite.

Kim and Brian

Kim and Brian had a very relaxed and fun wedding. A beautiful day for lots of laughs with family and friends.  All the images from today will be posted online at Pictage.com.  Please register at
http://www.pictage.com/533495
And Pictage will notify you once the event has been released.

Ryan's Family

This is Ryan's family, I met Ryan while doing some work at his Mom's office. He brings smiles to everyone. We went to a local park that we thought wouldn't have much to offer, but turned out to be a great location with many places to use. I didn't have a chance to hit all those spots - well you'll see why.










OUCH!





As you can see, our star had enough with the photos and decided to take a break.

Back to School

Today.....Got an early start to the day, Alyssa greeted us with a good morning, Mom braided her hair and off to the first day of 3rd Grade, as you can see Alyssa and her messenger bag were all ready to take on the new school year. She was very excited and walked into school with Daddy, giving him a kiss, hug and a bye, kinda miss those days where they clinged onto you, those days are done.

Morgan was off too a nice start this morning, she got HERSELF up, no Mom and Dad screaming at her to get up. She was all coordinated and wanted to leave for school at 7:30 a.m., a 1/2 hour earlier than she needs to be there. Morgan is entering High School today, still chokes me up that my daugther will be graduating in 4 years and talking about going to Arizona State, yes Uncle Mike watch out. Morgan walked into her new school like it was nothing and like she had been doing it forever, she definately doesn't have the nervousness like her Mom. Pray that Evelyn and I make it through the next 4 years.

Dlutz tradition is too stand on the front porch steps, first day of school for each year, Alyssa is all about getting her picture taken, her new uniform and messenger bag (no book bags) in place. Morgan again, not into any of this lame stuff that we do.

Cameras

I wanted to do this for a long time and finally while looking for and doing something else, I was sidetracked for a little bit. I pulled out my old cameras and took some photos of them. There are many more cameras in the warehouse, and a few important cameras were not included in this post because it would be very long. Bringing this altogether, I ran into a few people this weekend that wanted to discuss "real" cameras. First I met a gentleman at the wedding I was shooting. His name is Horst, and we had discussed the glory days of film. Then I ran into the Cheltenham Camera Club while I was doing a Family Session. Honestly, if you just got a new camera - digital or film, I would suggest checking into a local photo club to help get the most out of your camera. They offer photo outings, competitions and support. Here are a few photos of a few of my cameras.
**WARNING** This post may get very geeky from here on out. Do not read any further if you have just eaten, have a medical condition, a bad back, or just don't want to read about a grown man's obsession with his material possessions that he still keeps locked up in the closet so his wife doesn't include in a yard sale.


This is my first Hasselblad. I can still remember the day I first got it - the weather outside, the smell of the place I bought it and how excited I was to run my first roll of film through it and squeeze the shutter to hear that loud KACHUNK as the mirror flopped up out of the way.

Here is my Dad's Yashica 12 Twin Lens Reflex, that I guess you can say I'm still borrowing.

This is my Canon T70 that I received from my parents as a graduation gift from high school.

Here is the Nikon N90s, my first auto focus camera. Auto focus was not something for the true photographer, I would never get one of those. Then came Morgan, I couldn't get a single in focus photo of her cause she was always running around. So, I resorted to auto focus - yep, and I never looked back.

Now we are cooking, the mighty F5. This beast is the most amazing 35mm film slr I have ever used. My friend Anthony made the mistake of letting me shoot his. I didn't want to give it back - but I did and went and bought this one.

And last but not least, the Crown Graphic. This camera Anthony Barbacane let me keep. It is his Dad's old wedding camera. I can't imagine using one of these to shoot a wedding. This camera uses a 4 x 5 piece of film, that yields an awesome detailed image of your subject.
So, if you hung around, thank you for following me down memory lane. And if you didn't - you were probably better off. By the way, all the photos above were taken with the Nikon D3 - yes it is digital and even though I do miss the days of film and I still like to shoot film - I don't think I could ever go back 100%, but never say never.

Christmas Shopping

I know it is super early to be thinking about Christmas already, but hear me out...

Last year I did what I thought I would never do, that was turn away business because I was to busy for customers that came to me in December looking to have portraits completed as gifts for Christmas. So here I am now, putting a little bug in your ear about booking the session a few months before in order to have your portraits completed and ready in time.

Most are thinking about back to school and if you have anyone going off to college, there is still time to do a sitting before they are out of the nest. For the younger families, Fall is also around the corner and the beautiful colors of the leaves make for an awesome background. And if you like the classic look, we can always do a studio session.

Tell you what I am going to do... I am going to give you an incentive for "shopping early". If you book a session before September 16th, I will add a $75.00 print credit to be applied to your finished print order. Call the studio to schedule a portrait session anytime from now 'til November, and I will apply the print credit towards your portraits. The canvas prints have been a huge hit and I have also included what I call the Old Masters to the studio catalog. The Old Masters is an amaizing painting 0f one of the images from your session that I forward to my artist and she creates an oil painting on canvas.

Other shopping ideas -

Incase the Traditional, Canvas, or Old Masters prints aren't enough I also have a large assortment of items to put your portraits on from keychains, mugs, calendars, dry erase boards, photo books, Christmas cards, ornaments, mouse pads, shoulder bags, money clips, dog tags, tumble stone prints, coasters, business card holders and pendents.

Purchase a Portrait Session for someone else, I have gift certificates.

How about the perfect gift for that baby shower you are attending - a Baby Plan.

This plan includes five sessions:

Maternity

Newborn (also 100 announcement photo cards)

Four Months

Eight Months

First Birthday

This is truly the gift that keeps on giving. So call and book a session now, what are you waiting for? Operators standing by.

Last Saturday- Documentary Style

For this post, I figured I would show more of the documentary images I captured from last Saturday. Emily's face is so expressive, I just kept my finger on the shutter. I like to mix these images with some not so formal - formals to give a rounded selection for building an album to tell the story of the Wedding Day.

First dance

Father of the bride making his speech, then asking his daughter to dance.

And yes, guess who else got to dance with the bride...