Urban {Children Photographer, Denver, Colorado}

I always find myself trying to 'sell' the idea of the downtown, urban look in children or family portraits. Obviously and most importantly, I want my clients to go where they want to go and get the images they are hoping for - but, sometimes giving them an option that they wouldn't normally consider or even think about is fun. So, just to give you and idea of how fun/cool an urban setting can be, check out the images below.

Trip to Utah

My family took a trip to Utah last weekend. Along the way, I could not help myself but to take these pictures. My sweet family even waited patiently for me. I couldn't decide what I liked best, so here are my favorites!

Photoshop on the web!

I found this article on Photojojo and had to share!

It’s Photoshop. On the Web. From Adobe. (p.s. It’s pretty great.)


We all knew this day would come sooner or later, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting, does it?

Today, Adobe releases Photoshop Express for the web.

Now before you go berserk, let us exercise some journalistic caution — it’s not everything you can do in Photoshop fit into a web browser. Not nearly.

No layers here, no fancy pants masking. But for 95% of your photos, it offers pretty much all you need to fix ‘em up, and it does it with style.

Whether adjusting exposure, white balance, or hue, touching up blemishes, or distorting your image, Photoshop Express provides an easy slider and thumbnails to give you an instant preview of your image at various settings. Even undo is better than you’d expect.

Being on the web, this Photoshop’s made for sharing. Everyone gets their own URL at photoshop.com, and the slideshows are top-notch — big, beautiful images with classy transitions. Want to load in and edit photos from Picasa, Photobucket, or Facebook? No problemo.

No, it’s not a Photoshop replacement, but it is a remarkably slick and well-designed basic photo-editing and sharing application. Arguably the best so far.

So what does it cost? It’s free, amigo.


So, I checked it out and it's pretty nice for quick edits! I love that you get to create your own URL for images. Here's my URL that I plan to post some images too: http://brittannphotography.photoshop.com. I love the fact that you are allowed to pull images from your Facebook, Photobucket and Picasa accounts. Yeah for symbiotic relationships!

It's always fun to find some new stuff available that is of value!! and free!!

Big Sky Country

No, we don't live in Montana but not a day goes by that I don't look up at the sky in absolute awe of where I live. Here are some fun images I took the other day while driving in my car. Yes, not safe I guess. But I wasn't actually holding the camera to my face. Kind of point-and-shoot -ish. My favorite is the one where I actually managed to catch the plane that happened to be flying overhead.

Appreciate the gorgeousness that lies right in front of you!

Why Are Professional Photographers Expensive?

This question was posed and answered by Caught on Film photographers and they answered it very well. This is always hard to explain to those who question spending the money in the first place. I have also heard it explained this way: if you were to buy a one of a kind, commissioned piece from an artist, you would not pay what you pay for a reprint. Photography is a work of art - no different from any other. It takes a creative eye and skill to boot. But, rather than go on - please read what Shawn, Pamela & Gavin Richter wrote:

Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?
(This article has been very well received by the photography community, and is now referred to by many Photography websites across the country)

In this digital age where everyone has digital cameras, scanners and home "photo printers", when people upload their photos to a local drug store website and pick them up a few hours later, we hear this all the time - How in the world do Professional Photographers charge $55 for an 8x10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drug store?

Here's why.

Simply put, you're not just paying for the actual photograph, you're paying for time and expertise. First, let's look at the actual time involved. If you don't read this entire page, at least read this first part.

For a two hour portrait session:

- one hour of travel to and from the session
- two hours of shooting
- 30 minutes of setup, preparation, talking to the client etc.
- 30 minutes to load the photos onto a computer (2 - 4 Gb of data)
- 30 minutes to back up the files on an external drive
- 3 - 4 hours of Photoshop time including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, saving a copy for print and a copy for the internet and backing up the edited photographs
- 2 - 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive their order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment and drop package off at Fed Ex.
- For local customers, we also print a set of all of their photos, and meet them at our studio to review the photos and place their order. Meeting and travel time averages 2 hours.

You can see how one two hour session easily turns into more than ten hours of work from start to finish. So when you see a Photographer charging a $200 session fee for a two hour photo shoot, you are not paying them $100 / hour.

For an eight hour wedding:

- I won't bore you with the details, but an eight hour wedding typically amounts to at least two to three full 40 hour work weeks worth of time. Again, if they are charging you $4,000 for an eight hour wedding, you are not paying them $500 / hour.

Now for the expertise.

Shooting professional photography is a skill, acquired through years of experience. Even though a quality camera now costs under $2,000 taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most Professional Photographers take years to go from buying their first decent camera to making money with their photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera itself, there is a mountain of other equipment involved, as well as numerous software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website etc.

And let's not forget that you actually have to have people skills, be able to communicate, make people comfortable in front of the camera - and posing people to make them look their best in a photograph is a skill all by itself.

Think of it this way - the next time you pay $X to get your hair done, a pair of scissors only costs $1.50. But you gladly pay a lot more to hire a Professional.

What about the cheap studios at the mall?

Please don't compare us to the chain store studios. But if you must, consider all of the time and work that we put into our photographs, compared to what they do. Good luck getting a two hour photo shoot at a chain store. Not to mention they won't come to the beach! And of course, look at our work compared to theirs. You get what you pay for.

The truth is, most of the mall and chain store studios lose money. In fact, in 2007 Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios because of the financial drain they were putting on the company. What the chain stores bet on is that you'll come in for some quick and cheap photos, and while you're there, you'll also spend $200 on other things. They don't have to make money, they are just there to get you in the door.

Conclusion

We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs cost so much more than the ones that you get from your local drug store.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.



Shawn, Pamela & Gavin Richter
Caught on Film Photography

I really appreciated someone being able to put this more succinctly than I am typically able to. So, thanks for reading.

Sneak Peek - H. Family at Arrowhead Golf Course

I had a blast doing this shoot last weekend. I've been a bit slow posting these because I want to get through them a bit further, but since I wasn't able to post a "shot of the day" - this is my shot! I had the best time with D., E., J. & J. - oh and of course little J's bear Sabrina. She was part of the Cheetah Girl crew I believe.

We went up to Arrowhead Golf Club at 8:30am and it was COLD. But, it was gorgeous. The sky was that pristine blue that you have to love Colorado for. But, these guys were troopers, although Mr. E - he's from Florida and wasn't too keen on ditching the coats or staying outside any longer than we had to. But, we laughed, we played, we lost some balloons - overall, we had an incredible day. And we got some amazing shots! So, D. - check some of these out! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!



*remember you can click on the picture to see a larger image!

Want to waste a little bit of time?

Here is something that will keep you busy.

Just click here.

This is how I spent the last 20 minutes of my life that I will never get back. You know, I'm sure there's a life lesson in this...perhaps that sometimes you need to stop and take a break. Now back to editing.

innocence in a crazy world

I was shocked last night as I read about Heath Ledger's death. Hollywood lives are not ones of envy. I thought about that this morning as I watched my little one run to her dance class. She was so happy and excited without a care or concern in the world. My mind was running through a list of to do's and a checklist of things that probably wouldn't get done for quite some time. My thoughts also went through the typical mommy thoughts of "man, I'm not so good at this - even after this much time", "can I really do this as well as the next person on the street", "what can I do to improve on my ability to raise these guys right?" - and my sweetheart - she was just excited to go dance and be carefree.

I love her attitude and we could all benefit from taking a minute to just live.

Holidays = Busy :)

I love being busy...so I have been loving these past few weeks. For anyone living near Rogers, Arkansas - I am headed there on the 15th of this month through the 20th. I am available for shoots - whatever kind you were hoping for. So, give me a call. The number is on my website. Anyway, back to Colorado. I had an AMAZINGLY fun time with the B. family. They were so fun. Their son, J.C. was adorable and I LOVED chatting with him throughout the entire shoot. Being a mom is definitely working for me around little kids. I totally am enthralled by their minds and what they think about. J.C. talked with me a lot about the "cows in the barn". The shoot was done at Idyllwilde. I swear, they need to pay me for all the families I have been introducing to that neighborhood.

They also had a beautiful daughter, Amelia. That little girl was not into me :) But, we managed to get some beautiful shots of her regardless. How could I not - she was beautiful!

Anyway, here are some of them. I had a blast with them. Saneth and Joey - thanks for the fun! It was great to be able to be a part of your family for the short time we had!

Tip to Photographers

I just found this site via Photojojo, it's for taking the pixels out of an image and making it into vectors so it looks normal again. I experience this more with my little point and shoot camera - but this is good stuff - and it's FREE. Can't beat that! So, click HERE to check it out!

The Wedding Party

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I wanted to spread the word about a new wedding website for Brides. It's called Wedding Party. It will be similar to The Knot but better. The Knot is overwhelmed with paid advertising that isn't necessarily all caliber work. And you pay a boatload just to advertise on there. Not that I wasn't tempted to fork out the cash myself at one point. But, so far the Wedding Party is soliciting photographers. All the work I have seen on there so far is excellent. It is broken down by state (and even includes Canada). But, eventually it will move onto DJs, caterers, wedding planners, etc. But, if you are looking for a wedding photographer (and for some odd reason don't want to call me!!!) or if you are a photographer looking to further your work's exposure, consider looking into the Wedding Party.

Vote for Me On The Denver Channel.com's A*List

Hey, please check out the link below and if you would, vote for me as one of Denver's best photographers! Thank you in advance! I sincerely appreciate it!

Durango

We got home from Durango on Sunday evening for a little family vacation and let's just say that it was incredible! We had no idea what was in our "backyard" - mind you it took SEVEN hours to get there from here, but it was worth the trip. We had a great time. And there was so many wonderful things to see. So, here are some of my favorite scenery shots while we were there. We got a chance to go 4x4ing up the mountain near Kate's Mine. Not sure if that helps anyone have any clue as to where we were but even if it doesn't...does it really matter?

There was also this incredible tree with its roots firmly planted in and through a rock wall. It was incredible. I couldn't help but think of those posters telling you to "keep on keeping on" - or something like that. But, it really was neat to see how nature can be so resilient - that tree was not exactly planted in an ideal location and yet it beat the odds and seems to continue to thrive even still. For me, in all cheesiness, it really did motivate/inspire me to continue on when times are difficult because despite all the odds, I can thrive :)

Girls Camp 2007

I got the opportunity to serve a little which is always great to do because inevitably it comes back to you 10 fold. But, I volunteered to take the camp photo for our church's Girls Camp. Of course, it started raining just as we were taking the image - but, it was still fun. I'll tell you what though - I don't know how many of you have tried to get about 250 12-18 year old girls' attentions before...but they are not the longest :) But they did great. I was sad I couldn't spend more time there - but, here's the shot that they will all be taking home with them!

Going Manual

I am still learning the art of my craft. I won't say that I even know half of what there is potential to learn yet - but I'm still willing to learn everything I can! I am excited about figuring out how to go manual and learning to enter a room or location and knowing where my settings need to be. I won't say that I'm not intimidated, but I will say that I am excited by the prospect of even better images! We'll see! I am second shooting for Katie Van Buren at a wedding she has booked tomorrow at the Hudson Gardens near Denver. I am excited to be outdoors shooting again!

Okay - well, I need to get going. I'm headed on a double date with my sweetheart and our good friend, Wade & Cristie - we are going to Hacienda Colorado...and can I just say, they have some killer pictures on their front page of their website.

Anyway - more later on!

Northwestern Mutual Event Shoot

I have never officially done an event shoot before and I have to say...not bad. I have never been to the Denver Art Museum before and it was INCREDIBLE! I am beginning to LOVE downtown Denver. The shoot for was for the 150th anniversary of Northwestern Mutual.It was easy to do. Shots of couples and groups. Mingling...with people who potentially don't want you there (for the fact that the are not fans of photographs being taken of them) but none the less - all the security guards were fantastic. I really appreciate there help. One kept me from getting a ticket on my car for an expired meter. I didn't realize that after 6 you still had to worry about the meter. I was wrong. My meter was expired for probably an hour and thankfully I didn't get a ticket. Another guard named Alex told me I should contact the event director there and see about using me for further shoots there. I would love it. Another guard just chatted. So, overall a pleasant evening. And I get to thank a fellow photographer for the evening, Katie VanBuren. I am going to second shoot a wedding with her next weekend. It is really a treat to get to know such a kind person who is willing to help you out in so many ways, but to also be able to associate with her in a business way as well. I count her as a new friend who I hope to grow closer too as time presses on.

So, it was a fun evening. And now I'm home - kids asleep, husband over at a buddies watching an Ultimate Fighting Championship match that was on Pay Per View. And I get to surf the web and just chill. Yeah! Can't beat a night like this!

Laughable

I just have to say that my absense from the technology world has been really difficult and really good for me. I am addicted. It's true. I am willing to admit it. When there's down time...my first thought is to check out email accounts, work on my portfolio, whatever...but online. So, going to Greer, Arizona was a serious trek for me in the fact that not only was there no computers, no internet, but even my cell phone didn't get reception out there. So, aside from my mom and sister Brooke - along with her kids and my kids...it was really quiet. But there was plenty to do there and now that I'm back - there is plenty to catch up on. It's nutty how things just keep on running.

Last night I went to our Denver PUG meeting and had a great time chatting it up with all the great members of Pictage that are around the Denver area. It was a good time. I love being there because I feel like not only do I get to rub shoulders with some great photographers, but I get to learn from what they have done in the past and what they look to do for the future. Not that I am not thinking about the business constantly because I feel like I do - but you really get interuppted in your thought process a lot as a mom. I'm not complaining though. I honestly do welcome the interuptions!

Anyway, I just wanted to post some images of the dance studio pictures I took last week. I think they were really cute!

Point of the Photography Fair...

to meet other photographers apparently. I met a total of 3 people interested in senior portraits. That was nice. But, it was also disappointing as there were only 3 people. But, what can you do? But, I did get a chance to rub shoulders with some great photographers in the area.

So, I have to laugh at myself. You have to when you completely embarrass yourself. By the end of the evening when everyone was packing up and leaving, it was looking ominously like rain. Great. I brought my Mac for a slideshow and here I was about to ruin it by getting it rained on. So, I booked it out to my car and pulled it around so I could get it in quickly before we were pelted with rain. I managed to get it in, but doing it in heels was no small task. So, I took them off and went back in for my framed prints. As I was going, another photographer - Todd from PhotoGraphics hollered at me wondering where my shoes had disappeared to. I turned around to explain that I couldn't run in them and as I turned back around to jog in, I FACE PLANTED WITH AN ENORMOUSLY LARGE AND STIFF POLE!! Not kidding. You see it on Funniest Home Videos, but here I was in real life eyebrow to cold steel with a pole. Not fun. Actually it was hilarious. I fell on the ground not out of pain, but laughing hysterically. The other photographers came over to see if I survived my attack with the no armed man, but, I felt like an idiot. I managed to run inside, after picking myself up, and didn't notice that I sliced my toe quite well with the pavement until I found i had left a trail of blood along the hall of the high school. Now for those of you saying, EW, what a nasty girl. Believe me, I agree. I NEVER go without shoes, I have very sensitive feet. Plus, I don't like dirty feet. I think it's really gross. So, I don't voluntarily go trapsing around without shoes, let alone running barefoot through a high school leaving a trail of blood in my path. Yuck. I managed to get to the library where my frames were and found a bathroom where I mercilously wiped my toe, hoping to make the blood stop flowing so freely. I asked if anyone had a bandaid - hoping not to draw attention to myself by the toilet paper/gauze wrapped toe. Again, not flattering in any way. Someone did have one, but it ended up in her office (where it stayed since she never left to go grab it for me...?) Looking at myself in the mirror, I could tell that my temple over my right eye had grown about an inch further from my head than normal and it's shade was changing to various hues of blue & green. You know - the UGLY bruises...

But, the nicest part was to see the photographers/employees of PhotoGraphics came back in to help me out. I wondered why they came back as I didn't see any of their stuff that they might have come back for. Oh no, they were worried about my ability to walk in a straight line without colliding with other stationary objects. I wanted to cry for gratitude for the nice people of the world. You meet a couple that you just stop and say to yourself that you hope when you find yourself in a situation similar to the one they found themselves in (now...let's be honest, the likelihood of some ridiculous chic running face first into a pole...doubtful. :)) ~ I hope to be as thoughtful as they were...so THANK YOU GUYS!

When I came home and explained the whole story to Tim...yeah, I knew the reaction I would get before the words even left my lips ~ You are Kidding me! You dumb dumb (with a lot of affection included though :)) He's not heartless, on the contrary ~ it's just that this kind of dumb stuff seems to follow my around like a lost puppy. He was just pointing out the obvious. So, here are some pictures of the brutal battle field of my face :) Enjoy.

Moral of the story. Look before you turn to go. If there is a pole...STOP! You will not win.

Fellow photographers

It's fun to see photographers work in magazines...but its better to know those photographers whose pictures I am flipping through. How incredible a feeling to be PUBLISHED. I think that this may be my next goal!

So, what's new...let's see. On Saturday our church hosted an auction to raise money for the youth in church to attend their various summer camps. I donated a portrait session with a cd of all the images included with copyright. It sold for $65. A bit of a downer considering I have such a high opinion of myself (I'm just kidding - I was thrilled that we raised that much money for the youth and it gave me some new exposure):) but I LOVE the girl whose daughter's pictures I will be taking. Brooke is adorable & her daughter is too! So, the pictures will without fail be adorable too! But beyond just getting the booking, I have 3 new ones in the wings. YEAH! See, giving does mean receiving!

Tim and I bid on and won 6 hours of babysitting (split up in two - so 3 hours each) and a date night with a $40 gift certificate to Maggianos and 2 tickets to a movie of our choice! Can I just say that I love date nights. I adore Tim and can't get enough of him. Sappy yes, but coming up on SEVEN years in June and still going strong! I have to say that I honestly believe I am the luckiest woman alive because I have him. HE'S MINE!!! ALL MINE! :)

In other news, I am still working on my website. I have a bunch of albums uploaded and can't wait to put it LIVE! But, I have a lot to do still. I need my friend Cassidy (who was my business partner back in Milwaukee) to get her hubby Grant to write my bio. He wrote our old ones and I have to say, they were hilarious. I would much rather have it be funny and entertaining than stiff. It's more my personality anyway.

I just called and found out that the photography fair that was cancelled was rescheduled to TOMORROW night. I tried calling them the night of but no one ever returned my call, so I finally called today and got someone!!! YEAH! What a blessing that I didn't miss it!!! Yikes, That was close! Well, I should get moving on the slideshow then!

later!

You just have to smile

I don't know what else to say about yesterday. It was nuts. I was getting ready for the photography fair held at Highland Ranch High School ALL day yesterday. That is no exaggeration. My sweet friend, and fellow photographer, Amy saved me not only by picking up Thing 1 from preschool, but also by watching Thing 2 when I took off for the event later that evening. My sister in law took Thing 3 while Thing 1 went with Tim. Needless to say, just orchestrating the day was enough to make me sick to my stomach. But, more than that I was running tons of places yesterday trying to get everything put together. Spending over $300 on the event was enough...but to speed all the way there (not very fast actually because since my last ticket in OK I'm too keen on the idea of getting pulled over again) and to haul a huge load of stuff inside only to find the place COMPLETELY EMPTY! I am not kidding. Okay, well unknown to me, but all of Douglas County Schools were cancelled yesterday. IT WAS 70 degrees, but apparently since the snow storm the day before, they cancelled in advance. I don't get it out here sometimes. Well, I just wish someone would have let me know. What a WASTE of a day. Although, I finally wrapped up all my editing, got my sample album ordered from Pictage and I can't wait to get it! I got my two latest seniors images up for them to order at their leisure, and I am madly trying to get my new website together so I can GO LIVE with it!

Anyway, just wanted to give a shout out to a new website I found for bloggers and it's great. BlogFlux is a great resource for bloggers. Pretty cool tools and things on there. Not that I had much time to surf the site, but it was cool!

Anyway, enjoy your day. Spend time doing the things that count and the things that last!