SONY Setting a Positive Direction

Just this last Sunday, SONY announced with great fanfare a series of new Digital cameras and a replacement for the SONY Alpha a700.  First let me say that SONY really did not show any real working cameras but instead they resented mockups.   But as SONY indicated, the cameras that were presented are going to be hitting the streets sooner than one would expect.

Mainstream DSLR range to grow further
Sony officials also confirms that the current α range of consumer DSLR’s will continue to grow with the introduction of further new models using the newly-developed Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor and integrating HD video function with AVCHD format. IS this the same sensor used in the SONY Alpha a550? No, the new HD sensor and not the same as the A550 and in fact the Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor is a completely new development.

I was also informed that the A7xx will have all of the same studio functionality that the SONY Alpha a700 and Alpha a900 currently has.   I can only assume that this would include tethered shooting.    I also asked about the Sensor Size and ISO range, but was left with an answer that final determinations on those specifications have not been made yet.   But one SONY person did say that I will be shocked when the specs and a working camera do appear.   The Alpha A7XX will be a large step up from the older Alpha A700 and will be well accepted amongst high end shooters, semi pros and professionals alike.   SONY was not going to say if this camera is in what one would call professional caliber of camera.

But the same person did leave me with a tidbit that surprised me.  There is a camera that is in development that is intended to be a big step from the Alpha a900.   It was indicated to me that this camera could be considered by SONY as a professional camera and they are intending that the focus of this camera would be in that direction.   When I pressed this person about what was said, I was given the answer that we are not allowed to elaborate any more on the development of new future DSLR’s.

I spent the evening reading many of the comments and dissatisfactions from many SONY Alpha users who read the announcements from PMA and I will simply put it, if you expect that a camera company is going to put every requested feature into a camera that everyone expects you end up with a camera so complex that you end up losing the lower end photographer just learning to use the camera.   Also some comments from the SONY Style darkroom forum indicating that SONY was not listening to what is being said on that forum.  Another SONY representative did indicate that they do in fact read with great interest a lot of what is posted in the darkroom forum.  But as it was said, SONY cannot fulfill every wish that is posted.   But there is some requests that have merit and all SONY ask, please hang in there and you will be rewarded.

Looking at a once traveled path.

I have been doing some very serious soul searching lately.   Much due to my having to care for my mother, some of it due to the dramatic show fall that we have experience this season.   Then there is the question about my Wedding Photography Side of my Business.

As of the last posting, I revealed a lot of very personal stuff about what my current life is going through.   Then the past year, the economy hit bottom and had effected almost every ones wallet.   This had in turn affected my Sale in the Wedding Division of my Studio.    From shooting high end weddings over that past three years to now only shooting bargain sub $2000 weddings.   As one groom told me, that he hired me by price alone, but he looked at my images he knew he should have paid triple of what he originally paid.   Now, I have discovered that there is a major glut of new Wedding photographers hitting the streets.  Some good, and some not very good at all, but all offering prices at $800.00 or less.   In most cases don’t even cover my cost with the most recent weddings that I shoot.   This is made more evident in an article by David Ziser, and he quotes:

The current situation – Here is what I believe:

I Believe… that the low priced sub $1000 DSLR killed the “Golden Wedding Goose” for long standing studios in our profession.  I hear it everyday.  They’re just are not that many “Main Street” studios surviving these days.

Back in the day (of film), if you wanted to shoot weddings, the “Cost of Membership” was at least $5000 for a medium format camera, lenses, and flash gear. That was a deterrent to the someone wanting to shoot wedding part time and kept the number of new shooters at bay.

I Believe… that there is much less of a monetary commitment a photographer needs to make to the process of shooting a wedding for his/her client these days.  That fact alone has mushroomed the numbers of wedding photographers shooting today. And, resulted in driving the cost of weddings WAY down.

Back in the day, if you wanted to shoot a wedding, that meant that you were going to need to buy film and processing.  Most photogs in my area were spending , on average, about $350 of actual costs per wedding. I personally spent $1000 a week on film and processing to shoot a wedding.  Today that cost is FREE, FREE, FREE!!!

I believe… that there is much less of a monetary commitment needed by the buying public when it comes to buying wedding photography.  Because of the proliferation of cheap all the way to inexpensive pricing in the field, the client sees that as the norm these day.

I was just reading in Business Week this morning that some of the luxury products use a pricing procedure called “anchoring” to offer one product at a very high price so that the second tier product, still pricy, becomes the big seller.  Here is the link to the article right here.

What’s happened to the wedding profession is that the “PRICE” has been anchored to the bottom of the heap – i.e. the flea market wedding shoppers looking for rock bottom pricing for “professional photographic services” on Craig’s list.

I Believe… that the “Digital Age” itself has done much to reshape the wedding photography business.  All the new aspiring photographers can find free or very reasonably priced training anywhere on the internet.  My site DigitalProTalk, the Strobist, the Online Photographer, the Digital Photography School, et. al. have really revved up the enthusiasm for the profession.

Believe me, I think all that “easy to reach”information is a good thing.  I’m a web surfing junkie myself and love to bring the tid-bits I find to you, our DPT readers. Hey, it’s fun.

That enthusiasm has also encouraged many new photographers to “give it a go” in the profession.

So do I believe that there are too many photographers shooting wedding these days?  My answer – YES.  Now for the rest of the story. Are many of them making any money? – NO!

But you say, “I love shooting weddings.  What can I do?”  Lots of suggestions were given in the “Comments” section of the last two posts.

I am not going to compete against the prices but will instead concentrate on my other skills.   David is a very wise man when it comes to Wedding Photography, and he skills and teachings and I hold merit to that.

I have been getting a lot of inquiries from local and not so local sports leagues and sports clubs to shoot team photos and individual player portraits.  If the demand increases, I may push in that direction.   If it sounds like I am uncertain about my direction and future, well no I am not.    I have come to a apex in my profession where I am starting to look back at where my photography all started.  Shooting Sports and actions photos.   No, I will not be looking to get my credentials for the coming Red Skins Football season, but I do see a positive direction that is worth exploring.

And oh yes, I have not left the Wedding Photography Business, not for a long time.

Paul

The first Post for 2010. (Why so Late?)

I have been silent for a month, but it was not for a lack of something to say.   The last part of December and the whole month of January has been mostly set aside for caring for my Wife as she recuperates form major foot and ankle surgery and watching over my mother when I am home from work assignments and attending of PPofA activities.   I have also cut back a sizable amount of my in-studio work just so I can give my Mother and my Wife some level of privacy.

My wife will recover and she is truly looking forward in assisting me in future assignments.   My mother on the other hand is a special person with needs and special care that come with having Dementia.   Dementia is a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases, and involve language, memory, perception, emotional behavior or personality, and cognitive skills.   My mother s condition has rapidly deteriorated since she has come to live with me.  Sadly, I was informed that the rate of deterioration was to be expected.

There was a time where my mother was very much an in control type of gal and was a very social with involvement in DAR and her local Garden Club.  But with the onset of this affliction, she has become more introverted and not very willing to venture out in public, let alone go on car rides that last longer than two hours.

The only other activities that have occupied my time, was the time I spent in Nashville at the PPofA Convention and Trade Show.  This allowed me a chance to spend time with many fellow photographers and friends, and to make some new friends.    It was also a time to refresh my brain with new knowledge and talk about new marketing strategies with a few vendors.  My biggest move this year is my move to get Certified.  I will talk about that in more detail in the future.

That brings us to the second day in February of the year 2010.  My thoughts are on the coming year and the direction that I plan on taking with my Photography Studio.  I have some very concrete plans, but more on that later also.

So I have put my mark on the page for the start of the new year and will making more entries as the days and weeks pass by.

Paul

The Korb’s Pick a Perfect Day.

Rich and Brianna, were hoping that the day would be at least mostly sunny.   But after a week of mostly rain, the day of their wedding was all sunshine.   The Wedding it self was a late afternoon wedding, and so shooting allot of the photos outside was limited to just a few of the Bride Brides maids walking to the church.

Couples had two themes, their love for the Ocean and their love for dancing.

“Puttin’ on the Ritz”

The title derives from the slang expression “putting on the Ritz,” meaning to dress very fashionably. The expression was inspired by the swanky Ritz Hotel.    This was case for Joe and Jamie, last Saturday.

Joe and Jamie Ritz Wedding day was picture perfect in more ways than one can count.  From the splendor of the Church to the top notch Country Club Reception.    I truly enjoyed my self capturing this very special day, and I hope that Jamie and Joe Ritz enjoy their Images that I capture of that day.

My Second October Engagement Session

When it comes to couples, I get some of the greatest.   Shamus and Lindsey are a couple who  are matched in heaven.   This twosome, was both fun and enlightening when it came to their photographic session.  The wedding is not till next spring, they both wanted to take advantage of the colors of fall for their engagement session.   Oh did I mention that this was another perfect Autumn Afternoon.

I hope you enjoy this sampling, I know I enjoyed working with them both.

Paul

A October Wedding

Fall Weddings just like Spring Weddings, are known to be very colorful.   But the Wedding and James and Audra was more than a typical October Wedding, it was rainy day Wedding.   The ceremony was as near perfect as one could ask and the photos before and after were to coin a phrase, “Picture Perfect”.

During the reception, James (Jimmy) and Audra just plain let loose and enjoyed the evening with many of their close friends.   I selected a few images from that day to show that this couple is in deed madly in love with each other.

I also truly enjoyed this day as well.

Tags: Weddings and other Events

October means Engagement Portraits Part 1

Meet Rich and Brianna.  They will be married in November but wanted to have a nice local engagement portrait taken in Frederick.    They both have a passion for water, so I ended the two and half hour session along Carrol Creek in downtown Frederick.

Rich on this day was suffering from some sort of head cold or allergies, but he was a trooper and did not allow this malady to interfere with fun and the photos.  Brianna, an artist her self loved allot of the local artwork that we featured in our photos.

A Blast from the Past.

During the 1980’s, I was photographing a broad range of performing artists and sporting events.   One afternoon, during a meeting, a future client asked me if I have ever photographed a famed rock guitarists from the 80’s?  And he mentioned is name guitarist Mark Doyle.  My gosh, a name from the past, yes I did a photo session with him and a Band Partner Joe Whiting.   In fact I did the rear Album Cover for a Record Album on about 1985.

I remember that I went to the recording studio to listen to their music, get a feel for what the photo should also feel.   I remember Joe Whiting comment, that my approach was radical and felt very comfortable about me shooting the back cover.   Originally the photo was only going to be a small 4X5 in the corner of the back cover, but when the album came out, I was surprised to see the photo totally dominate the back cover.   The photo was as exactly as I printed it in my darkroom.

Today, both Mark Doyle and Joe Whiting are still entertaining fans from both the past and the present with their style of Rock Blues and Jazz.  Feel Free to visit them.

http://www.markdoyle.com/main.html

http://www.joewhitingmusic.com/

Tags: Album Cover, Joe Whiting, Mark Doyle

My Birthday Gift

Oh, Did forget to announce that I had a birthday several weeks ago.   Well I was a bit too occupied with my wife in the hospital and work.   I did celebrate my Birthday with my sister, mother, and by daughter and her husband and my grandson.   It was a small and short celebration, but what capped my birthday was my mother ans sister giving me this camera.   A Canon G10.   Now you are going to ask why the Canon G10 and not a SONY.  Well when it comes to operation, the G10 is more similar to a DSLR than an average compact camera.  Emphasis is on the many setting options which make this camera ideal for the DSLR photographer to use as second camera.    SONY to date really does not have a compact camera like the Canon G10 in its lineup.

I have already taken a few images, and this camera will become a common fixture with me so be prepared to see more personal images on this blog.