ShutterSpire is 1 year old!

Even though we are still pretty new, we have seen huge changes in the last year and want to share those with each of you. Over this week, I will be working on re-posting ALL of our past events and portraits for you to enjoy. You can order prints if you like, as though the pictures were brand new. I am also working on getting a few of my favorites up on both Facebook and MySpace.

If there is anything that you would like to see in particular, please drop me a line and I will be sure to get it up.

Have a great week!

Dulce is a Senior!

Girls are so much fun to photograph, and Dulce is no exception. She is cute and silly and I really enjoyed working with her. Today was also my assistant, Evany’s first time as a shooter and he did an excellent job directing some poses and coming up with ideas. Between the two of us, Dulce is going to have a lot of really nice shots to look at, and I know that it will be very hard to choose. Here are a few of my many many favorites.




This last one was the work of my new assistant, Evany. He posed her and composed the picture. Edited in Lighroom by Christina.

Take Better Pictures Series - Article 1

Welcome to the first in a series of Articles to help you take better pictures. This series will have a new article posted every week on Wednesday and will cover a range of topics to make you a better photographer. If there is a topic you would enjoy reading about, or possibly a question you have, feel free to drop us a line at info@shutterspire.com

Get to Know your Camera

Contrary to popular belief, the camera you use has very little to do with the pictures that come out. Do you have an old 4MP (megapixel) digital camera sitting on the shelf? Do you have a 35mm film camera that has gone with you on every family vacation for the last 10 years? Take them down and dust them off, because you are going to learn how to take beautiful photographs with them.

First thing is first, you need to determine what kind of camera you have. They all work primarily the same, but have a few different features that are important. I will be talking mostly about digital cameras, however, I will add in information for you film users as well. Otherwise, the information can apply to both.

There are two primary types of cameras that individuals purchase. The first one is called a point-and-shoot camera and the second is a DSLR camera. I will explain both types.

Point-And-Shoot
These cameras, by far, are the most popular on the market. I took a picture of my point-and-shoot Canon PowerShot A570IS (yes, even professionals purchase these cameras). They are very versatile and small, and they can be taken anywhere. You do not need to know the camera very well to take superb pictures with it, making it the easiest camera to use. These cameras come with 7-10 megapixels these days and a decent optical zoom. They are loaded with features and pre-sets for various settings and conditions. I will go over all the features of this camera later on.

DSLR
DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflect. When you look through the viewfinder of these cameras, you are actually peering through the lens itself with the use of mirrors. When you press the shutter button, the mirror folds down and the light hits the sensor, which stores your information like film. The single lens, mounted on your camera, and the reflective mirrors give the camera it’s name.

These cameras are a bit more complicated than a point-and-shoot, however they aren’t as tricky as you may think. They are quite a bit pricier, but offer several advantages over the point-and-shoot. First, you may change out the lens. You can go with a wide angle lens and get more information in the image, or you can go for a telescopic lens and make the subject appear closer than what it is. An additional advantage to DSLR cameras is the ability to shoot multiple pictures very quickly. Do you have a dog that you want to catch running across the yard, but your point-and-shoot only lets you capture 1 or 2 images? How about your kids at play? DSLRs are fast, reliable, and accurate and you can shoot many pictures at a time – an important feature that point-and-shoots do not have.

Canon vs Nikon
We get this question asked to us a lot, and I would like to clear the air. Obviously, we shoot with Canon cameras, but that is our personal choice. Nikon is a great camera maker, as well as Sony and there are several other brands on the market. The camera you choose is entirely up to you and you will get the same great quality going with any of the major brands.

Your Assignment
Every week we will end with an assignment for the week. Your first assignment is to email me what camera you have and three things you know about it, as well as three things you would like to know about it. I will post your responses on this blog throughout the week.

Misael - Class of 2010

Misael is finally a senior. I had the opportunity of shooting his senior portraits today, and it was a learning experience for me. See, normally Tim is with me to help out on the posing and conduct all lighting set-ups, but he was unavailable and I had to do it all myself. I took a crash course from him last night, and seemed to remember most of what I was doing. Yay! Go me.
Since I didn’t have a second shooter, I enlisted Misael’s best friend, Evany. Meet Evany (pictured below). He did a great job as my assistant today. In fact, the close-up picture below is one that he composed himself.
Misael is one of my former students at South Garland High School. He is on the Swimming team and is a hard working student in his classes. Congratulations on being a senior! This will be the best year of high school, so don’t forget to enjoy it.
Hope you enjoyed your sneak peek at your pictures. I will have the rest up in the next couple weeks.

The Cost of "Something-For-Nothing" Mentality

It has been my experience that nearly everyone is budget conscious – especially these days. Tim and I too have found some hard-times. In these times, it is important to watch every dollar and determine the best place for it. Do you want a new television set or should you repair that leak? Would you want to take a trip overseas, or should you stay close to home and spend that money elsewhere? Our life is full of choices similar to these pressing issues.

What concerns me is the “Something-for-Nothing” mentality. It is great to get free stuff, don’t get me wrong. I always enjoy my occasional freebees and great deals. Though not monetary, they always come at a cost. When the bank gives me a mug for signing up with them, I have to find a place for it and store it in my house indefinitely (I don’t drink coffee, thus don’t use mugs). When I go out to use the free Wi-Fi at a local eatery, I feel obligated to purchase a sandwich and a drink.

However trivial these ‘costs’ seem, some freebees come at a much higher price.
When Tim and I were getting married in 2005, we planned and paid for our own wedding. We didn’t have a lot of money and had to make some tough choices on which vendors to include and which to eliminate. We decided that, to us, the food was the most important. We were having a Celtic Renaissance-themed wedding and that entire culture revolved around family meal-time. As a result, the majority of our budget went to catering, and we got the room for free (we had A LOT of food!!). Then we had to decide how we will remember the day. That is where we made our mistake.

Can you believe that Tim and I, wedding photographers, did NOT hire a photographer? We had a friend that said she would do it for free, and we took her up on it. Hey, how can you go wrong with free, right? She did a few simple poses and took pictures through the whole ceremony. We went on our honeymoon and upon our return, we were excited to see all the beautiful images that this film-student had shot. Two weeks went by, then three. I asked her about my pictures and she told me that something happened with the lab, but she was trying to correct them herself. Another week passed and she handed me a box of about twenty over-exposed blurry images. Nothing to make a lasting album out of. Nothing to pass down to our kids. Nothing except twenty over-exposed blurry images.

One thing we have learned from this experience is that the value you put into preserving your memories should be your top priority. If you are looking for the cheapest photographer (or worse yet – your Uncle Joe), will you really be getting the lasting memories that you desire, the beautiful custom made album to pass on to your children and grandchildren, and a wall-portrait that you can be proud to display on the mantle in your home? Or are you just going to have snapshots of your day? Anyone can press a shutter button, and a $100 point-n-shoot camera has a lot of the same qualities that high-end DSLRs have these days.

Additionally, if you are a client that desires a CD of your images, let me discourage you right now. A disc can be great and you have your images right there and are able to print what you want. Instant gratification isn’t everything, though. What you can print at home, Walmart, Kinkos, or even Wolf Camera are not high quality professional photographs. These images will not last for generations. Neither will the CD you just purchased. We are already seeing a changeover taking place from DVD to Blu-ray. Remember ‘floppy’ discs? Eight-tracks? Records? They are gone. Technology changes! That disc will not be readable forever and all that money you spent on it will be gone too. You did not buy something that will last for generations. That purchase may be good for the next ten years, if you are lucky and technology hasn’t changed in that time. For the same amount of money, you can have your photographer create you a beautiful album, guaranteed to hold up through the years.

So please, for your wedding, hire a professional photographer. Please don’t purchase images from a discount photographer on a disc that will melt away with time. We, here at ShutterSpire, warn you against making the same mistake. Create an heirloom; afterall, isn’t your family worth it?

How much are your memories worth to you?

Manuela is 15

It is always an interesting experience doing something new for the first time. You almost felt caught in a whirlwind of activity and you aren't quite sure what to do and which direction to turn. That is how we felt last night - and it was great. We were able to photograph a quinceanera for a very deserving young woman. The ceremony was beautiful, the food, excellent, and the dance, exciting. The picture I chose to post on here is a very sweet image while Manuela and the other Quince were kneeling at the Virgin Mary. It was a true testament to their Faith. Congratulations girls!

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New... Everything

It is so refreshing when you get something new. Its like you get to start all over and everything is fresh and vibrant, not to mention exciting. This is how we are feeling here at ShutterSpire.

We finally had the opportunity to move into a new house that contains a building where we hope to house ShutterSpire Studios one day.

We have a new website that Tim has worked on for a couple months

We have a new blog that is more reliable and easier to manage

In spirit of all our 'new' happenings, we will be posting a weekly series on taking better pictures. Every Wednesday, look for a new article posted here on our blog. This will be in addition to all the fantastic updates and exciting client news that we have been bringing you so far.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, feel free to contact us and we would be happy to take your comment into consideration.

Have a wonderful day!