Changes....

So I finally made the switch to using Wordpress for my blog. This will be my last official post on here. Please go ahead and bookmark the new address for the blog, www.shawncollie.com/blog.

Also, the launch of the new site should be official in about 48 hours. I am waiting for the DNS servers to propogate correctly across the cloud we call the internet.

Lack of updating...

right when i started working on making some kind of daily blog for the website, I got busy with a couple different things.

The first thing that has been pre-occupying my time is the decision to migrate this blog over to WordPress. This has been a slow process unfortunately as I am also finalizing the design for the new website. I am wanting to make sure the blog and the website create a seamless experience. I will keep you all posted as this gets closer to rolling out.

The second thing that kept me away from writing new content for the blog was a business trip I just got back from last night. I had the opportunity to have my hand in some of the artwork that was installed and displayed at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. I flew out Thursday afternoon and was immediately whisked away to the hotel for a tour of the amazing facility. I have never seen such amazing branding that spanned every aspect of the hotel. Then drinks and dinner with some of the project coordinators. After that was a long night of drinking and dancing with some of the most amazing people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Once Thursday was over and done with, the rest of the trip was about relaxing and enjoying the City of Lost Wages. Pictures from the trip will be posted soon, unless you want to see a bunch of photos from the phone.

Now, I am back at home and having to start playing catch up on some personal work here. Namely migrating the blog to WordPress and moving all the existing content here to the server as well, and the official launch of the new website.

Some great things to check out today....

I am trying to get myself in the habit of posting and writing new things every day. Supposedly it takes 21 days to create a new habit. So I am working on writing or posting some kind of new content everyday for the next twenty days so that this becomes the norm for me.

Today is one of those days that I will just share some great things I came across today.

First up is this great link that I came across thanks to Jay B at Public School. It features some great work by Ted Sabarese.

Next is this gem featuring the work of Elias Wessel. This guy's portfolio is stunning. I am not sure if I should be inspired or shaking in my boots.

I stumbled across this great mix of music via Luke Copping's blog. The mix is put together by 99% and is available as a stream or a download via iTunes. If you keep late hours while working on projects, this is the perfect mix of music for you.

And one more link to end today's post. This one is from the guys over at Permission to Suck. I will warn you that it may seem a little depressing at first, but I choose to see it as a way to explore how I can start focusing on the multiple ways I can add extra value to my clients needs and wants. If you have a couple minutes (read this as 20 minutes of spare time), you should definitely read this post and watch the accompanying video.

The Experiment

So...this past Saturday my house was invaded by a total of 7 kids. All but one were family. I am OK when it is just our kids at the house. I tend to freak out and get really stressed once more and more children arrive and overtake the house some kind of plague.

As the day progressed, I became more and more stressed out and aggravated. The better half came up with an idea that was inspired by this video:

So, off to the store we go to track down as much sour candy as humanly possible. After all the lighting was set up, we decided to tell the kids what we were going to do. And we were immediately rewarded with smiles, laughter, and an all around want to be a participant.

More after the jump

ASMP testifies in court today

Today begins the long road to making sure that we as photographers are treated fairly in the ever changing market. Licensing and usage is the standard that we all live by and it seems like not every one is on the same page. Maybe after reading THIS, we might actually be able to start on the same page.

more busy days are upon me

It has been a little while since the last time I wrote. The past two months have been really busy and hectic. But, that is when life is usually the most exciting.

I have been taking some classes this semester to keep things fresh and new for me. Plus, it doesn't hurt to learn something new and grow the box that you live in. One of the classes I am taking at ACC this semester is Studio Management. Despite the course name, this is actually a class focusing on the business side of photography. We have had lecturers of all types come in...bankers, lawyers, insurance agents and may different photographers. The photographers that we have had come visit us range from portrait and wedding photographers through commercial and editorial photographers. Recently, we had Kirk Tuck come in and speak to us. This man has and continues to have a great career in commercial photography. He had some amazing things to share with us about running a business and how to remain successful in the current trying times. Keep an eye on his blog, Visual Science Lab. Kirk updates this blog daily with some great material that everyone should read.

On a side note, I just returned from a job shooting a ton of new images for a local Texas busines, G and S Fish Market. I am finishing up the images for delivery as we speak. This was, in my head, going to be a fairly easy, but fun, assignment. So of course there were some slight issues to overcome. Remember, shooting shiny and reflective items will require you to think a little outside the box and challenge you to work harder.

Enjoy your week!

Jonyrose Filip

i am unsure who took this image at this time

and i add more to this again today

today i learned that i lost a really good and close friend
Jonyrose Filip

Why does Photography cost so much?

I have been working on a post in regards to the of good photography cost and dealing with educating our clients about it for a couple days now. This morning while reading and catching up on blogs I follow, I stumbled across this gem written by Marianne Drenthe. Its a great read and written in the context of a portrait photographer, but the principles and concepts still apply no matter what aspect of the industry you are involved in. So, I have temporarily put my own post about this topic on the back burner and have presented what I found for you in its entirety (and with permission even)here.

This is a great read from Joe McNally.....even for you non-photographers out there....thanks to my buddy, Stephen Hooker for pointing out this gem that I managed to overlook on part of daily reading.

Quick Update and other tidbits

I figured I would take advantage of the brief amount of downtime I had before I ran the last of the house to school.

This year has taken off with a bang. And hasn't let up at all.

I am enrolled in a couple classes that have re-arranged my schedule some so there has been a slight learning curve, to both mind and body. The classes I am taking this semesters are definitely some interesting eye-openers and I am sure more than a couple will spark some new posts. One of which is in draft form as we speak.

On a side note, I tweeted about this yesterday. It appears that the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, TX will now be the press photo archive for Magnum Photos.

Magnum Photos has sold its archive of more than 185,000 press prints to Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Computer, and two other investors for an undisclosed amount, the agency announced today. Under the terms of the sale, the prints were moved in December 2009 from Magnum's New York office to the Harry Ransom Center, the humanities library at the University of Texas in Austin.

The full details of the sale and how this is going to work can be found here on Magnum Photos or through PDN Online.

Make Your Personal Projects Write Checks for You

I am a huge advocate for personal projects. I have been working on one for the past 5 years now that I am still unsure as to when it will be "complete"...if ever. I have a very long list of ideas for more personal projects i want to....and must explore. But I don't want to take on too many at one time and end up watering down the images. I am a firm believer that one should not overwhelm themselves with too many projects at one time.

And at the sake of sounding a bit silly, why don't you make that personal project you are working on into a paying job? It isn't as far fetched as it may sound. Many of the guys (and ladies) we look up to and respect got their start in a very similar way. They dove into their personal work and honed their skills and the craft. They produced consistent and solid images....just like you are doing. So, why not turn that project into something more....something that you will be able to market and pitch to a variety of potential clients?

A former instructor of mine, Sean Perry, was the one who put this concept and idea in my head. (Before I go to far along, don't forget to vote for Sean while you have time.....he is one of the finalist this year for the Hasselblad Masters.) Sean and I were going over some of the images on one of my drives and he kept asking me about what this image was for, who i shot it for, etc. When I told him they were mostly from personal projects and one off ideas, he just smiled at me. And then over the next 12 weeks he pumped my brain full of ideas and concepts that had never crossed my mind before.

What follows after the jump, is a mixture of his pure advice and some of my own advice and experience.

A New Year...What is in store for us now?

I had a couple other blogs I had been working on to publish right before the new year and after. The holidays kept me quite busy with family and the kids, so many of my unfinished thoughts are swimming around in half full bottles on the windowsill.

Its 2010. Its amazing how much has happned in the past year. Let alone the past 9 years of this decade and the millenium. I wont bore you with a top 10 list of things that happened last year. There are plenty of those floating around the internet as it is. And I'm not going to make a list of predictions of what I think is to come (even though i will go on a tangent or two before I am done).

We are entering the last year of the first decade of the millenium. So much has happened and changed the world we live in. Technology and the internet has put the world at our finger tips and its hard to stay afloat of all the information we have available at times. Cameras have changed. Computers are faster. The internet has become this huge and vast library of so much information and misinformation. But is all this technology and the advancements a good or bad thing?

more after the jump

contradiction in terms pt 1.5

So after a longer weekend than planned that included a small family trip to Port Lavaca this past saturday and then family portraits for my family on sunday back in Austin, I am finally finishing the post about this image:



more after the jump

inspiration and creativity - part 1

I have neglected this blog so much lately. I have been making up excuses to myself and others about why I dont use this as much as I should. So I am making an early New Years resolution to at least do one blog a week...even if it is just some random ranting to stop the ideas and thoughts from rattling around in my head so loudly.

So.....where do I start first?

more after the jump