It’s time to shoot Christmas photos for the 2021 season.
Sometimes it’s kind of hard to get into the Christmas Spirit, at least for me, because some of us are still running our A/C during December but I’m ok. It’s nice to see that the Valley is still green and as much as I like the cold, I’m not a fan of ice. (Trying not to have a flashback to the Texas 2021 freeze from earlier this year).
Did anybody go?
This is a blast from the past. Hockey in South Texas…well Hidalgo Texas to be exact.
For a few years I was part of a marketing team that helped the local CHL hockey affiliate here in South Texas and I’d help out with photos every now and then. I will say this, it really taught me how to shoot manual and the value of understanding any shoot.
I know a lot of hockey traditionalists look down on this but you have to admit the fights were always a lot of fun to watch.
Who knows, maybe one day hockey will return to South Texas. Stranger things have happened around there…look at Space X
Throwback Thursday: There’s just something special about having someone come to your home / office to do the work. It’s just so much easier than driving across town and waiting for who knows how long to get a picture taken. For the last few years we’ve ditched the traditional photo studio and went with a mobile setup.
This is just a quick look at one of our headshot sessions with the Mission Chamber. Simplicity is the key to everything as I take all the lights and equipment to the location and set up in a pretty small area. Believe it or not this doesn’t have a big foot print so we’ve been able to set up in some really cramped areas. We’ve shot right next many christmas trees and even a storage closet or two.
If you’d like to set something up let me know just visit our contact page and we’ll get you going!
It was COLD this morning! Well maybe not as cold as the “great white north” but it was colder than I was used to. This morning I was invited to help one of our clients kick off their latest project – Rocket Car Wash, based right down the road from the Pharr HEB. They were barely braking ground this morning and it’s a project slated to open in 2021
I think what made the kick off so special was it was the first one the Pharr Chamber of Commerce / EDC had since the whole COVID lockdown happened. They had a lot of people turn out and the mayor talked about the importance of the community to come together safely and start reopening with caution.
It might not seem like a big deal but for me it was a significant sign that things are returning to normal and we’re all ready to move on.
Taking a 30 minute break from Precision Camera’s 2020 PCU and decided to start sorting out my camera bag. We went from being slow to 100mph right after the county judge lifted the Covid-19 shelter at home order. I don’t want to get into it if it was right or wrong, I’m still being careful and cleaning everything after each one of our shoots.
Anyways we took photos of just about everything. We started doing commercial photos of a property in Harlingen and ended up doing a senior portrait at one of our favorite locations in Hidalgo.
So now beings the fun task of cleaning everything and prepping it for a new week.
I took this because when I started off many years ago I started off with one Canon body and now it’s evolved to a multi camera system that I regularly use depending on the type of photoshoot requested.
I really do enjoy what I do.
Believe it or not everything does serve a purpose. Everything from the flashlight (find things that fall out while on location) to the the old beat up GoPro (for the fun behind the scenes photos).
It’s fun.
#commercialphotography #sony #profoto #gopro #fuji #mcallen #rgv #texas #portraitphotographer #rgvblogger
What a great Wednesday morning we had here in the RGV.
Hey it’s throw back Thursday (at least it was when this was written) and I just wanted to share a quick photo form one of our behind the scenes photos during one of our McAllen photoshoots.
Here’s a quick behind the scenes look at one of our photos shoots for Vera Clinic that just opened up in Edinburg.
The job was pretty simple. To get in and get out while setting up a few scenarios to build stock photos for their website.
The funny thing with this photo shoot was I knew several of the people that were on the site as models. I went to school with one of the actors in this photo (we hadn’t seen each other in 25+ years) and another had recently graduated through the UTRGV Medical program. (I had covered her graduation a few years back).
This just goes to show you just how small the Rio Grande Valley can be.
Pretty good photoshoot this Morning. We knocked out several items and now it’s time to get them cut out and prepped for online sales. Online retailers have really changed the what the world buys things and their demands on the clients listing items onto them can often be a bit crazy but we have to keep up with the times.
Just an observation but when I started doing this for a Harlingen company about 20 years ago we didn’t have the equipment nor the sophistication that we have now. Don’t get me wrong, better equipment often leads to better photos but it’s always been about trying to get the best quality photos you can to your client. I started off with a Sony Mavica (not sure if you remember those floppy disks but they were a pain) and it was a clunker of a machine.
Now in 2020 we’re still knocking out commercial photos but everything’s going onto Amazon and several other retailers so the bar has been set so much higher. For everything we shoot we actually cut them out and get them back to the customer on a solid white background. This eliminates all the color shifts in the background and makes all the products look even on their websites. Who knows what the future will bring but you do have to be on your toes.
#throwbackthursday – No studio no problem. It’s been a while since I’ve actually had a brick and mortar photo studio and I go to each one of my clients. I can’t remember the last time someone asked me if they could stop by, everything has to be mobile (at least with my commercial photography clients). Everything that we take on location is completely portable so we’re able to set up almost anywhere. (Even in the middle of a living room if we have to – Yeah I’ve done that). Actually this is right in the MIDDLE of a very crowded boardroom.
My fill light is sitting on top of a conference table and the main light is pretty much pushed against the wall so we had to get pretty creative.
At the end of the day we knocked out multiple looks in different locations in the office all in about an hour.
Finally if you’d like to update your headshot or schedule that high school senior portrait shoot shoot us an email. We’d love to talk about your project and make sure we get you onto the schedule.
#alwaysfun
“Every person I meet has something to teach me”
I saw this posted by John Maxwell this morning and it made me think of just how my life has unfolded. Everyone has a story to tell and experiences to share. It’s crazy just how much some people have lived and what they’ve seen in such a short time.
Evelyn Cano was kind enough to take this behind the scenes photo of me working last week and it kinda all clicked. In my line of work, I hate saying “Job”, I have learned from everyone. I have seen the word “hustle” evolve from a negative connotation to something positive and meaning you get what you you reap what you sow.
I still remember my chief photographer giving me tips on how to deal with people in adverse situations in the 90s to how people want to have their voices heard during a social media era in my last project. I was given the opportunity to work with Disability Chamber or Commerce RGV and highlight some of their achievements and what their hope are for their organization.
It was great hearing how McAllen and the Rio Grande Valley has become more inclusive to all walks of life. It’s not perfect but it’s a start and they’re defiantly on their way.
I can’t wait to see the finished video this week.