Can You Make a Low Resolution File a High Resolution File?

Low Resolution or Screen Resolution files or 72 dpi is all the same thing.  I was sent the photo above to "improve" by my editor.  It should be noted that I did not shoot the photo; I believe it was shot by another worker, not a photographer, on an older cell phone.  I get a lot of people asking me how can I improve this photo and make it printable.  I even get people that say I have a low res photo by a girl with a really nice camera but it is low res what do I do?  

First of all, I just love when people tell me...her camera was really nice, but the photos are low res so I should be fine right?  NOOOOOOOOO, a nice camera does not a photographer make!  A camera is a tool, it doesn't make an idiot into a professional photographer overnight.  Sorry didn't mean to call someone an idiot, but if you know me you'll get over it. 

Fancy cameras or larger cameras can actually be set to shoot photos in a screen res mode or lower resolution jpeg files.  However, unless you are exclusively shooting for the web, why would anyone do this, because all of your images would be low res.  Remember, there is no way to go from low res to high res, but you can always go from high res to low res.  Remember this.  I have actually seen fly-by-night hobby photographers actually shoot in this mode.....remember that when you hire one, you probably would be really upset to learn that your wedding was shot entirely in a low res mode....another reason to hire a pro!

I recently had a lady send me a cell phone photo of her husband and said he died of a heart attack but it was her favorite photo.  My heart broke for her, so I wanted to help her out so I took a look at her photo.  The photo, which I won't put up because I don't want to insult anyone, was shot on a flip phone and was not only out of focus but really grainy or noisy.  Old flip phones are some of the earliest camera phones, not high res at all or good quality.  I softened the noise, corrected the color as much as possible, but that was as good as it could get.  The photo was around 600x600 too low for making a good print!  The lady was not pleased that I couldn't make it perfect and didn't pay me...note to self get money up front for this every time!  I did tell her up front that it would never be what she wanted it to be.  I still stand behind this!  I can't make something out of nothing, no matter how bad she really wanted a great photo of her husband, she will never get it out of the photo she sent me.  If it had been shot on a newer phone such as my iPhone 6plus it wouldn't have been a problem. The resolution on cell phones is improving every year just like digital cameras have.  So the answer is yes you can get a high res photo on a new phone, just look at the resolution if it is in the 1000x1000 range your good.  Okay so maybe you will never get bill board size, but you can print something for the house no problem.  

Here is a quick tip to remember as well.  If you want to keep a photo at the highest possible resolution from a phone email it from the phone do not text it.  Texting compresses the size even more, and if it is already small don't make it smaller.  

So the answer to your question; "Can I make this tiny photo high quality and print an 8x10 and make it look great?" No you can't.  But  you can keep it on your Facebook or phone and view it whenever you want to make you happy.  Remember Low to High = No, High to Low = Yes.

It never ceases to amaze me what the Lord can do for your business.  I have prayed over my business this year, and the Lord has blessed me way too much....can I say that?  I am not complaining, I am just thinking if it continues like this I will have to hire an assistant full time.  Yikes, am I ready for that?  I love it and I wouldn't change a thing.  So much to do so little time.  I am booking into September now!  Woohoo, the Lord is Super!

Well I survived my first Bridal Show!  I had a booth at the Granbury Bridal Show.  It was hosted by the Granbury Bridal Circle.  Attendance was good and I met a lot of other vendors in the business.  Local wedding planner Erin of Finealta Events https://www.facebook.com/FinealtaEvents encouraged me to Just Do It!  I really wanted to build a wall and buy more than I needed, well I did that anyway, but I didn't have time so I got creative and made my booth anyway.  I used what I had, for the most part.  I think it turned out really well though and I was asked if I did a lot of shows...uhh nope, not yet anyway. 

I must admit that I heard all the booths are going for trendy or shabby chic, so I ran the other way as savvy marketers would.  I knew I had to hit all the senses as well.  I used a Tyler candle auto glam scented paper behind my brochures in the Tyler scent to hit the sniffers since you cannot have candles!  I am a Tyler Candle Junkie!  I also wanted real flowers, and I think I got robbed on that deal, Kroger $25.00 and they were okay, but I thought that was a bit steep.  I probably should've put the money in a reusable arrangement, but I love fresh flowers.  I used wedding crystal that I already had, I mean does anyone ever use that stuff, so my booth was a perfect use for it!  Hershey Kisses for the taste buds worked well because everyone wants a kiss.  I did consult with an Interior Designer for my booth, I think I was second guessing myself, but she was well worth it!  I consulted with http://kimfancherdesign.com/  Kim was easy to work with and worth it!  She suggested I use my old cameras to draw on people's curiosity, or for conversation pieces.  Many people did comment on them.  Also, she suggested the different levels of things on the table to make the eye wonder around.  Kim also suggested the marbles on the black velor to catch the light.  I highly suggest Kim for your home too, check out her site!  My biggest challenge for my booth was how to hold the darn photos in the back.  I really wanted to make a wall and a living room feel, but I just didn't have the time...two girls, middle of school year, booked....hello....no time.  I came back down to earth, thinking how can I use what I have and not go broke doing this?  I had already paid the booth rental, which wasn't cheap, but I had to think...what do I have.  Oh yes, a great Wescott Background that I love, and I have a background stand.  And I love my background stand...and I've used the heck out of it, but it didn't break the bank either, and it's long paid for.  Now, how to hold the pics?  I was afraid that frames would be too heavy, so I printed my prints through my new fav... White House Custom Color....sorry you neighbor with a great camera....if you don't have a tax ID you can't use them!  They are great, they call me every time there might be a problem, they look out for me!  They are all 16x20's in the background that way I can get a cheap frame later at Michael's if I need too.  Frames that you haul around don't last, so I wasn't about to go expensive.  The prints had to be mounted, so I spent a bit over $100 for those.  I am useful for useless info sometimes...magnets!  I have bought up the heavy duty magnets from lowes, not cheap, but reusable, and used mounting tape to mount them to the back of the prints and with my husband's help we hung them on the background.  I also had to spend about $30 for a coroplast sign of my logo or name.  I am thinking metal would've been smarter, but again, weight was a consideration.  The other frames are from Ross, a great place for frames, but yes it is hit or miss there.  I did have a mishap...I broke one of my turquoise candle holders from the Wagon Yard in Granbury.  I love that store.  If it is me though....I know that I will break something!  So all that aside I think I did alright.  Now all I need is bookings from the show to pay for the fun I had!

Get Your Shoes On Girl

Both of my daughters are twirlers, and my older daughter has been at it since the first grade.  She was just a little bitty thing when she started and one of the things that twirlers go through is jazz shoes.  We practice quite a bit, especially in our driveway because sometimes it's just easier to walk outside than to go to the gym.  Lazy, I know...but anywho, the driveway eats jazz shoes.  Twirlers spin a lot and even eat a lot of batons.  They learn to catch them because they don't like eating them I think.  So here is what I busted out for the driveway to eat...

Well they aren't perfect but I remembered the days when I painted jeans and pillowcases and anything else we could get our hands on when I was younger with my best friend Nancy Fields.  I was always envious of her artistic talent.  I still have my jeans we painted somewhere hidden in the attic, and hidden they will stay until we move again I suppose.  I think I rekindled my love for fabric painting.  These were done with paint pens.  I haven't tried the markers for fabric.  I eyeballed them at Michael's, but truly I have too much craft stuff and the paint pens stretch to other mediums.  I think they remind me of cartoons.  And Laney was happy enough that she is wearing them to school this week so mission accomplished.

I am a Frazzeled Female....Not a Doubt in My Mind!

I am honored to spend Thursday mornings with a group of moms who are trying to be better Christian women.  We are using The Frazzled Female

It seems to be a good little Bible study, we will be on week 2 this week which is having a positive attitude.  If you are like me when everything around you seems to go to pot at times it is hard to have a positive attitude.  Different people get "frazzled" for different reasons.  We are supposed to find something positive in everything even cleaning the toilet.  Yep that would be a hard time to find the positivity, especially if your a mom cleaning up after boys...okay or a wife of any man (it doesn't matter the age...none of them can aim, and all of them think a maid will clean it up later).  All of us moms feel that our families assume the mystery maid comes and cleans up after them, the maid that never gets paid or many thanks.  Anyhow I think the point of this weeks study is to try to see the positivity in the horrible tasks of life or in difficult times.  So if anyone hears me scream "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24 NIV, it is probably because it is the only positive thing I can think to say.  We are all supposed to remember while we are cleaning up after our families that God has great plans for us, as long as we seek Him even when we don't think we have a reason too. 

*I think I should note to those faint of heart that I am a Christian, but I am a human so at times I should probably put a disclaimer...I am a messy Christian, sometimes without a filter.  If you don't agree with me that is okay, or if I offend you I am so sorry.  But one things remains, I am here to honor the Lord and he knows me really well and he accepts me as I am a wonderfully made mess!  Trust me He either shakes his head at me a lot or laughs at me a lot...take your pick!

Amarillo By Mornin' Up from Granbury

I wanted to take time to talk about my new header picture above.  The Randall High School senior is Lexi and we had an extraordinary morning in Amarillo taking her pictures.  Her Dad has some access to some really great landmarks in Amarillo.  This photo was shot from the top of the court house.  I have never had that opportunity before and it was awesome.  I feel like the photo really depicts Amarillo and Lexi.  Her Dad and Grandpa had much to do with many buildings downtown and ohhh the places she will go possibly from Amarillo.  Since moving from Amarillo I have had some people say your from Amarillo, "Isn't it a truck stop?", or "It's windy as hell there!" or the it's just plain ugly there.  Well I suppose all of those things are occasionally true if you live there, but I think Amarillo is full of people who know how to look for the beauty in the simple stuff.  My mother-in-law who has also lived in Amarillo was also perplexed with why people think it is so ugly and since she travels much she had a great observation, it is because Amarillo's skyline never changes.  It could be.  I  discussed this fact with Lexi's family while we were shooting and they felt it was because Amarillioins like to keep it original.  I would concur, but there is a bit of room for improvement I think a coupel of old buildings just need to get a little TNT time and build something new just to change the skyline, and it must be optically interesting, something to talk about.  I am not sure what the newest building is downtown, I think the Petroleum building

which is the mirrored building to the right behind Lexi (and if you look like a pro photographer they will run you off from there, they are no fun and they lie that the building has a copyright....really).  No, the Amarillo Opera House is new, and really interesting architecturally, but you cannot see it from the highway.  The Amarillo staple of their skyline is the "Bank One" building or the tall one in the photo, I think it says WT now because they have a downtown campus there.  It is super 70's and houses the Amarillo club in the top, or the Amarillo equivalent of the "rich folks super club".  I always thought that it was really posh when I was younger and was in awe of the rich old ladies playing bridge there in the afternoon.  Now that I have seen Fort Worth and Dallas wealth first hand.....I think what I thought was wealth at a young age is not spectacular now.  However, I must say that in the Panhandle it boils down to simple again.  I have known very wealthy panhandle people who wear their wrangler work shirts, jeans with holes, and always have their hands dirty....and you couldn't squeeze a buffalo nickle out of their ass.  But I digress....the buildings...wouldn't you think one of those ladies that lunch at the Amarillo Club would have noticed that they should donate all of their money to update the Amarillo skyline?  Okay if one of you ladies ever reads this blog, your kids and grand kids probably haven't seen you in 10 years because you wouldn't buy them everything so just make a new skyscraper in Amarillo and name it the "ungrateful brat" building lol.

Another building that is historical to Amarillo and was actually gutted and renovated some years ago it the Sante Fe building which is now owned by the city.  I think it is art deco style.....it really is neat up close and this time I got an inside view!  Lexi's Dad maintains that building and we got to go in a couple of cool places.  Places many Amarilloins would be honored to see.  I was, but I had to warn her Dad I may call on him again in the future. 

I have photographed at the Sante Fe Building before and so have tones of Amarillo photographers, especially the view from above.  It is even awesome with a bride or couple in the front.  But I got to go in...woohoo lady!  Here is one of my favs of Lexi in the service elevator, the old cage kind.  I really had a great time doing Lexi's pics, and I love old buildings.  I love old original things, oh yeah maybe because I am from Amarillo too! 

Okay I thought of a name Kreativ Liv, which in Danish or pa Dansk means Creative Life, which I think sums me up perfectly.  I long for things to make, do, and see that are creative and that can make life more fun.  If you know me you know that I used to live in Denmark as an exchange student, so Denmark or Danmark if your Dansk has a special place in my heart.  I think that is where I learned to mix the new with the old.  So Kreativ Liv it is.  It's my blog and my new goal is to enjoy this outlet as something fun not something dreaded....if your a mom you know what I mean....one more thing to do!

Name needed for new blog!

I have decided to use this blog for more than photography, I have decided to use it for whatever I want since I am not certain how many people read blogs anyway.  So, from now on if you see posts from my life that's what the blog is about, just life as I know it.  I must come up with a new name for it, and as I look around at the Internet there are so many great blog names.  I think of myself as creative, but choosing your own cool name is like making your own logo, too hard.  So if you have any ideas please let me know. 

It's official....I changed my business name.  Since 2007 I have been Sassafras Photography by Landi Whitefield.  I love the Sassafras, because it was sassy you know.  However, as a business decision I had to just go with my name, I know boring....but at least no one can duplicate it...well not unless they are criminally inclined.  My new business name is Landi Whitefield Photography.  Since I shoot for Lake Granbury Living Magazine, I noticed they published some of my pictures under my name and some under my business name.  Confusing, so I had to change it to match my domain which I guess I should've done in the first place.  I know that my blog and all still says Sassafras Photography by Landi Whitefield, but as soon as I get around to it I will change it all.  Yuck, busy work that I don't like!  Assistant anyone? 

I had the joy of photographing a 10 year anniversary vow renewal for my friend Melanie.  It was a wonderful ceremony and a lot of people came to see them re-commit to each other.  Melanie is the mom of 3 little ones and I think it is so special for the kids to see their parents commitment to each other in such a special way.  I must say that as a photographer this was fun because the stress of wedding #1 is not there.  Melanie and Mike are great people and she made a beautiful bride.  They were cut ups too, so it was fun!

I am certainly up late, realizing that it has been more than a while since I posted a thing.  Which means I have been busy.  I have been taking lots of pictures for a new magazine in town called Lake Granbury Living.  This adventure kept me quit busy, but was a lot of fun.  I am sorry to say that to date the digital version is not online.  But if you live in Granbury you can pick one up for free most anywhere.  I even made my first cover!!!  Above is the photo I took of Jeanelle Morris which ended up on the cover.  What a lovely lady she is!  She is the former librarian here in Hood County and is instrumental in the libraries expansions over the years.  In the future, you can view the magazine digitally at www.hometown-living.com but I am not sure when it will be up, soon I hope.  I would like to include some of my favorite photos from this issue that I took.  Some are advertisements, and some were photos for feature stories. 

 Yummm, food photography, I must say I really enjoy it!  This was from Antonio's Ristorante Italiano in Granbury.  I actually ate lunch with Antonio and got to know his story a bit.  He is Mexican born but trained to be a chef in Italy.  He is dedicated, because he supports his wife in Mexico while being a single dad here in Granbury all the while cooking up a storm.  I got to eat the food in the picture and I must say he's a great chef.  I took several more for the magazine, but I must post another entry for the coveted ones.  Those meaning some Texas country music super stars!  My close friends have been begging.....

Small Town Photo Girls Rock!

I got reconnected with a friend I grew up with in Claude, Texas this week.  Yes you heard it right, those that know me well know that I lived there from 0-15.  My classmate, Amy Horn, contacted me through Facebook and told me about her daughter that is not only an aspiring photographer, but a great one, and is only in her teens, just think of what she will be if she sticks with it.  Her name is Cassidy Horn and her website is cassidyhornphoto.com She is a killer Ranch photographer!  I am so impressed.  Her mother was asking about a nagging question that really bothers her about photography today, which is how do you get people to quit asking for CD's and rights to her images?  

Cassidy, I have no great answer for you!  I know that sounds bad, but I know that my other photog friends that have been in the business for 20 plus years still struggle with this new delima in photography. How can we convince people that getting photos professionally printed is the way to go?  Well, we could tell them that at professional printing houses they have computers that are color corrected and will produce the best color in an image.  We could also tell them that they do that all day long and they know what they are doing.  Most people do not know this (I do because I went to school for photography), but unless you have a really expensive pc monitor, they are not color balanced and even if you buy a gadget to color correct it, it won't work on the cheap ones.  Now for the great part, photographers that use a MAC are sometimes better off because the monitors come color balanced, and the gadgets that they sale to balance the monitors do work on a MAC.  Here is a gadget that I have used in the past and really works great with MACS, but they are not cheap:  http://www.xrite.com/home.aspx

There is an entire science behind color in photography, and I could go on and on about that, but I will stop and add...paper quality.  Print houses use special types of papers and when you hire a professional photographer the paper can add to a photograph.  Also, cheap photo paper will eventually turn yellow, just like a 70's photo.  Good paper is archival quality.  When people send (I nearly said develop, does that tell my age?) their photos to their local drug store to print a person who isn't a skilled craftsman runs the machines and controls the colors, and therefore good luck with what you get.  I have a great photographer friend who has had clients opt for Ms. Mom photographer for their wedding because she sold them the CD for nothing, and when they were unhappy with the results they brought them to their trusted, professional photographer and asked if she could fix them!  Well, bad photography cannot always be fixed!  Out of focus prints cannot be fixed, it is basically trash unless you are going for a soft focus look!  Also, unless shot in RAW, you cannot completely fix Jpeg files that are completely a terrible shade of green or too dark or too light when shot.  This has to do with White Balance, and I will save that for another day.  

In summary of today's blog, I must say that the only thing that I can tell Cassidy or prospective clients is that you get what you pay for!  However, I must tell Cassidy that sometimes you also have to go by the old saying, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."  I used to give out the CD, but now that I do this for a living I didn't for a long time, and I still don't like to!  However, I have decided that I have to adapt to the ever changing world of photography, and I need to join them.  I now sell my images on a CD after a minimum order of $250.00 in prints has been purchased for portrait sessions only.  There is of course an additional fee for the CD, but at least I feel the clients will have professional quality, color corrected, prints to compare to their cheap drugstore prints.  I have had clients see the difference after purchasing a CD and asked if I would print some for them anyway.  If you hire me as your photographer I want my prints to look beautiful on your walls, they are part of my reputation, and I don't want to look like a dime store cowgirl, I want to look like a Nieman Marcus gal!  

Also, to Cassidy:  Tell them that you have to pay for college somehow! You just can't give it away! 

Excitement is in the Air....

I feel like I am getting back to normal, or normal for me I am back to shooting more often.  I have played exclusive mommy for nearly a year since I had Maizey.  I think that happens when you have a baby, or for me my children are center stage.  Since I waited nearly 7 years to have my second daughter, it was like starting over with less energy because I was older.  My photography took a back seat through no fault of it's own.  I think I feel like I can function again and that I am ready to get back to work and get really busy, both as a mom and photographer.  I just took pictures a couple of weeks ago of a beautiful child, and he is the son of one of my MOPS friends, for those of you that don't know, it stands for Mothers of Preschoolers, and for those of us that work from home and have small children it is otherwise known as sanity.  I love MOPS and wish I had known about it with my first child.  I am not going to post their names, but I just have to show a picture of this little boy that is truly beautiful and so is his mother, they would both make great models.  I am excited to shoot, shoot, shoot, no people though or not today anyway!  LOL!

Cattlehearding in Photography....

If you have grown up around the agriculture industry like myself you will fully understand my analogy between the "portrait studio in a box" and herding cattle.  Let me explain what I mean to the rest of ya'll!  Last night I allowed my children and my nieces and nephews to go and get their pictures taken together at a little place called Portrait Innovations, you have probably heard of it since it is the nation's largest portrait chain.  Gasp, you say if you are a photographer or if you are a lover of fine photography which of course I am, but I must say photographing your own family is right up there with the most "gag me with a spoon" thing a photographer can do, not all the time,  but when there are kids of certain ages in the family.  My oldest nephew is at the age where he is too cool for school and Aunt Landi knows nothing, and my older daughter along with her cousin of a same age smile like dorks, or not at all for their mother, so I gave in and said let's just let them have their picture at the photo in a box for my sanity and their's.

I haven't been in to one of those places lately and I have wondered why they have been taking so much business from us perfectionist photographers this year, so what better way than to go find out.  I must point out though that I did work at Family Photo in Amarillo while I was studying photography at Amarillo College a couple of years ago.  I will say that I know for a fact that if you want to be a photographer you can "get your chops" at a photo in a box.  I was one of the oldest photographers at Family Photo when I was there, with the lovely 18 year old's that really enjoyed putting me in my place...God Bless them.....but never the less I stuck it out and by golly I learned something.....how to pose large families quickly, how to pose really well if I have to, and customer service.  I don't regret for a minute my time there, I worked my butt off, and so do the little fly by night photographers there, especially during the holiday season.  When I was there they were scrambling to try to compete with Portrait Innovations, the national chain, and of course they took a hit, but they are all still in business, and this year probably doing really well, for one reason...everyone is broke. 

Unfortunately, I think people are forgoing professional photography and opting for the cheap quick version because this year everyone is feeling the pain of money spent in the past, and the first thing to go is luxury items such as photography.  Which in turn makes us professionals broke because we aren't working as much.  Many professional photographers are trying to figure out how to compete, and really I must say we can't.  We just paid $100.00 for a million pounds of photos and the disk for them, I can't compete with that.  For their $9.99 special I can't even pay my shipping and handling fees and then get all the prints they include, no way.  But one thing that you forgo when you choose a place such as that....quality.  They do not edit photos, so if you don't get what you want you can try again with another photographer, but there will be no art about it.  The cheese factor, you will get all of that and then some.  Quantity, you will get that, but who in the heck needs a million photos of the same image, some of you, but if you are my clients, I know it isn't you.  I will honestly say that my clients do not ever go for packages, they always want the control to choose what they want, and professionals give you that option.  Also, passion, I will say that when you work in a "photo in a box" that you are tired by the end of the night and you are shooting someone new every 15 minutes or so, so you are not really caring about making it look like art at the end of the day.  Sorry that is the hard truth, and some of the photographers are just there because it is a job, not their passion, so if you must, ask for a senior photographer specifically...oh great how I am giving you insight into the inner workings of the cheap photo place....stupid me, but if you are gonna go there you will, I can't stop you, I didn't even stop myself.  Here are some more hints....don't go when your baby needs a nap and expect the poor photographer to make the kid smile.  Don't threaten to spank or beat your children before they are photographed, don't even glare at them, leave the room if you are a control freak parent.  Oh did I say that, yes I did and most of that applies to professional photography as well.  If you want the great smiles just leave the room when your toddler is playing control freak with you, they will smile perfectly for us strangers most all the time.  Okay no more tips on that, but I must say one thing that never changes about the cheap photo places....feeling like you are being ran through a shoot like a bunch of cattle.  There is nothing personal about it.  Please remember that professional photographers strive to keep you as clients forever, and we not only want to give you art, we want you to feel like you are important to us, and you are, we do this for a living.  I wish I could just give it away to everyone, but I am guessing you wouldn't go to work everyday for free either.  Yes it is a job for us, but it is also our passion, and you won't find that in a cattle shoot!  Long live the professional photographer!!!!

Finding mentors next to you....

I have several aspiring photographers who call me up a lot to find out how to do things, well I must say photography is learned on a curve.  For some reason older more established photographers don't want to mentor younger ones for fear that they will loose their clients, which I must say has happened to me, with the exceptions of a couple of folks.  I think that just shows insecurity on their part.  Really I have found that younger photographers are more computer, i.e. Photoshop savvy and that scars the heck out of older photographers.  Generally speaking the younger kiddos learn Photoshop in high school, and older photographers pay big bucks to learn it.  But, I must say if you want to learn the business, the old guys know a lot.  When I was Amarillo College http://sites.actx.edu/~photography/ working as the lab assistant in the photography dept. there, it was always amusing when the film was pulled out and the younger kids would say "What do we do with this stuff?"  That should tell most of you that I am 29 and holding!  I digress, I am one of those people who love higher education, so I went back to school to learn digital photography.  I started out in the film days and learned on a manual Pentax, I have one on the shelf that a friend stole from WTAMU (however, he probably paid for it in tuition and it was broken so don't have a cow man).  I remember my critique days in film, it was mean, which I think a lot of new photographers are scared to endure for that very reason.  I just have told several younger students, listen and learn, there are people who know how to use constructive criticism and they will help you improve if you let them, and then there are the jerks.  This is what I will say about the jerks, close your ears and continue to do what you love and find other people to listen to.  In art there are always jerks, but don't let that keep you from living out your dream.  I am pro-go to school to learn photography, I am anti buy a camera and set up shop!  I have to say that I learned a lot of Photoshop not only from the professors, but from the 18 year old students whose brains haven't closed up yet.  So, if you are looking for a mentor and you can't find a "professional" who cares, look to younger artists, you can learn the cool stuff from them.  If you don't have the money for college or a photo-school yet I recommend joining your local guild; although I must add the older folks will be your toughest critiques, because most of them don't know half of how you managed to pull that off in Photoshop.  Also, use Youtube to your advantage, someone put a tutorial on there about every detail in photography.  I will add that I have a group of older photographers that I run stuff by and younger ones that I text too, they all play a vital role in learning not only the art of photography but the business side as well.  Here are some of my friends that have helped me along the way:  http://photo101.org/gallery/  Brent Cavanaugh (My professor at Amarillo College), Tracy Barnett http://www.portraits-by-tracy.com/,Vondel Stevens http://www.photographybyvondel.theultimateportrait.com/.  There are others, but that could take days of cutting and pasting.  I have learned something from everyone I pass by in photography and want to tell you this keep an open mind and never think you are better than someone else, because there is always someone better than you. 

Blogs I Love

I haven't had much time to blog, I have been getting ready for my fall photo sessions, but I was procrastinating and I found some photo blogs that I must tell you I love, love, love.  If you are a photo lover, photo student, or photographer, take a look at these puppies!  http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/  They always post great fonts, scrapbooking ones, but they are great for photographers who love cookie cutter stuff. I also love http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/ this chick is great!  She gives stuff away for free, although she does ask for donations.  She has everything from tutorials to storyboards, to actions which are so popular right now. 

Fall Foto Fun!

I am now booking for my Fall Mini Sessions.  The sessions will be 15 minutes and there is only a limited number of openings.  This session is for children only, but I will allow friendly dogs and cats as well.  The sessions will be held on October 9th, 10th, and 17th from 3-6:30pm.  Payment is due upon booking and at that time I will disclose the location to you.  Bring your little monsters in their costumes, or just doll them up for fall.  The photos from the session will be posted on my website www.landiwhitefieldphotography.com and you will be allowed to choose one photo from your session and it will be emailed to you with a photo release for you to do with as you please.  Of course if you choose I can print them for you at an additional fee.  I know that some of you may want your children individually and together, so if you would like additional digital images you can purchase them for $15.00 each.  As an added bonus you will receive a screen resolution digital image of the same image that is included in the shoot for your Facebook pages.  Please note that it will contain my logo.  Sessions are booked on a first come basis, and they are limited!  Call me at 682.936.2063 or 806.367.0145 for your appointment.  Credit/debit is welcome!

Found a Long Lost Friend

This last week I was searching for old friends from Denmark, yes as in the country. I was a Rotary exchange student there for my junior year of high school. Another fellow exchangee was Matt Hill, who was from NJ. I remembered that he loved photography so I looked him up. I wasn't sure if I found him or not, but I watched a youtube video of a guy doing time lapse of an art project that was way cool paper art, which he had to have been inspired by the Danes to do, anywho, I could only see the back of his head, so I shot him an email and asked if it was truly him. It was. I just have to post what I saw now, cause it was way cool. http://photo.matthillart.com/stop-motion/timelapse-video-for-art-music-creativity/ Come to find out Matt is into everything photography related. He also has another website called http://www.togs4togs.com/ that is a helpful site for other photographers. He works for the MAC group, if your a photographer you know what they do. I must say I was impressed with my friend. I was so happy that I found my long lost friend. It is so hard to have stuff happen that just makes you happy on a plain day, but I was so happy that I found what Matt was up to.

Decisions...

Today I decided I better get with the program and get my blogging together with my website. I guess I was advertising another website, how nice of me. I am on a mission to brand myself in my new town. I love Granbury, but photo peeps you better watch out, cause here I come....and by the way I am not one of those "just bought a camera and now I am a photographer gals", no I am an educated camera geek, so be very afraid....lol! I want everyone to know that my website is fabulous and ready for DFW to discover it! Visit me at www.landiwhitefieldphotography.com
I am trying to teach myself all of the cute blogging stuff, and like myspace you have to learn a bunch of junk, that is why Facebook took over. You can follow me on Facebook, and I do have a twitter account, but I am a twit so I don't tweet enough!