Bill's Blog

Over the course of a year, there are 3 questions that I hear most:

1.  “How do I get photos on the beach?”

2.  “How do I get photos with Santa?”

3.  “Has there ever been a cooler song than American Pie by Don McLean?” –I really doubt it.  [You'll never guess what song just popped up on Pandora Radio.]

So let me just get right to the point.  WARNING:  This is a much more straightforward, informative blog than I normally write.  You will be spared my insightful observations and my witty . . . wit.

BEYOND PHOTOGRAPHY WILL BE CREATING BEACH PORTRAITS NEAR DESTIN, FLORIDA, MAY 23–AUGUST 31, 2011.

If you’d like to create a timeless vacation memory for your home, here’s the process:

*Check out the website:  Click here to view our “Vacation Memories” gallery.  There you’ll see some of our work from years past, and get some ideas about clothing, your favorite style, etc.  You may view our portrait pricing guide by clicking here. Due to the nature of beach portrait work, we ask all of our clients to invest in at least one 24″ print.  [Feel free to ask Sheree or me "Why?"]

*With all of our sessions, we ask for a $750 retainer to hold your session.  $100 of that is a location fee, while the remaining $650 applies to your portrait order.   We’ll ask for a larger retainer for large family groups.

*Call or email with your calendar in hand.  We only shoot at sunrise and sunset, so our sessions are limited.   I suggest scheduling your session early in your trip.  Don’t shoot on the first day!  Kids [and husbands] are tired of the car, and want to get out and play!  Don’t wait too long, though, as sunburns tend to get worse towards the end.  You’ll also need time to order your portraits while you’re still in Florida.

*Soon before your trip, we’ll email directions to the location, and some of the final details.

*We’ll meet you on location and create some fantastic images!  [ . . . and we'll have a great time while we're doing it!]

*Then, we’ll meet at your place or our home–in Florida–for you to select/order your portraits.  Normally, this is the day after your session.

*We’ll arrange your portrait delivery–via UPS or in person [depending on where you live].  For many of our clients, this solves the question of Christmas gifts.

If you read the blog from a few days ago, you reviewed one of the most obvious, elementary comparisons ever:  A real Tilesetter who can repair a leaking shower bottom, and a seasoned Photographer who can work with a family group.  I apologize now that I’ve gone back and re-read that last work . . . that analogy is so overused!  I know that it’s become trite.  In my lack of creativity, I resorted to a tired cliche.

In that same blog, I promised to introduce you to the REAL TILEGUY . . . here is the Sohlman with his beautiful bride, Kim.

Kim & the Sohlman

In a remarkable act of courage, or lapse in judgement, Steve Sohl hired a dumb college grad–me.  When I heard “ceramic tile,” I didn’t know exactly what that was.  Glass Blocks?  Travertine?  Huh?  Conversely, I had become INTIMATELY familiar with the words “unemployed for the last several months.”  I quickly proved myself as a guy really good at picking up stuff and carrying it to somewhere else.  It was October of 1995, and it began one of the absolute best seasons in my life.  I learned more in the few years AFTER college than I could have ever imagined!  While teaching me the trade that he’d learned from his Dad and Grandfather, Steve and I became great friends.  Steve and Kim also introduced me to a strange and mysterious place:  the world of the small business owner.

So now, 16 years later, Steve and I are still close friends.  And I’m excited to introduce you to his newest baby–HIS BRAND-SPANKIN’-NEW WEBSITE!  If you can look past the lackluster photography, you’ll see some really spectacular work from a few of Steve’s homes.  [Steve found a really cheap Photographer that agreed to spend a day shooting in exchange for Izzy's tamales and a brew.]

If you’d like to turn your home into a work of art, give Steve a call.  If you tell him exactly what you’d like, he and his guys will create something great for you.  If you bring Steve in, and ask for his input on your new home/remodel, you’ll get something astounding! [Sohlman has been in this business all of his life.  VERY FEW folks have seen the wonderful stone creations that he has.]

Click on www.sohltile.com and see the work of a real artisan.  And if you tell him that mr. bill sent you . . . he might even charge you an extra 12%.

In my previous life, I was a Tilesetter.  Fresh out of college, 2 degrees in hand [Biblical Studies and also History], I settled into the longest stretch of unemployment I’ve ever had.  Then I [Providentially] stumbled into a job as a Tile Guy.  When I first heard about the job, I thought to myself, “Tile?  What’s ceramic tile?”  I’m not exactly the sharpest spoon in the drawer.  Now, 16 years later, I still dip my hand back into the world of installing tile.  If you want to know the truth, I consider myself a “very strong” Photographer [a little better than "mediocre," certainly not yet "great"], but I think of myself as an “excellent” Tilesetter.  You’ll hear more soon about the REAL Tileguy that trained me, but that’s another post.

If you walk the aisles of Home Depot or Lowes, you’ll see all that you need to set tile . . . right?  It must be easy.  Talk to almost anyone in the construction business, and they’ll tell you–“Yeah.  I can lay tile.” In fact, oodles of do-it-yourselfers install tile in their own homes.  [We're skipping the obvious--"Can they do it WELL?"  Some can, some can't.  But that's not the point right now.]

So if you want to find a really seasoned Tilesetter, someone really skilled in the craft, how do you spot him?  Here’s the golden question:

“Can you repair a leaking shower bottom?”

If he gives you a blank look, or stammers over an answer, you’re not talking to a Tilesetter.  You may be talking to a guy who uses some of the same tools, but he’s not a Tileguy.  Likewise–if you found an “accountant” who doesn’t know how to manually balance a checkbook, or a “nurse” who can’t manually [with a stethescope, cuff, and watch] take your blood pressure, you should pause.  There are a few basic skills that a legitimate professional, in any industry, should be able to perform.  Ironically, the shower bottom repair used to be a standard, everyday kind of repair in the world of Tilesetters.  If you couldn’t replace a shower pan, you’d NEVER claim to be a Tileguy.  Yet today, it’s a skill that’s becoming more and more rare–even among those who call themselves “Tilesetters.”  But if he can install/repair a shower bottom, you can be assured that he’s got a strong grip on the other fundamentals.  While the shower bottom is really basic, that doesn’t mean it’s the easiest.

So how do you spot a seasoned Portrait Photographer?  Luckily, you don’t have to ask, you can just LOOK at the work.  Here’s a golden question for Portrait Photographers:

“What can you do with a family?”

Posing a family is one of the cornerstone skills that is eroding from our industry.  For this exercise, ignore other key issues like background, lighting, color harmony, lighting, lens selection, lighting, composition, and lighting.  If you want to know if your Photographer is serious in the craft, (more…)

Welcome to today’s educational blog.  You are blessed to be here, for today I am in the mood to freely impart my brilliance.  Yes, today the Big-Shot Photographer [that's me, if you didn't know], will demonstrate 2 elements for a great Beach portrait. And since I’m being so generous, I’ll also tell YOU how to recreate a great Beach Portrait.  You’re welcome.

TWO ELEMENTS OF A GREAT BEACH PORTRAIT, AS EXPLAINED BY MR BILL THE BRILLIANT:

1.  Be sure that the Lord blows a little on the ocean, giving great texture.

While you’re at it, ask Him to blow in some spectacular clouds, and clear the haze off the horizon so the setting sun really pops the color in the clouds.  If you’re bold, be certain He gives a glimpse of a rainbow [not on this image, but it did happen during this session.  It's happened twice in 8 years of shooting beach photos].

2.  Get the right grandparents in front of your lens.

I’ve known this couple for almost 24 years.  This is Robert and Mary, last year, with their grandkids.  For a grandparent, this is a photo of their legacy.  For me, it’s a photo of a second-generation legacy.  Their sons are close friends of mine, and through High School I spent most of my spare time at their home.  Not only me, but my entire group of closest friends took up second-residence at their place.  Their patience and generosity shaped the lives of their own boys, then me and the others, and now their own grandchildren.

That’s it.  Get a great setting, get the right people, and there you have it–2 elements for a great beach portrait.

We’ll be creating more this summer, and hope to see  you there.  If you’re near Destin, Seaside, Seagrove, etc., let us capture this season in your family’s legacy.  WE’LL BE THERE MAY 23 THROUGH AUGUST 31.  I hope to see you there.

P.S.  If you’d like to know what a great friend I am, and learn a little more about one of their sons, check out the series of 4 Spleen Blogs.  That’s their son, Jeff, we’re mocking.

BEYOND PHOTOGRAPHY IS ON THE DATING SCENE

We’d love to schedule a date with your girlfriends–and their kids.

After nearly 10 years of business, I’m blessed to often hear,

“Yeah–I’ve heard about you from my friends!”

At that point, I modestly prepare myself for what’s next.  I’m certain she’ll elaborate how she’s heard about my arresting good-looks, my laser-sharp wit, or herculean muscles.  Maybe she’ll mention the time in 5th grade when I kicked spelling-bee butts by remembering to capitalize the word “Asia.”

“You’re the guy who balances the shoe on his head.”

Oh well.  Not to be underestimated, I cooly explain,

“Actually, SEVEN shoes is the record.”  Not that I’m bragging.  I’m just saying. If she’s impressed with my famed shoe-trick, the least I can do is . . . put my best foot forward.  [That, friend, was an example of the aforementioned wit.  Lucky Sheree lives with this clever mind EVERYDAY of her life.]   eerehs-  !!!em rof yarp esaelP

So thank you, all who kindly say nice things about Beyond Photography to your friends.  We’d love a chance to actually meet them.  So how about a date?

We understand that your Photographer relationship is more than the pieces of photo paper you take home.  Once you find a Hairdresser you love, you don’t keep bouncing around to others.  Such is our relationship with our clients.  When the phone rings for a session, we normally know the person calling.  Most of our clients are repeat clients.

Now think about the former Hairdressers you’ve hired.  Maybe you weren’t totally THRILLED with his/her work, but you hated to shop for someone new.

Some of your girlfriends are with Photo-dressers that they don’t really love.  Or maybe they don’t have a Photographer at all . . . since it’s tough to find someone she really likes, and is nervous about investing $$ in a photo session where her kids may have a miserable experience!  So here is our idea:

If your girlfriends’ kids are going to hate Mr. Bill [me], make ME pay for the date, BEFORE the photo session!

Call some of your friends, call Beyond Photography, and let’s schedule a date for pizza with Moms and kids.  And it’s our treat!  We’ll spend some time horsing around with the kids, chatting with Mom, and then she’ll see firsthand if we relate well to her kids.  Or that we don’t.  There really isn’t a catch–none of you will pay anything, that day or later, and no one has to schedule anything.  We won’t have sample albums or pricelists or the calendar with us–that sounds too much like work!  I’ll warn you now, though–Sheree and I WILL have our 3 kids with us [they think this idea is a stroke of sheer genius!].  We’re not scheduling certain dates for this:  Consider this a standing invitation, an invitation that you should accept SOON!