Wedding photography prices

Coming in January

New wedding photography prices and services.

Stay tuned!

360VR Tours now available

View sample here

It's a Grizzly!

Bears in the woods

A few weeks ago myself along with a few fellow photographers got up at an obsene hour and drove off from Kimberley at 5:00am.  The goal was to reach Golden by 8:00am to head off with the hopes of spotting a Grizzly Bear.  And spot we did.  And photograph we did.  For around 2 and a half hours we photographed this bear.  A very enjoyable morning with images to match.  I hope to have the opportunity to do this again in the spring when he comes out of hibernation.

Photos above

 

New Services

Kimberley's Photo West will soon be offering 360VR tours and Video to our long list of services offered.  Watch here for more details as they happen.

Manitoulin Transport

Another year is swiftly going by with only a few more weeks of summer left.  This years Manitoulin Transport shoot went very well with a large number of excellent images to choose from and plans being drawn up for next  years shoot already in the works.  This year saw a day around Calgary then heading off towards Canmore and then Golden only to return for those "Eastbound" images.  A few select images are below for your viewing.  Enjoy!

Saturday

This Saturday I have the honour of sharing in Kathleen and Dennis's special day.  They have found each other and will be sharing their love for each other with friends and family on the Nordic Trails in Kimberley.  The forecast is for sun and heat which will allow us to capture some wonderful memories for the both of them.  I wish them well in their life together and will be posting a few select images here after the event.

Worldwide Photo Walk

I am proud of the fact that I will be leading a Photo Walk in Kimberley on Saturday, July 24, 2010.

The walk will begin at 10:00am sharp at the Travel Info Center.  Full details along with registration information can be found here.

Best of all: It's FREE!

Website Back

After the website was off line for a bit, it is now back.  Hopefully all bugs have been worked out and it is now ready to roll.

Graduation

This weekend is high school graduation weekend here.  It is a very busy weekend for me starting on Friday afternoon with all the grads descending on a local park for all the pretty photos with their prom outfits on.  This year I have been asked to take a group photo of all grads during this mayhem.  It should be interesting to say the least.
Then on Saturday afternoon there is the graduation ceremonies in which I take a handshake photo of all grads receiving their "diploma" and/or scholarship.  It is fast paced and the trick is to get the grad to stay still for a brief moment and look at the camera without their tassel flying in front of their face.
All in all a busy but enjoyable weekend.  Detail to follow.

A great morning

Yesterday morning at 8:20 we headed off in search of Blue Grouse.  Myself and two other photographers were optimistic that we would see one if not more male Blue Grouse strutting his stuff for a hen.  The drive took us north of Wasa, BC to an area where the truck could be parked followed by about a 30 minute hike up to a ridge where Blue Grouse was known to be.  Onsite by shortly after 9:00 the search began.  Surprisingly a hen was spotted first therefore we knew the male must be close by.  After finding a spot to but the backpacks down and hooking the camera gear together the low call of the male was heard and it didn't take long to spot him.  The weather was perfect with high overhead cloud creating the perfect diffuser only to be filled by a bit of flash.  He was in a mood to show off and would just circle around us in order to give us all sorts of angles on him.  Standing solo on a rock or hopping onto a fallen tree this guy was definitely not camera shy.  It was a great few hours and the only other thing I wish we could have captured would have been if he had of completed his task while we were there.
Images from this shoot can be seen on my flickr site.

Photographic Instruction and Workshops

Further details about photographic instruction and workshops are available here.

Weddings

Prices are being slashed for weddings booked for the 2010 season.  All day coverage was $2490.00 now $1990.00.  Ceremony and Group Portraits was $1990.00 now $1490.00.  Group Portraits only was $1290.00 now $990.00.  Includes engagement session, unlimited proofs, proofs posted online, DVD of proofs to print from.

Instruction

Kimberley's Photo West will soon be offering photographic classes.  Some of the classes being offered are: DSLR Refresher, People Photography, Sports Photography, Selling Images, Photoshop Basics, Photoshop Advanced, and Business Basics.  Also there will be field trips offered.  Email your interest and more details will be available shortly.

Easter hangover

Chocolate!  Games! Toys! Five year olds hyped up on sugar!  Sleeping in a strange bed!  Not sleeping! Tired! Exhausted! Driving! Traffic!  Colouring Eggs!  What's not to love about Easter!!

Easter

Easter this year will involve another trip into Calgary so that my boys can visit with their Grandma and Papa.  My sister and husband from Edmonton will also be down which is great as I haven't seen them in a bit.  There will be photos, of course, which will be posted upon our return.

Keep in mind the portrait special of $125 for an hour session at an outdoor location of your choice and that includes a disk to print from.  A screamin deal!!  But a deal that won't last forever!

Spring is here

Now that it is warming up and the snow is melting it is time to think of a Spring portrait session for the family.  There are many great outdoor locations in the area that make for a terrific backdrop of family sessions.  For only $125 you get an hour session at an outdoor location of your choice.  Limited dates available so inquire now!

Speaking of outdoor locations the boys and I took a walk through our back 40 yesterday and had a great time.

What a week it shall be.

This week is turning into a very busy one as I will be heading into Calgary this Wednesday morning for a meet and greet during Wednesday evening and then traveling back to Kimberley on Thursday morning.  Only to return to Calgary on Saturday morning with the boys and staying until the following Wednesday.  Thankfully the weather is wonderful and hopefully it stays that way.  Photos of the...hummmm.....let's see......HIGHWAY will follow.

This is it!

This blog along with additional pages is the new face of Kimberley's Photo West.  Many of you might have been checking into the blog from time to time.  Many of you this marks your first visit here and we welcome you.  Enjoy your stay, have a look around, and contact me should you have any questions.
Cheers,
Dave

Bootleg Sled Dog Races

To view all images taken during the recent Bootleg Sled Dog Races please visit here.

Dogs

The Bootleg Sled Dog Races were great and the whole weekend was blue skies and fairly warm weather.  It was a perfect weekend and I will be posting more images soon but here is an example or two:

Dogs

This weekend is the Bootleg Dog Sled Races which should be a lot of fun.  I was unable to attend last year and the weather was perfect with a fair bit of snow.  This year there is not nearly as much snow although what snow we do have is hard packed which should mean fast racing.  The forecast at this point is 5 or 6C and mainly sunny which should make for some great images.  Images will follow

A big thank you to Jeff Smith of Jeff Smith Photobooks for this insight.

Is the profession of photography suffering from a credibility crisis?  I don’t want to sound like an “old guy” here, our profession has always had a large number of younger photographers ready and willing to hang out their shingle to turn their passion into their profession, but in the days of film photography you had to have a basic understanding of photography.  You had to know at least a little about lighting and exposure control to produce a printable image.  Back then our camera didn’t have preview and we didn’t have Photoshop to fix our bad photographs.  I think film gave all of us an opportunity to learn just enough to know how bad we really were and how much more we needed to learn.
In the digital world of today, learning photography is seen by some as just a roadblock in the fast-track of being a working Photographer.  I don’t ask this question or make these comments to judge or make fun of anyone.  There are some truly gifted young photographers (new to our profession, some are not young at all)  that have taken the time to learn about lighting, posing and composition who create truly professional work, but let’s be honest, there are a few of young photographers entering this profession I wouldn’t want photographing my daughter’s wedding.
We all have to start somewhere, but working for clients for money is not the training grounds for aspiring photographers.  We all hear the stories of weddings not coming out, once in a lifetime family portraits that look like snapshots and even the “On Your Side News Team” talking about photographers and making the comment, “As always buyer BEWARE”.  This doesn’t sound real good for our profession.
In simply asking this question, I am sure the emails will start coming in with the typical, “you just want all the business for yourself” or “you old guys have it made and worry about us young guys running you out of business”.   The single biggest tragedy in the current state of this profession is the young photographers that are talented, that have gone to college and done everything right, only to find the potential clients in their area won’t trust them.  Instead these clients prefer to go to a more established studio to insure a certain level of quality.
I thought about writing this post after a client told me a joke that she thought I would find amusing.  She said, “what is the next thing a high school student buys after he gets his very first camera……..Business Cards for his new studio!”  The joke wasn’t very good, but it did give me a great deal of insight.
For any of you young photographers that might be reading this I have two suggestions that were given to me when I was a young photographer and they served me well.  First, never charge for your work until it is of a similar quality and consistencey of the working professionals in your area.  Second and most important, be careful of who you ask to critque your work!  Most of us show our pictures to family and friends who love us and want to be encouraging.  You need honest feedback (not from someone who loves you or someone you just gave free photos to).  Ask a professor or teacher, ask a person or people who don’t know you took the images and listen to what the say.  If you don’t like the  Honest Feedback you receive get busy learning until you do like the feedback you receive.

http://jeffsmithbooks.wordpress.com/

New Year

I know it is already half way through January and I am just posting a Happy New Year greeting and for that I apologize. It seems the first two weeks of the new year have flown by.
The new website is up and going, stop by and have a look sometime. New price lists for wedding coverage have been finalized and I am almost ready for the Prestige Inn Bridal Showcase taking place January 31, 2010 at the Prestige Inn in Cranbrook. It should be quite interesting this year as there is someone new organizing it and there will be more exhibitors than ever before.
Stay tuned for more!