Friday, June 19, 2009

Los Angeles Pictage User Group

May got skipped on my blog since I was out of town and didn't get to attend last month's PUG when Joe Buissink was the speaker. (I heard it was great, though.)

This month, I want to thank Shani Barel of Don't Smile Now Photography for being our Studio Spotlight and Justin Kifer for sharing a little bit about his online-business management software, Gigbooks, with us!







And thank you to June Ungaro for taking this cute pic of me and Marty.

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Sunday, May 03, 2009

April PUG meeting

I'm going to blog a little out of order here because although I really want to post the photos from Emilie & J's wedding, there are so many that I'm still not ready!!

On the last Wednesday of April, the Pictage User Group I lead in Los Angeles was REALLY lucky to have Pictage founder, Jason Kiefer as our speaker for the night. Jason gave a very informative Powerpoint presentation on the state of the photography industry and what Pictage was doing to keep up. There were a few others from Pictage who came to the meeting, and all were really open to our comments and suggestions. I love that Pictage is willing to change and create an environment that is perfect for its members.

Thank you, Jason, for taking the time to speak to us! If you are a photographer in the Los Angeles area, you don't have to be a Pictage member to join the meeting!

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Sunday, April 19, 2009

Moms with Cameras Workshop in Palo Alto

On Saturday, I taught a Moms with Cameras workshop to about 15 women. It was SUCH an amazing time! The moms learned everything from how to deal with the technical side of their camera to different ways of thinking creatively. If you are interested in joining my Los Angeles workshop, click here!

THANK YOU to all of the participants who came. Thank you also to my sister, Joy, who put together the fantastic gift bags that contained wonderful goodies from Acmebags, Kolo Albums and more! Finally, thank you to Christine Kelly for allowing us to use her beautiful home. Christine has been my client for many years from her wedding through to her second son's 1st birthday (so far!!)



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Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Moms (or Dads) with Cameras Workshops!!



After having done many private mentorships and answered many camera-related questions for my clients and photographers alike, I've decided to offer an intimate class for the beginner! This is the perfect class for the non-professional who wants to know how to take better photographs with the camera he or she already owns. Even if you only own a small point and shoot, you will benefit from this information packed workshop.

WHAT An afternoon with friends for a fun hands-on workshop to improve your photography skills
WHO Wedding and Lifestyle Portrait Photographer Jules Bianchi
WHEN Saturday, April 18 from 10am to 1pm
or
Thursday, May 14 from 7-9pm
WHERE April 18: Palo Alto, CA and May 14: Pacific Palisades, CA
HOW Sign up for our fun workshop today by clicking here!

Included with the Workshop:
* Delicious Lunch in Palo Alto
or
* Yummy treats in Pacific Palisades
* Kolo Noci album. Bound like a book with a linen cover and accent ribbon tie, it's possibly the perfect brag book, holding 24
* Tamrac's new Safari collection camera cases for your point and shoot! Elastic sides to ensure a sleek fit with magnetic snap closure for security.

Cost for the workshop is $99 and space is limited, so please let us know right away if you’ll be joining in. If you have any other questions, please shoot Joy an email at joy@julesbianchi.com She would love to hear from you.

At the workshop, make sure to bring along the camera that you use the most and any questions about your equipment, shooting, or anything else you'd like to learn! We are excited to meet you and think that this is going to be such a fun day. If you have any dietary concerns, please let me know, so I can plan the lunch accordingly.

Reserve a Spot Now

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Friday, March 27, 2009

Speaking in San Jose & San Francisco

I just got back from the Bay Area where I was the guest speaker for the Pictage User Groups in San Jose & San Francisco. The talk I'm giving is a workflow lesson called "From I Do to I'm Done." This talk goes through my personal process starting with meeting potential clients all the way to marketing myself with the most recent wedding I've shot. Because they are part of my workflow, I've also been bringing my custom presets and Kubota Image Tools to sell at a discount, so folks seem pretty happy about that. I'm planning to hit more PUGs this year, so please come when I'm in your city!

Thank you again to Kolo Albums, Tamrac Bags & Kubota Image Tools for providing prizes for my talks, and thank you to my sister, Joy, for taking the following photographs.

Chatting it up at The Chicken Coop restaurant in San Jose:



Speaking in San Francisco at a cool studio loft:

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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Kicking off my PUG Tour!

I'm planning a v-e-r-y slow PUG tour this year. I'm going to try to fit in travel and speaking in between my weddings because I just want a chance to go out and see new places and meet new people. Last night, I practiced my talk, "Getting from I Do to I'm Done" on my OWN Los Angeles PUG. It was really fun! Thank you to Justine Ungaro for taking the photos.

I want to thank Kolo Albums, Tamrac Bags & Kubota Image Tools for providing such great prizes for the group!

Also, thank you to Christa Meola for being our Studio Spotlight! She shared some really cool information and showed us a stunning slideshow of her current work.

Here is Christa, our Studio Spotlight:



Then I took over to give my talk:





We have a really great group in Los Angeles! If you are a photographer in the area, please feel free to join us!





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Friday, February 27, 2009

my monthly PUG

I am the leader for the Los Angeles Pictage User Group. On Wednesday, we had the pleasure of getting to know our Studio Spotlight, Heather Kincaid. Heather showed us a stunning slideshow of her work and told us a little bit about how she started and where her business is going.

The rest of the time we talked. There was no speaker or program for the meeting because the goal was to share things we'd learned at the WPPI Convention. We were there for over three hours, and I was so thrilled with the amount of helpful and insightful information that was shared by everyone. I have a great group.

This is the lovely Heather Kincaid.



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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

My experience in Vegas

Every year, over 10,000 photographers travel to Las Vegas for the WPPI Convention. Its such a great way to start the year. There are classes, competitions, a huge tradeshow and parties, um, I mean networking galore. It is such a fantastic way not only to get inspired and to see what is new in the photography world, but to hang out with good friends and foster new friendships.

Marty and I met Joy at the airport on Valentine's Day, and it was pretty much a whirlwind from that point on.

Highlights for me were:

• Being awarded 2nd place for "Olive Goes to Hollywood" in the Non-Event Informal Album Competition. (See where a "pet" project can get you??) ;)



• Doing an informal Q&A alongside my friend, Dane Sanders, at the Pictage booth on the trade show floor (Thank you to Brian Hancock for sending me the shots of us speaking!)





• Having four of my prints win accolades in the 16x20 International Print Competition.









• Meeting Ty Miller, the fellow who "won" me in the Thirst Relief mentorship auction. Ty is such a great guy, and I am really glad I got the chance to get to know him. (I'm going to insert a photo here as soon as Ty sends it to me!)

• Going to the kick-ass party Pictage threw for its photographers at Studio 54. There were 1040 photographers there, and it was the most fun I had the whole week.

• Doing a soft-launch of the newly re-designed Jules Café by providing refreshments at the Fast Track Photographer Blogger's Lounge on the trade show floor. I absolutely love the new look designer Marty Thornley gave the Café. Please come and check it out. We are writing articles as well as pulling interesting feeds from sites all over the internet to make learning, growing and sharing that much easier!

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Saturday, February 14, 2009

Vegas, Baby, Vegas!

Marty and I are off to Las Vegas to meet Joy and participate in the WPPI Convention. It looks like I'll be spending most of my time at the MGM where the convention will be, so if you're a photographer at the convention, look for me and say hi!

Don't forget...take a break at 1:00pm every day at the WiFi Lounge. There will be cookies sponsored by Jules Café for you to snack on.

Also, at 2:00pm on Monday, February 16th I will be doing a Q&A with Dane Sanders at the Pictage Booth, so please come by!

I'm looking forward to meeting Ty Miller, the fellow who won the Thirst Relief Mentorship Auction (thank you, Ty), and I can't wait to see all of my old friends (and meet new friends) at the many parties happening this week! Follow me on Twitter to find out where!

and have a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

(Hello to readers of my blog who are not photographers. If you are a someone who has found his or herself engaged on this lovely Valentine's Day, please shoot me an email... I would love to photograph your wedding!)

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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Longest Day final videos are here!

Okay folks, the final videos are finally revealed at thelongestday.tv. Time to vote (for Team A, of course.) You can watch the videos here, but you'll need to go here to vote. (for Team A. Go on now.)

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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

See Jules LIVE! (eek)

This Thursday I will be the Video Chat guest for Robert Evan's very cool and educational site, PhotographyMentor.com. The chat is totally free, so check it out. (Olive will be there, too, so that's bonus material!)

Just click here to sign up! Once you get to my page, click on "join." If you're not a PhotographyMentor.com member, you should really considering signing up. The "playground" is FREE and chock-full of good photography info.

I will be live online at 6pm PST, Thursday, January 22nd.

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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

January PUG at LACMA!

We decided to start the year off with a field trip to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to see the Vanity Fair Portraits that are currently on exhibit. It was so much fun to see the photographs with so many other photographers! Afterward we all headed down to Life on Wilshire for appetizers and drinks and to just catch up with each other. (You'll have to check my Facebook page for those shots since I just shot and uploaded them from my Blackberry.)

THANK YOU to everyone who attended, and thank you to Mark Barnes who sent me this image for my blog!

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Friday, January 16, 2009

Imaging USA & DWF Convention

I love traveling, and its especially fun when my sister, Joy, comes along. This week, we spent time in Phoenix, Arizona at both Imaging USA and the DWF Convention. We learned a LOT, and I HIGHLY recommend attending conferences if you are a photographer. Its such a fun way to network and keep current.

I wanted to thank Kevin Kubota for not only including me in his informative talk, "A Tale of 10 Extraordinary Photographers," but for asking me to be a guest speaker at his Kubota Imaging Tools booth. I gave some helpful tips and demonstrated his Action Dashboard, which I loooove. It makes using and finding my actions SO easy! In fact, the WPPI Thirst Relief Auction is going to be taking place VERY SOON and I'll be including a KIT Dashboard Flashdrive (among other cool goodies) with my auction! (So vote for me!)

I aslo want to thank Eric Vizents, Angela Cardas, and Sara Ash for choosing me to mentor them over at the DWF Convention. It was such a pleasure meeting all of you!



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Thursday, December 11, 2008

PUG Holiday Party

Last night instead of having our regular monthly meeting, the Pictage User Groups from Orange County, Long Beach and Los Angeles joined at Life on Wilshire for a Holiday Party!! We had a fantastic turn-out and so much fun. There was a great band, an amazing close-up magician and free food (Thanks, Pictage, for the appetizers!)





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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Vincent Laforet

Last night Marty, Dina Douglass and I went to listen to the fabulously talented Vincent Laforet speak at the APA meeting. Sometimes its nice just to go and be inspired by other photographers. Vincent worked for many years as an aeriel photographer for the New York Times. Its a very different kind of photography from mine, and it was SO cool to see his portfolio. Canon's newest camera takes video, and Vincent made one of the first movies with it. Click here to watch his movie, "Reverie."

I'm so excited to be working with Marty Thornley next year to incorporate video with my photography thanks to the new Canon 5D MarkII!

Shot with my Blackberry:

Vincent Laforet



Marty Thornley, Jules Bianchi & Dina Douglass

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Monday, December 01, 2008

The Longest Day

I recently participated in a fun project involving many other fantastic photographers. We were split into two teams - mine was Team A. You'll be able to see episodes (or Team B's trailer) here, but in the meantime, check out the trailer about the whole project:

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Thursday, November 20, 2008

Ladies Night

My lovely friend, Laura, likes the following quote:

"There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women."
-Madeline Albright

In this spirit, she started a women's group. Its a place to meet and encourage other strong, independent women while learning something new from each other. She pointed out that it's incredible what one can learn in just a couple of hours.

I was very excited to be asked to come as her inaugural speaker. My topic was "Getting more from your digital camera." Not one single woman there was a photographer! I have taught so many classes to photographers, it was definitely a challenge trying to boil photography down into one evening of teaching.

THANK YOU, Laura, for hosting this fun evening!

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The Secret Mission

Okay! So many of you have been following my Twitters. In the last few days, the tweets have all been about a top secret mission that was happening on Monday. Well, here you go... secrets (kind of) revealed! The whole event was sponsored by Microsoft Expression Media 2, Triple Scoop Music, Asuka Book, Kubota Image Tools, ShowIt Sites, Photographers' Edit, WPP, Mike Colón and Loktah and will benefit Thirst Relief and Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.

21 photographers were broken up into two teams.

Team A: David Jay, Dane Sanders, Kevin Kubota, Kenny Kim, Jenn & Steve Bebb, Chris Humphreys, Alisha Todd, Robert Evans, Becker, Bronson Pate and me, Jules Bianchi.
Charity: Thirst Relief

Team B: Jasmine Star, Gene Higa, Jim Garner, Joe Photo, Bambi Cantrell, Ann Hamilton, Kate Humphreys, Catherine Hell, Brook Todd and Michele Celantano
Charity: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Each team was given 24 hours to write, produce and edit a short movie. YOU will be voting on those movies and the winner will be announced at WPPI! The winning team will give its benefitting charity $3000, and the team who comes in second will give theirs $2000. In the weeks leading up to WPPI, you'll be able to watch the antics of each team on "reality TV show" type webisodes at a URL to be announced soon. Each team had the help of amazing videographers David Robin, Loyd Calomay and Joth Riggs.

Be sure to follow my Twitters and Facebook posts to find out where to catch all the action.

The entire event was the brainchild of my friend, Ron Dawson. You may remember him from last year's WPPI spoof, "Diary of a Washed up Photographer" starring Joe Photo. Thank you, Ron, for such an amazing experience!! Also, THANK YOU to my sister, Joy, who came down to help out with the project and shot most of the images below (you can even see her reflection in the glass in one shot!)





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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Month Los Angeles PUG with Dane Sanders!

I am the leader of the Los Angeles Pictage User Group which meets every month. It is such a great group, and I have really enjoyed finding speakers and Studio Spotlights for us to learn from.

This week, our Studio Spotlight was the wonderful event photographer, Bill Alexander, of For-Success.com. I love learning about the lives and businesses of the different members of our PUG each month, and Bill, who has been in the business for 20 years, had a lot to share.

Our speaker this month was the articulate Dane Sanders. Dane was one of the Pictage PartnerCon speakers, but his talk last night was new. I could listen to Dane talk for hours. He is so incredibly intuitive and nurturing. Dane wrote a fantastic book, Fast Track Photographer, that is a must read for anyone in the wedding photography industry. He sold a few at our meeting, so we were able to get signed copies!!

Thank you to both Dane and Bill for making the meeting great.

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Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Jules Bianchi, featured speaker!!

This marks the fourth time I've spoken for The Pictage Partner Conference. I think its so much fun to see so many photographers in one place and be able to connect. My talk was titled "Love & Happiness" and addressed how to keep yourself in love with photography while still running a business that makes you happy.

Thank you to those who attended my seminar - especially my sister, Joy, and my boyfriend, Marty, who came just to support me. Thank you also to Joy and Frances Marron for shooting the following photographs!!









me and my twin sister, Joy. Thank you, Gene Higa, for this shot!

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Thursday, August 28, 2008

PUG party!

This month's LA Pictage User Group marked the Second Annual BBQ/Headshot PUG. I pair photographers up to shoot headshots of each other, and everyone brings food to put on the grill. I try to pair photographers who don't know each other because the idea is to get a new headshot by another professional while getting to know someone new. its really fun, and this year's party was a big success!





THANK YOU to Laura from Beautiful Day Photography who took my headshot this year. I thought she made me look quite glamorous.

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Thursday, August 07, 2008

David Jay's Free to Succeed Tour

Tonight I went to check out David Jay's Free to Succeed Tour. Jasmine Star was his guest speaker, and both she and DJ were great to listen to. It was nice to see Todd Johnson, Robert Evans, Roberto Valenzuela, April Rocha, Kara Franz, and to meet a bunch of new folks like Christina Domingues and Mark Bassam to name just a few of the photographers who were at the packed out event. One of the tour sponsors is Couture Books, and the samples I saw were just gorgeous. I might have to add them to my studio...

Click here to see if David Jay is coming to your town, and be sure to sign up! If for nothing else but to check out the tour bus with his GIANT face plastered on the side.

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Friday, July 18, 2008

Monthly PUG

We had a GREAT Pictage User Group this month. Thank you to Rudy Arpia for being our Studio Spotlight. I was so impressed by the Spanish Wedding Photography Forum he created, Foro De Fotografia.







Our speakers, Michael & Anna Costa gave a lot of great information! Thanks for coming down from Santa Barbara to speak to our group, guys.





Anna was getting ready to sing for the American Idol auditions, so we asked her to sing for us, and she did!! She has such an amazing voice. Best of luck, Anna!



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Saturday, June 21, 2008

June Pictage User Group

June's Pictage User Group was very informative with Justin Kifer of Gigbooks as our speaker. If you are looking for very comprehensive ONLINE business organizational software, you should definitely check them out!

Thank you to Jennifer Disney for being our Studio Spotlight for June. She is so talented and it was great getting to hear her story and learning a little about her.

As usual, our host, Ann Kelley made an amazing spread (including rootbeer floats!) for us to snack on.

If you are a photographer in the LA area, you are welcome to join us! Email me for info!







Jennifer Disney













Justin Kifer







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Thursday, May 29, 2008

Monthly Pictage User Group

We had a fantastic turn-out at last night's Pictage User Group. This is the monthly group that I lead where photographers get together to learn and network. Last night's speaker was accountant Mark Varshawsky of Mark S. Varshawsky & Associates. He really knew his stuff, and if you are looking for a great accountant, I recommend giving him a call.

Thank you to Juan Turcios for being our May Studio Spotlight. He showed a slideshow of really lovely work and told us a little bit about himself and how he became a wedding photographer.



I really appreciate Ann because she allows us to use her home each month to host the PUG. Here she is introducing Mark.



Also, congratulations to Michael Andrews who won the Jules Café Kevin Kubota DVD RAW workflow contest by sending us the best tip or trick. Visit Jules Café to see some other tips and tricks that were sent in!



Jules & Robert Evans.

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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Hanging out at the Kubota Bootcamp

Even though I am finished speaking, I'm just hanging out here at the bootcamp for a few days to spend time with Joy and soak up Kevin's amazing PhotoShop knowledge. Since Joy's in-laws are in Bend, her whole family came up for the week to stay with them. Yesterday, Joy's girls came out to model for the group. The girls loved it! I couldn't help myself... I joined in to snapped a few shots, too. Later it was fun to see the hundreds of cool shots the group took of my nieces.







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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Speaking at the Kubota Bootcamp

I was so flattered when the fabulous Kevin Kubota invited me to be the Guest Speaker at his popular Digital Photography Bootcamp. Kevin has been empowering photographers across the Galaxy - including yours truly who has used his PhotoShop Actions for years.

Traveling always fills me with excitement. Anything can happen... like your flight can be canceled, you can be re-routed through another city and your luggage can get lost. :)



Bootcamp is a week-long experience at a remote place called Rock Springs Dude Ranch. Dude, check out the view this morning:



I revised a talk I gave at PartnerCon in 2005 called: Finding Clients Who Love You (and will rave about you to their friends). It was such a great group! I wanted to show really recent work, so I played the slideshow that I did at Kevin & Maya's wedding reception on Saturday. Can't get more recent than that!







Jules & Kevin Kubota hamming it up!

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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Monthly PUG

I love being the Los Angeles Pictage User Group leader. Its such a great way to meet other local photographers and hear great speakers. Last night we had our April meeting. Thank you to Ann Kelley for being our Studio Spotlight. The PUG always takes place at Ann's house, so she was able to show us all of her cute products and how she uses her house to demonstrate to her portrait clients how their prints might look when hung on the walls.





Thank you, also, to Erik Johnson who was our speaker for the night. His discussion on the key categories of a balanced life helped us to identify what would really lead to our increased happiness and success.





Thank you to Michael Andrews for these cute photos of me leading the group!



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Thursday, March 27, 2008

L.A. PUG

As many of you know, I am the leader for the Los Angeles Pictage User Group. Last night's PUG was really fantastic. Every single person participated and we either shared something we learned at WPPI or shared a gadget or gizmo that we use at every wedding. I was thrilled with how much I learned!

Our speaker and Studio Spotlight was Roberto Valenzuela, a fantastic photographer who had 11 award winning prints (including first place for the "wedding photojournalism humor" category) and two award winning wedding albums at WPPI!

Roberto compared practicing music with practicing photography to become perfect. We were thrilled with the bit of music he played for us. His presentation was very thoughtful and chock-full of fantastic images and information.







One great thing about having the PUG in LA is that we have lots and lots of samples of the latest Pictage products. Last night we got to check out first hand their cool new "Art Books" now available for consumers!





Thank you to April Rocha for this cute pic of me facilitating the meeting.

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Friday, February 29, 2008

Denis Reggie & Joe Buissink at our PUG

Yesterday was an entire day of photography networking. I am the leader for the Los Angeles Pictage User Group, and each month we meet to discuss various topics and all things new at Pictage. This month's meeting was a little different in that the highly regarded and well respected talents of Joe Buissink and Denis Reggie graced our PUG with their presence. There was no real agenda, just two hours of questions and answers, and we combined the OC, Clairmont and LA PUGs for this event. We had a turn out of over 100 people!

My day started out with a VIP (Very Important Photographers!) lunch that was organized by Pictage. In attendance were photographers Denis Reggie, Joe Buissink, Jon Barber, Jared Bauman, Dane Sanders, Robert Evans & Jules Bianchi, Pictage employees Lisa Allen, Scott Anderson, Debra Gerson, Jason O’Hare, Betsy Hirayama, Ian Siegel, Renata Dionello, Jason Kiefer & Michael Caro. The very talented Ron Dawson was there to videotape the event.



Joe, Jules & Denis.



Clairmont's PUG leader, Julie Weaver, and I introduced our speakers.



The first speaker up was Christine Smith of CLS Photography, our Studio Spotlight for the month. She shared how her business really started to take off after her mentorship sessions with Mike Larsen and her Tea for Two session with me! (Thank you, Christine!)



Then Denis and Joe were on! Ron Dawson of Cinematic Studios videotaped the entire thing to feature on his site, F-Stop Beyond. You should be able to check it out there soon! Denis and Joe answered countless questions on many topics including marketing, albums, how to keep your work fresh, the direction wedding photography is moving in, lighting, as well as sharing their own personal stories. Both remarked about the importance of community and sharing. They both had amazing insight and were so open to everyone's questions.



Afterward, you would think there were movie stars in the house! Everyone wanted to talk to them and have their photograph taken with them.



This picture of Denis Reggie and Veronica Slavin cracks me up because Denis is pointing to where he wants me to "foof" my flash.



And to wrap up our day, a bunch of us went out for sushi afterward. This is a shot of me, Debra Gerson, Robert Evans, Jay Goldman & Julie Weaver that I captured in the mirror of the bar!

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Saturday, January 26, 2008

First PUG of '08

I am the leader of the Los Angeles Pictage User Group, and I wanted to share some pics from our monthly meeting which was this past Wednesday. The crazy talented Jay Lawrence Goldman was both the Studio Spotlight and the speaker. His presentation "To Shoot or Die in LA" drew an enormous crowd despite the fact that it was pouring rain.

I just LOVE Jay's studio space:



He's got these cute little birds that live there!



Here's me making Jay's introduction:



Here's Jay doing his thing. If you ever get the chance to hear him speak, I highly recommend it. He's not only incredibly informative, he's so funny!





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Thursday, December 13, 2007

PUG Holiday Party

I just LOVE the holidays! As most of you know, I am the leader for the Los Angeles Pictage User Group. We meet once a month to network, listen to speakers and learn about the latest goings on at Pictage. However, this month in lieu of a meeting we had a party with both the Orange County and Clairmont PUGs at the very cool Life on Wilshire. I was thrilled with huge the turn-out!!

One of my PUG members, Zephrine Hanson, came up to me as she was leaving just to tell me how much she has appreciated the monthly meetings. She told me that not only has she really grown in her business because of them, but the community that Pictage and the PUGs has provided her as a photographer has been invaluable. I couldn't agree more... its nice to have a community of friends who understand the kind of crazy life photographers lead. If you are a photographer in the Los Angeles area, feel free to come join us!!



PUG leaders Lauren Hillary, Julie Weaver & Jules Bianchi



The party people!!!







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Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Leather Craftsmen Holiday Party!

Every year, Leather Craftsmen invites all of the photographers who use their fantastic albums to their annual Pizza Holiday Party. The party is always at Robert Evans' Studio, and this year it was jam packed!! There were so many people to catch up with, but here are a few faces I managed to get snaps of with my Point-and-Shoot, too.

First let me say congratulations to the three following husband-wife photography teams who are expecting babies soon!

Cat & Adi of Next Exit Photography



Nate & Jen of B&G Photography



Ryan & Carrie of Ryan Phillips Photography



And to Kim Fox, who recently had her baby, Tessa! (What a cutie!)



At the party...

Me and Brian Kramer



Lauren Hillary, John Solano & Sara France



Jessica Claire & Chenin Boutwell



John Mireles, Jessica Claire & Ira Gershoff



Joe Photo & Becker



Me and Jon Barber



Joshua Bobrove & Sterling Franken-Steffen



Dina Douglass & Elice Schwartz



Ann Kelley & Marianne Lozano



The gracious host, Robert Evans and me!

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Thursday, November 29, 2007

My LA PUG at Robert Evans Studio

As most of you know, I am the leader for the monthly Los Angeles Pictage User Group. Its a great way to not only keep up on the latest offerings at Pictage, but to have a chance to socialize and get to know other photographers in the community better. One way we do this is the monthly Studio Spotlight. Last night's PUG had the very well-known Robert Evans as not only the Studio Spotlight but the speaker as well. It was a HUGE success! Mr. Popular pulled in a whopping 58 photographers!

The PUG was at Robert's very cool studio, and he provided tons of yummy snacks for us! THANK YOU, Robert, for all of your time and the informative lecture. Be sure to check out Robert's newest venture, PhotographyMentor.com where you can learn from the master himself!



Here is Robert dispensing his wisdom...



Everyone taking the wisdom in...



Robert shared a few pics from way back in his very early Hasselblad days... some were really funny!!



Jules Bianchi and the lovely Shannon Lott. (Thank you, Shannon, for making the long drive up, and thank you, Scott, for taking this snap of us.)

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Thursday, November 08, 2007

Speaking at Cypress College

A few weeks ago, I was invited by Greg Bumatay of Bumatay Studio to be a guest speaker for his Wedding Photography class at Cypress College. The class was tonight, so I drove down to Cypress for it today. I am really starting to love public speaking, and it was fun connecting with a bunch of new photographers. Thanks for inviting me to speak and for shooting these great pics, Greg!







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Thursday, October 25, 2007

Monthly PUG

Every month, I lead the Los Angeles Pictage User Group. This month, Gene Higa came down all the way from San Francisco to talk to the group about how to get into destination weddings. THANK YOU Gene! You were great!

Also Matthew Lin of Poetry in Light was our Studio Spotlight for the month of October. The slideshow he shared of his work was absolutely remarkable. Thank you, Matthew!

And lastly, I would like to thank Michael Andrews who kindly shot all of the following photographs since I forgot my camera last night!

Gene Higa!









Matthew Lin!



I like this shot Michael caught - its Robert Evans, me, Gene Higa & Jay Goldman at the back of the class...2 cool 4 skool. ha!




After the PUG, a few of us went to the Troubadour to see my FAVORITE band, Earlimart. We were practically standing ON the stage - I got this one with my Razr!

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Friday, October 05, 2007

The Freedom House, Santa Barbara

On Thursday, October 4, Joy and I were together to a. celebrate our birthday and b. shoot part two of a three part wedding. Part two was happening in Santa Barbara, so before we began we HAD to visit the Freedom House of my buddy, David Jay. Check out the kick-ass view from his porch! After the house tour, DJ sat us down to show us some top secret stuff going on at ShowIt... It is unbelievable, but you'll have to wait to check that out at Show It Fast later this year.



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Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Networking fun!

I come to San Francisco a lot, but I don't get to hang out with my photographer friends as often as I would like. I had four hours of meetings today, but afterward I drove over the bridge to hang out with photographers Gene Higa, Ann Hamilton, Lisa Neighbors, Linda Chaja, Jose Villa and wedding planners Stacy & Alison of Alison Events. Thanks for the fun time, guys!

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Friday, September 28, 2007

F-Stop Beyond

My very innovative friend, Ron Dawson, launched a very cool new site called F-Stop Beyond.

The concept is this:

"F-Stop Beyond, a show that journeys into the heart of the visual artist. It’s our hope that this will be a program unlike any other. One that will reveal the underlying textures and personalities of your favorite photographers, videographers, and filmmakers. Beyond the techniques and talent, this show is about people. The people behind the lens. The souls underneath the exterior. Beyond brands and beyond the hype."

Love it! Ron interviewed me earlier this month at PartnerCon, and I'm on the show this week!! Even though he got the sound on his video camera, the interviews are sound only. You can click on the bar below to hear it or just go to F-Stop Beyond.





F-Stop Beyond.com

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Thursday, September 27, 2007

Pictage User Group

Every month I lead the Los Angeles Pictage User Group in Beverly Hills. If you are a photographer and would like to join, just let me know! We usually have a speaker, but this time we all talked about what we'd learned at PartnerCon earlier this month.

THANK YOU to Joanne Distaso of Joanne Distaso Photography for being our Studio Spotlight for September!





I like this photograph of Robert Evans holding court in the kitchen.



Instead of a big group photo, I just went around a shot a few faces...

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