These books ROCK!

I just made a guest signing book for Jenni and Josh who are getting married on June 7th and they chose the latest addition to my product line.

What has totally blown me away about this book is the color reproduction on both the cover and the inside pages. I always get great color from prints, but book production is a totally different process. I’ve seen lots of coffee table books where the printing was horrible; nothing that I would want to put my name and reputation on at a wedding reception. I was anxiously waiting to see how this book turned out because Jenni and Josh’s eSession was in the fall and I took full advantage of all of those beautiful fall colors when I styled all of the images for this book. When the book came today I kind of took a deep breath and opened the box. What was inside AMAZED me. The color accuracy and saturation were incredible and the book was perfect in every way.

Take a look at what’s new!

I am super excited about the newest album product I am offering this year from Finao. This is an incredible opportunity to offer clients just about anything they could possibly want in an album, and the selection seems to be growing every day. There are basically three lines in the Finao product lineup. The featured flush mount custom designed and bound album (which will be an option on all of my packages if you would rather have the Finao over the Zookbinders album) is the Finao One with its incredible cover options, cameo options, combined materials options, as well as page and spine options. That is A LOT of options! You’ve got to check out all of the cover materials they are offering. Not only are there silks and leathers and synthetic imitations, but they have created several cover options that simulate the look of leather and hide but are completely animal friendly! Plus, you can combine fabrics and leathers on the same cover for a look that will blow you away.

Then there are the Finao Elements (fabrics and such) and Finao Upper Elements (leathers) albums that offer the perfect product for parents albums as well as seniors, babies, and lifestyle albums as well.

I created a pdf file here (it’s a little big so it may take a few seconds to download) that shows all of the various covers available throughout their line. Not all of them are available on all of the lines, but that may be coming down the road. This is an innovative company and I welcome any company that can bring my clients a product with quality, options and style. My samples look fantastic and if you would like to see a few just give me a shout.
More to come on Finao later…..as well as a few other products that I am adding to the lineup this year!

Unfortunately, I had an email issue yesterday that went un-noticed the entire day. So if you sent me an email that came back as rejected by the server, please resend! Only my kemper@kempermillsfant.com address was affected. Sorry about any confusion.

Maybe I’ll be Roanoke’s Best Dog Photographer when it comes time for Roanoker Magazine to publish its annual listing of Roanoke’s Best! Will they have to create that category?? Make it so.

Jack continues to be an exemplary specimen and amazes me more and more every day. He is now slowly adapting to more time in the crate even though he spends very little time in it. For the past few crate sessions he didn’t whine upon leaving the house or returning and seemed to have weather his stint pretty well. I tried to film it again yesterday just to see how much barking went on when I wasn’t here but I forgot to erase the last movie and the card filled up in 5 seconds!

Now, Jack is getting to see a lot more dogs out in the park and he loves that. It amazes me how well dogs of different sizes play so well together. A friend of mine and I went over to the dog park (ugh…Roanoke, you can do better there!) last week and his dog Bailey was a lot bigger. That didn’t keep them from having a great time even though Jack got his butt kicked more than once. In fact, we kinda got OUR butts kicked when we happened to be standing in an unfortunate spot once or twice! Two dogs running at about 15 mph can pack a pretty substantial punch to the unobservant.

Now, I am anxious for Jack to try swimming since the weather is warming up. He has these awesome webbed feet that are sure to make him pretty swift in the water. I’m kinda wondering whether it’s a good idea to let him take to the Roanoke River though. Those “Don’t eat the Fish” signs kinda freak me out a bit. So, Jack, don’t eat any fish while you’re in there!

Calm, cool and collected

I love this image…..what a beautiful bride.

A truly beaming bride…..

You have to love a bride who will jump out of an airplane. No matter how involved I am in the job at hand, I always love listening to the toast because there is usually some little delicious nugget that makes me laugh or smile. So, it really wasn’t a huge surprise to hear that Annie is a bit of a dare-devil and leader of the pack.

It’s never a party ’til someone takes their shoes off…

And finally, from my Hokie Bride and her Hokie Photographer, a tribute to every one who ever wanted to have all of Lane Studium stand up and cheer as they took to the field.

Of course all of lane stadium was only three people….but whose counting :)

Annie and Trey, thanks for making me a part of your very special day. Many happy landings in all you do!

Kemper

Took the paper recycle out tonight and was watching Jack dig in one of the sunflower beds. It’s the bed that caused rampant speculation in the neighborhood last year as to exactly what I had “planted” in my back yard. Nooooo……not that :)

The bed happens to be about 7 feet long and three feet wide and kind of oddly placed at a right angle to the house. But instead of pushing up daisies, it pushes up miniature sunflowers all summer long. This year’s crop will be awesome because I harvested all the seed last year to replant. Sometimes that will result in the plant reverting to the original cultivar, so maybe I will get a mixed bed. Who cares, I just like ’em hanging around. I love the texture of the seed head, so I photograph them right up until they dry up to nothing. Such a sturdy plant and so full of cool curves and textures.

Won’t be long!

What is the emotion of color? How do colors play a part in making us feel the way we do about whatever it is we are looking at? I painted a room in my house bright yellow this winter, and that was a real challenge for me as I’m really into the more subdued earth tones right now. So this room really contrasts with the rest of the house for the time being, but it makes me feel really good whenever I walk into it on a cold sunshiny winter day. I can see the other rooms from this particular room, and I think that adds to the appeal of this little haven. Kind of like my spot in the sun. But I wondered how it would change my feeling about this room if every room in the house were painted the same color. I think it would take away considerably from the emotional impact of walking into this particular room.

So, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and exploring the relationships of color within the boundaries of a single image. Nothing earth shattering, but it is fascinating how a particular color has a relationship with those around it, and changing those relationships has a significant effect on the emotional impact of the image.

Ran across this little jewel today and just thought I would have to pass it on. It is hilarious and I found myself laughing out loud throughout the whole thing.

So many times I run across something that makes me stop and think “Is that really art?”. I try not to be pretentious about art because I realize that not everyone is entertained or stimulated at the same level; and it rarely entertains me to have to listen to some lofty condescending prattle that often comes from some artist trying to bolster their own ego by putting others down. So, I found this to be hugely entertaining. I love the monkey pretending to be Bob Ross, and the Printmaking Dog is totally lovable.

So is IT art? I think so.

Just back from the VPPA (Virginia Professional Photographers Association) convention in Portsmouth and once again I took so much away from the experience of getting together with other photographers to share, as well as participate in presentations from some of the most talented professionals in our business. Personal and professional growth is so important in any business, but particularly important when you are in a business where fresh creative energy is so vital in delivering the very best to your clients. There are some pretty awesome photographers all over the world, and it is so cool that we can all share through internet forums and blogs etc. But, there is really nothing like the face to face that you get when people convene from all over our state to share what is going down in our very own neighborhood. There is some amazing talent out there and we are well represented in our little part of the state, too. Talented people who are committed to their craft, what a fun business this really is!

Now, I am also proud to report that Jack did very well while I was away, too. It kinda made me sad knowing that he would not have anyone to play with all day and have to spend extended periods of time in that place from which he thinks no dogs return (the crate). BUT, as with my own personal growth, Jack was able to grow as well and will now go into the crate on command and actually lay down without so much as a whimper. In fact, he spent about four hours in the crate yesterday without incident. Amazing! Good boy, Jack! I’m so proud of you.

So now, all that Jack has to fear is… er…. well…. the CAMERA! I can’t really say it is fear because he doesn’t really get that wild eyed look like he does when he hears a fire engine. But, it is clear that Jack is quickly becoming impatient and annoyed when the camera comes out and he is interrupted from his comfortable lounging on the bed or sunning on the living room floor. He is obviously NOT a poser. But he is so cute and I love him so much, how can I resist??? I mean I can hardly go get a cup of coffee without wanting to curl right up with him for a mid-afternoon snooze.

Oh well. Jack, you’ll be happy to know that pretty soon I will be too busy to annoy you. You’ll be lucky to get in that morning romp in the park, much less the after lunch one, too. So suffer me now for you will be able to rest later when the dog days of summer are upon us.

Good boy.