Photography by Studio EnVogue

My last blog for a bit as Ralph and I are getting ready to take a few days off… He’s recovering from his surgery and I’m just plain taking some time off! We’ve worked the past 8 Saturdays in a row as I’m READY for a bit of R&R.

Here’s few sneak peeks of Christy and Chris’ beautiful wedding at First Baptist Church on Main Street here in Dothan. We got so many amazing shots I had a hard time choosing ones to use here. Everyone was so nice to work with and the church as absolutely amazing. I can hardly wait for them to see the ceremony shots; they are just BEAUTIFUL! I especially love the shots of Dad walking Christy down the aisle as this was an extra special moment for father and daughter. Christy’s Dad has had some health problems recently and Christy was so thrilled to have him escort her in the wedding of her dreams… We were honored to capture the moment.

I had a very nice visit with one of our brides this afternoon who expressed how much she appreciated my blog! I was overwhelmed as she explained just how informative she thought it was and how she AGREED with my points on how the influx of digital has caused a great number of non-professionals to enter the market. She wasn’t alone as many other CLIENTS and TRUE professionals have expressed the EXACT same frustrations I have in confronting the over abundance of POOR PHOTOGRAPHY being introduced to the internet and being labeled ‘professional’… We all hear the “I have a friend or a spouse who’s a photographer” statement almost on a weekly basis! None of us are doubting that this influx of creative tools to the market will certainly introduce A FEW very talented artists, but I can assure you they will be like the ones on AMERICAN IDOL, they will be few and far between!

It’s not the shear number of DSLRs now on the market that threaten our livelihood nor is it the few talented individuals that will RISE the to the TOP with theirs, it’s the fact that SO MUCH of what the consumer is seeing when searching for a photographer on the internet is simply not professional… What’s the problem you may ask? The problem is that over time we run the risk that the average consumer will simply become accustomed to seeing POOR IMAGING and therefore become ACCEPTING OF IT. Let’s face it, the general public is easily jaded and this is a real concern. What a HORRIBLE TRADEGY it would be if we lose the true art form of photography. What a sad day it will be when those who have literally worked for YEARS to perfect their craft will NO LONGER be appreciated or even respected any more than the guy down the road who just purchased his digital rebel xti!

So for all my ranting lately, I have received some amazing feedback from fellow seasoned professionals and we all agree on one thing. It’s time that we started educating the consumer on the difference between the average digital shooter and a tried and true professional. So, the GOOD NEWS is Ralph and I are taking the FIRST STEP as we are actively seeking more seasoned professionals with a minimum of ten years working experience to establish a counsel of leadership authorities who can help us produce educational materials for the average consumer. We are EXCITED about what the future holds in this business because as Sandy Puc’ (one of our modern day masters) stated in last month’s Professional Photographer Magazine: “When digital came along the focus was on shoot it fast and fix it later. But now photographers are working on the setup, the lighting… trying to understand how it works instead of duplicating it later on the computer. I love that people are trying to create art again.” THANK YOU SANDY for taking the words right out of our mouths! IT WON’T BE LONG before the unprofessional shooter is once again separated from the pack as more emphasis is put on getting it right… If you’re a true professional who is interested in joining our BRAND NEW affiliation of ‘SEASONED PROS’ we look forward to hearing from you!

Just a quick post to share a few fun shots I took earlier this week of one of our local seniors. Miss Shaneise didn’t want to go outside of the studio for her session as she didn’t want a public audience for her session. One thing is for sure, she certainly didn’t have to compremise and end up with boring senior portraits. She was relaxed in no time and we had fun creating these wonderful images for her!

The important message here is that here at Studio EnVogue we aim to please. Whether you want your senior portraits done in the studio, on the hood of your car, or in a coffee shop we’ll get the shot that makes you happy!

By the way, I’m taking a few days off as my hubbie is having surgery tomorrow. Nothing major, but we’re going to let him take it easy for a few days and baby him anyway. Besides, I could really use the time off myself! I promise to keep everyone posted if we have any problems with his surgery. Talk soon… -Cindi Kay

A few ’sneak peaks’ for one of the most fun couples we’ve had the pleasure of working with this year! Rachel and Josh celebrated their special day at Maria’s Vinyard right here in Dothan Alabama and Ralph and I both had a BLAST with them as well as their friends and family. I even got to meet a few folks who knew how to talk ’shop’ with us! It was kind of cool to meet a couple guys who knew why I was using the lens I was using…

Oh, I just had to include the broken beer shot. It’s a special ‘in memory of’ photo that we know they will appreciate! Thanks again guys for having us at your AMAZING WEDDING! -Cindi K and Ralph

So we’re off to shoot another wedding! We’re leaving shortly for First Baptist Church here on Main Street in Dothan. I can hardly wait for this one. Christy and Chris have a wonderful day planned with family and friends and I’ve already got a ton of COOL ideas planned for this AWESOME church. I love the old architecture and thrive on the artistic shots that we can get inside (and outside) of these old wonders!

Last weeks wedding was a real BLAST. Rachel and Josh were upbeat ALL day and we got so many wonderful shots at Maria’s Vinyard. I hope to have some ’sneak peaks’ posted by the first of the week. Have a terrific weekend -Cindi Kay

We did a ton of cool family stuff at the beach last week, but this family traveled the most miles so they get the blog! Thanks Kim for choosing us to document your family reunion on the beaches of Destin Florida. Here are a few of my personal favorite ‘journalistic’ shots. We have tons more to share on your gallery. Talk soon…. -Cindi Kay

We started out a bit rocky as Ralph’s insurance card had expired and we had difficulty getting onto Fort Rucker, but we always try to leave early just in case we have such a mishap and it’s a good thing we did or else we wouldn’t have made it on time! I hadn’t been in a taxi cab in years! Malinda was in good spirits as we arrived because her and her bridesmaids were cracking up laughing at us as we unloaded our gear from our ride! I gave EVERYONE permission to hound Ralph all day about his needing to update his insurance card because I figured if I was going to have a ride in ‘paid’ transportation anytime soon, surely it would be a LIMO!

All went well with this wonderful wedding and ALL had a great time! I’m still editing a few shots, but we got great stuff throughout the entire day. It’s just too bad that no one got a shot of us getting out of the taxi cab; I would love to hang that over Ralph’s desk for a few years! Enjoy your ’sneak peak’ and we’ll have the rest posted shortly on our regular website.
Keep smiling’ -Cindi Kay

This entire week has been a blur… I don’t even know how many photo shoots we had, but I do know that I got my first sunburn in a while from the multiple beach sessions and I think my 17 year old Vanessa just got three shades darker as usual! We did have one very large family that we photographed in Destin Florida that were on vacation all the way from CANADA. They were a blast to work with. I also managed to get some awesome shots of Vanessa on the beach at sunset one evening before we headed home. She always gets a kick out of doing something a little different. Once we got back to Dothan we had many smaller projects waiting for us including a few of a our favorite realtors and another amazing senior portrait session. Tonight we’re charging those batteries preparing for another awesome wedding at Maria’s Vinyard!

Next week holds even more excitement as I’m meeting with the publishers of PANAMA CITY LIVING MAGAZINE and planning some upcoming projects with them! I’m SOOOOO EXCITED to work with this publication. In coming from a major markets (Jacksonville, Sarasota, Naples, Miami etc…), I miss working with larger publications and PC Living is just like being back in the BIG GAME again! They really know how to put out a top quality publication and I will be honored to become part of the team that helps bring it all together!

I promise to post some images soon, but I’m afraid we’ve just been SLAMMED all week and have hardly been able to keep our heads above water. Heck, I’ve even put Vanessa to work this week and with her being so prissy you know we MUST be BUSY… Keep SMILIN’…

p.s. Ashley; Vanessa says to tell you that next week’s it’s your turn to carry the heavy stuff
-Cindi Kay

LOVE ABOUNDS DOWNTOWN DOTHAN! Needless to say it did on this day while I was shooting this engagement session! -Cindi Kay

WOW, what a wonderful weekend Ralph and I had at St. Bernard’s Abbey in Cullman Alabama last weekend! Angela and Chris were such an amazing couple to work with and we will NEVER forget their AWESOME wedding. It’s so nice to be so incredibly blessed in this business and be able to work with families that truly APPRECIATE what we do for them. We thank GOD every day for the wonderful blessings that have come our way. ENJOY YOUR SNEAK PEAK at this amazing wedding!

Yet another Bride who will NEVER regret her decision to go with a more traditional bridal portrait… EnVogue Brides know that trends will come and go but Classic Beauty never goes out of style! At EnVogue we offer a variety of Bridal Portrait styles; never downgrading the value of well done classic portrait.

We also did some ‘out of the box’ poses as well during Rachel’s session. But, I thought I’d share this one here because I always want our brides to have at least one portrait they will never have to worry about looking at years from now and wondering ‘What was I thinking???’. Every bride should have at least one very nice traditional portrait and hopefully if they haven’t planned enough time to do it on their wedding day they will plan to do a bridal session to capture this most special image.

This girl ROCKS and so do her pics… We had so much fun working with her and I can’t wait for her to see the rest of what we created for her. Sorry Brandi, you’ll just have to wait until next week to see what all surprizes we have in store! -Cindi Kay

A BLOG REVISITED…

After my post on ‘What ever happened to good photography, I’ve had a few inquiries as to why I chose the picture of the pretty blonde with the ‘hot’ highlights as an example image. Well the answer is simple; it’s because this shot is a difficult one to accomplish and that this young lady with pale blonde hair standing in the blazing DIRECT sunlight still has plenty of DETAIL in her hair. What you would see with a pale blonde head of hair in direct sunlight in a shot taken by an unexperienced photographer would probably be HOT WHITE AREAS WITH NO DETAIL. I guess you could say this shot is somewhat of a photographic achievement when it comes to digital photography. That’s why I chose this image as an example.

Also, to clarify one other matter with my prior post. I would just like to state that it was not intended for any well established professionals! It was primarily intended to point out the lack of true professionals now entering the market and highlighting the massive number of non-professionals entering the market by simply going out and purchasing a DSLR and labeling themselves as a “PROFESSIONAL”. I can assure you it take YEARS to become professional at ANYTHING! How many MECHANICS do you know that just went and bought a wrench and opened a shop the very next week and if you do know any that did this how many of them would you actually hire?

I’m probably going to step on some MORE TOES here, but I’m personally doubting that taking a class at your local camera shop can give anyone the skills needed to become a working professional. If you plan to take these classes in hopes of gaining enough skills to make a serious career change then perhaps you need to speak candidly (no pun intended) to those teaching the classes to confirm if they are designed to provide a PROFESSIONAL LEVEL of education. How do most PROS get their education? We work for a few years with another professional photographer as an assistant or we work for a company that offers education as part of an on the job training program. Some of us get college degrees in photography in addition to on the job training. There is no QUICK ROAD to success in this business as even after we learn the skills there are many dues to be paid…

So, for those of you who may be thinking I’m a bit TOO COMPETITIVE. This simply isn’t the case. I have a DEEP APPRECIATION for the ART of what I do and I take GREAT OFFENSE to the CRAP that is quickly flooding the internet that is being labeled as ‘Professional’ work by many who have obviously never had any serious photography training or experience. If you know what you’re doing I welcome your competition with open arms! If you own and camera and don’t know how to take on the technical challenges that true professional work will bring I take offense to your calling yourself a photographer and I seriously take offense to your calling yourself a PROFESSIONAL. By the way, I have many FRIENDS who are TRUE PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS.