Chris and Katie Humphreys

Update on the first Denver SMUG!

As we recently posted, we're so excited to be two of the leaders of the new Denver SMUG!  If you're a photographer, hopefully you've already signed up for the SMUG mailing list so you heard about the date change, but just in case we wanted to update everyone!

The first meeting date has been changed to Wednesday, November 18th at 7:00 pm at Blake Street Tavern.  We're so excited to have Jeff Jochum on the agenda for the first meeting, who will be sharing some great info with everyone.  We're also just so excited to have a great time getting together with photographers in the area and seeing lots of new faces!

Here's the agenda!

New SMUG leaders Chris & Katie Humphreys and Sara Frances & Karl Arndt welcome:
 
SmugMug's chief marketing dude...Jeff Jochum!

 

Fusion... WTF (what's the fuss)?

Jeff will reprise his Igniting Fusion presentation at this month's meeting. Featuring incredible videos videos by Bob Davis, Robert Evans, JVS, Chris MacAskill, The Bebbs and The Bui Brothers, as well as the NEWEST video from Vincent Laforet's SmugMug project in Hawaii - Igniting Fusion was a big hit at this year's Collision Conference, hosted by the LA Film School, a few weeks ago.
 
If you are wondering "WTH is Fusion (and why should I care)?" - this is the meeting for you.
 
Learn how it's done (good, bad and ugly) and how to GET STARTED in this next generation market opportunity.  Old Skool is still cool, but the success of the Canon 5D MkII (and excitement around the new 7D), coupled with the exploding consumer demand for vid-media (thanks to Animoto.com and the Apple iPhones and iPods) is driving Fusion photography as the next BIG step up in the world of digital photography. Become a Fusion leader (or find one) at this month's SMUG.

Denver SMUG
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18, 2009 | 7:00-9:30PM
Blake Street Tavern (map)
2401 Blake Street (@ 24th)
Denver, CO
 
SMUGs are free and open to everyone who loves photography.
No RSVP is needed, but SPACE is LIMITED, so get there early for the best seats.
 

Spend a Day with The Humphreys!

We’ve talked about it for about two years.
We’ve tossed around ideas, tossed them out, and started back from scratch.
And finally, we created a new vision.

That’s why we’re so excited to be announcing our first-ever workshop for photographers! 

Chris and I both absolutely love teaching and speaking, and we’ve wanted to develop a workshop for quite a while now.   One of the things we knew from the beginning was that we wanted to create a workshop that was a totally individualized experience where we could really focus on some of the seemingly small details that are involved in running a successful business.  Things that aren’t always talked about, but that really make a difference.

The vision for our workshop came from an excerpt we found in Michael Gerber’s book – The E-Myth Revisited – one of our favorite business books of all time.
.
“Great business people know that a business doesn’t miss the mark by failing to achieve greatness in some lofty principled way, but in the stuff that goes on in every nook and cranny of the business.  And so the great ones I have known seem to possess an intuitive understanding that the only way to reach something higher is to focus their attention on the multitude of seemingly insignificant, unimportant, and boring things that make up every business.”

Because we know that the small details in execution matter, we wanted to create a one-on-workshop where we could really delve into an individual photographers’ business with them and at the end of the day, leave them with practical, actionable things that they could do.  Whether it’s working on your pricing, figuring out how to systematize your workflow so your clients all get a consistent experience, or working on particular shooting issues,, we want to address these weaker areas you’re struggling with.

You can check out our brand new workshop site here!

These last two months of 2009 are a great opportunity to get together with us to tighten up any areas of your business before the new year starts, so email us today about getting  your date set for these last two months of 2009!

For the complete info, please visit our new website for Spend a Day with The Humphreys!

Pictage Ask and Learn

Hey Photographers!

Two things!  One you can check out an interview of with us on the Pictage Blog.  We talk a little bit with Sara France about the topic of "Everything Watched Improves," as well as other random things such as our thoughts on why we bit the bullet and joined Twitter.  (Here's my Twitter page by the way, and here's Katie's.)

Second, if you're a Pictage photographer you can join us on the Pictage Blog for an Ask and Learn.  We'll be there to answer questions on any topic you want.  Please don't ask about the bachelor, Katie will be thrilled but I might log off.  :)  We'll start answering questions at 4PM (Pacific Time) and go till 6.  

See ya there!

San Diego PUG

Yesterday Katie and I made our way down to San Diego and we met up with Paula Laskelle , the coordinator for Ashton and John's wedding this weekend at the Dana Point St. Regis.  We had a blast walking the grounds with her and sitting down for lunch.  It's awesome to meet other folks in the wedding industry who share our thoughts about weddings and who ultimately just want to serve their couples to the best of their ability.  It makes coming together for a wedding so much more of a team effort rather than each vendor working on their own.  We love it!  :)

After lunch, we drove down to San Diego to Jeff and Erin Youngren's AWESOME new house and got to participate in their fantastic PUG meeting.   Katie talked through her Pictage PartnerCon presentation "Everything that is Watched Improves" on systematizing your business.  We've been having such a positive response and what's so cool in a PUG setting is really being able to dialogue and see how these concepts can really improve people's businesses.

We got into a great conversation on how our "network is our net worth" (great pearl of wisdom from Tim Sanders) and how dollars and cents are really just the net effect of how well we leverage the relationships we have in our life.  Not leveraging as in a "using people as a means to end way" kind of way, but rather connecting people to each other and really valuing the relationships that you have.  This is really the idea behind our presentation and the reason why we think having systems set up in your business to track your relationships, etc is so important.  As we were discussing it, it just started becoming really apparent just how true that really is. 

Anyway, we're so grateful to our good friends Jeff and Erin and for letting us crash at their place for a few days!  They've been SO generous in letting us hang with them, and we haven't even known them very long! We just met them at WPPI this year and then hung with them recently in Santa Barbara and again at Pictage PartnerCon.  They're already getting to be god friends of ours so we're excited to have an extended visit! Of course our group outing to Denny's until 12:30 after the meeting only helped seal the deal with them!  :)  LOL!

I guess it's just further proof that solid relationships are what this business (and life in general) is all about (and what makes life so fun!)  :)

P.S. thanks so much to Erin for snapping these quick shots from our meeting last night! 

Review of 135 f2

I realized it’s been a while since we’ve really talked photo gear on the blog.  So for all those who have been waiting for some shop talk, here ya go.  :) 

Katie and I purchased the Canon 135 f2 in February.  We opted for it, so that we could have two longer lenses, since we already have the 70-200 f2.8 IS we thought this would be a good addition to the line up. 

Here’s some of our thoughts on it. 

The Good:

-Light and small.  Much lighter than the 70-200.  If your back hurts all the time from lugging the 70-200 around, the 135 will certainly help.  This lens also doesn’t take up nearly the amount of real estate in your bag that the 70-200 does.  

-Fast.  This has turned into one of my favorite lenses for receptions.  Shooting toasts, or tight in first dance shots in dark reception halls has turned much easier with this lens.  The extra stop of light from 2.8 comes in really handy. 

-Sharp.  This lens is very sharp, although I don’t honestly notice much difference from the 70-200, since that lens is very sharp as well.  We shoot this lens almost exclusively at f2 and it’s great. 

Cost:  For under a grand ($900), this is a great lens that gives you a bit of reach without hurting the bank. 

Focusing:  Very fast focusing, much faster than the 50 f1.4 or the 85 f1.2.  In my experience I can’t tell any difference in the speed from the 70-200.  Also, it has a fairly short minimum focus distance, so you can get in really tight.  I’ve even used this lens for shooting details and really tight portraits. 

The Bad:  (really more like “not as good”)

Lack of IS.  I have a pretty steady hand, but I don’t shoot this lens any slower than 1/125.  (1/160 or 1/200 to be safe).  This lens would kick some serious butt if it had IS on it. 

D.O.F.:  This lens certainly is no 200 f2/1.8.  I was hoping that it would have the shallow DOF of that lens, but given the shorter focal length, it’s no where close.   That being said, it’s easy to get slightly soft shots with this lens, so you gotta be careful, particularly wide open.

Conclusion:  This is a great lens, particularly if you’ve got a 20/30/40D with a 1.6 crop factor as it’ll get you pretty dang close.  It also has a fantastic look on a full frame 5D.  As we’re continuing to try to shoot as much natural light as possible, this lens has been an invaluable tool. 

While I wouldn’t trade in our 70-200 for it, I think it’s a great lens in combination with the 70-200.  If you can’t afford the 70-200, this will more than get you by in the longer lens dept. 

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to let us know! 

A few sample images:

Westmont Photo Workshop

This past Saturday Katie and I hung out with 8 or so students from Westmont's photo club and talked to them about one of my most favorite subjects- how to take better pictures!  :)  I was so impressed with their knowlege level, but more importantly their desire to learn and soak up information.  They asked so many great questions and we had a great time.  Towards the end, we finished up going out on a mock engagement session with our amazingly talented office assistant Lara and her fiance Casey.  We had a great time  shooting with them both, and I'm so grateful they volunteered to model for us! 

I didn't spend nearly as much time shooting as I usually do, because I was spending a bit more energy teaching and directing, but here's a few of the images.  Enjoy!!

A fun moment Katie grabbed as I was showing the group some of the shots on the back of my camera. 

Many many many thanks to Jeff Shipley for doing a FANTASTIC job organizing the group and making this workshop happen.  You da man! 

WPPI with Livebooks

                            

Hey WPPI photographers!

I'm excited to let those of you who are going to be at WPPI in Las Vegas this year know that you can come by the Livebooks booth Monday at 3:45 and I'll be speaking on Images with Impact: Staying Fresh, Creative, and Innovative Week After Week. 

This presentation is based on my message at Pictage's PartnerCon last September.  We got so many e-mails and comments from people around the country letting us know how that presentation really helped them and their business, so I'm amped to do something similar again!

Come on by Monday at 3:45 and see Katie and me at Livebook's booth!  If you see Katie or I around during the week, please make sure to come up and say "hi!"  We'd love to meet you! 

See you there!!

Using Lines Part 2

Alright, so here's our second post on ways to use lines in your images 
to help add impact to your images.

Use lines to create depth.

Depth is such an important element in images, because we're providing 
something that's two dimensional with a 3 dimensional quality which is 
obviously how we view everyday life.  When we can find ways to create 
that 3 dimensional quality in our images, it makes them even more 
lifelike and takes them up a notch to the next level.

Finding lines that create depth for us is in reality, really easy - 
often these "lines" are just repeating objects, such as bridesmaids!  :)

Or candles...

Very often the lines are just two rows of something, like.... pews.

Or railings.

Or stairs.

Really, anything can create that sense of depth.  One suggestion, is 
to have your "line" start in the foreground (in front of your image), 
and move past your subject into the background.  It really helps to 
"place" your subject in space and help define that sense of depth that 
you've created.

This tips with lines really aren't "hard" to do, it really just takes 
conscious effort to start seeing things like this and then utilizing 
them.  Once you start doing them, they really will just become second 
nature.

I hope this helps.... enjoy!!

Using Lines Part. 1

Hey guys, I'd love to start a little series of posts as to how we use lines in our images.  If you attended either the F-Stop workshop out in Denver or our LA PartnerCon Presentation you'll remember us talking about ways to add impact to your images outside of using Photoshop and post production.  Instead, you can rely on in camera techniques. 

One of my most favorite ways to add impact to images in camera is in the use of lines.  I love using lines for a variety of reasons:

1.  Lines exist in every setting and venue, regardless of how "high-end" your particular setting may or may not be.  It's very rare that you wouldn't be able to find lines in your setting anda be able to use lines to increase the effectivness of your image,

2.  Lines exist in such a variety of ways that you'll constantly be able to evolve the style of your shots and will avoid the syndrome of doing the same thing week after week.  This happens because you won't be relying on specific poses, but rather on using what you see around you, which will inevitably change week after week. 

One great way to utilize lines is using them to frame your subject. 

As you're shooting, look around and try to find opportunities to use lines to frame your subject.  When you do this, as with other uses of lines, it brings your viewers eyes right to where you want them to focus.  The faster you can bring your viewers eyes to the important part of your image, the more effective your image will be overall. 

Here's just a few quick ideas for inspiration...

Pictage Ask and Learn TODAY!

Hey Pictage Photographers! 

Just a reminder that Katie and I will be on the Pictage forums today to answer any questions you might have about business, shooting, etc etc. 

Starts at 4:00PM and goes till 6:00.  Can't wait to see ya'll there!