It's been a little crazy over here at McGraw Photography and I have a ton of great stuff to catch up on! I'll start out with a shoot from a couple months ago... This is Phoenix - a new club in Uptown Charlotte with a state-of-the-art sound and light system. Definitely a cool place to check out if you are ever roaming the streets of Uptown. The woodworking, fabrics, and details were amazing to photograph.
Introducing the newest Coffee Table Album...
This flush-mount album is sized at 10x10 and will make the perfect centerpiece for your coffee table. Complete with 20 pages/10 spreads, there is plenty of room to feature your favorite images from your session. This is the perfect way to brag about your photogenic fur-kid. Coffee Table Albums are available in money-saving Collections or A la Carte.
Flush-mount pages are press-printed on Lustre paper and adhered to heavy black cardstock for a thick look and feel.
Pages are printed as full spreads and not cut so imagery and design elements are not lost in the center of the book. Lay-flat pages showcase your images across each spread.
The custom covers are made with masonite to give the books a smooth, substantial feel.
An optional Memory Box is available that is custom-designed to fit your Coffee Table Album.
The 10x10 Memory Box is large enough to hold other memorabilia and is finished with an elastic closure and ribbon detail. This great item is available as a discounted Collection Add-On or A la Carte.
For any questions about these or any of my other products, feel free to contact me!
(This is Part 2 of my first photo shoot of a commercial space. Part 1 can be seen here.) The second gorgeous space I had the opportunity to photograph was Bask - a cool, contemporary restaurant and lounge located at the NC Music Factory in uptown Charlotte, NC. The space is finished with distressed wood floors, eye-catching metal accents, smooth wood panels, and funky brick walls. Just like Pinkberry (part 1), this space had its own set of challenges.
The restaurant was open for business and, in fact, had a couple people dining while these images were shot. Because of this, I could only use my small flashes - my Nikon SB-80s - triggered by a radio transmitter. Usually I use my more powerful Alien Bees studio flashes for such large spaces, with my small Speedlights only serving as accent lighting. Unlike Pinkberry, natural light wasn't an option due to the harsh glare coming in from the windows above the booths. So small flashes it was!
To be honest, Speedlights are not my forte but I had to made it work.
They say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert. I guess I have a lot of time to keep practicing...and practice makes perfect.
If you're a frozen yogurt fan, chances are you've heard of Pinkberry. I had the opportunity to photograph this commercial space with a brand new client here in Charlotte, NC. This assignment was a little new to me because all of my architectural shoots up to this point have been residential spaces. I would love to continue shooting commercial spaces, especially if I could figure out how to work around some of the obstacles that were presented to me. Here's a little recap of my shoot along with some of the issues I had to work with...
Because of the timeframe we had for shooting and the fact that Pinkberry was open for business (believe it of not, there were quite a few customers in the store for some of these pics), most of these shots were executed with natural light with maybe one hand-held flash for some fill. Not ideal but I think we pulled it off...
One of the difficulties I had on this shoot was dealing with the acrylic walls. They reflected every spec of light - especially from the two walls of windows. The only solution for this problem, I suppose, is to shoot first thing in the morning or late at night when the light isn't flooding in. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option for our interior shots. Any suggestions fellow photogs?
Gotta love the colors of Pinkberry...
I'm so glad I got this opportunity to photograph such a challenging space. I learned so much and now feel I have a much better grasp on what I can expect and what I need to request when shooting for a client with commercial spaces.
Part two of my first commercial space shoot will be coming up soon...all with it's own set of challenges.
2011 calendars? Yeah, yeah, I know its already 7 days into 2011. I just love making surprise gifts for my clients!
I'm so happy to announce my new and improved Refer-A-Friend cards made just for my clients! These handy little cards come in a set of 25 for you to give to family, friends, and, heck, even strangers! Each set is customized with an image from your session and comes in a great little protective tin for easy transport. These cute cards are just a little smaller than business cards so they won't take up a ton of room in your purse or wallet. So here's the deal...if one of your referrals books a session with me, I will reward you with a free gift print from our shoot together. This is my way of saying thanks to those clients that spread the word about McGraw Photography. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Here are some of the referral cards I just got in for my recent clients...
Thank you so much for spreading the word! :)
I've had so many inquiries on what my custom-designed Holiday Cards were going to look like this year. Well, I'm happy to announce that they are finally here! :) These cheery and colorful cards are playful and fun enough to reflect your pet's personality! They will work great with images from an on-location session, a studio session, or my Holiday Mini-Sessions. These cards are all 5"x7" folded cards, press-printed on gorgeous and eco-friendly Art Recycled paper. They come in sets of 25 and come complete with white envelopes. These are now available to all of my past and future clients so please contact me for details!
These Holiday Cards will be included in all of my Holiday Mini-Sessions. All you have to do is pick your favorite design! For more info on the mini-sessions, click HERE.
Enjoy!
Another awesome sample arrived last week using the adorable images from Spanky's studio session! Just like my memory boxes, I have been carrying accordion minis for quite some time. However, because they are one of my most popular items, I wanted to offer an updated book that has even more photo panels to show off more images. These cute little books are sized at just 2 3/8" x 3 3/8", perfect displaying on your desk, toting around in your bag, or giving as gifts. Plus, the new vertical orientation (vs. the old square one) allows me to crop less of each image while designing.
Between the front, back, and internal accordion panel, the new mini book can hold up to 16 of your favorite images. Your custom cover is printed on Lustre paper and protected with a matte laminate finish while the internal spread is printed on eco-friendly Art Recycled paper. An internal magnetic closure keeps the book closed tightly and a frosted slip cover protects the accordion mini from damage.
The new accordion minis are available now and come in sets of 3 identical books. These are available just in time for the holidays!
