Behold “Big Red”, as the Chinese called him.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXAoTk9nXAA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVxR92zm5bM

Here’s the final product…ready to print and color:

This was an exciting weekend for me, because I crossed a finish line, of sorts. In the fall of 2009, I wrote down the following photography goal:

Create a comprehensive photography website with the following:
1) Blog
2) Client proofing section
3) Portfolio

As of the weekend, I’ve accomplished my goal. A while back I bought a ProPhoto blog and installed this as my main website at kevinhail.com. That’s the landing site you are on right now. A year ago I purchased a SmugMug Pro account for my client proofing/printing service, and I love it. The missing piece for months has been a solid portfolio site. I’ve researched for awhile and there were several critical needs that arose to the surface like:

• Easily customizable, WordPress back-end
• iPhone/iPad friendly, non-flash presentation
• Seamless integration with existing kevinhail.com blog

When time came to really make this happen, I found a site fairly easily, but it was the work of customizing it and integrating into my existing site that required a bit of thought and effort.  I’m telling you all this, because for all of you photographers out there who are overwhelmed by inadequacy when you look at other photographers’ websites in comparison to yours, I want you to know that you can put together a comprehensive site with all of this for under $350.  A portfolio, client proofing/ordering solution, and blog are all vital components for any working photographer.  I remember realizing this about a year and a half ago, but no one that I talked to had any solid advice on how to make all the puzzle pieces fit together.  Well, if you’re in this same spot, just ask me.  I’ll help.  There’s nothing worse than not having someone to ask for help.

When putting together a portfolio, here is some of the advice that I’ve implemented from others, including photography instructor Zack Arias, who frequently does online portfolio reviews:

• Put forth your best work, only your best. Best first.  People may not go more than 3 or 4 photos deep and they will have already made a judgement about you as a photographer.
• Target no more than 15-20 images per gallery.  You should never have more than one photo from a photoshoot in the same portfolio gallery.  It makes it look like you don’t shoot very often.
• Showcase the kind of photography you’d like to keep getting hired for. I am a portrait photographer, so I lead out with my portrait photography. That is my first gallery, and one of only two galleries total.
• Make the navigation simple and intuitive. If people can’t quickly jump to other pics or see thumbnails, they will get frustrated and may leave your site.
• No music!  This is kind of a bummer ’cause music and photography go hand in hand, but someone may have their speakers cranked, or they absolutely hate the song/genre you selected and that will reflect on their opinion of your music. I’ve heard so many professional photographers and editors complain about hearing music when they’re reviewing photographers’ sites. Note: You may want to make a slideshow with music for your client. Make sure you know what kind of music they like.  But for the general population, just let your work speak for itself.
• Brand consistency.  If the colors on your blog are green and yellow, your portfolio should reflect that.  People shouldn’t feel like they’re on two separate sites, just because they are.
• Keep it clean!  So help me, if you have a Google ad on your portfolio site, I’m going to smash your server with a bat.  People are walking through the Louvre, except it’s just your work hanging on the walls.  Don’t clutter that up with anything that will distract them.

So feel free to go check out my new portfolio and tell me if I took my own advice.  If not, feel free to rip on me in the comments section!  Click on the “Portfolio” button at the top of this page to check it out.

Nevertheless, I had a blast taking photos of my friends’ sweet, little 4-month-old girl yesterday.  The entire photo shoot took place in the baby’s room over the course of an hour.  I tried natural light, but the window wasn’t allowing me enough light to work with.  So I pulled out the 28″ Apollo Softbox, and put a Canon 580exII speedlight inside and filled the room with directional light.  That setup was what I used for probably 75% of the remaining shot.  It’s critical to leave yourself some options. If I hadn’t had any lights with me, I’d be up a creek.  While I feel that nothing is prettier than natural light pouring in through a window onto a baby laying on a soft blanket in their crib, I just couldn’t get that, so I had to recreate that.

Here are a few of the shots from yesterday.  If you’re a baby photographer, don’t worry…I’m not coming for you.  I’ve got to keep working on my coochie coos.

The frames were super cheap.  When all was said and done, we bought 16 frames for under $80 at Michael’s.  In fact, this whole thing cost us under $100. “The wall”, as we’re calling it, is in our dining area where we’ll see it every night as we sit down to eat as a family.  It’s meant to inspire us to appreciate special moments in our lives and to take more photos, all of us.  My kids photos will be joining those that Amanda and I have taken.  Already, I’ve been teaching my kids to look for moments and ask for mom or dad’s iPhone to take a picture, but honestly, they’ve already got the eye.

So the pictures aren’t perfect, the prints aren’t perfect, the frames aren’t perfect…but life isn’t perfect.  Take more pictures anyway and celebrate your life.

I believe that when my son grows up to become the photographer that I aspire to be,  we will both look back at this photo I took of him in the park the other day and we’ll laugh.  He is awkwardly holding the camera in his little hands and one of his fingers is even blocking the lens as he’s taking a picture of his daddy, who is taking a picture of him.  My laughter won’t be a mocking laughter, though.  I’ll be pondering the innocence of children and the innocence of “taking pictures” and my inner smile will turn to laughter. My son Colin is 3 years old.  He is part scientist, part wrestler, all boy, and a true work of art.  He has grown up with a camera in his face, flashes firing in his eyes from inches away, and a dad constantly hollering at him to “look at the camera!”  After all these years of seeing me, with cameras and lights, taking pictures of the world around us, it’s finally dawned on him that a camera is not just another device with cool buttons that he can push, it’s actually a way of connecting with the world around us.

In the last few months, I’ve seen this awareness turn on like a light bulb.  He’ll say, “dad, that’s a cool picture”, as he’s looking at a sky with bright white clouds, or a sunset with rich colors.  Colin chases our dog around the house taking blurry photos of paws, books, carpet, etc.   The connection is slowly being made from his head to his heart that a picture is a way to preserve a moment in time and create a memory.  When gold is being smelt from the ore that it’s housed in, the chunk of ore is taken through a rigorous process to draw out what is valuable, the gold, from what is not valuable.  In it’s purest form, the “gold” of photography, is the joy of taking pictures.  Children are closer to what is precious about photography: they are not self-conscious about their pictures compared to others’ pictures, they aren’t obsessed with bigger and better gear, and they certainly don’t wrestle with the feeling that they must chronically self-promote to stand out.  They just love pushing the button and looking at what they captured.

As photographers, do we ever just sit back and look at our pictures and enjoy them?  I know I don’t do that often enough.  I’m always obsessed with criticizing my own work. And even that word “work” is so self-important, isn’t it?  It’s like we feel that we have to add gravitas to our pictures by calling it our “work”.  Hey, I do it too!  I spend hours looking back at early pictures I took, ripping my self to shreds…if only I’d framed that differently…. look at that horrible HDR, what was I thinking?…if only I’d had a better lens when I shot that. No doubt that self-evaluation is what makes us better, but it can bit-by-bit  steal away the “gold” of photography.  Are we having fun?  Are we feeding that child inside of all us, who longs to capture a moment that captures our imagination, and to proudly hold the camera up and say, “dad, look at my picture”?

Everything in life is subject to competition.  Photography is highly competitive.  Many of my fellow photographers are competing with other photographers for actual food on the table.  I feel for them.  I truly do.  How difficult it must be to be magnanimous and gracious to other photographers who are competing for the clothes off your childrens’ backs.  I believe that with anything in life, though, the world favors those who favor others and those who pursue their imagination.  How do you define success as a photographer?  Is it the money you make?  The awards and recognitions you rack up?  I don’t judge anyone for their personal criteria for defining photography success, but I do believe that most of our definition of success in photography is inversely proportional to the fun we’re having.  If you’re a full-time photographer, are you carving out enough personal time for projects that inspire you?  For all of us, are we printing our images out and hanging them on the wall so we can enjoy the fruits of our labor?

I want to be more like Colin, grab whatever camera I can get my hands on and take a picture when I see something that interests me. If my big fat finger is in the way, so be it.  To respond to what is in front of me, whatever nature presents, or whatever captures my imagination.  For you beginning photographers, don’t take this as a charge to not spend your time learning and striving to be better, just don’t lose your love for taking a picture, as you become more and more technically proficient.  Be like Colin…as God speaks to you through his wonderful creation, tell him you’re listening and that you appreciate what he’s given you enough to capture that moment in time and show others.  Never lose sight of the gold…take pictures that inspire you and enjoy the moments you’ve captured along the way.