Robert Wheater Photography
Posts tagged Visalia
Scott | Business Portrait
Jun 11th
When I am commissioned to create a business portrait, I always aim to do something that represents a person and with different styles of images. Every single person is their own brand and while many people don’t really care about the picture they use, I am someone people come to when they care. First, I try and key in on who you are as a brand. What do you stand for? What values do you have and what do you do? I never just take a quick head shot.
In the images below, you will see Scott. He makes wine and loves it (thanks for the wine by the way) and we set off and decided to shoot in a vineyard. I advise to any professional that they update their business portrait once every 2-3 years and keep it current and do not use black and white.
I see these black and white business portraits on color business cards. Don’t do it, everyone does. Business portraits for office professionals are best photographed within the office or where people would meet – a further connection in the image that helps a professional stand out. I especially love working with business owners and showing their business within the images – in vibrant and powerful images. Business images should be power images. An image of the owner of a salon should be softer and more fashion forward. It is attention to these details that make a business portrait that will stand leagues above your competition and have an editorial/advertising feel to them. Remember you can click images on my blog to view a larger version full screen.
Kym | Portraits
Jun 10th
I don’t publish client work on the internet because almost all of my clients prefer privacy, so in order to get images to show on my blog and on the internet I use models and friends. Kym had never modeled before and wanted to try it out. Here are shots of her done in my edgy fashion/glamor style. I have only been a professional photographer for a year, starting right after art school at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
There were many challenges in this shoot, wind being the worst. Because I rarely shoot in studio and prefer environmental and on location sessions. Kym was great and we got some great shots. Remember that you can click images to view a larger version.
New Brochure [download here]
May 25th
This is my new brochure. There is a wedding version of the brochure coming soon. I have revised all of my wedding services and the new wedding photography one will be up in a week.
Military Wives and Girlfriends | Memorial Day
May 17th
I was thinking of something unique I could offer for Memorial Day aside from my normal 10% off for military and veterans. I thought about something that is very usable but really is exciting for me and my feeling of creating heirlooms. So, from now until Memorial Day (May 31) I am offering something unique. Contemporary Vintage Wallet Portraits.
Trying to embrace a classic portrait style mixed with my contemporary style, I wanted to create an image that could be used for portraits from wives and girlfriends to their husbands overseas. The portrait session is only $25 and I have a wide array of picture styles to send from portraits on archival art paper which gives the images tactile feeling also. This makes a great gift. I also offer a much more sexy maxim-magazine session starting at $100.
Your session must be scheduled prior to Memorial Day 2010 (May 31). I wish I could keep the offer up all year because these are truly fun.
Wallet style shots are edited to look similar to the image on the right. This is a before/after of original photo and then the contemporary vintage edit.
Some of the final product ideas for these sessions are:
Fine Art Archival Prints
Framed Desk Prints
4×6 Hard Print (the fine art print is bonded to a Masonite backing)
5×5 Gallery Wrap
It is a good idea that we talk about your final product before we actually have the session because we can have a general direction to go. If you want a 5×5 Metallic Gallery Wrap we are probably going to shoot a completely different way than a 20×30 fine art paper print. Yes, almost all my products are focused on creating an heirloom. I don’t print any inkjet prints, I still make real photographs and focus on the end product of my photography. They are not cheap and will last generations. 90% of photographers use inkjet prints, not me. Ask me why if you are interested in knowing the differences.
Visalia Photographers
Feb 9th
A little over a year ago, while still in art school I was thinking of ways to gather with other photographers. There wasn’t one. So, I set out to creating one. In the beginning, I was a little frustrated and didn’t really think it would work. How many people in the area wanted to be a part of a photography group?
It was when we were almost at 100 members when I decided to add a fee of $10/year. This fee would serve to find the more active photographers and get more people involved… it worked. We had an average turn out of 5-6 members before the fee and around 10 people per meeting after the fee was added. Membership dropped but those that dropped had never attended a meetup. The active members paid the small dues and started coming to the meetups.
A lot of people don’t understand how competitive the photography industry is. Ten years ago, there were less than 10 photographers in the Visalia metro area. Today there are at least 30 that are listed on Myspace, Facebook or have their own websites. A lot of professionals are very secretive and choose to avoid socializing with other professionals because of how hard it is to compete these days. My photographer network in this group has only served to increase my business. I have learned a lot and others have learned from me. That’s what the group is for.
There are over 50 members of the Meetup group, most of these are active members. There are several professionals from photojournalists to wedding photographers. There are lots of amateurs and people that just want to meet other like-minded artists. This group will continue to grow and I really like the direction it is headed.
Resolutions 2010
Jan 11th
While we should always be making changes to the way we live to become better people. As the New Year starts I still like to think about things I can do better and create goals that I try and follow. This year, I took it to another level. I have been in business for almost a year and a lot of my goals try and connect family and personal life with my professional life.
So what are my resolutions? I have 32 of them, separated into primary and secondary goals. Here are a few of my goals:
- Spend more uninterrupted time with my family. I tend to get interruptions and deal with them on the spot. Now, I am just going to record what I need to do once play time or time with the family is finished.
- Monthly Printing. With a small budget, I am going to print photos off every month. A selection of my best to 8×12 and the rest to 4×6. These are inexpensive prints of the kids playing and stuff I shot. I print my best images but so many images get pushed back so the best ones can be printed professionally. I am going to be making large batch single prints each month on a regular basis.
- Read a photography/design/business book each month. I tend to get these books and read half of them and move onto the next, sometimes opening it months later before it goes to a shelf. Now, I am going to set time aside to read these books and hopefully with the scheduled time I can read more than one each month.
- Create a photo book each month with my best images. These are going to be focused more on my professional images and by the end of the year, I will have 10 mini (20 page) hardback portfolios covering work over the last year. I want to continue this to both catalogue my work and be able to show a large amount of work.
- Follow a regular posting schedule and start posting tidbits about my personal life on my blog. I don’t post a lot of personal information on my blog, I am going to change that this year and with my regular posting I am also going to post little things about my daily life. I don’t post regularly and I am changing that this year.
I am tracking and creating smaller objectives leading up to the larger ones. In order to solve the objectives I have already created a cool email reminder that will send monthly reminders and deadlines while the year passes. It is a great way to track the progress of goals. I believe in constantly creating goals and creating ways to measure them and keep track of them. For this I am using a free schedule program that will email or text you, it is called 30 Boxes. Check it out, it’s like google calendar but I wanted to try something I haven’t tried and I like 30 Boxes.
Portrait Session with Sunni
Jan 10th
This was the second time I shot with Sunni and again, I had a blast. These images are a great example of the style you will see in my SnapRiot sessions and it was a great chance to see how much I am going to like my new SnapRiot photo sessions.
Sunni and I started on Main Street and just shot by the red door I love so much, it is a good comfort spot to develop a camera relationship to who I am photographing. Most people are ready to go before I am, I usually study someone for the first 5-6 shots and then let loose. Sunni was easy to warm up to, I think the first shot was one of the best as was the last. That’s a great session.
If you would like to book Robert Wheater for your photography, contact him by clicking here.
SnapRiot Portrait Sessions
Jan 9th
SnapRiot sessions are really fun and a great answer for those that want great photography at a great price. In a SnapRiot session, we get together for thirty minutes at an outdoor location and in a very rapid, free flowing session we make great images together. SnapRiot sessions only cover a single location and a single outfit with up to two people. These sessions are great for business portraits, senior pictures, single parents and a child and so much more.
SnapRiot Sessions are only $50.
Krista and Kylie
Dec 30th
Krista and her beautiful daughter Kylie were a lot of fun to photograph. Parents and children are a blast and when you have a great mother like Krista that has such a photogenic daughter, it is even more fun. Kylie loved the camera and I always take advantage of that because there are plenty of children that are not as camera friendly. Some kids just want to hide from the camera and it takes a few minutes to warm up… that was not Kylie, Krista either, it was click, click, click for about an hour at a few locations. It was fun, rapid and alive.
If you would like to schedule a photo session with me, filling out my online form is the easiest way and it’s really fast. You can also email me at photo@robertwheater.com or call me at 559.334.3977.
Visalia Waiters Race
Sep 25th
I went out to the Waiters Race with my camera this year. I have been out there pretty much every year since it started, minus college and a vacation. Another fun Waiters Race in the books for Visalia.
Here is how it goes down at the race. First, the contestants are local waiters and waitresses vying for a $1,000 prize among other prizes. They must hold a tray with one hand and they cannot grip the edge with their fingers, it must be balanced. The racers must then run a quarter mile without allowing any of the objects to fall off the tray.
I love events on Main Street. Having grown up here, I feel that Main Street is the heart of Visalia. Here are some pictures of the event. I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter and please share it with your friends.
If you would like to contact mefor images from the day or to photograph your event you can call 559.334.3977 or fill out this really quick and easy form. You can also email me at photo@robertwheater.com.
Recent Comments