Next Monday I'm getting my Mac Mini! I'll be buying lightroom 2 to go with it. You know it runs at 64bit processing native? Kaboom! No more guessing, praying it will work. No more trying to find linux equivalents.

When I get my mini, I can finally do some work! My Dreamweaver will run on the mini too! So I can thoroughly retool my site. I've made some progress in retooling my mission and my business system as well. :D

All switches set to forward! Next monday people! I might do an unboxing/setup video. It might be lame, but hey, I need to start doing some videos, and this will be a perfect way to start! :D

Take care for now everyone!

Okay, so I'm getting clearer and clearer each day of my mission. Rome wasn't built in a day. My website might very well change again.

"Again you say? Re-branding? what for?"

Well, I'm still trying to figure that out.

I do know a few things, though. I want to be the best at what I do. That includes three things:

1. The most beautiful fine-art photos around. Truely unique, and very special. I take great pride in my work.
   
2. I want to provide top quality service. The most professional and also the most intimate service. I want to get to know my clients on a deep level that resonates with them, so I can serve them the best way possible.
3. I want to provide them with something special to take away. The wedding happens, I take great photos, am a charm to have at the wedding, and then...? The end result of my work. I want them to have a beautiful album. I want her family and his family to have something special. I want them to not only experience love between the bride and the groom but also the whole wedding party, and generations of family.

I'm still getting clear on these things. Tomorrow is MLK day, and I'll have some time to myself to get more clear.

Along with my business changes the way in which I work will change drastically.

I've been doing a lot of research and testing. The results are in and I'm choosing to go with film as my medium. I'll have digital backup, but for the serious results I need and reliability i require, film is the ultimate choice. The velvia film came in from the lab last friday. IT'S GORGEOUS!

Here a photo in the Boston Common park. North Coast Photo scanned them nice and big for me. Click on it to see the super size.

You can read the clock if you zoom in enough! beat that! 17megapixels of perfection!

Film is so much more fun to use too! The quality makes it great for fashion and what I need it for: Making brides look spectacular!

So I got in my Pentax 645...


And my Pentax 67...


And I've buckled down and ordered pocket wizards (which i need for the portrait work I do). There's no getting around not having pocket wizards. I hate getting zaped or setting off the strobe with static electricity. Winter is dry which makes static run free out of my fingers and into my camera. And besides. I can't be limited by the stupid coily cords. They look dumb, and they feel like junk. No MORE! Just like what I said to windows: NO MORE! :D

No more digital camera going insane. Although I've only had one problem with it, it still doesn't do everything I want it to do. It's great for getting low light photo journalistic shots indoors. I can make any camera look good. Some of my favorite photos I took with a disposable camera. And I love my toy camera Holga. :D

So now I can officially say, I'm ready to use film for my work. I realize not to many photographers use film anymore for weddings. They are all digital shooters. I'm probably the only one doing this type of work using this medium as the primary. Sure, some 10k photographers have toys that they bring out in either 120 or 4X5, but it costs money to get things developed and scanned and they can do without that. I want the best results with the most artistic advantage. And I think that film just looks better. I'm so glad I didn't spend super money on a 5d mrk II. MF is loads better.

Ooo and did I tell you I have a polaroid back for my 645? :D More fun indeed!

Today I'm running Linux on my computer. Completely wiped windows clean. No more unreliable junk. I know Linux will always work on this machine, and I can trust it to not die and lose my files on me. it's been 5 times my windows machine went dead. Windows breaks itself. It can't be helped. It can't be trusted. I don't have the luxury of an IT department waiting on my computer hand and foot.

On a lighter note, while switching to Kubuntu, I've discovered some decent open source photo programs. Sure they aren't lightroom but they work and haven't crashed and died yet.

So what's next? I'm going to upgrade to a mac. Perhaps a mac mini in the near future. That way I can run the reflections presentations when I'm at the reception. It's trivial to just stuff it in my camera bag! People complain it's just a stripped down version for "Switchers" but I beg to dissagree! It's a powerful tool, and a business machine! The paper I worked for at UNH was decked out with mac mini's everywhere, and those things worked just fine! They weren't the newest highest memory ones either. It's either that or a new Imac. But I'm hesitant to go for that yet. It's not as portable.

I don't want a labtop. I hate carrying around a labtop. Eventually I'll have to replace my old dell brick. That thing ate dirt a million times already. YUCK!

my business setup: mac mini running lightroom 2. Done! No more fuss, no more worrying if lightroom will diareaah all over the place after I load 300 images on it.

Happy new year to you!

There's a lot of learning to be done for me. I just got my camera I'll be shooting weddings with. Here it is!

It's a Pentax 645. I'll also be getting a pentax 67 and another body for this one. What's that you say? Yes, I am going back to film, and for good reason! Superior technical quality. I'll still keep my digital with me, of course. But my digital will be the backup this time! :D

This camera won't break on me either! It's a TANK! The 67 is even more sturdy, but heavier (Better technical quality). But who cares about technical quality? It's a plus, but what really makes the image is how I use it! Sure fashion photographers and other real professionals use MF cameras all the time like this. But others use digital as well!

Digital is more expensive and the newest model will be obsolete in a year (50D anyone?). And quite frankly I'm sick of playing games. I need something sturdy that will just work. And how about resolution? ... Well a Medium Format (MF) roll of 120 film will scan about 17 megapixels at a nice pro lab. And the pixels aren't smooshed together like on the tiny digital SLRs (or worse point and shoot digitals).

Think of it this way, A camera is a light bucket. The bigger the bucket, the better light, the more information can be achieved. It's Like a tiny plastic telescope compared to a bigger housed telescope. The bigger one lets us see the stars clearer and the colors pop like firecrackers.

Sorry to bore you with gear talk, but I'm so excited and cant wait to start shooting with it! It helps me achieve the style I want! :D