hurstphotography

<p>MM, the music is a personal choice, I've never had a client say they hated the music, it adds an emotion to the slideshow, and it's pretty easy to turn off. It's not loud or obtrusive, in fact it's pretty quiet. As for the slideshow, the galleries are a work in progress. We'll actually be featuring certain weddings rather than a random gallery, such as the home page slideshow. I would just rather have something on the homepage than an unfinished gallery. As always, a work in progress, but thanks for your input.</p>

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<p>Glad you didn't take it personal. I had a few drinks in me last night as well :)</p>

 

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<p>No worries. I've learned that in this business, you have to be able to take criticism well and decide for yourself whats going to make you grow. it's tough sometimes to hear an unbiased opinion, but it all helps! </p>

 

 

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<p>Who's idea was this and why do you feel it is a good one? Emotional decisions, in marketing and business, are seldom good ones. Considering your area and demographics and market, perhaps put a snap up for a rescue horse on behalf of a non-profit group?</p>

 

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<p>We've actually been trying to contact horse rescues in Tennessee to do exactly that, and in turn, that would end up being one of our Photo of the Week's per say. It'll always be something different, and it's on a test-drive right now.<br>

I've done a lot of research on blogs in our area and around, and it seems that the little personal touches really make it our own. If people want to know about us, they'll read it. It's a new thing we're trying, but the way we see it, if people don't like us, they won't like our work ethic. We're a fun, fun-loving couple and we want to show the couples that we want to shoot, just that :)</p>

 

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<p>G,<br />Thank you for the input. I never realized that those photos were so large. We resize most to 600x900 but that particular batch would come out all de-saturated and the only quick fix I was able to find was uploading the full size photo. How do you keep the images under 100kb and still retain the quality?<br>

Might I ask <em>how</em> you were able to see all the spcs of the photos? I thought we had th safety feature enabled, or did you just view source?<br>

The couple on the beach is actually <em>us</em> and is a weekly "Photo of the Week" in which we post any particular personal photo that means something to us. We like to interact and share with our readers. It won't be the furst photo anyone sees for long-in fact, we have about a month's worth of posts scheduled to release automatically, so...<br>

I'm aware that flash doesn't work on iphone and ipad (boo on apple for that) but ProPhoto gives the option in those menus to show a lightbox gallery I believe, or just a static image. We weren't too concerned about it, unless those static images aren't working either. </p>

 

<p>Thanks for your input. We'll keep it all in mind.</p>

<p>We would love some feedback on our brand new website :)</p>

<p><a href="http://www.hurst-photography.com">hurst-photography.com</a></p>

<p>What do you use to keep track of your profits & losses from each shoot? Any photographer-specific programs?</p>

<p>Steve, we use Instaproofs for customers to view/order photos after the show, but our actual site is a ProPhoto theme with Wordpress installed on our GatorHost.</p>

<p>Wordpress. Pro Photo Blogs is a fantstic theme, afordable, totally customizable and amazingly easy to use.</p>

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<p>Only once have I ever worn an actual dress and I will NEVER do it again!!!!</p>

 

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<p>DITTO!</p>

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<p>Of course, I have my business cards with me (which, by the way, are personalised to the extend that EACH card has a different photo on the back, so, leaving a bunch of them with a venue or even a client, means leaving a small portfolio there as well...;-)</p>

 

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<p>I'm assuming (and correct me if I'm wrong) you got these from Moo? If so, worth the money? We've been looking into them recently.</p>

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<p>Could this be a flag for thieves? Maybe we should be careful what we post. I'm guilty of this myself.</p>

 

 

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I'm not sure I understand this statement?

<p>We work wonders with our 50mm 1.8's. I got mine for a steal at $70 on Amazon, and while it isn't the L-series (although that's on my list as well) it's a fantastic portrait lens!</p>

<p>Steve, <br>

We're currently in the process of revamping our entire business, complete with name change, but all of our show stuff can be found on my proofing site at chelseysomohano.instaproofs.com<br>

We shoot cuttings and barrel races. It's funny, because I myself have ridden and competed since I was 2 or 3, and this whole shooting thing just kind of fell into our lap last year. Another photographer friend of mine was the OP for the circuits we shoot now, and when she moved, she handed all of their business over to us. It was a fantastic leg up for us, and has really blossomed into something for us. I might say we were a little blind coming into it, but knowing how the other side functions really helped us connect with the competitors.<br>

I love that you went on a group ride on your bicycle! Bet your legs were sore after that! </p>

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<p>1. 24 to 105 would not be my choice as it is too slow (aperture) and too long at the wide for APS-C: but there are many excellent Photographers who use this lens as their main zoom (usually on a 135 format camera).</p>

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<p>I hadn't thought of the speed difference in the 24-105 and 24-70. Good point. I think we may decide to go with the 24-70 2.8 instead.<br>

I forgot to clarify-We shoot with a 50D and 7D. We currently have our two 50mm 1.8's which we've worked our magic with, but renting lenses just gets expensive!</p>

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<p>2. Can't see why the 70 to 200/2.8 would be part of an automatic formulae to designate that to the second shooter - having that only lens would be limiting IMO; I might have misunderstood your statement, though.</p>

 

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<p>I should rephrase that statement. When I was second-shooting, I found that I used the 70-200 more often than the first shooter did but of course, we switched out lenses quite a bit. Of course, that's not saying that we shoot exactly like him, but the system that Evan and I have worked out, it made some sort of sense. That may have been us trying to justify not getting the IS version, though. <br>

Like I mentioned, we shoot mostly horse shows with the 70-200 and the IS is kind of unnecessary in that sense. However, I've been reading a lot of posts and forums about the IS-vs-Non-IS and it's undeniable that we should get the IS. </p>

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<p>I'd first get some good big strobes, like alien bees, light stands, and pocket wizards</p>

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<p>We've got our big guys (3 Alien Bee 1600's) that we use at all of our horse shows. I love them to pieces :) </p>

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<p> Also, make sure you have a GREAT gear bag. If you are investing in all these lenses than you should have a proper way to store and transport them</p>

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<p>Any suggestions on gear bags/travel cases? We've been looking to get some hard cases for everything, something like a Pelican case. I worry so much with us being at horse shows and traveling so often with all our gear.</p>

<p>Chris, <br>

I might come steal your camera bag, I would love to have all of those all at once :) What body do you shoot with?</p>

<p>Colleen, <br>

You're absolutely right! I love how customizable the theme is.</p>

<p>Has anyone seen H2blogs.com? They customize ProPhoto Blog Theme's to the nines! I love what they do, and am working hard to make ours stand out as a website.<br>

So glad to see everyone's sites! Keep them coming!</p>

<p>Evan and I are in the process of lens shopping (Yay!!!) <br>

We sold off quite a bit of our older, non-L equipment and hoarded our money for months so that we could eventually fill our bags with all of our dream lenses.<br>

Of course, we're not quite to the point of buying every lens we want, but we're ready to upgrade to a few nice lenses. Considering that we shoot weddings/portraits, what would you suggest as our first few lenses/equipment?<br>

What we've got in mind so far is the 70-200 2.8L Non-IS version, the 24-105 4L IS and a few speedlights. <br>

The reason we're looking at the non-IS version of that awesome 70-200 only because while we aspire to do weddings full-time soon, our bread and butter is the horse shows that we shoot from February-November every year, and we just don't need the IS for those events. We've both agreed that the secondary shooter will most likely be the one to be shooting with the 70-200 and hopefully we won't kick ourselves in the butt for buying the non-IS version.<br>

Opinions? Suggestions?</p>

<p>Any horse show or equine portrait photographers around here? We love coming up with new ways to attract clients at the shows, we have a full on-site viewing and ordering station (complete with canvas gazebo set up and photos hanging) but we want to offer more than just your typical photo.<br>

What makes you stand out at horse shows? What kind of horse events do you shoot?</p>

<p>Mark, you're site is fantastic! Ours is still in "Under construction" mode but I can't wait to get it live and running!</p>

<p>Does anyone use ProPhotoBlogs? We just purchased our first and *adore* how easily customizable it is.<br>

My real question is the All In one SEO Pack. Does anyone use it and has anyone found a good system for titles that works well?<br>

Plus, I want to see your website/blog!<br>

C</p>

<p>OOH, I love these :) Here is mine:</p><div></div>

<p>I like Instaproofs if you aren't selling a LOT of photos. It's free up front and only charges you a fee when you sell photos. Plus, it's totally customizable. Check ours out for a sample at hurstphotography.instaproofs.com</p>

<p>Hello! <br>

My name is Chelsey and I'm one-half of Hurst Photography from Nashville, TN. The other half is...well, my other half, Evan :) We like to think we're pretty a good team. We shoot horse shows, families, kids (my favorite!!) and we're diving into weddings now. It's been a trip.<br>

We have a pretty cool website, but it's not done yet. Check it out on January 1st, 2011 at hurst-photography.com or on Facebook :)<br>

(end shameless plug.)<br>

Anyways...we're a boyfriend/girlfriend team that just happened to stumble upon each other and found out that wow, we were both pretty skilled behind a camera. Creating Hurst Photography has been quite a venture, and a scary one at that. We expect nothing but the best from each other, and our business reflects that.</p>

<p>I'm glad to have found this forum. I'm a blog and forum junkie and this will be right up my alley. Expect a lot of posts from me!</p>

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<p>We use strobes for all of our indoor and outdoor equine events. We shoot a lot of cuttings and barrel races, so we typically have 3 Alien Bee 1600's set up. We shoot with a 7D and 70-200 2.8L IS although the Tamron equivelant I've heard isn't bad.</p>

<p>Like David said, on-site selling adds a whole new piece to the puzzle but definitely steps up your sales. People love to see their own photos. Will you be shooting a series, or will it be different rodeo's every time? If it's a series with the same competitors each time, on-site selling will definitely help, but be sure to have plenty of cards directing them to your online proofing as well, and get them up quick :)</p>