The Wedding Ceremony of Eric Jackson and Jessica Torres, May 25, 2013

Back in the day, about some 30 years ago, photography wasn't for everyone. There were many people that had cameras to take pictures of their families and vacations and whatnot, but there were few that exercised the craft to capture and create perfect looking images. In fact, these said images were so attractive, that the photographers who produced them were recognized as professionally, skilled artists. Professionally skilled artists that regular people can turn to, whether they want to hire them to cover an event, or to learn from them so that they to can become as good as the professional photographer. Keep in mind, this was back in the days of 35mm Film and fully manual operated SLR cameras.

Fast forward to the present. With the current modern technology nowadays, about everyone now can instantly established themselves as a photographer by their own discretion, courtesy of the simple-to-use capture devices. Mobile devices like the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 have cameras built in that are far more advanced than a regular camera, and DSLRs are now becoming affordable. Apps like instagram are making the OG photographers, who have been doing this craft since the 1970's and before, getting upset about how simple it is to had a filter over an image without spending at least 5 minutes in a darkroom like they used to. The thing about time and life is that as it goes by, newer ideas are being put on board and newer generations are adapting to the changes that the current generation is going through and getting used to.

One minute were all a bunch of juveniles living off our parents and seeing the same peers 5 days straight every week from September to the middle of June the following year. The next minute, these same people that we were accustomed to since Freshman Year of  high school have moved on to continue building their lives for the better. Some have gotten married to a significant other outside of the circle of your mutual friends, some have produced children of their own to start a family, and there are some that moved out of state, or out of the country at least, so that they can pursue their career that they dreamed and studied their asses off for. As they move forward in maintaining their lives, they can always look back at something inspirational to remind themselves what started them to get to where they're currently at. That is one of the main reasons why I like to take photographs.

I wasn't hired to cover the wedding ceremony of my friend Eric Jackson and his fiance Jessica Torres back in May. I went not only as a guest to support them, but as a guest who likes to take photos. The ceremony took place outdoors at Franklin Canyon Park, up in the mountains between Sherman Oaks and Beverly Hills near Mulholland Drive. It was a very good ceremony, but unfortunately, I didn't stay for the reception since I had to do something later that day, but still a very good ceremony. I took some photos using the Kodak 400TX Black and White 35mm film, and I was very pleased on how well they came out. The flash on the camera was hardly used as most of the indoor images contained plenty of natural light. So far, this was one of my best work I've done this year, and to me, I really think every engaged couple would have their wedding day recorded on film, despite digital photography being the default mainstream medium right now. To paraphrase the first paragraph, not everyone shoots in film nowadays. There are many people that have cameras to take photographs digitally, but it's nowhere the same feeling as taking photographs on film.

Many special thanks to Eric and Jessica for inviting me to witness your marriage and for letting me capture and share this precious occasion I photographed. I wanted to upload these last Monday, but so much with the taxican gig and everything else (such as taking photos at Jane Lynch's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony last week for example)  had gotten in the way, and I really didn't have enough time. Now I can finally share these images cause like I said, this is by far one of my finest photo essays that I've done.
Enjoy the photos as if you're reading a story instead of looking at them as just wedding photos.

Minding Over Business Matters

Welcome to November. One of the most important months of the calendar year to a couple degrees.

Some people will be blessed this month from "getting busy" on Valentines Day (I'll let you figure that out), some will let their Gillette Razors and electric shavers be rusted for thirty days to have their faces go from that 5 O'Clock shadow look to already being qualified for that Rick Ross/Zack Galifinakis swagger, and some will try not to make their moms catch you treating yourself "like an amusement park" and end up sharing a room with a sexy female being shown in a silhouette through the curtain like Estelle Costanza did Twenty years ago on Thursday night. I can go on about the Presidential Election next week and families camping out in front of a retailer during Thanksgiving for a 70 inch TV they don't really need with the money they don't really have on Black Friday, but I'm not going to discuss that for now.

Speaking of families, this is why November is so important. It one of the only times when all families can fly in from different parts of the country, if not, then different parts of the world. They spend a week from their schedules as they gather together to see how big their grand kids are and that conservative discussion in the back porch with that uncle having a heated debate with their father-in-law, along with that post grad twenty something nephew, on why some of the state propositions should've been decided the other way, as well as those optimistic group of high school cousins mistaking the Apple Cider with the White Wine next to that half eaten Turkey prepared by both mothers of the said married couple hosting the gathering, and that group of tomboyish half-sisters and their daughters rooting for the Detriot Lions during the annual Thanksgiving football games. Reminds me of watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and the OG Home Alone, but that's next month.

Moments like these need to last, cause once its gone, its gone. and that's what I'm here for, to capture those moments. Now, I know y'all have seen the Photography and Rates section of my site for anytime you should visit glanced at my business site, and it has alot of detail with the packages and stuff. As you also noticed, my prices are WAY lower than any other professional photographers rates. I'm aware of that, but to me, I really don't give a shit about the prices that much. I'm more focused in doing the perfect job and making the client feel satisfied and amazed on the finished product they requested and paid their money for. I wanted to do this for free when I first seriously started doing this four years ago, yet than again, I don't want people to think I'm shady or something and also, I'm not too comfortable of charging $500 for just a one hour photoshoot and additional money for getting the prints, or charging over $2000 for covering a wedding. Yes, I would like that also and yes, there are photographers say that they charge high is because of  the whole "Time is Money" ordeal (which is reasonable and legit), but THAT JUST ME THOUGH.

Again, I'm all about the quality (how well the photos turn out) over quantity (the prices, limited time, deadlines). If I really like you and think you're chill, than I even offer some special pricing as opposed to the standard rates I listed on my website. On that topic, to those who are confused on how the prices and packages work out, let me explain it to you.

RATES
$75 for Photoshoots
 50 per hour for Events
  150 per hour for Weddings

PHOTO PACKAGES
1 8x10= $10
Extra disc of Photos= $10 per disc
4x6 prints for photoshoots= 15
5x7 prints for photoshoots= 20
1 11x14 = $15 per photo

-Framing is $10 extra for 8x10 photo only
-Disc will include DVD slideshow and JPEG files, upon request of clients option
-Post Production on photos will last two weeks to a month depending on session 
-I accept cash and checks. Payment is made during the day after the session
-All photo sessions comes with a free disc of photos. Additional discs is extra. 

So say for example that you want to do a photoshoot session. I'm going to charge you $75, which covers the session and the free disc. The session is entirely unlimited, meaning I'll take as much photos as I can of the said subject and there's no time limit. Then after the session, we (myself and the client) go over the photos and pick out which ones are the best. Like, if I shot 50 photos, out of all of them, about 15 to 20 will be chosen for editing depending on the client's choice of selections. If he or she wants those 15 to 20 photos printed, then I'm going to charge him or her an additional $15 for prints in a 4x6 size and/or $20 for prints in a 5x7 size. That's about $90 to $95 so far. If he or she wants two extra discs to send to his or her relatives than that's an additonal $20 there, which totals up to $110 to $115.

The disc is made on DVD and it can be viewed on a HD Television or a computer. For Macs, just click on the disc icon in the desktop. For Windows, go to My Computer and click on the DVD drive. Some computers will play the slideshow automatically, especially on Macs. Just configure your settings on your computer to disable automatic DVD playback. I don't do the slideshows that much for photoshoots (unless if you want) but mostly for events and weddings since I take over 100 photos for those, and unlike the photoshoots where the client selects the photos, I select the photos for the events and weddings. If you want an 8x10 enlargement and the option to have it framed, that's gonna be $20 per photo ($10 for the enlargement and $10 for the framing).

So you looking at about no more than $120 just for a normal package for a photoshoot, whereas some other photographers charge twice more than that for their packages. I could've set the rates higher, but there are people out there who have financial issues or got extremely affected by the recession for the past four years, so that's why I edged away from the same high $500 average prices and gave those potential clients a break from their checkbooks. Speaking of which, the payment is made RIGHT after the photoshoot is complete. If you want to pay before the session, then that's fine. If you have anymore questions regarding the prices and the photosessions, then leave comments below, or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter or send me an email at justforsneaks07@gmail.com. In addition, for those seriously interested in getting their photos taken, please check out either my website or my Flickr page for some samples of my work to get the idea of how I take pictures and how I edit them. The links are on the top right of the page, and finally, please don't be that fucking asshole who wants a photoshoot but then stops keeping contact with me or just flakes out in the last minute. If you don't have the money, THEN DON'T EVEN BOTHER. Like I said, I wish I can do it for free, but I can't anymore, unless if I decide to cover an event on my behalf. Again, if you have any questions or interested, just hit me up.

Hopefully this clears out the confusion of  how I handle my rates and packages. Please DO NOT tell me on how to set my prices. I might even raise them a bit next year, but again, I'm not that concerned about money, but only on making the perfect photographs out there. Thanks for your time reading this.