Shannon Drawe Photography | Blog

I just gave into a fellow photographer's hounding, and signed on to Texas Photo Forum. It's a site most owners would be proud of and consider a huge success. The site is fueled by their message boards, and if you've spent any time on any bulletin or message type boards, you know it's a great place for people who would rather talk about a topic than actually DO the topic. Realistically, it begins with a basic problem endemic to all forums - the post count.

Post counts should go the way of Sony Beta Max. All they do is puff up the participant's egos and give them a false sense of importance ... that evolves gradually into full blown cyber bullying. So, instead of building up post numbers, I am hitting the ground running - from post number one. Just like other forums that turned into personality mine fields, this one will find its way into oblivion once folks tire of all the attitudes.

NEW BIRTH DAY PAGE

It is difficult to know just how to promote something that was self propelled for so long, but I did finally get around to updating the main page with new images --- working to update www.cimarrona.com with new site and images, and the new page about birth days. Yes birth days - not birthdays.

In the local community, it is difficult to get a foothold with new ideas much less new concepts. But, it's hard to see why this one will not fly. Birth days draws on my photojournalism background and throws in some portraiture for good measure. This service is offered as a hard bound book and optional print ordering as well. Sure, it can be gritty, difficult and painful to give birth, but the pain and suffering (at least until they are teenagers) is temporary. I am looking for couples who want this done right - with taste, quality, creativity, ultimate trust in my ability. Other than that, you'll have to get some permissions too.

My expectations for this kind of venture are low, so do me a favor and surprise me.

Labels: baby pictures birthday birth unique original real

This image is for another small publication that sent me out to get images of owners of a roofing company last month.

Labels: magazine

This is a magazine image from earlier this year. It was for a smaller specialty magazine. It almost makes one want to ask, "How many plumbers does it take to ...?" Really, the folks at Baker Brothers were very helpful and cooperative in pulling this together early one morning before scurrying out to the four corners on service calls.

Look for a few more updates in the same vein in the next week - roofers, fertilizers and a new variety of images from ongoing work at TWU.

If you want to learn about the awesome power of new technology in the photographic realm, you need the Joe McNally book "Hot Shoe Diaries".

The DVD he did for Nikon was a life changer for my technical abilities and opened doors of my imagination.

Someone just prodded me, chided me; so maybe I don't post here as much as I should. Heaven knows, I have been shooting some interesting stuff.

I am back in the construction swing at TWU, Texas Woman's University, here in Denton, Texas, with the new building and alterations to their Science Building structure.

I will start with an action shot of me from there, and look here in the next few days for updates from the past couple months of shooting for many different publications.

First news is that I have put out a new site for anyone looking to learn more about photography. It really does take learning to the highest level with live interactive lessons. The site is Live Photo Lessons, and it is intended to do two things - so read about it and see what those two things are.

I took a second look at Katelyn's portrait today and put a new spin on it. I think I like the black & white better than the previous image.