Juxtaposition

Two interesting things happened today which taken individually may not have much meaning. However, taken together well that is a whole different story.

Part 1: Roger Called

First my friend Roger called. I first met Roger back in 1988 when I was on a temporary assignment for IBM and Roger was a gate agent for United at Houston's Hobby airport. At first, I was just a passenger and he was one of the United people who took care of me. Each Sunday night or Monday morning, I would fly from Albany, NY to Houston. Then on Friday, I would reverse my commute. Each week there was Roger with his friendly face. As the weeks turned into months, Roger realized I was a frequent traveller. We got to know each other and talked about our common interests flying, photography and women.

Well my assignment and eventually my job with IBM ended. Roger transferred to Chicago. Whenever I passed through O'hare, I would look for Roger. Eventually, Roger moved onto another job and we lost track of each other. Then one day, I met a gal from Milwaukee and moved to Chicago. Then through a strange twist of fate, I ran into somebody who was able to get a message to Roger. Our friendship was renewed.

Anyway, Roger, who still works for United, also photographs airplanes and sells the stock images to aviation magazines. It does not make him rich but he enjoys this niche of professional photography. Roger called me because a friend of a friend was getting married in Florida. Because the bride does not want to spend a lot of money for a professional wedding photographer Roger was asked to provide the wedding photography. Now Roger knows a lot about airplanes and photographing them. But he knows very little about wedding photography nor is he properly equiped with all the needed lighting and backup cameras.

I'm sure that given the motivation and time he could learn the ropes pretty quickly. Roger can even rent the needed backup equipment. But the key to realize is that since Roger sells photographs to a magazine, he is a professional photographer. Having him photograph a wedding is a little like asking a dermatologist to perform brain surgery. During our discussions, Roger mentioned that he would replace training by just taking a lot of photos. Still, I'm sure there will be missed photos. We concluded our phone call with Roger assuring me he will make sure the bride knows he is not a skilled photographer and she is taking a risk with her future family heirlooms to save some money.

Part 2: AOL News Story

Within hours of talking to Roger, I opened my web browser and just happened to catch the following headline Utah Woman Dies Hours After Her Wedding. I've heard stories of family members dying after a wedding. I've had a client call me six months after a wedding to ask for a photo for the funeral home. I've even know of cases where the father of the bride died at the wedding reception. But this was a first for me. At first I thought this was a second marriage of an eighty year old women. Then I read the story and realized the sad awful truth.

This bride was only 25 years old! Besides her husband of only a few hours, her survivors include two young children of her own and a step child from her husband. At this time, the cause of her death is undetermined. Not only does this drive home our mortality to me but also how important my profession can be. I am privledged to be a part of one of the most important days of a person's life. This is such an awesome responsibility. A task entrusted to me which I don't take lightly.

Part 3: The Juxtaposition

As I was contemplating what I would write about, I realized these two remote events taken together, Roger's phone call about a wedding in Florida and a bride's tragic death in Utah had meaning. Many times I've had phone inquiries where the first question out of their mouths is (even before asking if I'm available for their wedding day), is "How Much" I've begun to learn that I will never be able to win a bidding war for these types of clients. There is always somebody with a camera, regardless of training, who will be willing to photograph the wedding for less money. These people could be like Roger, a friend of a friend who suddenly got themselves in over their heads. Or they could be somebody who received a digital camera for Christmas who is looking for easy money on the weekend.

Regardless of why they decided to photograph the wedding, what happens if something goes wrong with the camera? What happens if they get a lighting situation which they don't know how to photograph? My conversation with Roger who knows quite a bit about photography showed me that even some professional photographers don't know how to photograph a wedding. So there is very little reason to believe any person with a camera can photograph a wedding. Weddings are very unpredictable when it comes to lighting conditions.

Combine that with the fact that weddings are a once in a lifetime event and there is very little room for error. Through my professional association, Professional Photographers of America, I'm aware of a situation or two where all of the photographs from the wedding were lost and they restaged the whole day, including room and board for the out of town guests. Very expensive propsition. Even then, some people are just not able to attend the restaging. Most importantly, there is no way to recreate the groom's first look at a bride as she walks down the aisle. Or the groom dropping the rings because he is so nervous. So you save a little money by not hiring an experienced professional wedding photographer and pay for it in the long run by not having priceless family treasures

I do have to admit that after I got over the shock of the Utah bride's death, my thoughts turned to the photographer. I know from personal experience, the family will want every photo of the bride they can get their hands on. I prayed the photographer had all the photos the bride and her family would have wanted. For in this case, there is absolutely no chance to even restage the wedding.

Don't Wait Too Long

Never do something today which you can do tommorrow. Eventually the day comes when you have to make time for some of those wedding planning tasks. If you are planning a wedding for 2007, you have about 3 more weeks before the 2007 booking season gets really hectic. This means that if you have a "hot" date with a lot of competition, you may not be able get your first choice of vendors if you wait too much longer.

In January, there are no less than 6 bridal shows. That is more than 1 per week. February and March are just as busy. So if you wait too much longer, you may hear there are several other couples interested in booking me for your weekend. To make sure I can provide the high quality service to each of my clients yet still have time to spend with my family, I limit myself to one wedding a weekend and forty a year. All wedding dates are booked on a first come first serve basis. To reserve your date, I need to receive your retainer along with a signed agreement. In this case, the early bird gets the photographer!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all

Holiday Photos

Holidays are filled with special memories. This is time we spend with friends and family who are dear to us. While enjoying the holiday times, a photo will allow you to remember the day for years to come. Here are a few simple photo tips to help you take photos you'll cherish for years to come (OK these will not make you a professional photographer).

1) Remember to have fresh supplies of batteries film/memory for your camera.
2) Take photos of people and things which are important to you.
3) Don't forget the details by taking a close up photo.
4) When photographing the kids, get down to their level.
5) With digital photos, take as many as you want, feel free to experiment you can always delete the photo if you don't like it.

Should you have any specific photography questions, please feel free to e-mail me at magical@mmpix.com and I will be happy to answer it for you.

Excitement

The holidays are almost upon us. It is fun to see the excitement on the kids faces. Each morning Mathew wakes up and asks "Is it today?" No matter what I say, he runs downstairs to see if their are any new gifts by the fireplace and then counts them all.

This afternoon, was Meghan's class holiday party. Being the room dad, I was in charge of the party. The theme of the day was "Santa's Cookie Factory" Before we got started, I swore them all in as Junior Elves. We started with a game of Santa Says. I never realized how hard it is to be the caller. At the end it was two kids and they were really good listeners. I used every trick I knew to get them to make a mistake. Eventually there was one.

After that it was time to make the cookies. Yes we actually had cookies. The night before, Meghan and I baked sugar cookies for her class. At the party, the kids frosted and decorated the cookies. The best part of being a junior elf was eating the cookie to make sure it was good. We also had coloring and made rice cake reindeer. All too soon our time was up and the day was over. Awwwwwww!

Now what am I going to do with Meghan for 2 weeks?

Barnes and Noble

I love holiday shopping at Barnes and Noble. There is a book there for everybody. No matter what their age or interest, somebody has written a book. Last night I spent a little under an hour at one of the local Barnes and Noble stores and knocked ten gifts off the list. It was easy. All I do is walk up and down the aisles and look at the sections and then the books being displayed. Sometimes a book just jumps out at you and says "I'm Steve's gift!" Othertimes, you walk into an area and think a cook book would be good for Aunt Sue. Then you look throught the books to find just the right book for Aunt Sue. I would have knocked more items off of our list but I ran out of time. The store closed. I guess I will have to go back for more gifts.

Kier Khronicles 2006

My how times have changed. In just over 15 years, the Kier Khronicles have evolved. At first in the late 1980's they were individual hand written notes on your holiday card. Next came the hand written copy which was photocopied. 1994 was the debut of the formal Kier Khronicles as word document. Now 2006 is the next evolution of the Kier Khronicles, the on-line blog entry.

The early changes were an effort to reduce writers cramp and get my holiday cards out sooner. Later versions were just to neaten up the hand writing and this latest change reflects both a time and cost savings. The nice thing about his blog is that it is updated constantly. Now you no longer need to wait for the annual holiday card to obtain the latest news from the Kier family. A search of previous blog entries will allow you to see greater details of what has occurred over the past year. Another improvement allows you to view recent photos as part of the blog instead of in a seperate password protected gallery. I'm sure that there will be instances when a gallery will be used, but the blog not only allows in-line photos, but allows descriptive text to be included.

For those of you who received our annual holiday card, by now, you've noticed the recent addition to the family. It was about this time last year when we discovered we were expecting a new addition. This was a compelete shock to us as we had to work real hard to conceive our first two kids. This one came along totally naturally. After the shock wore off, everybody was excited and waiting for Michah to arrive. Naming him was a chore. His name needed to begin with an "M", be six letters, 2 sylables and have an "H" in it. After a long search we settled on Michah Robert. The Robert is in memory of my mother Roberta who passed away two years ago. On July 28, 2006 Michah arrived.

The rest of the year was pretty uneventful. Meghan completed Kindergarden and entered first grade in the fall. It is amazing to see her just beginning to read. Pretty soon she will be reading up a storm. She loves school and has two first grade teacher who job share. She has Mrs. Carlson on Mondays, Tuesdays and alternate Wednesdays. On the other days, Mrs. Polezoes is her teacher. Meghan adores both of her teachers. Full day school has been a slight adjustment for Meghan. The biggest ordeal has been learning to eat lunch in the amount of time they are provided. But it appears she has finally gotten the routine down.

Mathew is also doing well. He continues to be obsessed with trains and Thomas the Tank Engine. Everything is Thomas. All of his clothes. His toothbrush and toothpaste. Even his silverware is Thomas! Thomas is everywhere in our house. Even though obsessed with Thomas, Mathew is learning. He learned his numbers and colors from the various engines in the world of Thomas. Mathew continues to grow and amazes us as he grows and shows us the things we take for granted all anew.

Well there you have our year in a nutshell. It has basically been raising the kids. There are far more details i previous blog entries and we invite you to view the archives. In the mean time, I wish everybody a happy holiday and a great new year!

PS. Be sure to check back for the lastest news, photos and thoughts posted on my blog.

Snow Day

I was just going back to bed at 5:00 AM this morning when suddenly the phone rang. I thought it was Sheryl calling to remind me of thing she forgot to tell me when she left just a few short moments ago. It turned out to be somebody from the school PTA asking me to activate the class phone tree to let everybody know school was closed. We have a snow day!

I made my calls and went back to bed but not before turning off all of the alarms set to wake Meghan and me up in time for the bus. The next thing I knew, Meghan was waking me up saying she needed to get ready for school. When I asked her if she wanted to goto school today, she said, "Yes, we get to play in the snow at recess!" Then I asked her what time it was.

It was a teaching moment, I just couldn't resist. She looked at the clock and noticed it was after nine. Over an hour after the bus would have normally picked her up. She was upset she missed the bus. I let her suffer for a moment and then let her know school was cancelled. Her face lit up and she did a little dance. When I asked her why she was not disappointed as she had said she would, Meghan replied, "I changed my mind!"

A couple of hours later, I finally was motivated to move and fed everybody breakfast. By noon, we were all bundled up to enjoy the 10 inches of snow which had fallen overnight. I cleared the driveway while Meghan and Mathew played in the backyard with Baloo. Once I was done snow blowing, the kids joined me in front with their shovels. It seemed they knocked more snow back into the driveway than they cleared.

Then I noticed the our neighbor's, Yolanda, snow covered steps. Yolanda lives by herself and is not able to clear the snow. I sent the kids over to her house to clear the steps and learn the value of doing a good deed. After I was done with the driveway, I went over to help the kids finish the steps. Yolanda noticed we were done and came out to give both Meghan and Mathew a dollar. At this pace, uncle Rick and his snowplows had better watch out!