I love San Francisco: the diversity, the culture, and the architecture. But most specifically, I love its proximity to Napa Valley. I didn’t realize this for a few years. Sarah and I have been back and forth a few times over the past several years, and I just love it, but we never visited wine country. I knew it was close, but I didn’t realize how much I love Napa. So much so that I sort of want to move there. But alas, we don’t have $4 million to buy land. We spent a day with our friends Patrick and Analy driving around the vineyards, went wine tasting at the Hess Collection, picked up some amazing 2008 sauvignon blanc, and dined at some pretty good restaurants. We fell in love with the valley in a day, and can’t wait to go back. The sunset seemed to last forever, causing a sort of etherial effect to blanket the valley for a glorious amount of time. I’m addicted.

I’ve known for a long time that I want to shoot a wedding at a vineyard. I know they happen all the time, but I’ve just never had the chance. Now that I’ve been to wine country, the desire has grown even stronger. I’m looking forward to the day that someone calls up Sarah and me, and asks us to photograph their Napa Valley vineyard wedding.

We had such a relaxed weekend. Saturday was spent in Napa, and then Sunday we went to Palo Alto to visit Sarah’s good friend Amanda from her time at FIDM(Fashion Institute for Design and Merchandising). We had a great time barbecuing, and just catching up with old and new friends. Sarah and Amanda were roommates at 4 different apartments during the year that Sarah lived in SF, and it seemed like time hadn’t changed how well they related to each-other although this was the first time they had seen each-other in about 6 or 7 years.

One of the most memorable parts of the trip was of course the tire blowing out in the first 45 minutes of our trip… THAT was fun. We were supposed to go up to San Luis Obispo to visit my sister and nephew for an hour or so and have a picnic. Unfortunately, the tire set us back quite a bit, and we only had 20 minutes to spend with my sister Amanda and Jackson. But it was still fun and worth it.

Now we’re back home, and I just can’t wait to go again. See you soon San Francisco!

Robert, this is directed specifically at you: Purchasing this camera does not make you a photographer. The use of this camera at a wedding does not make you a wedding photographer. Advertising on Craigslist does not make you a professional photographer.

P does not stand for “professional,” green does not mean “go”, and Kevin Kabota and other stylized actions or presets will not make your snapshots look good.

The lens and flash that come with this camera are not sufficient. An additional investment of at least $3000 will be necessary in order to bring the possibility* of your images up to par with other professionals. On that note, you will need to invest in a second camera body for when this camera “freezes” in the middle of your niece’s wedding. The freeze is actually a user malfunction; you pressed the 10 second self timer with your forehead, and can’t figure out how to get it out of that mode.

If you desire to make a living with this camera, remember the following principals: Quickbooks does not replace a good CPA, Facebook is not a replacement for a website, Federal, State, and local taxes are mandatory, expensive, and you have to take them into consideration with you pricing. Insurance isn’t just for your car or your health. You WILL screw something up, so be covered.

Everyone and their grandma wants to be a professional photographer. This is your competition, and in a market where the supply is higher than the demand, your images won’t be worth anything to anybody until you create value in your products and services. Not only will you need to be a cut above the rest when it comes to photography in order to bring in any decent income, but you will also need to learn how to be a marketing genius and small business guru. This is not a small undertaking. What makes you any different from the other millions of “professional” photographers out there? If a bank can’t seem to be able to stay in business, what makes you think that you have what it takes?

You will spend a minimum of 2 hours editing for each hour shooting. Figure this into your pricing. There is no such thing as shooting for free. Your camera costs you money, your CF cards cost you money, your computer costs you money, your external hard-drive costs you money, your time editing costs you money, dvds cost you money, the sharpie with which you label your dvd costs you money. Someone is paying for the images… It shouldn’t be you.

*possibility. The $3000 additional investment only gives you the possibility to shoot incredible images. It does not guarantee it, and furthermore, is extremely unlikely. The investment of a few years, learning, shooting, taking workshops, and trial and error are the only ways to actually create incredible images consistently.

Or this:

The use of this camera to earn an income will likely result in the following: Stress, Hair-loss, Tax problems, strained relationships with your spouse, high blood pressure, neck and back pain, nausea, IBS(Irritable Bride Syndrome), No savings or extra money in your bank account.

I hope this was entertaining. I wrote this as a response to a discussion in the Pictage forums about regulation. The general consensus from most photographers is that regulation would be a bad idea. I think I agree. However, Proper education would go a long way to deter people that shouldn’t be going into business for themselves from trying to make a quick buck from photography. Either way this is purely satirical, I mean no harm or offense by it. And if you respond with any debasing comments, they will be deleted.

Well, I realized that I have the ability to do that, so I used a current photo that I have, and created the same effect… check it out:

Obviously, I haven’t got it down yet, and I’m perfecting it… the sand moves under the dress, the clouds aren’t perfect… but It just takes a little tweaking… I don’t have time for that today.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_CzJn9Y-_g