New Business Cards

Check out the new business cards I designed the other day:If anyone you know needs affordable photography services, please let them know about me! Thank you.

Baby Aiden, 18-Months

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to photograph Baby Aiden for his 18-month photos. His mom Beth was on hand to wrangle him, but he was super-good even as I forced him to play with damp leaves in the freezing cold! Mom was a team player, running back and forth behind me trying to get him to smile the whole time! Beth said she has taken him to a large local studio in the past, where she got lots of prints for a good price, but not very many poses. She wanted to try something different this time, and I think we got what we were looking for with some of these shots:

LIfetouch Fall Season Closes

Looks like this is the last week for Fall School Portraits, so I will soon have more time to concentrate on James Wear Photography, until the spring portrait season starts up. Now is the time to get in on the ground floor, my prices are still dirt cheap!

I currently offer:
NO sitting fee (up to 2 hours)
CHEAP prints (starting at $2.00 ea.)
FREE color effects (B&W, sepia, vignette, softening)
FREE retouching as needed.

I do not have extensive studio equipment, so it would be best to shoot outdoors (weather permitting) or at your home or location of your choice.

Please take a look at my Sample Gallery. Click on any picture in the gallery to see prices! Thank you! If I can help you, please call 913-710-9073.

Thanks!

Baby Octavia

In my last post (like 10 minutes ago) I told you about logging onto Facebook for the first time... Well, one of my college friends, Jessica was one of the newbies also. Since the last time I talked to her, we both had baby daughters! (Told you it had been a while.) Man, I am a terrible friend... Anyway, today I had the opportunity to take Baby Octavia's 3-Month Pictures. Here is a quick sample:

More to follow at www.JamesWearPhotography.com soon!

Facebook

I recently got on to Facebook.com for the first time, and yes, it is a great anti-productivity tool! However it is also a great way to catch up with people. All my old high school friends are on there, as well as people from current and former employers. The biggest coincidence is that some old friends who I haven't talked to in YEARS are on there, and some of them just started this week also! I will be using Facebook in conjuction with this blog in an effort to stay in touch with friends and network with clients. If you read this blog, please drop me a line on Facebook, or write on my "wall." Just search for my name!

www.JamesWearPhotography.com

OK, so I haven't updated in over a week, I have been busy with Lifetouch School Studios, as well as setting up and designing my new online photo site. The web address is now live: www.JamesWearPhotography.com. This blog may only contain a few photos from each shoot, but the site will include all pictures from any given shoot. I will include a link in each blog post for any new galleries to make it easy! The first link is to my Sample Portrait Gallery. If I can help your family with portraits, please call 913-710-9073.

Shawnee Mission Park

Today I had a photo shoot for Lifetouch Photography over at Clear Creek Elementary in De Soto, Kansas. Retake day. So I finished up around 10:30 a.m., and went back to the office. That's when they called and let me know they had afternoon kindergarten as well! Oh well, I drove back over there and set up my equipment in a jiffy, took 4 more portraits and headed over to Shawnee Mission Park to look for some nature shots. Here is a link to my Shawnee Mission Park Gallery; this site may become my print lab and web-site for James Wear Photography, if I decide I like their service.

Painting on a Canvas of Fire

My wife, daughter and I went to the WaterFire "art installation" on Friday. In case you've never heard of it, WaterFire an art project where they light a hundred bon-fires in the middle of brush creek down on the plaza. It started in the New England states, and has now come to Kansas City for it's second year here. Thousands of people show up to watch the fires, listen to music, take pictures, and eat food from various plaza vendors.

I got these cool abstract photos using time-exposure and moving the camera. It was fun, like I was painting with my camera on a canvas of fire. Some of the other colors you see are streetlights and buildings down at the plaza that were photographed as part of the same exposure. And a couple bonus images as well.

Enjoy!

I Am Out of Pocket

I am shooting re-takes down in Wellsville, KS today. Like yesterday, I get no cell service, even though I am just minutes from I-35. "Out-of-pocket" is a corporate jargon phrase meaning unavailable". My wife says they use it a lot at Sprint, where she works with a lot of corporate tools (you know, like Microsoft Office). Sounds to me like another term for "expensive," as in "out-of-pocket closing costs," or I've got too many things jammed in my pants, and I am literally out of pockets! Oh well, this probably won't even post until I'm back in pocket anyway...

Highland, KS

Highland, KS is a charming little town about 1.5 hours north of Kansas City, way up by Nebraska. I drove up to do portrait retakes for Lifetouch. I only ended up taking 5 portraits, and then spent three hours driving around looking for landscapes and art-print ideas. I took over 500 pictures with my Digital SLR and got really muddy in the process, but was a little disappointed with the resulting photos. I guess Kansas is somewhat boring! I got a few good shots, though. Here is my favorite so far:It is simply part of a rusty, broken-down old truck next to an old garage out in the middle of nowhere. If you like it, please let me know by leaving a comment!

Maple Leaf Festival

I went to the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City, Kansas today with my wife, daughter and my mom. We had a great time; please visit our Wear Family Blog for more details! I got the opportunity to try out some new camera filters I bought with a Best Buy gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket. Scattered clouds against a polarized-filter deep blue sky:

I also got to visit several photographers' booths; they were selling framed and matted prints. Some were really great, but honestly I was underwhelmed by some of the print quality. Some of the vendors' prints were pixelated, blurry or washed-out (not in an artistic way), leading me to believe that they were printed on an ink-jet printer! From a distance they looked OK, but up close you could tell.I assure you that any print sold by James Wear Photography will meet a certain level of quality: I guarantee that the resolution and print quality will be adequate to produce a crisp, clear, gorgeous image at the maximum size I sell. I also back all my work with a 100% money-back or re-shoot guarantee (customer choice).

On a positive note, the most creative thing I saw was a photographer who specialized in spelling out words with different shaped B&W photos, framed in sequence. For example, a picture of a telephone pole might form the letter 'T' in someone's name. I am inspired to add this as an option for wedding clients; their last name could be spelled out using letter-shaped photos taken at their ceremony!

Here is a picture of my daughter Lillian taken today. If you would like me to take your child's portrait, please call 913-710-9073. Thank you,
James.

Now Open For Business

As of this moment I am officially hanging out my virtual shingle; JAMES WEAR PHOTOGRAPHY is officially open for business. If you would like to hire me for portrait, event or any other type of photography, please email me: jamesmwear[REMOVE_THIS_ANTI-SPAM_TEXT]@gmail.com, or call 913-710-9073.

The purpose of this blog is to communicate the latest and greatest information regarding my photography business. However, I will also create posts to entertain, educate and enlighten my readers. I will write columns critiquing cameras, lenses, computer and mobile software as it pertains to photography and/or small business. I may also include, for your enjoyment, the occasional review; I love movies, video games and books (both fiction and non).

In addition to freelance photography, I am employed as a school portrait photographer by Lifetouch National School Studios. To learn about our services please visit http://www.lifetouch.com/. All content and opinions on this website are my own and may not reflect the opinions of Lifetouch.

Thank you for reading. Feel free to subscribe to this blog, and please hire me! I am still building my portfolio, so we can negotiate very reasonable rates!

PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR PHOTO GALLERY, COMING SOON!