Seussical!

So one of the segments from the hair show was seussical (some fun images from the actual show will be coming probably next week after I've gotten through the studio shots) but for now I wanted to show off one of the tree holding Maizy's egg. I'm working on the full body one now, but it's not as pretty as the close up. I REALLY liked this one!

And a fun one from the Cats segment...

First Images

Here are some of the first images from the Pre-Show of the 2012 Taylor Andrews Hair & Fashion Show. This year's theme was Broadway Musicals. While most of my favorite images are yet to come, here are just a few to get us started...

Hair, Hair, Hair!

It's that time of year again!! Yep, the annual Taylor Andrews Hair & Fashion Show! This has become my favorite thing to photograph. I literally can't hardly wait for it to happen every spring. This year, even though we recently moved to Washington state, I was still able to attend. Since I traveled from out of state, obviously, I had to return home before I could begin the long uploading and editing process. I just finished processing everything in Lightroom, converting the images from NEF to jpeg. Not I get to go through and edit them all in photoshop. All in all, I should be finished within the next two weeks. I'll be posting little snippets as I get them done, but in the mean time, here are some favorites from years past.

A Fresh Face!

I was looking at my blog last night and realized, that with the new website up and running, maybe I should take the time to spruce up this blog (especially since this is linked off my website!!). So I decided to try to tie in some themes from my website and logo. It's taken me a while to understand that branding is very important. I want people to be able to look and go "Hey, yep, that's definitely the Derico Photography I'm looking for!". Not that I've seen any other Derico Photography's out there.

I thought to myself, well, if I make graphic designs for other businesses, and take the time to do custom work for other people, why shouldn't I sit down and make something nice for myself?? Hence the fun and very vibrant new blog look. (and this is where my shameless plug comes in) If anyone out there loves the idea of getting a custom look for their blog, shoot me a message. I'd be happy to sit down and discuss your needs and provide you with a quote. Blog designs begin at $35.

Anywhoo, I've also decided that this blog is kind of dead. I don't post much. I REALLY need to rectify that! I'll be participating soon in a group to generate more traffic on photography blogs. Frankly, I welcome the thought of people coming by even if it's just in moral support. Please, absolutely feel free to leave comments and or say hi! Keep in mind, though, that this is not a place for criticism or trolling. If you want to discuss technicalities and techniques of images, feel free to send me a private email and we'll discuss away :D

Abby, Zoe & Madison

I often work with models, families, and/or children, but rarely do I get the opportunity to work with my own children. This weekend, I got to go out with all three of them to update their portfolio's. It was so much fun to see each of their very different personalities coming out as we worked. Here are some of my favorites from this weekend..

It's Alive!!!

So after a VERY lengthy process, my website is officially-all the way-up and running! No more half galleries, no more "pardon our dust", just lots of pictures. I decided to go back and look at all the images I've taken and pick the best of the best to completely re-edit from scratch.

Of course now that it's all up and running, I have new pictures to edit and get put up, but this is a good thing :) I found out my shots of the Bradley daughters (Daughter's of Shawn Bradley) are being printed in PRISteen magazine's back issue from Winter 2011, as well as the beauty pages, which I shot. Better late than never, I say! And I was asked for a designer spotlight I had shot to be used for a prom spread. Almost done editing those, so hopefully those will be part of the updates on my website soon!

Anywhoo, feel free to check out my website :) It's finally something I feel proud to share, and it's been a long time in the making. www.dericophotography.com

iStock!

So it's official! After quite a lengthy process, I have finally been accepted as a contributing member of the iStock team. I first applied almost 2 years ago. I was told flat out no, come back when you have more experience. Last year I decided to re-apply. After a few weeks I got a reply saying they had looked at the three images I submitted and would like to see more examples of my work. After thinking of what to submit for another few weeks, I submitted three new images. I then got a message back saying two of the images in the set were too close in subject matter and to please find three new images and re-apply again in a few weeks time. Sigh. So I went through it all over again... had to think of three new things, totally unrelated, to photograph. I think at this point, I took a couple of months off. Finally, I came back and got my three images uploaded and submitted. Later that week I got an email saying only two had successfully uploaded and I would need to submit three new images! At this point, you can image it was enough to just give up. But I've been wanting to do this for a long time and there was NO way I was giving up when I felt SO close to succeeding! I waited the mandatory waiting period and submitted three new photos. A week later... Success!! Finally!

So I uploaded my first set of images for actual submission. The hard part was over, right? Wrong. Only one image out of the 5 or so that I submitted was approved. This time, however, they provided each rejected image with a reason for not being accepted. Something at least I can use to work on. So I took a long hard look at the images that had come back and there were the mistakes, plain as any eye could see... how could I have missed all of that?!? I learned a lesson last week. It doesn't matter how many images I take (or submit) if the quality isn't good. I think I've been getting a bit lazy. I knew I could do so much better! I re-edited the images and re-submitted them, as well as some new images I took while on a little exploration trip up the highway here along the Columbia River Gorge. I was pleasantly surprised this week when I checked my inbox and found it full of acceptance emails for all my images!

It takes a couple of days for everything to show up all pretty and organized in my portfolio once the images have been accepted, but here is the link to my iStock Portfolio I have gobs of ideas to start shooting now that I've been approved. I've even had one of the images downloaded already... earned me a whopping 22 cents! LOL. Yeah, not going to be retiring on my iStock income any time soon, but it just gave me this big boost I've been needing emotionally, and I can't wait to really start doing some cute, quality images!