Boudoir Season is upon us {New Braunfels Boudoir Photography}

Oh the excitement! Wondering what you'll get. Dreaming of everything that can go wrong and hoping for everything that can go right. Making a checklist and checking it once, twice, three time: wine, check, chocolate, check, flower petals, check, lights, check, camera, check, props, check, sample albums, check. The anticipation is better than Christmas.

It was my annual Boudoir Ball this weekend and it was the best ball ever!

I had a suite at the fabulous vintage Faust Hotel. Nine beautiful ladies brought in bags of their best unmentionables, telling their husbands and boyfriends they were going out for a shopping excursion, hanging out with the girls, or other such fibs. It felt so naughty, so wrong, yet so right! Some of them left toddlers or teenagers at home and all enjoyed the quiet pampering of having their make-up professionally done, sipping wine and being told how amazing they look -- which they did, trust me they were hot!

These boudoir balls have brought me teachers, stay at home mothers of many children, grandmothers, civic leaders, military women, military spouses, doctors, school volunteers, a preacher's wife, artists, scientists, salesladies, you name it. I've photographed women of all body shapes and sizes. Women with tan lines and stretch marks, pudgy tummies and double chins. They all look amazing.

Now I'm going through the images I took and I'm having trouble narrowing them down to decide which to edit. I got some beautiful images of beautiful ladies.

I did edit a few of my model images. Each year I bring in a model or two to pose for me just so I'll have some images to share with my amazing potential clients. I never share the images taken during private boudoir sessions, with the exception of the few who tell me from time to time that they want me to share their images. I lock my hard drive and throw away the key for most of them.

We had a lot of fun with the models. Shooting well into the evening, looking around corners for ghosts. She was a great sport lounging around the hallways and stairwells in her underwear. We had to keep a watch out for other guests and when someone was coming around the corner we'd shout "cover up!" and she'd throw on her coat and then we'd stand around casually as if we always hang out in the hallways with big cameras, big lights while whistling a tune and staring at the ceiling.

These images are just a sample of the kind of images I got of my clients. She's a model, but she might as well be your neighbor, the lady who checks out your groceries, the lady who tutors your child. You get the idea. I think my favorite quote of the day was from the last lady I saw. She was so hesitant about it, but she did amazing. She said while getting her make-up done, "I shouldn't be doing this, I'm Catholic!"

There's still time to get your boudoir session before Valentine's Day. Call me.

Lisa On Location Photography

Artist to Artist, Let's Respect Each Other {New Braunfels Photography}

I don't like to preach to my people, but every now and then I encounter a situation that I like to share, hoping that someone out there hears me. And maybe if I reach just one person then my time at the keyboard will have been worth it.

Let's talk about copyright infringement. Most of you will remember the little incident that happened to me last year when I found a photographer using my images and claiming them as his own. It really put a bee in my bonnet.

I also, from time to time, will share my photos with various media outlets to illustrate their stories or share with their readers. We have an understanding that the image should be credited to me and not sold for profit. So I get a little hot when I see my image on their site with a little "buy this image" button next to it. Yes, I can be a pest about calling them on it and getting that little button removed with an apology. I didn't spend tens of thousands of dollars on gear, education, insurance, and advertising to have them sell my photo for $5.95 and me not see a penny of it.

It's up to all of us as artists to protect each other and support the arts. People in different fields have it a little easier. Nobody can steal the work of a plumber, for example. He fixes the plumbing issue, he gets paid. Nobody is going to steal his work and claim it for their own or use it in an illegal manner.

So as an artist, I also will strongly defend the arts of others. I will not steal graphic designs. I will create them myself or pay the fee to use someone else's.

And when it comes to music, forget about it! I get so peeved when I go to the site of a new (or even an established) photographer and I hear the sound of a popular song playing along to their slideshow of images. A song that I know would cost thousands of dollars to license for that kind of use. I have no doubt that the photographer did not pay the licensing fee for it. Popular songs are just too expensive for small town, low budget photographers to afford. So here's my question, how can they, as artists themselves, stoop to the level of the thief who stole my photo last year. It's the same thing. For them to think they have the right to play that song on their website is the same as the photography thieves who claim they have the right to use any image they see online for their own commercial use -- advertising their product.

I've always preferred to not use music on my website because I like to listen to Pandora while surfing the net. I like my own taste in music and coming upon a site that has music forces me to quickly look for that little box that allows me to mute their music.

However, I have been thinking of offering DVD slideshows to my clients as an add-on. The main thing that has held me back has been the cost of licensing good songs to play along with their slideshow. You see, I'm not allowed to take my client's favorite Katy Perry song and put it with their photos and burn it for them. Katy Perry would like a huge chunk of that money I just made from selling that DVD. And why shouldn't she. She wrote the song, she put it together and she worked her rear off to get it out there. But while in Atlanta I talked to a company that has a collection of good music that they sell the license for just for purposes like photography slideshows.

Triple Scoop Music has hundreds of songs. Good songs with catchy tunes, talented singers, and amazing lyrics. So I made the plunge and put down hundreds of dollars to license some of their music for my business. The artists who created the music will get paid and be able to pay their own bills. Everyone wins!

So look for more slideshows coming from Lisa on Location. And rest easy knowing they're legitimate!

Lisa On Location Photography

Lookee What They Were Giving Away at the Kodak Booth {Project 365}

Every profession has their own version of a trade show. This past weekend I went to the annual Imaging USA convention put on by the Professional Photographers of America.

Most photographers flocked to the free bags and the free lanyards and the free coupons for print products. And while I did collect my fair share of reusable bags upon which various logos for camera lens brands, print labs, and insurance companies were printed; I did also flock to the abandoned Kodak booth. They were giving away free film. Most of the other photographers walked on by. But I approached them several times to collect my complimentary roll of film.

At first I approached them in my black jacket. Then I came back an hour later only without the jacket and with my hair in a ponytail lest they think I was returning for more ill-gotten film. The third time I sent my 12-year-old daughter who shrugged her shoulders and giggled when they questioned her about what kind of camera she used that she would need a roll of Tri-X 400 120 film.

I think they caught on that it was me sending her through and going through multiple times on my own. Frankly, there weren't many people requesting the free film.

But film is a rare commodity lately. Once upon a time Kodak was a power house in the camera industry. They were the leaders on the block. But several bad decisions in the beginning of the digital craze sent them to the back of the line in photography.

I've been playing around with some vintage cameras -- an amazing Zeiss as well as my new Graflex.

I can hardly wait to pop a roll in them and get started! I'll be sure to share with you what I capture.

Lisa On Location Photography

The Shark from Mars Makes it's Debut Race {Project 365}

The Boy found happiness this weekend in a shark car named "Shark from Mars". The past few weeks he and Jayme have spent hours sawing, sanding, designing and painting this block of wood in preparation for this most treasured boy scout tradition -- the Pinewood Derby.

When I was a child my brother was involved with Boy Scouts and the annual Pinewood Derby was a thorn in my side. I had to go to the Boy Scout ranch and sit for hours amongst pre-adolescent stinky boys who laughed at my Barbies and pulled my hair when I turned my back on them.

But somehow over the course of a few decades, the Pinewood Derby has changed. It's no longer full of stinky pre-adolescent boys, but cute little boys with cute little cars. Okay, it's possible it's just my perspective that's changed. I should ask the little sisters at the event what they though of it and maybe they'd say it was a stink fest still.

The Boy made a really good showing for his first year. He just barely missed the semi-finals. But the important part is that he had a blast making that shark car with his dad and the race day itself was full of running around like a monkey, having a good time with the other Cub Scouts, eating popcorn, watching his shark car race and being a little boy.

Already he's planning for next year. Perhaps a car that looks like a space ship?

Lisa On Location Photography

In Celebration of Jammie Day, a little randomness

Yes, I am still here and I am still working on my Project 365. It seems I've been so intent on catching up with that huge rush of work that hit me in December that I've neglected to post any of my images. I do promise to catch you up on the images that are in my iphone and still in my various cameras. But for now I wanted to share with you a little piece of scattered thoughts.

You see today is Jammie Day for me. I woke up this morning and decided to stay in my jammies. I changed into clean jammies first, lest I be accused of just rolling out of bed. But in these jammies, I shall stay all day. On this I swear. So in honor jammie day, I give you this image. The image you see is day 60-something taken a few days ago.

It was taken on a non-jammie day, but it was late at night and I hadn't taken my photo of the day and it was pretty darn cute sitting on the table next to my desk where my boy left it earlier and I'm pretty darn sure I was wearing my jammies at that time of the night.

The thing that struck me as odd was that the eyes are two different colors. I swear when I bought this Cat in the Hat plush toy many years ago when my oldest was merely a babe in arms, that both of those eyes were the exact same color.

So that made me wonder, late at night on day 60-something -- Why are two eyes, literally a few millimeters apart from each other, exposed to the same conditions day in and day out, changing colors at a different rate? I pondered this thought for a while on day 60-something. Thinking about possibilities of different exposure to sunlight. Different exposure to various sticky substances on little fingers, different exposure to stresses and doggie slobber. But I got nothing. And before you know it, I'd missed my bathtime and all the hot water was gone and I had to wait until it warmed up again.

And so now that is why, here on jammie day as I flip through some of the images from my project that I hadn't shared with you yet, I have decided to share this one today. Now you too can be distracted with deep thoughts about why the eyes of our Cat in the Hat doll are changing colors at different rates and you too, can waste some of your time on this glorious Friday morning. Apologies to my December brides waiting for your wedding images to be edited. A little randomness was in order today.

Lisa On Location Photography

The Changing of the Year {Project 365}

The past week in my 365 project brought a change of the calendar year. On day 55, we lost our beagles. The strong winds over night took down our fence and gave them a cold night out. I did find them along the interstate, however, at about mid-day so I promptly photographed a wanted poster of them for future escape attempts.

Day 56 brought a quiet day at home with the family. Jayme is helping our boy build a pinewood derby car for Cub Scouts and the boy enjoyed practicing his painting on a cool wooden pirate ship. I can't wait to share with you the finished pinewood derby car.

On day 57, the boy and I made a trip to the McKenna Children's Museum where he pretended to be an astronaut, painted my a picture, withdrew large sums of play money from their bank and made the front page of the Herald Zeitung newspaper. What a fun day out. This image was shot with my iphone so forgive the less than stellar quality.

On day 58 we made a little road trip to have lunch with my cousins. We also swung into the camera store to pick up some new supplies and allow my boy to wreak havoc on dozens of unsuspecting camera customers. And no trip to the camera store is complete without a throw himself to the ground and cry fit because I didn't buy him that super cool Spiderman book mark (photo not available of that fit or the cool bookmark. Sorry). Anyway, on our way home from the camera store we saw the streets of Austin covered with people in strange Manga garb. The girls got really excited as they pointed out characters they recognized walking along the streets. We even saw our favorite Sailor Moon. I'm not sure who the character is in this image, but I thought the wall was pretty cool that she chose to stand against.

You'll recognize the lovely teen in the photo for day 59 as my assistant and daughter. I'll call this one "the teen who is pissed that I got her up at 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning to help me with a session but she had no choice because she went over her data plan on her cell phone again and owed me big time."

Day 60 was New Year's Eve and this boy could have partied all night. Shot with my iphone again because there was no way I was pulling out my DSLR after shooting a wedding all day. He dodged my kisses when midnight struck, but I did manage to get him to eat some black-eyed peas the next day so 2013 shouldn't be a total bust.

Day 61 was New Year's Day and what better way to spend it than furniture shopping. It was kind of spur of the moment. We went to a yummy Indian Restaurant in the neighborhood of Rooms to Go and decided to stop in to check out tables. Our current table is showing serious signs of wear and I'm ready to move on. I did find one that we were all happy with and since all I had with me was my iphone, I snapped a photo with it. It'll be delivered in a few weeks and I'm looking forward to all the family meals we'll have around this.

On Day 62, yesterday, Jayme bought Lightroom 4. I've had in on my computer for a while and use it daily. But it's a new area for Jayme. Here I was showing him a flyer for a training seminar I'm going to in a few weeks. Jayme will be starting coursework at Texas State in a few days. He'll be taking some art and photography classes and he's gathering up the equipment and software he'll need. I like to tell people I'm going out with a college boy. Teehee!

Lisa On Location Photography

Lisa on Location's Annual Boudoir Ball Approaches {New Braunfels Boudoir Photography}

Since I announced my annual Boudoir Ball, my phone has been ringing! This is the best response I've ever gotten so early. I have two spaces left for this date. Call soon to secure one for you!

Lisa On Location Photography